A member of the millennial generation asks what “evangelical” means today

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

The Future of Evangelicalism in the Millennial Generation
In this article for Red Letter Christians, Brandan Robertson says that he personally identifies as an evangelical but asks, “What does the label Evangelical even mean anymore?”  Answering his own question he says, “I can tell you this— it doesn’t mean that I am a Republican. It doesn’t mean that I am pro-life, anti-LGBTQ rights, or pro-guns. It also doesn’t mean that I am a Democrat. It doesn’t necessarily mean that I am pro-immigration reform or pro-socialized medicine.  Evangelical, as a label, has absolutely nothing to do with political affiliation or social agendas. The term literally can be translated, ‘People of the Good News.’” But he says that because of “mudslinging and misguided politics done in the name of Jesus, Evangelicals went from being ‘people of the Good News’ to ‘people of Fox News.’” Brandan Robertson is a prolific blogger, writer, and Internet broadcaster, as well as being a senior at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, an evangelical school founded in the late 19th century by businessman-turned-evangelist Dwight L. Moody.

Letha Dawson Scanzoni is an independent scholar, writer, and editor, and is the author or coauthor of nine books. In 1978, she and Virginia Ramey Mollenkott wrote Is the Homosexual My Neighbor?, one of the earliest books urging evangelical Christians to rethink their views on homosexuality (updated edition, 1994, HarperOne). More recently, Letha coauthored (with social psychologist David G. Myers) What God Has Joined Together: The Christian Case for Gay Marriage (HarperOne, 2005 and 2006). Another of Letha’s most well-known books is All We’re Meant to Be: Biblical Feminism for Today, coauthored with Nancy A. Hardesty (Word Books, 1974; revised edition, Abingdon, 1986; updated and expanded edition, Eerdmans, 1992). Letha served as editor of Christian Feminism Today in both its former print edition (EEWC Update) and its website for 19 years until her retirement in December 2013.

1 COMMENT

  1. Sorry, but I have never heard Brandan Roberton criticize evangelical misogyny. In his blog, he quotes a lot of men but very few women. He gives feminism the silent treatment, which is sometimes worse than the trashing we hear from men like Mark Driscoll. I’m just not impressed with Brandan Robertson.

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