Evangelical Approach Research Articles

The Barthian Revolt or the New Modernism: Karl Barth and the Limits of American Evangelical Theology

Throughout the twentieth century, U.S. American evangelicals engaged in an ongoing series of definitional debates over the contours and limits of a distinctly evangelical approach to theology. Developed as an explicit counter to theological liberalism—and often signaled by strict adherence to biblical inerrancy—American evangelical theology might conceivably have made common cause with Karl Barth, whose infamous rebellion against his liberal teachers became one of the founding events in the story of twentieth-century Christian theology. Despite Barth’s putative anti-liberalism, evangelical theologians never fully embraced Barthian theology, consistently vilifying it as un-evangelical and beyond the pale. In this essay, I recover the history of U.S. American evangelical theologians wrestling with Karl Barth and his legacy, highlighting how an enduring aversion to Barthianism became a key feature of evangelical theology.

Familiarity and otherness: evangelical practical theology as worship

ABSTRACT What characterises an evangelical approach to practical theology? As more evangelicals are engaging in practical theology, given the contested nature of evangelicalism, there is a pressing need to identify what might constitute an ecumenical and authentically evangelical approach. From a reflexive analysis of participation in corporate worship, it was found that through placing the body in worship, one assumes a set of axiological postures and orients oneself towards God as an epistemological basis for knowing. Through the framework of celebration, communication, and critique, this article specifies how a standpoint of worship encodes the central concerns of an evangelically oriented practical theology.

Purity culture and the limits of queer evangelicalism

ABSTRACT Taking purity culture as a framework for understanding evangelical approaches to sexual ethics, this article examines the connection between the recent emergence of queer evangelical celibacy narratives and the rhetoric of purity as a form of personal freedom. To do so, we approach the construction of queer celibacy through a theology of sexuality and narratives of celibacy within purity culture. We constellate stories from gay- and lesbian-identifying evangelicals to question the limits of queer celibacy. How is evangelical celibacy queer? Can evangelical celibacy claim queerness when it depends on White heterosexist logics? To answer these questions, we explore a series of texts written by evangelical authors who have chosen celibacy as a method for their spiritual commitments while identifying as gay or lesbian. We work with these texts as examples of queer narratives that interanimate paths between evangelical belief and sexual identity.

Approaching Morally Problematic Old Testament Passages. A Critical Discussion of Gregory Boyd and Paul Copan

Summary In this paper, I discuss two different evangelical approaches to the question how the morally challenging passages of the Old Testament are to be interpreted. Gregory A. Boyd argues that this problem can be solved by interpreting these passages in light of Jesus’ crucifixion and death. Paul Copan, on the other hand, argues that a careful reading of the texts in question reveals that God acts in a way that is God-befitting. Although the hermeneutics of Boyd and Copan are quite different, and therefore can be defended and criticised in different ways, I argue that they are actually trying to solve the problem in a similar manner: by removing the offensiveness of the Old Testament passages in question. By contrast, I argue that the offensiveness of the Old Testament must not be removed but retained, because God reveals himself in his hiddenness, sometimes under his contradiction.

From Evangelical to Structural: A Typology of European Sport for Social Cohesion Programs

Despite growing activity connecting sport to social cohesion, in sport-related literature, social cohesion is poorly defined and primarily organized along narrow dimensions of social relations or social capital. Yet social cohesion is a complex, multidimensional concept that encompasses belonging, shared values, trust, and civic participation. Much literature does not explore these other components in-depth, and we know little about how sport programs understand and address these components of social cohesion. Against this background, using qualitative data from a mapping survey completed by 84 European sport organizations, this study aims to create a typology of the main sport for social cohesion approaches in Europe. In the end, four main types are identified: evangelical approaches that rely solely on the power of sport; value approaches that mix sport participation with the promotion of values; integration approaches that combine sport and civic participation to foster social capital and cohesion; and belonging approaches that encourage trust, dialogue, and a greater sense belonging. To conclude, these types are critically discussed and situated against existing literature, focusing on how a fifth, more structural type might take shape.

The Strangers in Our Midst: American Evangelicals and Immigration from the Cold War to the Twenty-First Century

Studies of the post-1970s rise of the evangelical Right have long highlighted matters of family and gender. With federal abortion rights presently imperiled, that thesis remains salient. At the same time, the recent prominence of a strident, reactionary type of Christian nationalism points to a broader set of issues that also deserves consideration. Ulrike Elisabeth Stockhausen's fine study of American evangelicals' attitudes toward immigration thus fills an important gap. The story is largely one of the triumph of politics over distinctively evangelical approaches to the public square. Stockhausen explores the response of evangelical organizations (along with grassroots figures) to high-profile cases, beginning with Cuban refugees in the 1960s and stretching through the Vietnamese “boat people” of the 1970s, the Central American Sanctuary movement of the 1980s, and the more recent rise of Trumpian nativism. The pivot, fully apparent by the 1990s, was away from a “theology of hospitality” (p. 3). In biblical terms, the shift was from Hebrews 13, which likens strangers to angels, to Romans 13, which urges submission to governing authorities. The latter passage became a “widely used ‘proof text' for emphasizing legal status over hospitality” (p. 159). An evangelical Left persisted, with varying degrees of media attention, offering an important counterpoint to hard-line attitudes about illegal immigration.

Pain-free Songs in the Evangelical Approach to Suffering

Pain-free Songs in the Evangelical Approach to Suffering

African Theology for the African Church: The Need for an Evangelical Approach

African Theology for the African Church: The Need for an Evangelical Approach

‘Real Gs and pastors in the church’: hip-hop esthetics in the rap music video productions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland

ABSTRACT Previous studies of Christianity and hip-hop have mainly focused on the US and African American cultural context, and on evangelical minorities in different anglophone contexts. The current study offers a novel perspective on the study of Christianity and hip-hop by presenting an audiovisual close reading of two rap music videos – Kaunis Jeesus and Hoosianna – that were commissioned by a Nordic mainline church institution, the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church. The paper identifies two articulations of hip-hop esthetics in these audiovisual productions. The first articulation follows the common evangelical approach to popular music and is marked by the absence of many of the esthetic traits of secular hip-hop culture while the second articulation embraces the stylistic practices of hip-hop in order to communicate that the church is a culturally inclusive institution and to counter the exclusivist ideologies of the nationalist-populist political movements.

Televangelists, Flying Saucers, and Soul Eaters

Abstract This article outlines the general history of American Evangelical Christianity’s textual response to the UFO phenomenon, framed by the literary genre of the jeremiad and as part of the apocalyptic turn of the twentieth century. Beginning with its early entanglement in the 1940s and moving to the present, it highlights the shifts in the narrative from angelic harbingers to demonic co-conspirators. The article pays particular attention to a new Evangelical approach to the phenomenon through novelization that at once mirrors contemporary politicization and utilizes the literary form to initiate adherents. While “new” in some regards, the extended discussion and examination of Michael Heiser’s novel The Façade reveals a continuity with earlier forms of occult literatures birthed in the mid-twentieth century. Ultimately, the metaphysical and mystical nature of UFOs together with the similar qualities of the novel have been and are being appropriated by American Evangelicals in a hyperreal mode to extend their cultural influence.

‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’: What do science and faith have to do with youth ministry?

Dating back to medieval times, and some would contend even ancient biblical times, scholars of the faith have made significant contributions to scientific discovery. Theology was considered foundational to the understanding of our natural world, and possibly the motivation for scientific enquiry. No tension existed between observation and study of the natural world and faith. In modern times the rift between science and faith, from a conservative evangelical perspective, has been ever-widening with both sides viewing the other with growing suspicion. This article reflected on the impact that this approach to science and faith has had on the faith formation of youth raised within evangelical faith communities. It investigated how conservative evangelical teachings concerning the creation story has hindered the faith formation of youth in this context. We connected this tension between science and faith as we considered connections to environmental justice as it related to youth in marginalised communities in South Africa. This article served as an introductory exploration of why we believe young people are not engaging with environmental issues.Contribution: As part of the special edition on youth, faith and climate change, this article reflects on the impact that the conflicted evangelical approaches to science and faith have on the faith formation of youth raised within evangelical faith communities. It investigates how fundamentalistic evangelical teachings concerning the creation story has hindered the faith formation of youth in this context. Within the context of environmental justice and inequality, this article highlights the need for church engagement on issues related to these conflicted approaches, its effect on how youth engage on issues affecting their environments, and youth ministry practice within evangelical churches.

‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’: What do science and faith have to do with youth ministry?

Dating back to medieval times, and some would contend even ancient biblical times, scholars of the faith have made significant contributions to scientific discovery. Theology was considered foundational to the understanding of our natural world, and possibly the motivation for scientific enquiry. No tension existed between observation and study of the natural world and faith. In modern times the rift between science and faith, from a conservative evangelical perspective, has been ever-widening with both sides viewing the other with growing suspicion. This article reflected on the impact that this approach to science and faith has had on the faith formation of youth raised within evangelical faith communities. It investigated how conservative evangelical teachings concerning the creation story has hindered the faith formation of youth in this context. We connected this tension between science and faith as we considered connections to environmental justice as it related to youth in marginalised communities in South Africa. This article served as an introductory exploration of why we believe young people are not engaging with environmental issues. Contribution: As part of the special edition on youth, faith and climate change, this article reflects on the impact that the conflicted evangelical approaches to science and faith have on the faith formation of youth raised within evangelical faith communities. It investigates how fundamentalistic evangelical teachings concerning the creation story has hindered the faith formation of youth in this context. Within the context of environmental justice and inequality, this article highlights the need for church engagement on issues related to these conflicted approaches, its effect on how youth engage on issues affecting their environments, and youth ministry practice within evangelical churches.

Amos, Jonah and Micah

Amos, Jonah and Micah

Pelayanan Pastoral Kontekstual sebagai Pendekatan Penginjilan di Desa Rantau Buda Kalimantan Selatan

Contextual Pastoral Services as an Evangelical Approach in Rantau Buda Village in South Kalimantan, this article describes thte alternative proposals related to contextual pastoral servis to the community, in the framework of evangelical. Given the existence of a multicultural society in this context, namely in Rantau Buda, South Kalimantan. To explain the topic, the writer uses descriptive analysis method with a qualitative approach. Based on the results obtained, there are several important points made in contextusl pastoral care as am evangelistic approach, namely by praying and fasting, approaching the local government, cultural introduction, pastoral visitation.

Assessing the Mode of Jesus’s Post-resurrection Appearances

Abstract The tradition that God raised Jesus from the dead has been challenged by the revival of two hypotheses – a) that the post-resurrection appearances may be explained on the basis of bereavement hallucinations on the part of the disciples, and b) that, on the basis of a comparison with parapsychological literature, a paranormal explanation may be possible. After a brief critique of the traditional evangelical approach to the relevant New Testament texts, the present article focuses on an assessment of these alternative hypotheses, concluding that, although parapsychological literature offers some interesting comparisons with the post-resurrection appearances, the bereavement hallucination hypothesis shows more promise as a viable alternative to the traditional view.

“Rescue Sells”: Narrating Human Trafficking to Evangelical Populists

The antitrafficking movement in Southeast Asia suggests shifting evangelical approaches to social justice. American activists on the ground have moved away from “rescue” toward greater indigeneity and attention to social structures. Populist evangelicals back home, however, resist these new methods. They too want to address deep injustices in the world, but they do so with an emotive individualism and American triumphalism that drives a vocabulary of rescue. In a kind of bargain, humanitarians adopt structural methods even as they continue to narrate rescue for an American constituency overflowing with money, energy, and potential recruits. That “rescue sells” offers insight into how populists and cosmopolitans negotiate power and imagine authority in starkly divided evangelical networks.

“A Web of Subversive Friends”: New Monasticism in the United States and South Africa

This article analyzes new monastic efforts to engage with systemic inequality in the United States and South Africa, arguing for the importance of the concept of friendship to new monastic social justice efforts. Growing in popularity during the 2000s, new monasticism is a term used to describe Christians who are experimenting with forms of community and subject formation that take as their inspiration earlier monastic or other Christian socialist/communitarian movements. Drawing on qualitative research conducted with two South African groups inspired by new monasticism, I show how building relationships with economic and racial others is central to new monastic visions of social change. New monastics emphasize the importance of deep, committed, authentic, relationships—friendships—as the primary means of surmounting race and class divides. Building on the insights of Michael Emerson and Christian Smith in Divided by Faith, I argue that how new monastics conceptualize friendship simultaneously draws on and subverts traditional evangelical approaches to social engagement. Although new monastics are similar to evangelicals in that they attach central importance to interpersonal relationships, new monastics are distinct in that they explicitly connect the value of relationship building to practices of self-transformation and social critique.

The meritocracy or “responsibility elite”? An evangelical approach to the issue of social elites

The notion of meritocracy is among the keywords used to describe the contemporary world. Increasingly, it has become a central concept of an order with globalization and the impact of free-market philosophy on society and culture as the main factors. The concept of meritocracy examines the nature of elites. On the one hand, meritocratic elites come from groups selected for their merits and competences; on the other hand, they avoid their responsibility towards society and culture. Amongst many counterproposals, it seems worthwhile to present the evangelical concept of elites embedded in evangelical social teaching. Evangelical theology introduces the idea of responsibility elites in its social discourse. According to evangelical theologians, in order to overcome the growing social, economic and cultural crisis of today, it might be necessary to rehabilitate the notion of the common good. Considered from a sociological and a theological standpoint, responsibility elites play a significant role in spreading the concept of the common good. The article presents theological guidelines for evangelical teachings on elites as well as evangelical proposals concerning the subject matter, collating them with a comprehensive assessment of meritocratic elites.

Creational narratives for new housing communities: evidence synthesis

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report the findings of a rapid evidence synthesis commissioned by the Diocese of Winchester with a remit to provide an empirical basis for church contributions to large housing community developments. It sought to respond to three questions concerning new community developments. These related to risks and causes of failure; learning from past corporate and intermediate tier interventions at diocesan and equivalent levels by religious denominations; and the transferable learning available from developments described in community health and liveability literatures. Design/methodology/approach The review took a purposive approach to sampling evidence from within academic literature, policy and “think tank” outputs and theological texts. The search was instigated with the use of keywords (including New Settlements, Urban Redevelopment, Diocese, Faith and Community), principally within the SCOPUS, NIHR, PUBMED and Google Scholar databases. A pragmatic snowballing approach to relevant references was then employed. Findings Segregation and separation were identified as the main risk for new settlements. Connectivity is required between and across neighbours, ensuring communal access to services, transport and recreation. Communal places where people can come together for conversation and social interaction are identified as contributing significantly to healthy communities. Churches have a particular positive contribution to make here, through a focus on inclusion, hospitality and common values, rather than single faith-based, evangelical approaches. Practical implications The initial effect of the study has been to increase confidence in and awareness of the diocesan contribution. In the longer term the three areas of practice highlighted for enhanced faith-based contributions are those of public communications, community integration and civic leadership. An evidence-based approach appears to be especially significant in facilitating the latter. Originality/value The importance of “creational narratives” in defining and making explicit the values underpinning new housing communities is identified as a singular source of shared motivation for planning and faith agencies.

Participant Experiences at a Charismatic Catholic Youth Rally: What Happens When Participant Socialization and Organizer Intentions Do Not Match?

Adolescent religion is increasingly well researched but the youth rallies staged by many Christian groups remain understudied. This article adds to our understanding of these rallies through a case study of a large Catholic youth rally in Toronto. We identify the reported religious experiences of rally participants and compare them with the goals of the rally's organizers. We find a partial mismatch between the organizers’ intentions and the participants’ reported experiences, which we attribute to a mismatch between the borrowed evangelical approaches used by the rally organizers and the participants’ Catholic religious socialization. We conclude with possible implications for practitioners.