November 14, 2009 by iMonk
I asked for permission to reprint an entire editorial column from the always provocative and frequently dead-on-target Patrol Magazine. It’s entitled “Get Over It.” It’s the latest installment in The Coming Evangelical Collapse, as far as I’m concerned. There aren’t enough ways to say “Yes” and “Amen” to this editorial. I’ll have more to say about this on the podcast.
Patrol Magazine is consistently on top of the current evangelical evolution. David Sessions and the Patrol staff have been doing outstanding journalism for two years now. It’s a young evangelical Rolling Stone, the magazine Relevant would like to be. There’s more to say, but this is a true note amidst the confusion that surrounds us. Expect this editorial to get the “people who criticize the beautiful bride of Christ are pathetic” treatment, but don’t be deterred. Evangelicals have their strong suits, strong churches and worthy messengers, but overall, this is what mainstream evangelicalism is cooking. Add Patrol to your feed and stop in frequently.
(Reprinted with permission from Patrol Magazine)
HOWEVER LONG it may take to relinquish its hold on American culture, evangelicalism in the United States—still probably best defined by the British historian David Bebbington as a movement whose members adhere to conversionism, Biblicism, activism and crucicentrism—faces near-certain extinction. It has been blinded by its symbiotic relationship with the Enlightenment, and has perpetually failed to see beyond its hopelessly Western perceptions. Confined to the paramaters of liberal rationalism, it has mounted no challenge to the present political order and offered no intellectually acceptable explanation for how one is to live and think in the postmodern world. As this magazine has chronicled, its brightest children are throwing up their hands in record numbers, defecting heavy-heartedly to less temporal churches, or to no church at all. [Continue reading]
April 27, 2009 by iMonk
What pitch?
This one, from the NAE President Leith Anderson article I’m not responding to.
Everything depends on definitions. My short definition of an evangelical is someone who takes the Bible seriously and believes in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
That pitch. Now excuse me while I take a swing.
By this definition, all Roman Catholics are evangelicals. Francis Beckwith should still be the President of The Evangelical Theological Society. I’m pretty sure the term “evangelical Catholic” was meant to mean exactly this.
Unless you want to get involved in some required confessional theology that will define Jesus, Mormons and several other cults are evangelicals by this definition. Latter Day Saints regularly write me and inform me that’s the case, by the way. [Continue reading]
April 5, 2009 by iMonk
IM First Officer Michael Bell takes the helm for another look at the statistical data facing evangelicals. This time the news is hopeful, as he explores a connection between the recession and Protestant church growth. Welcome back Michael. (Visit Michael at The Eclectic Christian.)
Michael Spencer recently republished an article which looked at the problems that wealth creates for discipleship. He writes:
Have you ever thought about this? We are living in the most fabulously wealthy, excessively entertained and unimaginably prosperous nation in the history of the world. We have a standard of living, and a level of comfort, that much of the rest of the world cannot imagine…
The Jesus of the Gospel proclaims the promises of prosperity, real estate and parking places to be empty. If we will listen. Heís just as discomforting now as ever, unless we render him the harmless servant of our desires.
Rather than telling us about your best life now, Jesus talks over and over about persecution, sacrifice, voluntary poverty and laying down the images and symbols of success for the lasting worth and influence of the Kingdom of Jesus.
March 30, 2009 by iMonk
I recently did an interview with the guys at The God Whisperers, an awesome Lutheran theology podcast that you can hear on Pirate Christian Radio.
We talked Coming Evangelical Collapse and lots of other things. I had a great time and it’s one of my favorite discussions.
Here’s the site and it runs on QT.
March 20, 2009 by iMonk
UPDATE: What matters more? Being recognized by the ECUSA or the Anglican Church in Africa?
This story of a commitment to church planting among the newly freed Anglicans in Virginia makes me very, very happy. This is the antidote to the coming evangelical collapse: church planting and a lot of it.
Listen my confessional, Reformed, Lutheran, Anglican, etc brothers and sister: this is what must happen. Church planting that plants churches that plant churches. It will revitalize your church. It will put your priorities right. It will make the process of discipleship and Christian education come into sharp focus. It will keep your leaders from becoming ecclesiastical vegetables. It’s a very good thing. Do it. [Continue reading]
March 19, 2009 by iMonk
USA Today is on the ringside of the Coming Evangelical Collapse (CEC) with this story on the desperate situation facing a third of the schools on the Association of Theological Schools. (Page loads strangely in Firefox.)
Schools are closing, cutting back, combining, going on-line, selling facilities… the situation is serious. Many schools report less than a year of operating expenses on hand.
While I’m interested in what’s happening to these schools, I’m more interested in something else: where are the supporters who once kept these schools going?
That’s the question that evangelicals ought to be asking. Are we seeing a shrinking base of support for ministries? Or are those supporters simply taking a year off to deal with their own financial problems? [Continue reading]
March 16, 2009 by iMonk
Guest Blogger Michael Bell (The Eclectic Christian) returns for his second round of statistical evaluations of “The Coming Evangelical Collapse.”
As I was time limited when taking my first statistical look at “The Coming Evangelical Collapse“, I wanted to follow up with a few more observations about some of Michael Spencer’s statements:
1. Denominations will shrink, even vanish.
Much to my surprise, the decline in evangelicals in the U.S. has already begun. The Association of Religious Data Archives (ARDA) lets you generate maps to visibly see the changes. The maps shown here show the difference in Evangelicals between 1990 and 2000. Note how the colors have lightened over 10 years, particularly in the south-east. [Continue reading]
March 12, 2009 by iMonk
The Eclectic Christian, Michael Bell, is a long-time IM reader and commenter. He can also count all his digits, which puts him way past me when it comes to the statistical evaluation of the ARIS data and the Evangelical Collapse posts. Welcome Michael as an IM guest blogger and take note of his conclusions.
Michael Spencer has published a series of articles about a coming Evangelical collapse in the United States. One, published in the Christian Science Monitor, has stirred up a great deal of debate, both inside and outside the Christian community. As a person who is greatly interested in statistics, I was very interested in seeing if Michael’s claims could be borne out by statistical analysis. Let’s look at some of his statements and see if these ideas can be statistically supported.
1. “Between 25 and 35 percent of Americans today are Evangelicals.” [Continue reading]
March 10, 2009 by iMonk
UPDATE: I’ve been linked at Out of Ur, GetReligion and all over today. I want to say two things to all of them: 1) The CSM piece was on the commentary page. It is commentary, not news or research. 2) I did not say that evangelicalism is dying. I said it is going to decline quickly to a smaller, more chastened, more diverse, less influential form.
For all my new readers, here are the original, longer and more detailed “Coming Evangelical Collapse” posts.
The Coming Evangelical Collapse: Part 1
The Coming Evangelical Collapse: Part 2
The Coming Evangelical Collapse: Part 3
Couple of notes on the original posts that may clear up some commenter feedback: [Continue reading]
March 9, 2009 by iMonk
A 1500 word version of “The Coming Evangelical Collapse” is now up at the online version of the Christian Science Monitor and will be in the print edition later this week.
Thanks to the good folks at CSM for this opportunity.
Also, there is now an icon on the sidebar for a direct subscription to the podcast via iTunes. Thanks to Lurker Shane for the help.
