Evangelicalism

participatory theory of mind

- "Asks congregants to experience the mind-world barrier as porous, in a specific, limited way" --> Humans are usually aware of the difference between mental events generated in the mind (or thoughts) and those generated from an external source (perceptions) --> Not very different from the classical 'theory of mind', which states that humans act based on the ideas that they have in their mind, and the minds are separate from the world - At the Vineyard, the distinction is no longer as straightforward --> "You are asked to experience some of your thoughts as being more like perceptions" --> God participates in the mind, you 'hear' what he says as if it were coming from an external source

Social Gospel

- "Evangelical broadening" - "Christian work for the amelioration (improvement) of social structures" -- apply Christian ethics to aid in social problems

Fundamentalism

- "Evangelical narrowing" - subgroup of the evangelicals who wanted to reject modernism as they saw it as a threat to traditional Christianity

Jesus People Movement and CCM

- "One of the most significant American religious phenomena of the postwar period" - Hippie Christians --> Had a "come-just-as-you-are-to-worship" ethos --> Wrote rock and folk songs about Jesus --> Spoke in tongues - Countercultural Jesus described as "personally attentive, unconditionally loving, a Jesus with aa great bear hug of acceptance"

The Alpha Course

- "The Alpha course is possibly the most common vehicle through which new evangelicals learn about the faith they have embraced." - Ten weekly sessions consisting of watching a video and then having small group discussions with a home-cooked meal. Videos explain the Christian faith from a beginner perspective while addressing the doubts of the viewer in a welcoming way - Course is concluded with a "Holy Spirit weekend" retreat --> Designed for participants to encounter the Holy Spirit, this does occur for some and doesn't occur for others --> Encounter can be very powerful with experiences of sweating, shaking, falling over --> Emphasis on supernatural gifts of the Spirit in this experience, first time that many people experience the gift of tongues - Significance - Evangelical practice that introduces many people to the Christian faith, as well as introducing people to experience the Holy Spirit powerfully for the first time

spiritual maturity

- Sober demands of being their in the long haul - Being able to accept that fact your prayers went unanswered/unfulfilled - The post 'falling in love' stage in faith - "You developed spiritual maturity when you loved God even when he didn't act like a sugar daddy." - pg. 272 - Allows people to interpret a disappointment as a promotion

spiritual disciplines

- "The spiritual disciplines are to everyday prayer what elite gymnastics is to fooling around on the monkey bars. They help us to understand what the disciplined mind can accomplish, and how." - "There are two named styles of spiritual discipline within the Christian tradition: apophatic and kataphatic prayer. As a form, both can be found in other faiths, and they are, arguably, the two dominant forms of spiritual discipline (at least mental spiritual discipline) in any faith." - "Evangelicals use both types, but without a doubt, the heart of evangelical prayer is kataphatic. " - "Yin and yang, these two disciplines share the same goal:in Foster's words, "to center the attention of the body, the emotions, the "mind and the spirit" upon God, and to diminish attention to the everyday." - Significance - Description of the mental techniques used in prayer and how people learn to focus completely on God during prayer and not themselves

critiques of revivals

- "old lights": people who embraced traditional, 'old-fashioned' ways of Christianity, disagreed with "new lights". those who adopted the ideas brought about by the Great Awakening - disorderly - excessive emotionalism - spiritual pride: creating a subclass of Christians, looking down on others - irrationalism - theologically reductionist - neglect legitimate church differences - personal celebrity cult (Whitefield)

faith-support ministries

- 3rd Great Awakening - Simpson's nondenominational ministry would be supported not by the worldly means of the churches (like money), but by faith - his independent ministry was launched simply depending of God for the pecuniary support of himself and family, and the means necessary to carry on the work. - Center of gravity moves from denominations to local - Only accept free will offerings, no cost to initial entry, all funded on the back end - Makes them more effective and endows a communal ministry to their continuance - Idea that the money is provided by the Lord - Start to make huge amounts of money

practicing love and peace

- 3rd emotional practice From Luhrmann's "When God Talks Back" - "People set out to rehearse the emotions they would expect to have if God were real" --> Acting based on the promises of God, i.e. if you practice love towards others you will become a more loving person, if you act more kind then you will become a kinder person - Focus is on acting as-if these promises were true, even if doubts are present --> Can lead to importance being placed on practicing emotion versus the outcome of actions --->Feeding homeless becomes more important than calculating when homeless need food, supporting a young mission team financially without thinking about what their efforts will do, asserting a stance on some controversial issue (abortion, pornography) without thinking about the effects of stance - Significance - anthropological observation of evangelical religious practices made by Luhrmann through her participation at an evangelical Vineyard Church that describes how people train their emotions to experience Christian virtues such as love and peace within themselves

God as therapist

- 4th emotional practice from Luhrmann's "When God Talks Back" - "When congregants talk about their relationship with God, they sound as if they think of God as some benign, complacent therapist" - People will express their full range of emotions (Childish, insecure, irritable, irrational, out-raged) to God and expect Him to patiently listen - God functions as the perfect therapist as He is perfectly receptive and perfectly loving, God also can't be lied to as a therapist which provides another benefit --> There are downsides to this approach however, for the most part God cannot confront someone with an interpretation of themselves that they don't already know like a human therapist could - Significance - anthropological observation of evangelical religious practices made by Luhrmann through her participation at an evangelical Vineyard Church that describes how people relate to God in prayer as a personal therapist

reworking God the Father

- 5th emotional practice from Luhrmann's "When God Talks Back" - Practice of re-working someone's "inner object" of God, the "emotionally drenched ideas about God that act in the psyche the way memories of a father shape the way the adult child responds to the world—could and should change" --> Also connected to the practice of Christian therapy and Christian psychoanalysis, "reworking God the Father" is often done through Christian therapy sessions - General goal is to work towards an idea of God that is loving and kind, not judgmental and full of wrath --> A very common barrier is bad experiences with someone's physical parents, especially fathers. Harder for people to develop an intimate relationship with God if they don't have a close relationship with their human father - Significance - anthropological observation of evangelical religious practices made by Luhrmann through her participation at an evangelical Vineyard Church that describes how people learn to perceive and experience God as loving and benevolent

ACTS prayer

- A method to prayer described in Luhrmann's "When God Talks Back" 1. Adoration 2. Confession 3. Thanksgiving 4. Supplication -c"You are supposed to describe explicitly your sense of God's greatness, spell out your failings, thank God for what he has done for you, and then bring to his attention what you think you need. This is what an observer might call the content of prayer." --> "It does not spell out the mental techniques that are inherent to prayer practice because people perform these techniques automatically when they imitate what other people do when they pray and follow the advice their pastors give." --> ACTS describes the content of prayer but not the mental techniques present - Significance - Evangelical approach to prayer that teaches people how to pray and foster a relationship with God

Daniel Alexandere Payne (1811 to 1893)

- African Methodist Episcopal Church bishop - organized a whole phalanx of missionaries to the south after Civil War - first black president of a university --> stressed education and progress - 250,000 new members attributed to his ministry - wrote first history of the AME Church (1891) - AME Zion Church

Jerry Falwell and the Moral Majority

- American Baptist pastor and televangelist who founded the Moral Majority in 1979, which was a conservative Christian political organization that aimed to promote conservative values and beliefs in American politics - were influential in shaping the religious and political landscape of the United States in the 1980s. - The organization advocated for conservative positions on a wide range of issues, including opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage, support for traditional family values, and a strong emphasis on personal morality and religious freedom. - was instrumental in helping to elect conservative candidates to political office at the local, state, and national levels; also played a key role in shaping public opinion on a range of issues, including the role of religion in public life and the relationship between government and morality

the Buddhist meditation analogy

- Analogy compares the Christian method of apophatic prayer to Buddhist methods of meditation --> Apophatic prayer is similar in method to Buddhist meditation, both draw attention away from the self and feelings to outside the self --> "This style of prayer is also deeply controversial within evangelical circles, partly because in the end it just seems too much like Buddhism. The Trappist fathers carefully (and appropriately) placed centering prayer in the rich lineage of the Christian contemplative tradition that descends from the desert fathers. But the technique is essentially the same as in the many forms of Buddhism and Hinduism that independently discovered the practice of being still in thought." - "Theologically conservative Christians are careful to separate themselves from anything that evokes the non-Christian. I once attended a workshop in which the leader explained that all forms of Hinduism were inherently demonic and that a Christian should not practice yoga lest Hindu influence creep into the body and corrupt the soul." --> Part of explanation as to why apophatic prayer is less common compared to kataphatic prayer among evangelicals, it is too similar to Buddhist practices - Significance - Shows similarities between apophatic prayer practices and Buddhist meditation. Also shows attitude in evangelicalism to separate itself from culture and other religions, Apophatic prayer largely strayed away from not based on the merit of apophatic prayer but because it's too similar to Buddhist practices.

spiritual dryness/wilderness

- Being desolate and without God - When God doesn't feel present - Perceived failure to communicate/connect with God - Emphasis on community to combat dry spell --> Other people will fill you up and share their water --> Spiritual retreats are another tool - Also seen as a normal stage in spiritual maturity --> You survive the post-honeymoon phase in your faith - Wilderness- think Isrealites in the wilderness -->As needing God as your daily manna --> Depending on His living water

Watergate fiasco

- Billy Graham and evangelicals linked to Richard Nixon w/ adoption of Southern Strategy - sentiment that the Civil Rights Movement had gone too far (silent majority) - Nixon exposed for involvement in Watergate scandal despite denying involvement; release of tapes which confirm Nixon's involvement causes massive shift in public opinion, Graham revokes support of Nixon as a result

Sarah Osborn

- British immigrant to Newport, RI - had a "religious awakening" under Whitefield's preaching, though more moderate spirituality -- became a prolific writer about the experiences - led and taught a series of revival meetings at her house that drew mixed race and gender crowds of hundreds; eventually embraced antislavery

Central American Mission (CAM)

- CAM = Evangelical missionaries's well funded mission organization - Associated with new dispensationalist theology of Dallas Theological Seminary - Arrived to all three countries of the Northern Triangle

Christianity Today

- Christian magazine found by Billy Graham in 1956 - conservative theological position while intending to take liberal approach toward social problems; counterpoint to The Christian Century - attempted to provide a voice for evangelical Christians, whom Graham felt had been neglected in traditional media

Lecrae

- Christian rapper who incorporates ideas of faith into his songs - tension b/w evangelical ideas and values w/ racial social justice

Explo '72

- Coalescence of traditional revivalism, the Jesus People movement, charistmatic practices, and cultural engagement

prayer journals

- Commonly used by members of the Vineyard Church - Used by members to write down prayers either before or after they have prayed them -- sometimes journals are used to pray through the act of writing → members will look back at what they have written to see what prayers God has answered

discernment and the 4 "tests"

- Discernment is the name for the developing expertise of the congregant --> Old concept in Christianity --> Discernment of spirits: the ability to distinguish godly spirits from demonic ones (to discern the difference) --> Term only found once in the Bible, in the first letter of Corinthians - Most members of the Vineyard use the term in a way that Jonathan Edwards did Edwards found the problem of discernment to not so much be "the challenge of telling good spirits from bad as the problem of figuring out whether the supernatural or human make-believe had caused his congregants to weep and groan" - There are four "tests" to determine if God has spoken to a member of the congregation: 1. If what you heard or imagined was something that you could say or imagine anyways --> Unexpected or spontaneous thoughts were more likely to be from God 2. If it was the kind of thing that God would say or imply --> What you heard should not contradict God's word in the Bible 3. If the revelation could be confirmed through circumstances or other people's prayers --> Had other people "gotten" similar images in prayer? 4. If you feel peace --> If something you heard or saw does not provide peace or comfort, it did not come from God

Samuel Rodriguez

- Evangelical American leader, active in social activism discussions - President of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Council - advocated for bipartisan discussion on immigration reform - brought in an advisor for the Bush administration and served advisory capacity for Obama and Trump

1980 presidential election

- Evangelicals, Fundamentalists, Pentecostals, and the SBC come together for Ronald Reagan, the decisive inflection point - reject Carter, despite him coming from SBC, due to his social politics during his presidential term --> consolidation in the GOP: 67% of white evangelicals compared to 62% of all white voters --> localist tactics: moral majority a major factor in the defeat of a # of congressmembers and senators, both (D) and (R), who supported abortion and/or the ERA - during first term, there were few actual policy gains, but representation - evangelical politics gain control interest in the GOP social policies, through direct political actions, grassroots mobilization, and exercise of political leverage, turning point in this election

Billy Graham (1918 to 2018)

- Evangelist and Southern Baptist, one of the most influential Christian leaders of the 20th century - held rallies, with sermons broadcast over radio and TV - leads crusades throughout the US to attempt to convert individuals to evangelicalism; expands to focus on conversions throughout the world - founder/owner of a variety of Christian media outlets, from TV/radio programs to Christianity Today - moves around from church to church to evangelize, focuses on adapting sermons to popular culture, meeting people where they're at

John Wimber

- Founder of the Vineyard - Became a Christian after hitting rock bottom following a period of drugs, alcohol, and near divorce → joined a Quaker church in CA in 1963; founded a small house group to study the Bible - Became co-pastor of the church in 1970, growing the congregation from 200 to 800 (largest church in denomination) - After being asked to leave the Quaker church, discovered the Calvary → he and Chuck Smith agreed that Wimber's church should become a satellite Calvary church - In 1977, began to pray for healing in his services, but the people doing the praying would catch the ailments of those they were praying for (no one was healed for 10 months); in 1978, Wimber prayed for a woman who was sick with the flu and she almost immediately felt better → "Now the Holy Spirit seemed to come in buckets" - In 1982 Calvary Chapel asked Wimber to change affiliation of his church - demonic exorcism became routine in the early 1980s, and Smith thought Wimber had crossed the line with demon possession → Wimber now affiliated his church w/ the Vineyard - In 1982, church became the Vineyard Christian Fellowship --> John Wimber would speak and Lonnie Frisbee would minister - In 1997, Wimber passed from a heart attack

2016/2020 presidential elections

- Grassroots Religious Right becomes central to rise of Trumpism in 2016/2020 elections - White Evangelicals major American subgroup to believe that 2020 presidential election was fraudulent

problem of evil and suffering

- How does one reconcile the belief of having a good, omnipotent, and omniscient God with all the suffering in the world --> How could a good God allow this to happen --> Why are innocent people made to suffer (Book of Job) - Theodicy: the philosophical solutions to the problem of why perfectly good, almighty, and all-knowing God permits evil --> Coined by Gottfried Leibniz in 1710 - 'solutions': 1. Evil is the lack of God's goodness, and humans create it when they do not choose God (Augustine) 2. The world will be good in end (Irenaeus) 3. Despite appearances we already live in the best of worlds (Leibniz) 4. Ignore suffering/turn it into a learning opportunity (Churches like Vineyard)

spiritual warfare

- Idea that the world is shot through with dark forces, such as demons - Pertains mainly to evangelical churches that emphasis the Holy Spirit - Usually practice exorcisms - Example of believers in this: Charles Krafts (author of 'Defeating Dark Angels) John Wimber (Smith Calvary Chapel)

Premillennialism

- Ideological theories about the end of the Christian story - Millenium - there will be a special period with Jesus- Jonathan Edwards says Jesus and his kingdom will come after this millennium - This leads them to try to build a kingdom on earth (post-millennials) - After this, pre-millennium emerges; Jesus will come back as a kind of "surprise" - You can't build the kingdom before it comes; it will come and take over society - Premillennialism becomes popular at the end of the 19th century - making evangelicals antagonistic for not being post-millennials like the rest of everyone - Ex: we shouldn't care about climate change because Jesus is just going to come down anyway and change everything

Samson Occom

- Indian Great Awakening --> ministered to Pequot, Mohegan, and Oneida First Nations --> New Stockbridge, NY - converted under Great Awakening revivalist preaching - Attended Eleazaar Wheelock's Latin school (later Dartmouth College) - became a Presbyterian minister and led a fundraising tour to England --> negative experience -- the funds were given to white children's educations --> focuses more on a First Nations context rather than a white context - wrote "A Short Narrative of My Life" (1768)

Nixon's "Silent Majority/Southern Strategy"

- Nixon used the term to describe his supporters who he believed were not being heard in the midst of protests and demonstrations against the Vietnam War and other social and political issues; he believed that this group represented the majority of Americans, who were more conservative and traditional in their views. - The Southern Strategy was a political strategy employed by the Republican Party in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s; was aimed at appealing to white voters in the South who were disenchanted with the Democratic Party's support for civil rights and desegregation

Azusa Street Revival

- Pentecostalism coalesced around a deep symbolic moment of self-definition and an emblematic nativity story of a distinct global movement following this event - 5 years of prayer, worship, conversions, signs, wonders, healings, tongues, uneducated people allegedly speaking Yiddish/Spanish/German, spectacular occurrences, crossing of racial and gender boundaries - missionary: w/in two years, had been sent to 25 other countries - by the outbreak of WWI, Pentecostalism had reached 50 countries around the world - attracted press of LA Times, lured thousands of pilgrims from around the world to partake of this new manifestation of the special gifts of the Holy Spirit

"burned-over district"

- Rochester revival (1830 to 1831) - fires of revival hit Rochester so much that it was spiritually "burned over" - this area of NY developed apprehension towards revivals - Finney goes back and hits it with a deep commitment; extensions of social holiness

"enchanted modernity"

- Simpson's brand of conservative evangelicalism - enchanted supernaturalism was often at the center of Simpson's beliefs, but he also embraced much modern scientific knowledge, used modern technological innovations, flourished initially in urban settings, relished enterprising forms of ministry - do reject materialist assumptions that go along w/ the modern, still hold supernatural worldview w/ active role of God - synthesis that embraces certain aspects of modernity and Christian beliefs

emotional cascades

- Sixth emotional practice from Luhrmann's "When God Talks Back" - Overwhelming emotional experiences with God "that just seem to happen" --> Different from other emotional practices in these seem to be completely random ---> People crying when being prayed over wouldn't be an example (people can feel pressured to), but randomly crying during a drive home from work would be --> These experiences are characterized by an intense feeling of joy and a concrete sense that God exists, loves the person individually, and cares for them ---> Weeping and occasionally laughing accompany the experience ---> These often serve as proof to believers that God is real and that He cares for them during times where the person is apathetic towards God or is struggling to believe ---> These experiences are rare but important in a believer's life, and can come close to conversion or later in life. Also typically experienced while person is alone and outside of Church, but can also occur during a service - Significance - anthropological observation of evangelical religious practices made by Luhrmann through her participation at an evangelical Vineyard Church that describes how people encounter God through intense emotional experiences

kataphatic prayer

- Spiritual discipline and method to prayer from Luhrmann's "When God Talks Back," the opposite of apophatic prayer - "The author of The Cloud was right, Ratzinger said: We humans cannot know God. That is why, he continued, we were given Christ, and that is why Christ and the word are crucial, for they enable the twofold movement through which humans can reach God and God can reach back to humans." --> Evangelicals more likely to engage in kataphatic prayer compared to apophatic prayer --> Believe God should primarily be reached with language, not without - "That is why for many evangelicals, prayer rich in the images and stories of Christ, the via imaginativa, seems like a more appropriate form of prayer. It is, in any event, what they do when they pray. Few evangelicals name it kataphatic, and—as we have seen—they do not all pray in the same way. But the daydreams with God, the imagined conversations, the waiting for thoughts and images to appear in the mind during prayer, the desire to experience the scriptures as if one were there—all these cultivate the mind's capacity to imagine God." --> Very imaginative form of prayer rich with images and emotion - Literacy and physical copies of scripture not always common in history of Christianity, kataphatic prayer also serves as a way for people to remember the stories of scripture through images in their imagination - Significance - Christian approach to prayer that seeks a closer relationship with God through a heavy use of the imagination with images and senses. More popular than apophatic prayer in Evangelical Christianity

apophatic prayer

- Spiritual discipline and method to prayer from Luhrmann's "When God Talks Back," the opposite of kataphatic prayer - "Here one seeks to know the unknowable by negating all one knows. " --> "Thoughts teach you about God's nature, he says, but they do not bring you to God himself: "A man may know completely and ponder thoroughly every created thing and its works, yes, and God's works too, but not God himself. Thought cannot comprehend God. And so, I prefer to abandon all I can know, choosing rather to love him who I cannot know" - Shifting attention away from one's thoughts and physical sensations Idea is that God is too infinite and great to be known by human thoughts, so one has to surrender and abandon all of their own thoughts in pursuit of God - Common among the desert fathers and monks in earlier Christianity - Today centering prayer is most common form of apophatic prayer Most people struggle to not have any thoughts, so this method of apophatic prayer consists of focusing on a single word or phrase --> This is used as a sort of "white noise," if mind wanders to think about the meaning of phrase or other thoughts one is supposed to bring thoughts back to simplicity of word - Less popular among evangelicals compared to kataphatic prayers --> Partially due to similarities with other religions, especially Eastern ones such as Buddhism - Significance - Christian approach to prayer that seeks a closer relationship with God through negating one's thoughts and thinking about nothing. Less popular than kataphatic prayer in Evangelical Christianity

Vineyard Christian Fellowship

- Started as a Bible Study led by Ken and Joanie Gulliksen --> Emphasized worship music and the Holy Spirit --> Named for when Gulliksen was reading in Isaiah, and the following verse jumped out at him: "A Vineyard of wine, sing of it! I, the Lord, am its keeper; I water it every moment, lest anyone damage it, I guard it night and day."

prayer warriors

- Term describing evangelical Christians who are "good" or "powerful" at the practice of prayer from Luhrmann's "When God Talks Back" - "The term describes a soldier who fights on Christ's side in a spiritual war, suggests that this is a goal toward which all should reach." --> are characterized by intense, focused, and long periods of prayer - comes with a sense of respect from the rest of the members of the Church; looked up to and often asked to be prayed with by the members of the Church --> often an ideal of the rest of the members of the Church, who view their prayer life as lacking and find it harder to spend long and intense times in prayer - takes skill to become one developed through the repeated practice of prayer and focus - Significance - anthropological observation of evangelical religious practices made by Luhrmann through her participation at an evangelical Vineyard Church

crying in the presence of God

- The first emotional practice identified by Tania Luhrmann in her book, When God Talks Back --> "A way of practicing the experience of feeling loved by God" → similar experience to therapy (strong emotions, feeling safe) - Individual members of the church would cry, and others would stand over and around them and pray for them

seeing from God's perspective

- The second emotional practice identified by Luhrmann - Rather than looking at your life through your own limited perspective, looking at your life through God's loving perspective --> Your purpose in life is not solely for your own personal fulfillment, peace, joy, or happiness - you were born by and for God's purpose

prayer "failure"

- When one's specific prayer is unanswered/denied - Justification for this may be: 1. God time frame is different so must be patient 2. God did answer but his answer was no, for unknown reasons --> God knows what is best for us - When people get upset over the outcome, that suggests that the failure is a part of God's plan to build a better relationship with the person praying --> No as a chance for growth

the wine-tasting analogy

- Wine-tasting is similar to how individuals define God (like with wines, there categories and rules to help Christians sort out what is God from what is not) - Unlike wine, God has no one label

Jonathan Edwards (1703 to 1758)

- Yale-trained New England Puritan pastor and theologian concerned with enlightenment - key player in the First Great Awakenings - helped popularize the idea of revival meetings --> Northampton Revival under his preaching - placed a strong emphasis on the seriousness of sin and the need for salvation - believed that a deep emotional connection to God was necessary for true spirituality - believed a personal conversion experience was crucial for salvation and spiritual growth - published "Faithful Narrative of a Surprising Work of God" (1737) and "Treatise on Religious Affections" (1746)

divine healing movement

- a component of Fourfold Gospel - Christ as the great physician - God will directly act to heal people --> belief that, like Jesus can heal the soul, it extends to the body, and that can happen here and now (based in faith of God's direct action) --> some believe that divine healing ended with the Apostles --> Apostles describe this happening in the early communities - part of the Pentecostal Movement - recovery of a range of "gifts of the Spirit": some are mundane, others have disappeared from Christian tradition

Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill Church

- a former pastor and co-founder of Mars Hill Church, a megachurch in Seattle, Washington, that was founded in 1996. - was known for his conservative theology, charismatic preaching style, and provocative statements on topics such as sex, gender roles, and pop culture - Under his leadership, Mars Hill Church grew rapidly, with over 14,000 members at its peak and multiple campuses throughout the Pacific Northwest. - However, in 2014, allegations of plagiarism, bullying, and misuse of church funds began to surface, leading to a public controversy and eventually the dissolution of the church

Second Great Awakening

- a period from roughly the 1800s-1830s when America experienced another significant wave of revivals, resulting in a major increase of members and infrastructure in the Protestant denominations, the proliferation of many new socially-influential reform organizations, and a deep permeation of Evangelical Christianity in American culture - belonged to the Methodists; first major Christian denomination that emerges out of first great awakening - creates Christian America

Religious right

- a political movement that emerged in the United States during the late 1970s and early 1980s - It is characterized by a strong emphasis on conservative Christian beliefs and values, and a desire to influence public policy and politics to reflect these beliefs - often associated with evangelical Christians, although it also includes members of other conservative Christian groups such as Catholics and Mormons - Its core issues include opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage, support for traditional family values, and a strong emphasis on personal morality and religious freedom.

First Great Awakening

- a series of revivals during the 1730s-40s that seemed to be unprecedented in scope, frequency, intensity, publicity, co-operation across denominations, and in innovating aspects of what at that point was traditional, historic Christianity - major contributors include Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, Samson Occom, and Sarah Osborn - emphasized the need for a conversion experience and the importance of an emotional connection to God - many of the institutions that would lager become associated w/ Evangelicalism, such as revival meetings, missionary societies, and Bible college, emerged during this time

Robert Schuller

- a televangelist known for Hour of Power, began broadcasting following encouragement from Graham - founded the Crystal Cathedral in 1955; a weekly television program was broadcasted from the building, expensive construction for a large ministry - social gospel, universalist, very theologically liberal - early paradigm of megachurch

higher biblical criticism

- another aspect of Christian modernism that believed we should reinterpret our traditional regarding of the more miraculous aspects of Jesus's story, such as the Virgin birth, bodily resurrection, and healing miracles - to disconfirm (some) of the reliability of the scriptures

Rick Warren

- author of "The Purpose Driven Life" - the founding pastor of Saddleback Church (in southern CA), which now has campuses all around the world - began to do demographic studies on the major metropolitan areas in America in 1979 to determine where to put his churches - in the Purpose Driven Church, his idea came about when he discovered the work of Donald McGavran, a church growth expert -- the idea was that you identified common, shared characteristics of the people you were trying to reach and that you communicated the message of the gospel through those characteristics

Youth for Christ

- began informally when Jack Wyrtzen began to hold evangelical rallies for teenagers - geared to youth culture - featured "all the gimmicks that reason would allow: famous athletes, stunts, music..." - held rallies w/ an average of 350 youth; Soldier's Field in Chicago had a turnout of ~70000 people in 1945

William J. Seymour

- black holiness preacher - churchly nomad who had been baptized Roman Catholic and raised Baptist but continued to quests after the experience of experiences - kicked out of other holiness churches, established a base in an abandoned building in industrial LA

Amanda Berry Smith

- born into enslavement in Baltimore County, MD - learned to read and write from Bible - family earned freedom, moved to PA - got connected with Holiness movement revivals, claimed to experience "entire sanctification" in 1868 - began preaching to mixed racial and gendered audiences through the National Camp Meeting Association - traveled as missionary to India and Africa - founded Orphanage and Training School for Colored Children - one of few black women to gain visible prominence in the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WTCU) - 1893: published "Autobiography: The Story of the Lord's Dealings with the Colored Evangelists" - inspired C.H. Mason to found the independent Church of God in Christ

Richard Allen (1760 to 1831)

- born into slavery in Delaware - joined Methodist meeting, welcomed slaves and freed individuals - taught himself to read and write - 1780: purchased his legal freedom from his owner, who was in the process of being convinced by Methodists that slavery was wrong - 1784: licensed to preach and founded Methodist churches in Baltimore - 1786: goes to Philly, the nucleus of free Black life - 1787: with Absalom Jones, led a contingent out of the main Methodist church to found Free African Society - 1816: independent African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church

Pentecostalism

- church originalism -- appeals to the early church - emphasis on Holy Spirit in doctrine/spirituality - necessity of speaking in tongues a distinctive characteristic -- "gifts of the spirit" - coalesced around a deep symbolic moment of self-definition and an emblematic nativity story of a distinct global movement - approaches modernity but in a different direction - church of revival movements in divine healing, globally reaching, and speaking in tongues - spirit baptism emerges, which is different from the tradition baptism at birth

Megachurches

- churches w/ large memberships that are usually evangelical; often include social activism/activities and education programs - generally serves 2000+ people in a weekend; crucial to the revival of evangelicalism in the 4th Great Awakening --> accommodate efficiently thousands of people in evangelical worship

complementation vs. egalitarian gender debate

- complementation: God restricts involvement of women in church leadership positions - men and women 'complement' each other - egalitarian: no biblically-imposed restrictions of women leadership in the church - stances differ b/w denominations, varying arguments in favor of both

evangelical conversion narrative

- conversion referred to a process of changing, turning, or transforming - "a distinct form of individual Christian spiritual autobiography and self-interpretation that emerged with the movement in the 18th century" - not merely a straightforward chronicle of events but also a renewed act of self-definition for the subject who underwent it, a form of coherence that was endowed to the person's life emerging Fromm the conversion experience itself - personal testimonies of a profound spiritual experience that leads to a transformative change in a person's faith and life - these testimonies come in many forms but can be described as a powerful encounter with God, often described as a moment of grace or a "born-again" experience - these were often presented by new members in front of a congregation as evidence of faith

gospel

- definition: the teachings or revelations of Jesus Christ - a key aspect of evangelicalism is to spread the gospel in word and in deed - comes from the Greek word "evangelion", which also translates to "good news"

"culture wars"

- describes tension over cultural and theological differences sin thoughts regarding social policies - formation of the Religious Right, starting in 1920s by combating both theological and cultural liberalism

Aimee Semple McPherson

- devoted A.B. Simpson reader - Canadian-born evangelist, former missionary to China, and devoted A.B. Simpson reader - founded the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel (turned Simpson's Fourfold Gospel into a sensationalist foursquare one)

Chicago Declaration of Evangelical Social Concern

- drafted by Christian evangelical leaders, signed by 53 signatories - concern about divergence b/w Christian faith and social justice - major event where evangelical leaders discussed social activism in the context of beliefs

Bible College movement

- emerged in conservative Protestantism to hone their educational institutions very intentionally on Biblical literacy, spiritual renewal, communal formation in this religious culture, and evangelistic efficacy - by the start of the 20th century, these schools were still small compared to # of students enrolled in public universities, liberal arts colleges, and mainline theological seminaries - became the "headquarters" for conservative evangelical movement ("owed its survival to the Bible institutes")

Christian modernism

- emergence of a "New Theology" -- Gladden wanted to show that "one may be a Christian w/o denying any of the well established facts of modern science" - sees Bible as metaphorical, not literal - Christian doctrine develops over time - center of Christianity is a basic affirmation of God and a social responsibility to fellow humanity - tendency to reinterpret traditional beliefs in the more miraculous aspects of Jesus's story: Virgin birth, bodily resurrection, healing miracles, etc. - "higher criticism" of the Bible

Sunday schools

- encompasses basic school curriculum (literacy, arithmetic, geography) plus religious teachings - become very popular - structure begins in ~1785 in London, ~1820 in Canada

evangelicals and slavery debates

- evangelicals become some of the most fervent both abolitionists AND slavery apologists - in the South, Methodist church actually loses this as their identity ("meeting people where they're at), leads to split in pro- vs anti-slavery - Southern vs. Norther Baptist Convention Split (1845) - breaking of the unity seen throughout Evangelical communities EVANGELICAL ENSLAVEMENT ARGUMENTS: - Bible never outright condemns (implicit divine support) - Old Testament/Ancient Israel had regulations for slavery, but no prohibition - Curse of Ham - Pauline teaching explicitly enjoins slave obedience - Paul sends enslaved Onesium back to his Master - enslavement will provide opportunity for Christian evangelization and civilizational uplift - coherent with other forms of social order, hierarchy, and authority that are likewise biblically supported - tarred by association with Enlightenment freethinkers who were abolitionists; by 1850s, abolitionists were called "communists/socialists"

Carrie Judd Montgomery

- exercised certain "feminine" liberties in the early Alliance - raised an Episcopalian - was healed by faith and became intimately involved in the C&MA's Buffalo branch as "recording secretary", as well as in the Alliance conventions - opened her own healing house - became involved with the Azusa Street Revival, experienced Spirit baptism, and became an Assemblies of God minister

African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME)

- founded by Richard Allen, separate from the white Methodists (1816) --> white Methodists are still making the Black Methodists wait in the back of the church while waiting for communion --> Allen finds that this segregation conflicts w/ Methodist ideal of unity - displayed the differing beliefs of denominations of social issues

The Salvation Army and Catherine Booth

- founded by William and Catherine Booth in 1865; started as an Evangelical movement - social holiness "consecrating the streets" --> Catherine Booth was inspired by Palmer's holiness teaching and her example of female public leadership - fused activist revivalist evangelicalism w/ a spiritual warfare militaristic ethos --> characteristics that led to ridicule of their naïveté: paramilitary paraphernalia, brass bands, memorable kettlebells, gauche advertisements, populist idiot, female preachers; this reputation was not helped when on of their early banners stated that they would "Attract the Kingdom of the Devil" rather than "Attack" it --> within a decade, was one of the most potent forces for social work in US cities, and illustrated the immense social power and ramifications of holiness teaching - under Commissioner George Scott Railton (1880), it blitzkrieged into America - directed by Evangeline Booth (Territorial Commander of the US for 30 years) during WWI; she pushed against gender boundaries - described by Simpson as "God's protest against religion for the classes, and God's plea for the gospel for the masses"

Evangelical Alliance

- founded in London in 1846, annual convention - emerged as the 'grandfather' of pan evangelical voluntary societies, introduced AB Simpson to a variety of important figures

Billy Hybels

- founder of Willow Creek Community megachurch in Illinois (1975), one of the most attended churches in N. America - multi-denominational and multi-site megachurch

Dwight L. Moody (1837 to 1899)

- friend of AB Simpson - the "salesman" preacher -- comes from shoe business, shoe apprentice --> concerned with respectability - prospered, then immersed in ministry in the revival of 1857 - joined YMCA and Sunday schools - 1873: evangelistic missions to UK (his "big break") - Brooklyn Campaign (1875) - enquiry room and gospel songs --> enquiry rooms are like anxious bench but less confrontational; side room post-preaching, counseling) - Northfield, MA conferences in 1880 - 1888: Student Volunteer Movement - 1886: Moody Bible Institute and Church in Chicago

Fourfold gospel

- from 1880 to 1920, Christians left traditional churches and formed transdenominational churches with emphasis on the Holy Spirit, very spiritual churches - term coined by AB Simpson to describe the harmony of evangelical teaching and unified previous instruments of evangelical heritage - deeply embedded in the identity of The Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) and central to its ideology and ministry - according to Simpson, coalesced "the elements of a Christian unity which no other fellowship could give" - the Four Pillars: 1. Christ as savior (conversion and revival) 2. Holiness 3. Healing 4. Premillennialism

"seeker-sensitive model"

- goal is to create a church that is inviting to those who are not Christians, often referred to as "seekers" - belief that traditional Christian churches can be overwhelming and uninviting - emphasis on community connection and an approachable form of preaching

Holiness movement

- happened during third GA, idea of "Christian perfection" - Important themes: love, joy, avoiding "sins" + list of "unholiness" (dancing, vulgar jokes, billiards, sports, gender hairstyles?!, etc....) - Met with controversy (similar to initial awakening on conversion experience) - Anti: cards, dancing, certain sports (horse racing and boxing), adornments, swimming around the opposite sex, hairstyles of the opposite sex

Francis Asbury

- he and Thomas Coke took their first voyage to America in 1771 0 in 1784, ordained the Bishops Methodist Episcopal Church (flexible, adaptable, itinerant) - rode an average of 6000 miles/year on itinerancy to visit Methodist communities

"church-growth model"

- identify common, shared characteristics of the people you were trying to reach, the things that tied them together, and that you communicated the message of the gospel through those characteristics

George Whitefield (1714 to 1770)

- important figure of the First Great Awakening, renowned revivalist preacher - child of innkeepers in Gloucester - passion for the theatre (many evangelicals at the time were anti-theatre, believing it was a secular practice0 - Oxford "Holy Club" conversion - ordained as Anglican minister (reenacts Bible scenes in which he is preaching; voice, projection, theatrics) - open-air preaching --> preaching ~18000 times - the "first American celebrity" -- many prints

evangelical world missions

- in 1880, Simpson published the inaugural edition of his missionary magazine, entitled "The Gospel of All Lands" (GAL) --> 1st edition about Africa --> featured articles on various fields and from various people involved in missions both at home and abroad --> it attempted, romantically and enticingly, to make the 'missionary story beautiful and attractive' - AB Simpson was very passionate about evangelism and world missions -- he claimed this was the "most pressing, the most neglected obligation of the Church of God' - were 'the strongest bond and manifestation of the unity of all Christians; the great unfulfilled condition of the Lord's return..."

voluntary societies

- independent, non-denominational organizations aimed at spreading Christian message and morals; to push more Christianity and Christian ideals --> prison reform, addressing poverty - American Bible Society -- distribution of Bible - American Anti-Slavery Society, American Temperance Society, Lord's Day Observance Society (Sabbath importance) - lots of American societies but also in England during this time

tongues speaking (glossolalia)

- indicated the true baptism of the Spirit, representing the next stage in the "full gospel" -- cannot be forced - represented one aspect of the early church's experience about which about which the question was raised whether it should be recovered as a standard practice of the church - zenith of Christian experience, highest level of experience that allows you to be empowered and go out on missions

Green v. Connally case

- institutions that practice segregation are not exempt from taxes (IRS) b/c not a charitable institution - Bob Jones University was segregated

Methodism

- late 1700s to early 1800s - populist and revivalists orientation - more centralized, figure of the Bishop (from England) - class meetings to General Conference (nat'l level) - Wesley and Whitefield's followers feel like they must formally separate from the church of England - massive growth in number of churches and congregants - plays a huge role in the proliferation of the Black church

John M. Perkins

- leading figure of Evangelical left - established Voice of Calvary Bible Institute in 1964

Jim Wallis

- leading figure of evangelical left - in 1971, founded Sojourners magazine, centered on civil justice and activism - began evangelical program leaning towards progressive politics

doctrine of biblical inerrancy

- links to fundamentalism (late 1800s) - emphasis on scriptural inerrancy and its authority on history and science - B.B. Warfield: scriptural "inerrancy" in the "original autographs" in all areas on which it speaks, including history and science (BIG intellectual step)

Gospel Tabernacle (New York)

- ministry established by Simpson - would draw in individuals from other churches (who could remain members in good standing of their home churches); also enticed people who were previously unaffiliated - embraced "faith missions"

neo-Pentecostals

- movement began in the 1970s, when evangelical pastors and converts began stripping away much of the institutional and liturgical forms of traditional evangelical and Pentecostal religion - Sought a spiritual experience that did not box them into the traditional evangelicalism mold - Adopted and adapted the prosperity theology of the popular new 'health and wealth gospel' of U.S. preachers (ex: Oral Roberts and Robert Schuller) --> However, not all pastors endorse prosperity theology - Key characteristics: charismatic worship services, media savvy, a folksy/down-to-earth preaching style - Cell structure: small groups of members meet during the week for prayer, worship, and Bible study in each others homes, while attending all together at carefully choreographed worship services on the weekends (Sunday church service) - Tend to be more active in politics than pentecostals and historic evangelicals - Prosperity gospel/theology: Large congregations and the gospel of health and wealth

Cane Ridge Revival

- occurred in 1801, 100 miles east of Louisville (on KY frontier); represents the religious camp meetings of the Second Great Awakening that swept across the frontier landscape of the early Republic, accompanying the roaming of westward settlers via the National Road or the Cumberland Gap - "camp meeting" style, had ~20000 attendees - Barton W. Stone and Alexander Campbell --> Churches of Christ movement (restorationism)

evangelical evolution vs. creationism debate

- one of the major problems that evangelicals had to reckon with - as the divide b/w liberals and conservatives widened, the concept of evolutionary theory came under question; modernists were ready to adapt to the times and understand aspects of the Bible, including the creation story in a more metaphorical way, while fundamentalists were not willing to do so b/c they hated the idea of evolutionary teaching - some conservative opponents refused to negotiate at all with modern science - Simpson was on the side of antievolution - comes to fruition through the Scopes trial

Assemblies of God

- one of the many church bodies that arose preaching the distinctively pentecostal message -- the largest of them - arose from the Azusa Street Revivals

Charles Finney

- originally hoped to become a lawyer until conversion - preaching in upstate NY when there was a lot of change happening in the state; revivals are explosive, and bring a whole variety of people from the NE US to the area -"new measures" revivals: extemporaneous preaching, anxious bench --> anxious bench was very visible, physical and public; very effective -- by coming up front, you're physically and spiritually moved - becomes president of Oberlin College and advocates for antislavery - revivals are unconventional: instead of the "surprising work of God" approach, he calls the revivals "the work of man by the right use of constituted means"

Fourth Great Awakening

- period from around 1965 to 1985 when millions of Americans returned to church/became involved in some Christian group (typically a different one from which they were born) and reshaped American culture in reaction to/engagement w/ the 1960s countercultural revolution; particularly revolving around interdenominational ministries/organizations and nondenominational "megachurches"

Third Great Awakening

- period from c. 1870 to 1910 when many new evangelical parachurch organizations came to the forefront, and evangelicals adapted their ministries to new demands of American secularizing, urbanizing, industrializing, and immigrant landscape

Scofield Reference Bible

- published in 1909 - included the text of the King James Version along w/ copious and meticulous notes about dating, dispensations, and prophetic schemes - also designed, despite its exacting level of detail, to be populist, straightforward, and accessible - became one of the best-selling books in America, ensuring the survival of its publisher (Oxford University Press) and influencing how many conservative evangelicals and pentecostals red and interpreted their Bible and related it to their culture and their times

Lonnie Frisbee

- ran away from home involved in hippie culture - on one of his trips, he encountered Jesus - became a street preacher, "signs and wonders" - key 20th century Evangelical figure - associated with the founding of the Vineyard Church - emblematic of the Jesus People Movement, funds the aesthetic of megachurches, origins of contemporary Christian music and "come as you are" (with coffee and in shorts) - trying t reach out to hippies, finds his home in helping out in these evangelical circles that work in countercultural aesthetic - becomes a little too charismatic for Chuck Smith, moves to the Vineyard church - eventually kicked out of the church because he is still involved in the gay nightclub scene; unfortunately dies from AIDs

Red-letter Christians movement

- refers to Jesus's words in the Bible being printed in red text - non-denominational movement that emphasizes the direct teachings of Jesus in the Bible - Shane Claiborne key figure in this movement, gains popularity in 2008

Televangelists

- religious leaders who use television to broadcast their teachings and religious messages to a large audience. - typically have their own television programs or shows, which are often broadcast on religious networks or cable channels. These programs can range from traditional church services and sermons to talk shows and inspirational messages. - also use their programs to raise money for their ministries through donations and offerings from their viewers.

The New Evangelicals

- shift in Evangelical movement in recent years - recent involvement of evangelicals in presidential cabinets - 1993: Evangelical Environmental Network - 1997: Church in the Postmodern Transition Conference - 2003: Rick Warren has a conversion on AIDS - 2005: Greg Boyd, The Myth of a Christian Nation - 2006: Evangelical Climate Initiative - 2006: Balmer, Thy Kingdom Come - 2007: Samuel Rodriguez of National Hispanic Christian Leadership Council & comp immigration reform - 2007: Richard Cizik & NAE to the left - 2007: Barna Group major survey - 2007: BioLogos Foundation (Francis Collins) - 2008: Joel Hunter, David Gushee & Evangelicals for Obama - 2008: Shane Claiborne & "Red-letter Christians" - 2009: Josh DuBois as director of Obama's OFBI - 2012: Rachel Held Evans (1981-2019), A Year of Biblical Womanhood - 2012: Trayvon Martin killing in Sanford, FL - 2020: Josh Dickson as Biden's Faith Director

temperance movement (prohibition)

- started under the Holiness movement during the 3rd Great Awakening - Evangelicals had some sway in early political issues, such as prohibition - rooted in American Protestant churches --> first urged moderation of drinking --> then urged drinkers to resist and help each other resist temptation --> ultimately demanded gov't. to ban alcohol - antagonism to the larger culture: creation of their own separatist culture - early temperates mosts campaigned against public drunkenness and the available quantity of hard liquor; became more aggressive as it confronted more dramatic social carnage - Simpson encouraged the passing of any legislation that would "restrict that most awful curse on our land"

dispensationalism/biblical prophecy

- supporters also known as "futurists" - elaborated a detailed outline of various discrete eras of the world's history (most commonly seven), each with its respective divine arrangement and human responsibility

the big sort

- term coined by journalist Bill Bishop - a demographic shift in which cities, schools, political parties, and churches became more homogenous over time --> people were moving more and more into clusters w/ people who shared their values and culture - can be seen as what causes division and polarization that mark our politics today

YMCA

- the "Young Men's Christian Association" - important part of Simpson's ministry was this involvement in this group - founded in 1844, evangelical organization that sought to transform society through attention to the spiritual, physical, and psychological development of young men in a spiritually toxic urbanizing and industrializing setting - widespread in urban centers, an expression of an urbanizing Christianity --> was a decisively evangelical organization, but also pragmatically revivalist and downplayed denominational differences - a key prototype for the parachurch organization that coalesced Protestant evangelicals of many theologies around practical ministry concerns

Spirit baptism

- the Spirit distinctively came to be "in" the believer - people got baptized w/ water at birth, but a new belief arose where there is a dualism to baptism which includes baptism of the spirit; a different process that comes later in life

the founders' myths

- the idea that the success of any one organization lies squarely on the shoulders of one person or at most a team of two or three --> not true: behind any success story, there's usually a complex web of social connections, cultural conditions, and sheer dumb luck that made something work - the founders of the US were Christian nationalists who were creating a Christian nation -->importance of this is that it rejected previously held beliefs about the nation and its founders --> represented a secularization in society

evangelical memory

- the intensity of the conversion together with its recountings shaped the person's memory --> "The actual, lived historical events of one's life could become increasingly conformed to the spectacular 'before' and 'after' crisis of the conversion episode" --> part of Christian life was to tell their conversion story as a practice of definition of the self and witness to the other -- every recounting forged a new experience and thus a reconsolidating of the memory of the originating one --> not only part of personal framework that gave meaning to individual life, but also translate to communal ethos - how evangelical Christians remember their history and heritage, focusing on key events and individuals significant to their faith - emphasizes historical moments that inspire present-day beliefs and practices, personal testimonies, and conversion experiences

Whittle-Bliss Revival (Louisville, KY)

- the traveling duo of Whittle and Bliss were emblematic of the increasingly transdenominational evangelicalism that was sweeping the US during the Gilded Age - Simpson was thoroughly involved in the preparation of the event - many prayers, liturgies, Bible readings - main event was the nightly mass meeting

Abolitionism

- to make slavery illegal EVANGELICAL ABOLITION ARGUMENTS: - US enslavement drastically disanalogous from that of biblical world (racialized, permanent, heritable) - US ensllavement inextricably linked to abuses/violence not tolerated in scripture/not conforming to Bible principles - Bible simplicity gravitates towards equality in its trajectory and new community - appeal to "spirit" vs. "letter" of the scriptures - US enslavement was racialized in a way that militates against human dignity/"image of God" - Republican, democratic American sensibilities grate against such an entrenched hierarchy - practitioners of enslavement primarily concerned w/ selfishness and greed (against Biblical virtues) - Paul calls himself and other Christians a "slave" (doulos) in the New Testament - abolitionist Evangelicals used these biblical arguments to ground their beliefs

Los Angeles Crusade (1949)

- took extensive planning - incorporated local churches, had celebrity testimonies, focused on marketing event - cumulative attendance of 350000 w/ 3000 inquirers (Graham's "big break") - Graham makes traditional theological claims but applies them to contemporary crises; synthesis of Christian beliefs and culturally-attuned commentary on the current state of the world

New York Crusade

- took place from May through September of 1957 in Madison Square Garden - cumulative attendance of 2.4 million w/ 61,000 inquirers - Yankee Stadium night on 20 July, 1957: 100000 people - cooperated w/ Catholics and mainline Protestants - fundamentalist break - Martin Luther King Jr. was present and spoke

Scopes Monkey Trial

- took place in 1925 in Dayton, TN, where antievolution evangelicals suffered a major cultural defeat, embarrassed on their own terms of rhetorical combat by the defense lawyer - symbolized the wane of evangelical cultural standing and influence among American elites for the next few decades - coalescence around anti-evolution (fundamentalists) - teacher (Scopes) taught evolution following the passing of a bill which made it illegal to teach - found guilty, but overruled on technicality

American Bible Society (and others)

- voluntary society created in 1816 during the Second Great Awakening - another includes the British and Foreign Bible Society, which was one of the more prominent of the Protestant Bible societies --> worked to gather Protestants from various denominations around the two common, concrete goals: 1. distributing copies of the biblical text 2. increasing awareness of biblical literacy among the larger culture

primary class model (biblicism, etc)

Four key spiritual hallmarks that define evangelicalism: 1. Bibliocentrism (biblicism) - absolute centrality of Bible, and its "plain" reading, both as the ultimate source for theology/ethics and as a regular devotional imperative for individual spiritual practice; new emphasis on Bible, primary way of interacting with Bible (doctrine, spirituality) 2. Experimentalism (conversionism): the personal encounter with and transformation by God as the source of a living faith, typically revolving around a specifiable "conversion" or "born-again" experience and overflowing into individual and emotive forms of spirituality; personal, individual experience (conversion, individualism, personal testimony) 3. Activism: the consequent motivation to be vigorously active in the world, either through evangelism (sharing the Christian message), through missions (taking the gospel/scriptures to other cultures), or through activities for social change (service programs, sociopolitical influence), as the responsibility ("doing" Christianity) 4. Cruciocentrism: Christ's death on the cross for humanity's sin and the legal-sacrificial dimensions of salvation as the climax of the Christian story, including a spiritual rapture with the "blood" and "sacrifice" of Jesus (sin, salvation, the cross) There is a fifth pillar identified by Henry in his book on A.B. Simpson: 5. Transdenominationalism: also called independent, non-denominational, interdenominational, network, or entrepreneurial Christianity -- all terms highlight the idea that evangelicals have worked across certain ideological differences for the sake of ministry and evangelism, and have decentered the church denominations and confessions in favor of evolving interest or thematic or action groups and novel organizations (Calvinist/Arminian divide, voluntary societies, new church/community structures, postdenominationalism)

Francis Schaeffer and "What Happened to the Human Race?"

The authors argue that the acceptance of abortion and euthanasia represents a fundamental shift in Western culture's understanding of the value of human life, and that this shift has profound implications for the future of society. They also argue that the Christian worldview provides a compelling alternative to the secular humanism that underlies many of the arguments in favor of abortion and euthanasia.