Evolution Of Evangelical Politics Summary

Millennials, backed by the rising Generation Z, have proved themselves to be the most secular demographic that the United States has ever borne witness to. On the political spectrum, too, there has been an increase in support from these generations for leftist viewpoints and alignments. This palpable change within the nation’s politics has raised concerns about the communion between religious people and the far left. Matthew Sitman’s article, “Against Moral Austerity: How Religion Can Revitalize the Left,” emphasizes a need for the conjoined forces of faith and liberalism to inspire political change. Written from the biased perspective of a devout Catholic, Sitman struggles to appeal to the secular end of the spectrum through a valid argument but provides enough supportive detail behind his ideas to create, at the very least, an acceptable

This semester, as a class, we have peeled away the layers of what evangelicalism and fundamentalism means throughout history, especially in our Western culture. I am intrigued with them both and their very presence in many of our modern-day congregations, as well as the secular parts of our society. After visiting Grace Covenant Church of Austin, Texas, many of the attributes that have been emphasized in books such as Rediscovering an Evangelical Heritage by Donald Dayton and American Apocalypse by Matthew Sutton, I experienced while visiting Grace.

As we have peeled away the layers of what evangelicalism and fundamentalism means throughout history, especially in our Western culture I am intrigued as to both and their very intense presence in many of our modern-day congregations. “Yet, the vast majority of evangelicals around the world today hail from Holiness, Pentecostal, and charismatic congregations”. After visiting Grace Covenant Church of Austin Texas, much of those aforementioned ‘typical’ contributions that have been emphasized in books such as The American Evangelical Story by Douglas Sweeney and American Apocalypse by Matthew Sutton, I experienced ever present at Grace.

This year’s presidential election is facing much controversy. The evangelicals are a vote candidates strive to earn along with many other special interest groups. Donald Trump, the nominee for the Republican party, met with prominent evangelical leaders of America on June 22, 2016 to discuss many of the issues that he will face if elected president. It was a closed conversation that included Jerry Falwell Jr., David Jeremiah, Ben Carson, Franklin Graham, and other evangelical leaders. In the conversation, Donald Trump gains the vote of evangelical leaders and their followers not through his extensive knowledge or political background, but by appealing to their emotions, using precise and compelling language, and convincing the audience that

Not every Christian has as many political aspirations as what the outspoken Moral Minority Leader

Furthermore, emphasizing the influence of President’s secret religiosity on the politics of the country may well be part of a larger regard to view religion as, entirely, a private task, rather than a common enterprise. However, civil religion in U.S Presidential rhetoric still represents the republican tradition of the Declaration of Independence, and it is important in shaping the policy and political rhetoric guide of the Americans in choosing their candidates. It also attributes to the American sense of exceptionalism which is the belief that the United States is chosen by God. This idea was emphasized in one of the preacher Billy Graham’s sermons, who argued that, the desire of September 9/11 would come to be seen as ‘a day of victory’,

(143) With thirty-nine million more votes the evangelicals have the ability and the power to control who becomes the new leader of America. The Christians and Evangelicals have the ability to make a difference in the country’s government if they would exercise their right to vote. While Barton’s opinion is correct, he uses some fallacies to prove his logic. Throughout the book he made it seem that none of the Christians were voting. An example of this is, “Many Christians argue that the next generation is not our concern-that Christ will return before this.”.

Second, Butler disagrees with Kidd on the extent of George Whitefield’s impact. Despite delivering charismatic performances when he preached the Gospel, there wasn’t sustained change in local religious patterns in the places he spoke. Furthermore, the leadership of the revivals was not exactly cohesive. Whitefield held symbolic stature but didn’t hold strategic oversight on the local ministers that he influenced. A lack of unity only hampered the growth potential of the revival spirit and mission

Our job is not to Christianize government, it to be of service. We have already won as Christians but we are to engage at every level with confidence and peace. To step up to the plate and do what we have to

“Conservative evangelicals who had returned to the Democratic Party in 1976 now defected back to the Republican Party, solidifying a trend in the making.” The Religious Right had effectively crystallized a general trend in the electorate. After the election of 1980, the Religious Right became “synonymous with the GOP in popular imagination” and socially conservative values became synonymous with the conservative movement. Despite the dissolution of the organizations that comprised the Religious Right later in the 1980s, its influence on conservatism in America had solidified and, until this day, has remained a decisive factor in both local and national

The key question the author is addressing is What is truly our role as christians in society and what outlook should we have when dealing with politics?. Do we put our loyalties into

It was starting to look as if politics were beginning to become more secular. As it is well known, after Kennedy’s assassination, Lyndon B. Johnson carried out the rest of Kennedy’s term, and then ran for reelection in 1964. Johnson, a left-leaning Democrat found himself up against Barry Goldwater from the right-minded Republican Party. Early on in the 20th century, many of Protestant denominations had adopted progressive, social reformist doctrines, that many people still value to this day. Despite being Protestant, Goldwater’s platform took a much more conservative approach. This ended up backfiring on him, however, as many Christian publications stated that they opposed Goldwater’s policies. He was further stigmatized by the religious publication The Christian Century as turning his patriotic rhetoric into “religious nationalism.” To make matters worse for Goldwater, in October of 1964, less than a month before the general election, 725 Episcopalian clergy and laymen from forty-one states signed a resolution accusing him of “a transparent exploitation of racialism.” Richard Nixon, a Republican and ex-Vice President at the time, claimed that these allegations were “the most vicious in political history.” As a result, Lyndon Johnson won the 1964 election in an unprecedented landslide victory, with Barry Goldwater only winning six states: his native Arizona, and five states in the heart of the Bible Belt (Kosmin 1993:174-5). While religious leaders in the end

Evangelicals who believe in the Christ against culture view of humanity believe that the world is bad, due to a fallen human nature, and getting worse. “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him,” 1 John 15b, is the biblical foundation of the “don’t touch the world” view that type I Christians hold (B, 219). This is a group-oriented collection of people who believe strongly in students not attending a public school. Their view sees homeschooling as best and private schooling as a viable option if it must be done, but preferably a private school attached to a church. According to their beliefs, politics should never be touched by a Christian lest they be influenced by the deteriorating, worldly people of the earth, and voting will almost always be done in favor of conservative candidates.

Most men during this time also felt their authority was being challenged due to women enthusiastically embracing the evangelical faith; however, this did not stop the women in the south. In fact, many women joined evangelical churches despite the opposition of their husbands and fathers. With the help of the pastor and clergymen women joined evangelical churches and exercised their gifts of the spirit. Some churches, even allowed women to be baptized and presented with the Lord’s Supper in private to keep their husbands from learning about their admittance into the church. One Virginia woman felt her husband would kill her if she was admitted into the Baptist church. This is one example of a case that was allowed admission under secrecy. Many

The Evangelical movement was concerned with the moral regeneration of existing Christian and the conversion of more people to Christianity. The qualities of re-born Christians were humility, submissiveness, obedience and passivity. These qualities developed the importance of women’s spiritual and moral superiority. Therefore, it allowed women to get involved in the public sphere, and fight for what Is right; such as anti-slavery. This is agreed with by Rendell, because he argues that the evangelical movement opened up possibilities for women to get involved in public life not just family life. By the movement allowing women to get involved in the public sphere, the women showed this through getting involved in the Anti-slavery movement, and