The State of the Evangelical Mind

Reflections on the Past, Prospects for the Future

by Todd C. Ream, Jerry A. Pattengale, and Christopher J. Devers (Editors)

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Pub Date Dec 11 2018 | Archive Date Feb 17 2019

InterVarsity Press | IVP Academic

Christian | Religion & Spirituality

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Description

Two decades on from Mark Noll's Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, could we now be on the threshold of another crisis of intellectual maturity in Christianity? Or are the opportunities for faithful intellectual engagement and witness even greater now than before?

These essays invite readers to a virtual "summit meeting" on the current state of the evangelical mind. The insights of national leaders in their fields will aid readers to reflect on the past contributions of evangelical institutions for the life of the mind as well as prospects for the future. Contributors include:

Richard J. Mouw
Mark A. Noll
Jo Anne Lyon
David C. Mahan and C. Donald Smedley
Timothy Larsen
Lauren Winner
James K. A. Smith
Mark Galli

The State of the Evangelical Mind frames the resources needed for churches, universities, seminaries, and parachurch organizations to chart their course for the future, both separately and together, and provides readers an opportunity to participate in a timely conversation as they consider what institutional and individual role they might play.

This is not a book to define or diagnose evangelicalism broadly, and there's no fear-mongering or demonizing here, but rather a call to attend to the evangelical mind and the role played by interlocking institutions in its intellectual formation and ongoing vitality. It will encourage—and challenge—those who want to be part of the solution in a time of need.

Advance Praise

"If you've read Mark Noll's book The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind written over twenty years ago, you will want to read The State of the Evangelical Mind with its new take on evangelicalism because of our current context. What hasn't changed is for Christians to have their minds and hearts shaped profoundly by the Holy Spirit as they answer God's call to be scholars, teachers, and guides to the next generation."
-Shirley Hoogstra, president of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities

"Ever since the publication of Mark Noll's seminal The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, which appeared with much fanfare in 1994, evangelical scholars in churches, seminaries, colleges and universities, and parachurch organizations have struggled to assess the gains and losses of evangelical thought over the past generation. As these essays make clear, progress has been uneven. On one hand, the level of scholarship by evangelicals and evangelical institutions has evolved to a high level of sophistication that is recognized by insiders and outsiders alike. On the other, even as evangelical scholarship has grown, the association of evangelicalism with the more tawdry elements of the 'religious right' has delegitimized the movement among serious intellectuals both within and without the evangelical community. Both the gains and the losses appear in the judiciously rendered thought pieces in The State of the Evangelical Mind. The essays are uniformly astute, well written, and, in short, ruthlessly truthful. The result is a stunning achievement. In unflinchingly facing the shortcomings and hypocrisies of contemporary evangelicalism as well as its notable strengths, the volume points a way forward from the scandal of the evangelical mind to its honor."
-Harry Stout, Jonathan Edwards Professor of American Religious History, Yale University

"How do we understand the state of the evangelical mind when some 80 percent voted red in the 2016 US presidential election? This little book may serve as a catalyst for a generation of those either despairing of or hopeful about making a difference—not just politically but especially theologically and intellectually—just as Mark Noll's Scandal prompted those half a generation ago to rise up and be counted."
-Amos Yong, professor of theology and Mission, Fuller Theological Seminary