The evangelical movement was never just about theology

The fate of black evangelicals, and other chapters from Isaac B. Sharp's new book.

Call me naive, but for the years I worked at Christianity Today, I believed evangelicalism was about belief — and only belief. That is, the global Protestant movement, as vast and decentralized as it is, nonetheless finds its center in theology.

Historian David Bebbington gave us his quadrilateral (summarized here). The National Association of Evangelicals and LifeWay teamed up in 2015 to survey evangelical identity using statements of belief. These beliefs — about the authority of Scripture, the importance of evangelism, an active, everyday faith, and the centrality of Christ’s atoning work on the cross — helped the movement transcend any baggage it might have picked up in recent decades.

Plus, if evangelicals couldn’t agree on theology, they had Billy Graham. If you liked him, you were more or less in. (I like Billy Graham.)

Despite my best efforts I could not edit out the dust from this photo.

2016 blew that up

November 2016 kind of blew this up for me. I wasn’t alone. White evangelica…