Evangelicalism: A Very Short Introduction

Very Short Introductions #707

by John G. Stackhouse Jr.

Evangelicalism has rapidly become one of the most significant religious movements in the modern world.
An umbrella term that encompasses many Protestant denominations that share core tenets of Christianity, evangelicalism is foremost defined by its disciples' consideration of the Bible as the ultimate moral and historical authority, the desire to evangelize or spread the faith, and the value of religious conversion known as being “born again.”

As the Evangelical movement has grown rapidly, so has its influence on the political stage. Evangelicals affect elections up and down the Americas and across Africa, provoke governments throughout Asia, fill up some of the largest church buildings, and possess the largest congregations of any religion in the world. Yet evangelicals are wildly diverse- from Canadian Baptists to Nigerian Anglicans, from South Sea Methodists to Korean Presbyterians, and from house churches in Beijing to megachurches in Saõ Paulo.

This Very Short Introduction tells the evangelical story from the preacher-led revivals of the eighteenth century, through the frontier camp meetings of the nineteenth, to the mass urban rallies of the twentieth and the global megachurches of the twenty-first. More than just a sketch of where evangelicals have come from, this volume aims to clearly examine the heart of evangelical phenomenon. Is there such a (single) thing as evangelicalism? What is its basic character? Where are the evangelicals going? And what in the world do they want?

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction, Theology, History

160 pages, Paperback

Published June 10, 2022

About the author

A graduate of Queen's University (BA, first class), Wheaton College Graduate School (MA, summa cum laude), and The University of Chicago (PhD), he taught European history and then modern Christianity at postsecondary institutions in both the USA and Canada.

He is the author of eleven books, editor of four more, and co-author or co-editor of another half dozen. He has published over 700 articles, book chapters, and reviews, and his work has been featured on most major North American TV networks, in most major radio markets, and in periodicals as diverse as The New York Times, The Atlantic, Christianity Today, The Christian Century, The Times Literary Supplement, Time, and The Globe and Mail.

Dr. Stackhouse has lectured at Harvard's Kennedy School, Yale's Divinity School, Stanford's Law School, Hong Kong University, Edinburgh University, Fudan University, Otago University, and many other universities in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.

He lives in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.

Reviews

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A worthy addition to the Oxford "A Very Short Introduction" series that packs a lot into just 124 physically small pages. For those not familiar with evangelicalism, the book will serve as an easily-digested crash course on the origins and development of the movement. For those in the Anglosphere, it will provide a helpful corrective to the idea that evangelicalism is all about the U.S. and a particular brand of electoral politics.

I was particularly heartened to see the attention paid throughout the book to the global nature and regional distinctives of evangelicalism. As Stackhouse reminds us, the centre of Christianity as a whole—and evangelicalism in particular—has moved to the two-thirds world. And, as someone familiar with this stream of Christianity, I found the last chapter ("The end of evangelicalism?") a helpful summary of the challenges facing evangelical churches today (and likely into the foreseeable future).

[Tom Greentree · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful summary of evangelical history and contemporary realities. Quick read. Stackhouse’s analysis of the current divisive struggles in the last chapter is particularly insightful.

Lots of good quotes. Here’s one from the conclusion:
“As persecution from deeply antagonistic forces continues to shadow the lives of many of those evangelicals, the survival of this generation and the faithful transmission of the gospel to the next remains of singular importance. Meanwhile, other evangelicals face the opposite questions posed by the enjoyment of considerable cultural influence and unprecedented material comfort. Will the gospel go deeply into the hearts of evangelicals softened by success? Or will it merely ornament an essentially unconverted outlook?” (123)

[Rachel Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book started out exactly as I expected: it presented facts about evangelicalism. But it got much worse as I read on because the author started to express more and more of his opinions on evangelicalism mostly being a positive thing, presenting missionaries as overall good, etc. I also found very un-academic language in the way the author used religious language, asserted his opinions as fact, and called Côté d’Ivoire the Ivory Coast (in 2023), among other things.

[Taylor Swift Scholar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok I was kind of skeptical when the author revealed early on that he himself is an Evangelical Christian. However, this was one of the better books from this series. I learned about the history of Evangelical Christianity and how it differs from other (sometimes overlapping) types of Christianity such as Liberal Christianity and Fundamentalism.

[Reinhardt · Rating 4 out of 5]

An insightful summary of what distinguishes evangelicalism, especially American evangelicalism. He pinpoints Populism and Pragmatism as key characteristics. These non-theological features helpfully distinguish evangelicalism from basic orthodox Christianity.

[Cristiano · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short introduction, but highly effective at that.

[Werner Näf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good short overview.