John Mark Comer and Tyler Staton are two who are revisiting the ways of Jesus. Practicing the Way is a website that has come out of that. It clears a lot of the murkiness.
I am wondering if there are male commentators who also occupy the space the Karen has described - interrogating our assumptions. David Brooks certainly - but he writes about three women. So many articles I read in this venue are by women. The men appear either to be the bullies or are rather meekly residing in the background. Exactly what is the nature of the divide between men and women in white evangelical Christianity? Jack
It's a great question Jack. At about the same time that I read Karen's book I also read Russell Moore's latest, Losing our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America and, in various ways, it strikes me they are complementary works.
I do read Russell Moore as well but just have the feeling that white evangelicalism is a male dominated world and that creates an imbalance. Being a man I understand the competitiveness and how the male ego works often opting for the use of power or force to achieve goals. As Christ followers I think we need to pay more attention to how Jesus lived and ministered on this earth. It was Rome that wielded deadly power.
I reached this interview through its repost on The Priory, to which I am a subscriber, and my comment is really for Dr. Prior. Her response to the question "why stay in evangelicalism?" sounded like the question she had been asked was "why stay in Christianity?" (To be fair, it looks like "[the evangelical church]" was added later, so maybe she was responding to the larger thought of Christianity.) Dr. Prior responded by talking about abiding in Jesus, and amen to that! But I wanted to point out that Christianity is way bigger than evangelicalism. One of the mental constructs of evangelicalism which has been so destructive (IMHO) is the idea that Christianity = evangelicalism, so those in other traditions (e.g., main line Protestants, Catholics, orthodox, some Charismatics) aren't truly Christians. Jesus can be found wherever two or three are gathered in his name, and on the flip side, many will call him "Lord, Lord," and He will say "Depart from me, I never knew you." I would be so interested to hear Dr. Prior answer the question "why stay in evangelicalism?" as opposed to "why stay in Christianity?" Is there really any hope for white American evangelicalism? It's a deeply personal question for me.
John Mark Comer and Tyler Staton are two who are revisiting the ways of Jesus. Practicing the Way is a website that has come out of that. It clears a lot of the murkiness.
I am wondering if there are male commentators who also occupy the space the Karen has described - interrogating our assumptions. David Brooks certainly - but he writes about three women. So many articles I read in this venue are by women. The men appear either to be the bullies or are rather meekly residing in the background. Exactly what is the nature of the divide between men and women in white evangelical Christianity? Jack
It's a great question Jack. At about the same time that I read Karen's book I also read Russell Moore's latest, Losing our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America and, in various ways, it strikes me they are complementary works.
I do read Russell Moore as well but just have the feeling that white evangelicalism is a male dominated world and that creates an imbalance. Being a man I understand the competitiveness and how the male ego works often opting for the use of power or force to achieve goals. As Christ followers I think we need to pay more attention to how Jesus lived and ministered on this earth. It was Rome that wielded deadly power.
I reached this interview through its repost on The Priory, to which I am a subscriber, and my comment is really for Dr. Prior. Her response to the question "why stay in evangelicalism?" sounded like the question she had been asked was "why stay in Christianity?" (To be fair, it looks like "[the evangelical church]" was added later, so maybe she was responding to the larger thought of Christianity.) Dr. Prior responded by talking about abiding in Jesus, and amen to that! But I wanted to point out that Christianity is way bigger than evangelicalism. One of the mental constructs of evangelicalism which has been so destructive (IMHO) is the idea that Christianity = evangelicalism, so those in other traditions (e.g., main line Protestants, Catholics, orthodox, some Charismatics) aren't truly Christians. Jesus can be found wherever two or three are gathered in his name, and on the flip side, many will call him "Lord, Lord," and He will say "Depart from me, I never knew you." I would be so interested to hear Dr. Prior answer the question "why stay in evangelicalism?" as opposed to "why stay in Christianity?" Is there really any hope for white American evangelicalism? It's a deeply personal question for me.