The Religious and Political Origins of Evangelical Protestants’ Opposition to Environmental Spending

Evangelical Protestants are less likely than most other Americans to support environmental policies and spending to protect the natural environment. We use almost three decades of repeated cross‐sectional data to examine the factors that promote evangelicals’ opposition to environmental spending. Mediation models with bootstrapped standard errors show that affiliation with the Republican Party, biblical literalism, and religious service attendance mediate differences in support for environmental spending between evangelical Protestants and other Americans. The importance of these mediating variables, however, varies over time and by the group evangelicals are being compared to. Differences in support for environmental spending between evangelical and mainline Protestants, for example, are primarily due to views of the Bible, but not at all to Republican identification. The results shed light on the causal effects of religion on views of the environment, temporal changes in the social and political implications of religiosity, the persistence of divisive issues that support the continued existence of culture wars, and the future of government spending on environmental problems in a social context where scientific evidence is filtered through political and religious ideology.     

Group Identification and Support for the Supreme Court: Evidence from Evangelical Protestants

Research on the determinants of the U.S. Supreme Court's institutional support among the public focuses on three factors at the level of the individual, including satisfaction with its performance, knowledge of the judiciary, and support for democratic values. Evidence from the group level has revealed that the relative importance of these factors can vary, despite the predictions of positivity theory that the effects of all factors should be similar across all subsets of the U.S. population. We seek to explain this inconsistency between theory and evidence through an analysis of evangelical Protestants, a politically powerful and theoretically compelling group. Drawing on group‐based studies, we develop a principled account of when group members will base their institutional support more strongly than others do on their satisfaction with the Court's recent performance, and identify defining features of the information environment of evangelical Protestants that satisfy the model's components. We report evidence from a national survey that the effects of all three major factors differ systematically for evangelical Protestants. We discuss implications of our analysis for an ongoing debate over positivity theory and for identifying other groups for whom institutional and specific support will be strongly linked.     

Sri Lanka's Informal Religious Economy: Evangelical Competitiveness and Buddhist Hegemony in Perspective

Existing religious economy models maintain that as religious regulation increases, levels of interreligious competition decrease. But new understandings of the market dynamics of religious oligopolies necessitate new understandings of religious competitiveness. A relational model of competitiveness using the case of evangelical Christianity in Buddhist‐majority Sri Lanka is proposed. In Sri Lanka the informal religious economy is defined by competitiveness among evangelical Christian groups and, although not recognized by the state, is closely regulated. The focus in this article is on the scalar determinations of evangelical competitiveness, patterns of secrecy and subterfuge, the formation of strategic extra‐group networks that enable competitiveness, and outcomes of a relational model. Three insights are offered that can be used as a starting point for further work on religious oligopolies, informal economies, and relational understandings of religious competition.     

The Pentecostal Church in Slovakia and the Common Witness of Evangelical Churches in the Spirit of Partnership and Cooperation

This study aims to describe the Pentecostal Church in Slovakia in the scope of current ecumenical cooperation and dialogue. The Apostolic Church is a member of the Union of Evangelical Churches in Slovakia, which established the Department of Theology and Christian Education (DETM) at the University of Matej Bel. Since 1994, individual churches have continued together in ecumenical cooperation in the education of their young spiritual workers. The curriculum includes academic interpretation and missiological reflection on selected parts of mission. It offers the practical efforts of the teachers and students, especially from the viewpoint of the churches' common witness in diversity. The curriculum of the study programme for theologians interprets the two mission documents Together towards Life (TTL) and The Cape Town Commitment (CTC) from a Slovakian evangelical theological view and applies it practically in context. This paper introduces DETM's educational programme in mission and ecumenism and examines how it embodies the values and concepts of those two mission documents through its activities. Special interest is focused on the topic of the practice of common witness in a spirit of partnership and cooperation.     

Examining Problems and Assumptions: An Update on Criticisms of Open Theism

Abstract : Open theism, a form of relational theology, has generated a host of criticisms. I examine some of the recent criticisms by analyzing several that center around biblical, doctrinal and philosophical problems. I show how many criticisms miss the mark by failing to recognize and address the underlying assumptions held by open theists.     

Missional Formation at the Evangelical Seminary of Theology in Matanzas,Cuba

The author points out that Cuba is going through a special kairos, a time of transition, where (a) civil society is becoming increasingly active in the Cuban economy; (b) Cuban society is still in the process of digesting the meaning of the normalization of relations with the United States; and finally (c) the churches and religion in general are playing a more dynamic role in Cuban society. The author, on behalf of the hosting institution, the Evangelical Seminary of Theology in Matanzas, Cuba, reflects on the theme of the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism consultation, after making reference to the historical development of missiological training in its 70 years of existence.     

An Interpretation of Evangelical Gender Ideology: Implications for a Theology of Gender

Abstract

One of the core findings in the sociology of religion literature regarding evangelicals is the penchant for the adoption of traditional family values. Despite the availability of alternative gender ideology models, evangelicals in general espouse a male headship and female domestic understanding of gender and concomitant domestic division of labor. There has been a "softening" of male headship language as this language is translated into a servant leadership model. This essay asks the question: What is the cost or impact for evangelicals to espouse a traditional model for gender ideology?     

The Baby Blanket or the Briefcase: The Impact of Evangelical Gender Role Ideologies on Career and Mothering Aspirations of Female Evangelical College Students

This study examines the relationship between the Evangelical gender role ideologies termed Complementarianism and Egalitarianism and mothering and career aspirations among Evangelical female college students. We surveyed 134 women from two colleges in the United States, one in the Midwest and one in the South. Using a cross-sectional, self-report survey design, we examined the interaction between career aspirations and mothering aspirations as well as the impact of Evangelical gender role ideologies on both types of aspirations. Results indicated that career and home aspirations were negatively correlated. Mothering aspirations were shown to be significantly affected by conservative gender role ideology. These findings suggest that aspirations for one’s mothering role may be influenced by ideological positions.     

The centrality of the female body in Brazilian culture: Evangelical and Muslim responses

This article aims to analyse how both Evangelical and Islamic religions deal with a central aspect of the construction of the Brazilian national identity: the body. The Brazilian religious field is exposed to this cultural value and reacts to it in different ways. While Islam preaches female modesty, involving the ‘concealment’ of the body and its forms, Evangelicals reinforce part of the Brazilian culture of appreciation and care for physical attributes, albeit using the rhetoric of doing so with moderation and modesty. The data presented here were collected through interviews with religious leaders and through participant observation in the Baptist Church of Lagoinha, in Belo Horizonte, and the Islamic Youth League, in São Paulo, Brazil.     

Kenotic Trinitarian Panentheism

Abstract :  The "openness of God" movement has made a bold, even courageous move away from static models of God. Yet, as the articles here by Pinnock and Bracken show, divisions remain that call for mediation. Both sides have failed to see that a closer connection is possible between process and orthodox thought. The framework is panentheism , the belief that the world is in some sense within God, even though God also transcends the world. Process thinkers are right to conceive God even more radically as the "supremely related one," yet mistaken in their belief that creation ex nihilo and trinitarian models of God are thereby excluded.     

Evolutionary Theology and God–Memes: Explaining Everything or Nothing

It is not uncommon for Darwinists and memeticists to speculate not only that god–memes (cultural units for belief in a god) evolved as maladaptive traits but also that these memes do not correspond to anything real. However, a counter–Darwinian argument exists that some god–memes evolved as adaptive traits and did so with a metaphysical correspondence to reality. Memeticists cannot disallow these positive claims, because the rules they would use to disallow them would also disallow their negative claims. One must either accept that positive Darwinian theological claims can fall within the bounds of science (and therefore be judged on their explanatory merits alone) or must disallow both sets of arguments, including any claims that god–memes fail to correspond to reality. Given that many Darwinists do not appear to accept a modest version of science that avoids negative metaphysical claims, precedence exists in memetic and Darwinian discourse for making positive metaphysical claims as well.     

OF MIRACLES AND METAPHYSICS: A PENTECOSTAL‐CHARISMATIC AND PROCESS‐RELATIONAL DIALOGUE

This article is comprised of a dialogue between Pentecostal‐Charismatic and Process‐Relational theologies on the perennial issue of miracles. The language of supernaturalism, widely employed by Pentecostal‐Charismatic theologians, is contrasted with the metaphysical naturalism of Process‐Relational theology; it is proposed that a philosophically and scientifically sensitive theology of miracles is possible through a synthesis of both traditions. Themes such as nonmaterialism over materialism, spiritual experience, and prayer for healing miracles are explored. A theology of miracles, mutually informed by both Pentecostal‐Charismatic and Process‐Relational theologies, may focus less on whether or not miracles are possible, but instead focus more on what kind of miracles human beings might value most. By mutually engaging a theology of nonsupernatural, metaphysically grounded miracles, Pentecostal‐Charismatic and Process‐Relational theologians may collaborate to establish the groundwork for creative scientific enterprises, especially in the non‐Western world where Pentecostalism continues to experience its most rapid growth, Such perspectives may eventually lead to cutting‐edge discoveries about the fundamental nature of, and God's interaction with, reality itself. Implications for future research are proposed.     

The Role of Science in Evangelical Hermeneutics

In this article, I argue that evangelical Christians can accommodate science within the limits of strict Biblical exegesis governed by grammatical-historical hermeneutics. To this end, I describe the grammatical-historical method to show how science enters into it. I then distinguish between theological and exegetical uses of science. Next, I use Lakatos’ philosophy of science to distinguish between ad hoc and well-motivated exegetical moves. Based upon these criteria, I then present the gap- and day-age theories as examples of hermeneutical failure in the accommodation of science. Finally, I use the framework interpretation to illustrate a hermeneutically successful accommodation of science.     

Queerly evangelical: the rhetoric of inverted belonging as a challenge to heteronormativity in evangelical theology

ABSTRACT

As a small but growing number of evangelical congregations, organizations, and individuals have adopted certain pro-LGBTQ beliefs in recent years, an intriguing rhetorical strategy has emerged: these evangelicals are claiming in various ways that their newfound beliefs, far from being an impediment to their evangelical identity, actually render them more faithful evangelicals than their anti-LGBTQ counterparts. Through what I call a rhetoric of inverted belonging, those who have long been regarded as irrevocable outsiders of evangelicalism are portraying themselves as more rightful insiders than those who exteriorize them from their religious tradition. In this paper, I illustrate the rhetoric of inverted belonging through a variety of examples from the theological discourse of pro-LGBTQ evangelical individuals and institutions. Analyzing this discourse through the lens of a prevalent definition of an evangelical, I demonstrate how the rhetoric of inverted belonging poses a unique challenge to heteronormative theologies within evangelicalism today.     

The World in Theology

This article focuses on the activity of French Protestant theologian Georges Casalis as a co‐editor of the French journal Christianisme social (Social Christianity) in the turbulent period between 1965 and 1970. The journal reflected the conflicts of the times on issues such as relations with Eastern Europe, Christian–Marxist dialogue, the new impulses coming from revolutionary movements of the South, and the events of May 1968.     

Mission in Pentecostal Theology

The purpose of this essay is to seek to discern as accurately as possible some key theological resources and impulses that stand behind global Pentecostal mission, whose tremendous growth has caught the attention of scholars and practitioners alike. After outlining a profile of key factors believed to be behind missionary enthusiasm and discerning the current state of the emerging Pentecostal missiological scholarship, the essay seeks to provide a fairly comprehensive theological analysis of leading motifs. The essay suggests that the following theological themes undergird Pentecostal missiology, namely a keen eschatological expectation, the pursuit of a distinctively Pentecostal “Full Gospel,” the vision of a holistic salvation, and the reliance on the power and energies of the Holy Spirit. Since Pentecostal theological analysis is still in the making, the current writing should be considered as an interim report.     

Evangelical Civil War on the College Campus,White Evangelical Right Framing Resistance to Racial Justice in 2020s America

This paper examines a civil war brewing among evangelicals on the college campus over racial justice—calls for greater racial equality, equity, and inclusion—in the era of Black Lives Matter (BLM). It examines how the white evangelical right are framing their resistance to racial justice and redrawing the color line in the contemporary college evangelical landscape not with distant “social justice warriors” in broader secular society, but with those right inside their evangelical community who, at varying levels, are coming out in support for racial justice in 2020s America. To do this, I first examine the varied campus evangelicals that support racial justice and how they express and frame their support as proper religious practice. I then explicate how the white evangelical right utilize a strategy of colorblind-othering to fight against these co-evangelicals that support racial justice. Data for the study come from the Landscape Study of Chaplaincy and Campus Ministry (2019–22).     

The Missional Shape of Worship in Evangelical Lutheran Worship

Abstract : Mission stands out as an orienting concept in ELW unlike its predecessors. ELW has a missional theological framework as well as a practical missional orientation, a situation in which worship and mission are understood and practiced in relation to one another. It is possible that ELW will help congregations claim the missional character of worship.     

Fuzzy Genes: Epistemic Tensions in Genomics

Genomics contributed to making modern biology a prolific multi-disciplinary field leading to new approaches such as systems biology. Reporting in the media reflects the high stakes involved in these changes, but such reporting often appears inconsistent as contradictory claims are made about new applications contrasting with uncertainties from new insights. Such inconsistent claims might relate to different disciplines involved in the field. New approaches from engineering disciplines such as computer science have changed research practices and approaches towards the object; the meaning of genes having become context-dependent. Since disciplines must cooperate, tensions arise over methods, evidence criteria and the significance of hypotheses. The concept of epistemic cultures, developed to highlight differences between distant fields such as high-energy physics and molecular biology, can render insights into the ‘cultures’ related to practices and approaches within genomics. Qualitative interviews with scientists shed light on how computer science and experimental molecular biology co-operate and which problems arise from epistemic differences as the criteria for relevant findings become subject to the disciplinary context. In addition, genomics-like approaches have entered other fields of biological research, whilst systems biology further challenges hypothesis-driven experimentation. This may lead to a new epistemic culture differing from the one previously described. These findings provide insights into how different accounts arise and shed light on general properties of prolific multi-disciplinary research fields. Inconsistencies in the way such fields appear from outside might be considered normal rather than the exception.