Overall, talk about sex in the pages of CT demonstrates thatevangelicals are neither anti-sex nor traditionalists. They instead forged a new sexual ethicin response to the historical events and developments of the 1960s. Keywords: evangelicalism; the long 1960s; the sexual revolution; sexuality; religion; conservatism; Christianity Today 1.Author:Aaron Pattillo-LuntPublish Year:2021
What is evangelicalism in Christianity?
Evangelicalism is a Protestant movement embraced within a variety of Christian denominations, based on the idea that religious salvation can be achieved through adherence to the word of God as delivered through the Bible. evangelical christians, beliefs. 423.
What sets Evangelical Christians apart from other Christians?
5 Beliefs That Set Evangelicals Apart From Other Christians. Evangelical Christians believe in the Bible as God’s inspired Word to humankind, perfect in truth in the original text. It is the final authority in all matters of doctrine and faith — above all human authority, according to EvangelicalBeliefs.com.
Are Evangelical Christians similar to other denominations of Christianity?
So with their faith in the Bible and Jesus, evangelical Christians may seem similar to other Christian denominations, even bearing some of the same names.
What are the core beliefs of Evangelicals?
While they may go by different denominational names, evangelical Christians are unified as a group and set apart from other Christians by certain core beliefs. Different from other denominations, the top five identifying beliefs of evangelical Christians are: SPECIAL: Prayer Changes Your Brain in 4 Amazing Ways.
Re-centering Christianity around conservative sexual ethics
The Nashville Statement is hardly the first time conservative American Christians have argued against LGBTQ identities and relationships. If anything, the document is the culmination of a years-long push to make anti-LGBTQ theology obligatory for evangelical leadership or even membership.
Early Christians had no concept of modern same-sex couples
All three scholars were quick to note that sex and gender have long been topics of debate for Christian communities. But while some scriptural passages and community practices arguably ostracized LGBTQ people, Moss and others said such disagreements weren’t “central” to ancient Christian identities.
Early Christians played a lot with gender
Scholars say conservative Christian condemnations of transgender identities, which the Nashville Statement denies is “consistent with God’s holy purposes,” are also spurious when put in context of the ancient church. In fact, Shuve says hardline views of biological gender determination would likely confuse early followers of Christ.
Christians change, including evangelicals
It’s important to dispel any notion that ancient Christianity was especially progressive by most modern definitions.
What were the feminist organizations in the 1990s?
Advertisement. Feminist organizations including the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women were active in the 1990s but had little support within the U.S. government. That began to change in the late 1990s, when a confluence of factors encouraged evangelical NGOs to become increasingly involved in global issues.
What is Dillon’s nonprofit?
Dillon now runs a nonprofit, Made in a Free World, which focuses on labor trafficking.) Advertisement. The strategy of “rescuing” supposed slaves has also been criticized as paternalist, moralist, and ineffective.
When did the second wave of feminists start?
Second-wave feminists began driving the current conversation about trafficking in the late 1970s, when a book by sociologist Kathleen Barry, Female Sexual Slavery, brought the issue to many people’s attention for the first time and argued that it should be a feminist cause.
Who is Justin Dillon?
Justin Dillon, a Christian filmmaker who directed a 2008 “rockumentary” about trafficking and spoke about the cause at the Passion conference in 2012, has another explanation for why sex trafficking in particular may have caught on as a Christian issue. “Christianity is centered around one word: redemption,” Dillon said.
Who is Yvonne Zimmerman?
For Protestants, it’s particularly resonant, said Yvonne Zimmerman, an associate professor of Christian ethics at the Methodist Theological School in Ohio and author of the 2012 book Other Dreams of Freedom: Religion, Sex and Human Trafficking.
Who established the Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives?
In 2001, President George W. Bush established the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, which gave religious organizations new access to federal funds for causes including anti-trafficking work.
Abstract
This paper examines how the editors and contributors to Christianity Today ( CT) called for an evangelical sexual ethics in the 1960s.
1. Introduction
Evangelicals talk about sex a lot, and scholars have tended to see religious conservatives’ talk about sex as reactionary and emblematic of “traditionalism” ( Griffith 2017; Irvine 2002 ). Yet, if evangelicals were defending “tradition,” they also worked to redefine it in the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s.
2. Before Evangelical Sex Manuals
Historical analyses of when evangelicals began generating a sex positive ethic has tended to focus on sex and marriage manuals, particularly two that were published in the early 1970s: Marabel Morgan’s The Total Woman ( Morgan 1973) and Tim and Beverly LaHaye’s The Act of Marriage (1976).
3. Evangelicals and Sex Education
Mary Calderone’s Sex Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) and its efforts to teach a comprehensive sex education program absent sectarian concerns spawned controversy ( McGirr 2001, pp. 226–31 ).
5. Conclusions
Decades of evangelical talk about how to combat a sex obsessed culture ironically produced an evangelicalism that is obsessed with sex and its sociocultural effects.
Data Availability Statement
Primary source data was obtained from Christianity Today and are available at https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/archives/ (accessed on 9 February 2021) with a paid subscription.
Acknowledgments
Special thanks to Molly Worthen, John Hawthorne, and Mark Edwards for reading early drafts and pushing me to think more clearly about the sources and argument. Edwards told me about this special issue and sparked my interest in U.S. religious history when I was an undergraduate student.
What is evangelicalism?
Evangelicalism is a Protestant movement embraced within a variety of Christian denominations, based on the idea that religious salvation can be achieved through adherence to the word of God as delivered through the Bible. While they may go by different denominational names, evangelical Christians are unified as a group …
What do evangelicals believe?
Evangelicals believe the work of Jesus on the cross, through his death and resurrection, is the only source of salvation and forgiveness of sins. PrayerFoundation.com makes it clear that salvation is through faith alone. People can do nothing to earn their way to heaven.
What does it mean to be saved?
1. They point to a specific, personal conversion experience in which they are "born again" or "saved.". According to PrayerFoundation.com, "individuals (above an age of accountability) must personally trust in Jesus Christ for salvation.". 2.
Do evangelicals believe in the rapture?
5. Most, though not all, evangelicals believe there will be a rapture in the end times where the church will be "caught up with Christ before the Great Tribulation, leaving nonbelievers behind to suffer on Earth," states the Pew Research Center. This idea has gained attention through the "Left Behind" book series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, and the related movies.
Is the Left Behind book similar to the Bible?
Jenkins, and the related movies. So with their faith in the Bible and Jesus, evangelical Christians may seem similar to other Christian denominations, even bearing some of the same names.
Can people earn their way to heaven?
People can do nothing to earn their way to heaven. Instead, as EvangelicalBeliefs.com points out, believers do "good works in grateful response to our pardon, not to cause it."
What is the best authoritative authority on evangelical belief?
Probably the best, most succinct and widely accepted authority on evangelical belief is the Statement of Faith for the National Association of Evangelicals:
Why do evangelicals practice adult baptism?
For this reason, evangelicals, by far, practice adult baptism rather than pedo- or infant baptism, because the ritual is a volitional outward demonstration of one’s inward repentance and faith. Again, in most cases, baptism, which comes from the New Testament Greek word, baptizo, meaning “immerse,” is taken literally.
What do we believe in the resurrection?
We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.