{"id":4078,"date":"2015-02-19T15:54:36","date_gmt":"2015-02-19T15:54:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=4078"},"modified":"2015-02-19T15:54:36","modified_gmt":"2015-02-19T15:54:36","slug":"continuing-to-be-a-vital-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/continuing-to-be-a-vital-force\/","title":{"rendered":"Continuing To Be A Vital Force"},"content":{"rendered":"

I always knew evangelicals were a strange group. DW Bebbington\u2019s Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s<\/em>\u00a0just affirmed it. I enjoy history and Bebbington does a great job explaining core beliefs Evangelicals can unite around. Bebbington also does a good job explaining how we are different and have morphed throughout the decades.<\/p>\n

In Bebbington\u2019s concluding sentence he states, \u201cEvangelical religion has been a vital force in modern Britain.[1]<\/a>\u201d That is not just a statement that was true in the past but it is still true today. Just this morning Krish Kandiah wrote an article in Christianity Today titled, \u201cEvangelicals Could Swing the General Election for Good.[2]<\/a>\u201d Krish\u2019s point is that Evangelicals are still a vital force and he is hopeful that evangelicals can rally around social issues and still have the ability to mold and shape culture. Even if evangelicals seem to be losing a foothold on culture, if history truly repeats itself, then we will see evangelicals continue to morph in such a way that they will remain a vital force.<\/p>\n

I was hooked with Bebbington\u2019s introduction. I loved how he described the four qualities that have been the special marks of Evangelical religion: conversionism, activism, biblicism, and crucientrism[3]<\/a>. I identify with these qualities and I consider myself an evangelical. What is so interesting is how the four qualities are general enough that we indeed see many different forms, shapes, and practices of evangelicalism. We could spend hours talking about each of the four qualities and how they play themselves out differently through diverse moments in time, different cultures, or denominations. But that\u2019s the beauty of it right? Bebbington spends 274 pages describing how evangelicalism has been a vital force for 250 years in Britain, changing and morphing, yet still uniting around core qualities.<\/p>\n

While reading Bebbington I kept being encouraged by the Spirit. I currently believe evangelicalism is out of touch with culture. We are a step behind and don\u2019t seem to know how to catch up. But I\u2019m an optimist and as I kept reading Bebbington I kept being reminded by the Spirit that for decades\/centuries believers have been wrestling with these same questions. Believers have been praying and thinking through the four qualities of an evangelical and have been doing what they can, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to impact culture. And for decades\/centuries evangelicals have remained a vital force. Do I really think that\u2019s going to end with my generation? While sometimes I doubt, in general, I\u2019m hopeful that we as evangelicals we hold strong to our core beliefs and find new ways to impact the culture for the sake of the Kingdom and remain a vital force. I\u2019m hopeful that one day the DMINLGP 30 cohort will read about it in the history books.<\/p>\n

\n

[1]<\/a> David W Bebbington,\u00a0Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: a History from the 1730s to the 1980s<\/em>\u00a0(London: Routledge, 1989), 274.<\/p>\n

[2] Krish Kandiah, \u201cEvangelicals Could Swing the General Election for Good,\u201d Christianity Today, February 19, 2015, accessed February 19, 2015,
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.christiantoday.com\/article\/evangelicals.could.swing.the.general.election.for.good\/48429.htm<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> David W Bebbington,\u00a0Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: a History from the 1730s to the 1980s<\/em>\u00a0(London: Routledge, 1989), 2.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I always knew evangelicals were a strange group. DW Bebbington\u2019s Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s\u00a0just affirmed it. I enjoy history and Bebbington does a great job explaining core beliefs Evangelicals can unite around. Bebbington also does a good job explaining how we are different and have morphed throughout […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[12],"class_list":["post-4078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bebbington","cohort-lgp5"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4078"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4078\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4079,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4078\/revisions\/4079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}