So, What's an Evangelical?

Quick to Listen

Christianity Today

Religion, Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.3 • 622 Ratings

🗓️ 18 September 2019

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Though one can argue that evangelical religion has been in crisis from the beginning, starting in November 2016 and the election of Donald Trump, it exploded afresh. Not only did the nation wake up to discover a chasm dividing in the country, so did evangelicals--especially when it became clear that white evangelicals voted for and then supported the new president, depending on the poll, in the range of 75 to 81 percent. The evangelical left was shocked and horrified by this, and the evangelical right was mystified by their outrage. Many Black, Asian, and Hispanic evangelicals—if they still identified with the term at all--looked at white evangelicals left and right and just shook their heads, wondering if either side really got it. We now have a cacophony of voices shouting at one another, and much of the shouting is about two questions: “So, what is an evangelical Christian anyway?” And more to the point, “Does it even matter?” To help explore those questions, we invited Thomas Kidd, the Vardaman Distinguished Professor of History at Baylor University, to speak with us. He is the author of many important history books, including The Great Awakening: The Roots of Evangelical Christianity in Colonial America ; George Whitefield: America’s Spiritual Founding Father and most recently, Who Is an Evangelical? A History of a Movement in Crisis. What is “Quick to Listen”? Read more Subscribe to Quick to Listen on Apple Podcasts Follow the podcast on Twitter Follow our host on Twitter: Morgan Lee Follow our guest host: Kyle Rohane Subscribe to Mark’s newsletter: The Galli Report Follow our guest on Twitter: Thomas S. Kidd See our guest's books: Books by Thomas Kidd Today's episode of Quick to Listen is brought to you in part by Baylor University’s Truett Seminary, where Kingdom-minded women and men are equipped to follow their callings. By learning to think theologically, developing ministry skills, cultivating a community of support, and engaging in spiritual formation, Truett students are uniquely prepared to make an impact in the Church and the world. Learn more at baylor.edu/truett. This episode of Quick to Listen is also brought to you by Focus on the Family’s Bring Your Bible to School Day powered by students nationwide October 3rd. When you sign up to participate, you’ll also be entered to win a trip to the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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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 Apologeticsguy.com.
0:27.8	This is Quick to Listen.
0:30.6	Each week, the editors of Christianity today go beyond hashtags and hotcakes
0:32.8	and set aside time to explore the reality
0:34.9	behind a major cultural event or trend.
0:51.2	I'm your host, Mark Galley, and this week with Morgan Lee traveling,
0:55.1	I just happen to see her on a Skype call as well. She's in Santa Barbara, all places. Good for her. This week, I'm joined by the editor of CT Pastors, Kyle Rohe.
1:02.1	Glad to be here, Mark. Well, good to be here. Was it a busy weekend for you? This was actually
1:06.0	a little bit of a late-back weekend with two little bitty kids. We get fewer and fewer of those these days.
1:12.4	I was going to say, I'm surprised you get any. Yeah. I watch my sons and daughters-in-law and I watch
1:18.4	their grandchildren. I'm just amazed that they have the energy to do. I must have had that energy
1:22.0	when I was younger, but I don't remember. It's just astounding to me how much energy it takes to be a parent. It's when our second daughter was born.
1:28.9	It comes back to you like riding a bike, but the energy doesn't necessarily start there.
1:34.5	You have to build up to it.
1:35.5	Exactly.
1:36.2	So who's joining us today?
1:37.8	So today we're joined by Thomas Kidd, and he is the Vardaman Distinguished Professor of History at Baylor University and the author of many books, including The Great Awakening, The Roots of Evangelical Christianity in Colonial America, George Whitfield, America's spiritual founding father.
1:53.5	And most recently, who is an evangelical, a history of a movement in crisis.
1:58.2	Welcome, Thomas, or you prefer to be called Tommy, I guess.
2:01.2	Tommy's fine, yeah. Glad to be here. All right. Glad you could join us. Where are we talking to
	...

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