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evangelicalism

America’s Pastor: Billy Graham and the Shaping of a Nation

November 24, 2015 by Andy Naselli

wackerAfter I heard Al Mohler interview Grant Wacker about his new book, I added it to my reading queue:

Grant Wacker. America’s Pastor: Billy Graham and the Shaping of a Nation. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2014.

I’m glad I read it. [Read more…] about America’s Pastor: Billy Graham and the Shaping of a Nation

Filed Under: Historical Theology Tagged With: evangelicalism, John Piper

David Bebbington Reviews “Four Views on the Spectrum of Evangelicalism”

May 1, 2014 by Andy Naselli

Several years ago Collin Hansen and I coedited a debate-book on evangelicalism.

David Bebbington’s famous quadrilateral features prominently in our book (cf. pp. 70, 73, 75, 95, 106, 119, 121, 122, 128, 151, 153, 157, 169–76, 182, 188, 196, 209–10), so I was eager to see what Bebbington thinks of our book in his review. I read his review in December 2012, and I’ve been checking regularly since then for this review to become available online. It’s now available as a PDF:

David W. Bebbington. “About the Definition of Evangelicalism . . . .” Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals 83 (2012): 1–6.

Overall, his review is favorable and generous. I’m grateful.

Filed Under: Historical Theology Tagged With: evangelicalism

Evangelical Unity and Denominational Diversity

August 13, 2013 by Andy Naselli

chuteChute, Anthony L., Christopher W. Morgan, and Robert A. Peterson, eds. Why We Belong: Evangelical Unity and Denominational Diversity. Wheaton: Crossway, 2013. 251 pp.

My endorsement:

This book promotes a healthy Christian unity by showing how and why God’s family is much larger than any one denomination. [Read more…] about Evangelical Unity and Denominational Diversity

Filed Under: Historical Theology Tagged With: evangelicalism, unity

Evangellyfish: A Novel by Doug Wilson

July 31, 2012 by Andy Naselli

The latest edition of Themelios released this morning.

Here’s one of my book reviews (pp. 417–18).

* * * * * * *

Douglas Wilson. Evangellyfish. Moscow, ID : Canon, 2012. 228 pp. $21.00.

So far this year I’ve read eight books by Douglas Wilson, and reading him usually evokes one of three responses:

  1. I strongly agree. Witty, pithy, insightful. I wish I would’ve written that.
  2. I strongly agree, but an improved tone could win others over. (Think Tim Keller.)
  3. I strongly disagree, and the tone is off-putting. (For example, in March 2012 he called the NIV a “gender bender” translation, asking, “Who wants a Bible translation with hormone shots and breast implants?”)

Evangellyfish evokes the first two responses but with a few caveats.

The book is unlike any other I’ve read by Wilson: it’s a novel, and it’s satire. Wilson’s other writings have doses of satire, but this is 228 pages of non-stop satire. I don’t want to give away the storyline, so I’ll be vague on those details. Basically, the book is a story of two pastors: (1) a sleazy, sex-crazed mega-church pastor and (2) a faithful, down-to-earth Reformed Baptist pastor with an MDiv from Westminster Theological Seminary. And there are lots of other colorful characters.

On the one hand, this book may not be for you. First, it’s preoccupied with sex. Though it contains nothing explicit, many (most?) scenes are suggestive. Second, it includes realistically coarse language when depicting what crude characters are thinking or saying: e.g., “Who the hell” (p. 21), “what the hell” (p. 99), and “damn” (pp. 24, 35, 111, 156, 179 [2x], 192, 209). Third, Wilson directs his satire almost exclusively at mega-churches in generic evangelicalism. Hardly any of the barbs hit close to home for conservative evangelicals who are robustly confessional. Even worse, the book may instill a prejudice in those readers and tempt them to look down on or be suspicious of all large churches in vanilla evangelicalism as being led by slick hypocrites and filled with superficial attenders.

On the other hand, Evangellyfish may be just what you’re looking for. Like almost everything Wilson writes, it’s witty, funny, and edifying. Especially edifying are the end of the story and how he portrays the Reformed Baptist pastor’s marriage and family. While this novel depicts sin, it doesn’t glorify it; sin is dark and has miserable consequences in this life.

Here are some examples of Wilson’s humorous verve:

  • “Mitchell’s mother had always called church choirs the war department. Luther once said that when Satan fell, he fell into the choir loft” (p. 12).
  • “[H]is pulpit ministrations had left the congregation in an exhausted frame of mind, and parishioners would go home after the message, recline on the sofa, and pant” (p. 67).
  • “[S]he was one of those rare individuals whose wise and sagacious appearance was immediately contradicted as soon as she opened her mouth” (p. 74).
  • “Johnny was not really a highly trained logician, and would simply go as he was directed, as long as the suggested direction did not conflict with the tangled bundle of platitudes, loosely tied with string, that made up his worldview” (p. 100).
  • “Michelle was a smart woman, but it must also be said she had always been a ‘will that be on the test?’ kind of smart” (p. 105).
  • “[T]he repercussions did not seriously affect Chad’s ministry at all. In fact, he got a book deal with Zondervan out of it— Walking With Christ Through Divorce” (p. 108).
  • “[A]fter repeating several phrases unnecessarily (the sermonic equivalent of a blinking fuel gauge), John decided that he had to wrap up. He didn’t feel any better. He felt like he had just tried to give a tar baby a bath in vegetable oil. Lester didn’t look any cleaner, and John just felt gunked” (p. 140).
  • “Pastoral snarls are like the mercies of God—they are new every morning” (p. 175).
  • “[T]hat kind of anger is like manna. Even if it is good, it goes bad overnight if you try to keep it” (p. 224).

Wilson said in one interview, “I want this book to come across to intelligent readers as ‘funny, dark, and redemptive.’” By those criteria, he succeeded.

Andrew David Naselli
The Gospel Coalition
Moore, South Carolina, USA

Filed Under: Practical Theology Tagged With: Douglas Wilson, evangelicalism

Converting to Evangelicalism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and Anglicanism

February 22, 2012 by Andy Naselli

This book releases on March 6:

Robert L. Plummer, ed. Journeys of Faith: Evangelicalism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and Anglicanism. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012.

[Read more…] about Converting to Evangelicalism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and Anglicanism

Filed Under: Historical Theology Tagged With: evangelicalism

Perspectives on the Spectrum of Evangelicalism

November 2, 2011 by Andy Naselli

The annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society is scheduled to take place in San Francisco later this month. The program is available as a PDF.

There are four prioritized reasons to attend this annual meeting:

  1. Network.
  2. Buy books.
  3. Meet re projects.
  4. Attend sessions.

This session may interest you:

Perspectives on the Spectrum of Evangelicalism

Thursday, November 17, 2011 | 3:00-6:10 pm | Parc 55 – Divisadero

Moderator/Introduction: Andy Naselli (The Gospel Coalition)

Presenters:

  1. R. Albert Mohler Jr. (The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary): A Conservative Evangelical View on the Spectrum of Evangelicalism
  2. Kevin T. Bauder (Central Seminary): A Fundamentalist View on the Spectrum of Evangelicalism
  3. Carl Trueman (Westminster Theological Seminary): Response to Albert Mohler and Kevin Bauder

Panel Discussion

The discussion will be related to the book Four Views on the Spectrum of Evangelicalism.

Filed Under: Historical Theology Tagged With: Al Mohler, Carl Trueman, Conferences, evangelicalism, fundamentalism, Kevin Bauder

Is C. S. Lewis the Patron Saint of American Evangelicalism?

October 7, 2011 by Andy Naselli

Phil Ryken, president of Wheaton College, makes that argument in this essay:

Philip Graham Ryken. “Lewis as the Patron Saint of American Evangelicalism.” Pages 174–85 in C. S. Lewis and the Church: Essays in Honour of Walter Hooper. Edited by Judith Wolfe and Brendan N. Wolfe. London: T&T Clark, 2011.

Ryken first presented this talk to the Oxford University C. S. Lewis Society in 1995. The essay also appears in Beyond Aslan (2006), which you can read online via Google Books (pp. 69–81).

Ryken opens by quoting A. N. Wilson:

‘At Wheaton College in Illinois,’ he said, ‘where they are rather stupid fundamentalists, they have made C. S. Lewis into a god. They think he gives intellectual support for all their prejudices.’ (p. 174)

Ryken gives several reasons that Lewis is so popular among American evangelicals:

  1. Britishness. “Lewis evokes for Americans all the sophistication and quaintness of England” (p. 175). His “peerless academic credentials” help give evangelicals “a sense of intellectual credibility” (p. 176). [Read more…] about Is C. S. Lewis the Patron Saint of American Evangelicalism?

Filed Under: Historical Theology Tagged With: C. S. Lewis, evangelicalism, Phil Ryken

Who Are the Evangelicals?

October 3, 2011 by Andy Naselli

Alex Crain asked Collin Hansen and me some questions about Four Views on the Spectrum of Evangelicalism:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6l18TiDxI0

Filed Under: Historical Theology Tagged With: evangelicalism, fundamentalism

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God's Will and Making Decisions

How to Read a Book: Advice for Christian Readers

Predestination: An Introduction

Dictionary of the New Testament Use of the Old Testament

Tracing the Argument of 1 Corinthians: A Phrase Diagram

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No Quick Fix: Where Higher Life Theology Came From, What It Is, and Why It's Harmful

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NIV Zondervan Study Bible

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From Typology to Doxology: Paul’s Use of Isaiah and Job in Romans 11:34–35

Four Views on the Spectrum of Evangelicalism

Let God and Let God? A Survey and Analysis of Keswick Theology

Introducing the New Testament: A Short Guide to Its History and Message

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