The Variety of American Evangelicalism

by Donald W. Dayton, Robert K. Johnston (Editor)

Those labeled as "evangelicals" commonly are assumed to constitute a large and fairly homogeneous segment of American Protestantism. This volume suggests that, in fact, evangelicalism is better understood as a set of distinct subtraditions, each with its own history, organizations, and priorities. The differences among groups are so important that the question arises: Is the term "evangelical" useful at all?

This book attempts to enter as sympathetically as possible into the self-understandings of movements usually grouped under the evangelical umbrella. For each of twelve major traditions, a leading scholarly interpreter first articulates the group's theological orientation and then explores the relationship between that movement and broader "evangelical" issues and organizations. Contributors develop remarkably useful and diverse conceptual strategies for charting the complex evangelical landscape.

In crisp summary chapters, the editors draw differing conclusions from the many perspectives offered. Donald Dayton wants to abandon the category "evangelical" altogether. Robert Johnston sees the varied traditions as an "extended family" whose members embody common characteristics to greater or lesser degrees.

Genres: Theology, History, Religion

285 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Donald W. Dayton (PhD, University of Chicago), now retired, taught theology and ethics at North Park Seminary, Northern Baptist Seminary, Drew University, and Azusa Pacific University. He lives in California.

Reviews

[Daniel Silliman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mostly forgotten edited volume that deserves to be revived in current academic debates. The book asks the question "what is evangelicalism?" by asking who is or isn't a part of it. Are Pentecostals? The Churches of Christ? Adventists? Lutherans? There are 12 chapters looking at different religious traditions and giving wildly different answers, with widely differing accounts of how they arrived at those answers. There are then two different conclusions, making two different arguments. The result is confusion, but the confusion, I think, is illuminating.

An important read for historians of American religion.

[Craig Toth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This fine book is a remedy for the historyless, subjective brands of Christianity that are common in American culture. Read it to learn, among other things, of the rise of John Nelson Darby's premillennial dispensationalism, and then ask yourself why so many people hold to this questionable eschatology. This book proves that learning ones religious heritage can be both sobering and uplifting at the same time.