Evangelicalism : the next generation / James M. Penning & Corwin E. Smidt.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Penning, James M.

Contributor:

Smidt, Corwin E., 1946-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Christian college students--Religious life--United States.

Christian college students.

Church work with students--United States.

Church work with students.

Christian college students--Religious life.

United States.

Education (Christian theology).

Church and the world.

Evangelicalism--United States.

Evangelicalism.

Physical Description:

203 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Grand Rapids, Mich. : Baker Academic, [2002]

Summary:

For much of the 20th century, religious analysts and observers predicted that American evangelicalism would crack under the pressure of secularization and modernity. This study by Smidt and Penning, is set within the broad framework of secularization theory and attempts to ascertain whether religious subcultures are and will be able to sustain and maintain distinctive identities and beliefs within modern social life.Replicating the classic study conducted in James Davison Hunter's Evangelicalism: The Coming Generation, this book examines if the next generation of evangelicals will continue to exhibit or deviate from the characteristics of students of the early 1980s by thoroughly examining the religious beliefs, moral values, political attitudes, and social tolerance of evangelical college students today. The book critiques Hunter's contention the coming generation of evangelicals will exhibit greater accommodation to American culture, be less religiously distinctive, and be more tolerant that previous generations of evangelicals. Further, this study explores whether the future generation of evangelicals is unique, or is simply one that reflects continuity with the past and full integration within the larger evangelical subculture of today. As opposed to Hunter's pessimism concerning the role of evangelical higher education, Smidt and Penning believe that such colleges and universities serve a vital and robust role in passing on the faith. And thus subsequently the future of conservative Protestantism, while impacted by secularization and modernity, may indeed be brighter than that which Hunter forecasted twenty years ago. This scholarly yet accessible book will be of particularinterest to scholars and students of sociology and religion and will also appeal to those interested in the coming generation of evangelicals and the colleges that train them.

Contents:

1 Faith of Our Fathers? Evangelicalism in Contemporary American Society 11

2 A Mighty Fortress Is Our God? Secularization Theory and the Problem of Modernity 25

3 How Firm a Foundation? The Theological Beliefs of Evangelical College Students 43

4 Living for Jesus? The Moral Boundaries of Evangelical College Students 69

5 We're Marching to Zion? The Social Theologies of Evangelical College Students 97

6 This Is My Father's World? The Political World of Evangelical College Students 119

7 Amazing Grace? Political Civility and Tolerance among Evangelical College Students 143

8 And Can It Be? Evangelicalism at the Turn of the Millennium 165

Appendix Operational Measures of Evangelicals across Different Data Sources 175.

Notes:

"A RenewedMinds book."

Includes bibliographical references (pages 177-196) and index.

ISBN:

080102434X

OCLC:

49226275