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Dr. Anthony B. Bradley is a Professor of Theology and Ethics at The King’s College in New York City and Research Fellow at renowned think tank Acton Institute. He is the author of several books, including Black and Tired, Liberating Black Theology, and most recently, Aliens in the Promised Land. |
I had an “aha” moment reading Eastern Orthodox theology the other day. Ok, so here’s a thesis (it’s just a thesis and I’m sure someone else has pointed to these things before): it’s doubtful that evangelicalism will ever have another Carl-Henry-era “center” again.
In it’s desire for centralizing structural/cultural power, the Carl Henry-era/CT evangelicalism, with Calvinists, Arminians, Reformed and Dispensational working together, went from gathering various denominational communions fighting against theological liberalism to fighting primarily against social & political liberalism in the 1970s & 1980s.
Evangelicalism allowed herself to be co-opted by suburban conservative Reagan/Bush era deistic God and country political operatives who used evangelical leader’s influence for votes & promised (fleeting) legislative and executive branch access and influence in return. That never happened. In other words, evangelical leaders sold their churches out for politics in the 1970s through the early 1990s and lost their kids in the process.
Read more: http://www.dranthonybradley.com/how-evangelicals-sold-out-to-politics-and-lost-their-kids-in-the-process/