BALANCING EVANGELICALISM

From our Life of Meaning text this week, we read the interview of Randall Barmer, religious historian and professor of American religion at Barnard College at Columbia University. He speaks of prominent characteristics of the evangelical experience. Sharing of the faith, adaptation to cultural idiom, use of existent media, the present paradigm of the suburban megachurch, message as priority, looking for novelty, the waning of hellfire and sin, and a new emphasis on grace are all on the laundry list for the evangelical. He then closes with the effects of pluralism upon evangelicals, their message and how they should approach this mutli-cultural, multi-faith challenge.
Below are some of his comments:

"One of the characteristics of being an evangelical is that you want to share your faith...(to) bring others into the kingdom of heaven."

"I think the genius of evangelicalism...is the way (it) has adapted to the cultural idiom...whatever that may be for a given time."

"Evangelicals understand that the message is what is important."
"Evangelicals are always crafting their message and using the media with extraordinary success."

"The day for hellfire and brimstone...is probably past. (Now Evangelicals) emphasize the grace of God."

The rise of the Religious right as a response to pluralism:
"The real danger for evangelicals is in trying to impose its religious values on the larger society...Once you begin to specify or codify religious beliefs or behavior, you kill it."

"The biggest challenge facing evangelicals is how to share their faith...What is appropriate for one as an evangelical making faith claims?

Walter Morton for Terra Incognita