How American Evangelicals Lost Credibility with the Global Church

Quick to Listen

Christianity Today

Religion, Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.3 • 622 Ratings

🗓️ 27 January 2021

⏱️ 68 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Transcribed highlights of the show can be found in our episode summaries. “Was the US never really a “Christian country,” or was US Christianity corrupted by politics?”That’s the question that Kylie Beach, a writer for the Australian-based Eternity News asked several days after the capitol insurrection and several days before last week’s presidential inauguration. She continued: Did the US only ever appear to be more Christian than other countries, or was its Christianity corrupted by politics? To put it frankly, are the people who declare themselves to be Christians in the US really just ‘cultural Christians’ – people who are ethnically descended from nations where Christianity was the primary religion? Or people who have taken on the outward form of their grandparent’s faith? Have they ever actually had a moment of conversion where they have decided to accept Christ as their Lord and Saviour? Do they read their Bibles to try to learn what God is like? Do they pray and listen for his direction? Beach isn’t the only Christian from around the world asking what to make of US evangelicals after Trump. At the UK’s Evangelical Alliance CEO Gavin Calver wrote a column for the Times with the headline, "Let us redefine evangelism after the Trump presidency." He wrote that the word evangelical has become politicized and toxic even in the UK because of Trump politics. René Breuel is the pastor of Hopera, an evangelical church in Rome and has served as a student leader in International Fellowship of Evangelical Students movements in Brazil, Germany, Canada, and Italy. He is also the author of The Paradox of Happiness. Breuel joined global media manager Morgan Lee and editorial director Ted Olsen to discuss how non-US evangelicals saw American evangelicals before Trump, what has changed over the past four years, and what American evangelicals who want to regain this trust must do moving forward. What is Quick to Listen? Read more Rate Quick to Listen on Apple Podcasts Follow the podcast on Twitter Follow our hosts on Twitter: Morgan Lee and Ted Olsen Follow our guest on Twitter: René Breuel Music by Sweeps Quick to Listen is produced by Morgan Lee and Matt Linder The transcript is edited by Yvonne Su and Bunmi Ishola Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This episode is brought to you in part by The Apologetics Guy Show, the podcast that helps you find clear answers to tough questions about Christianity.
0:11.1	Learn to explain your faith with courage and compassion.
0:14.5	Join Moody Bible Institute professor Dr. Mikhail del Rosario at apologeticskyi.com.
0:21.6	Was the U.S. never really a Christian country, or was U.S. Christianity corrupted by politics?
0:28.5	That's the question that Kylie Beach, a writer for the Australian-based Eternity News site,
0:34.0	asked several days after the capital insurrection and several days before last week's
0:38.5	presidential inauguration. I'll read a bit from her piece and we'll put a link to it in the show
0:43.6	notes. The U.S. really did seem to be a particularly Christian country. Of course, Australian Christians
0:50.1	were skeptical when, year after year, every Grammy Award winner thanked God in their acceptance
0:55.2	of speech. It became a cliche, an anecdote that was sure to get a laugh and make a point in a sermon.
1:01.1	Yet many wondered whether the cliche pointed to something good, to a society so saturated in
1:06.1	Christianity that acknowledging God was second nature, even in the music industry.
1:10.7	Did the U.S. only ever appear to be more Christian than other countries,
1:14.6	or was its Christianity corrupted by politics?
1:17.5	To put it frankly, are the people who declare themselves to be Christians in the U.S. really just,
1:22.5	quote-unquote, cultural Christians,
1:24.8	people who are ethnically descended from nations where Christianity was the
1:27.8	primary religion, or people who have taken on the outward form of their grandparents' faith?
1:33.9	Have they ever actually had a moment of conversion where they have decided to accept Christ
1:37.9	as their Lord and Savior? Do they read their Bibles to try to learn what God is like? Do
1:42.7	they pray and listen for his direction?
1:45.6	Feech isn't the only Christian from around the world asking what to make of U.S. evangelicals after
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Christianity Today, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Christianity Today and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.