#Revangelical thread. Some think that evangelicalism was always doomed to fail. But it was later developments in the 80s that contributed to its unraveling: the rise of the Religious Right, prosperity televangelists, & the attractional church mvment, among others. 1/
(Some1 who represented the first 2 digressions was Pat Robertson.) But historians believe in the 'contingency' of history, that things didn't have to turn out a certain way. We need to return to the original vision of being theologically robust yet socially/culturally engaged. 2/
How do we maintain theological depth w/ such a diverse mvment? The YRR had it part right when they dug deeper into their theological tradition. The shortcoming was its narrowness. Evangelicals of ALL stripes need to dig deeper into their rich theological heritage. 3/
What about generic non-denoms? Learn church history. We have a reservoir of nearly 2000 yrs of thoughtful, intelligent Christians wreslting over similar things. The church did not begin w/ your grandma's conversion. Learn church history... 4/
You'll find we are evangelical insofar as we are Protestant, and Protestant insofar as we are "catholic." This is where the creeds & confessions come in. They serve as a 'passport' to other traditions. There you can discuss your theological differences & commonalities w/ depth 5/
instead of watering them down. When you learn church history, you also learn from other traditions while being firmly planted in your own. What about non-denoms? Learn your church's statement of faith and compare it w/ the creeds & confessions. And you will grow. 6/ END
One more thought: What if your church doesn't have a statement of faith? I say this with a few exceptions: FIND ANOTHER CHURCH.
A church that is not willing to discuss what they believe has the danger of collapsing in on itself.
A church that is not willing to discuss what they believe has the danger of collapsing in on itself.
@threadreaderapp unroll
