The Jesus People Movement: A Generational Interpretation

Abstract

The Jesus People, as members of a distinctive age stratum, exhibit many attributes common to the counterculture: subjectivism, informality, spontaneity, new forms and media of communication. As members of a distinctive religious orientation, they exhibit attributes common to fundamentalist and Pentacostal Christianity: the inerrancy of scripture, emphasis on the Holy Spirit, and a commitment to “one way” to God. This phenomenological study of the Jesus People suggests that the movement can best be seen as the result of a youthful cohort's “fresh contact” (using Mannheim's concept) with the fundamentalist tradition in Christianity, set within the context of structural conditions in American society in the 1960s and in organized American religion, plus the distinctive life style and orientations of the broader youth counterculture movement. It is suggested that this unique generational movement represents a potential for change in American religious institutions.