Month: November 2021

Using the recent celebrations of Reformation Day and All Saints Day, I discuss why the church (especially the Protestant evangelical church) needs to be more attuned to its history and cultural patrimony.  This includes things like the great English language hymns, but also simply a greater awareness of the incredible legacy of faithfulness and sacrifice that previous generations made to bring us into being and enable us to be Christians today.

You can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and elsewhere. Check out the other podcasts here.

American Reformer: Evangelicalism’s Second-Class Status in Conservatism

Hymn: A Mighty Fortress Is Our God

Hymn: For All the Saints

The Lion King: “You Don’t Even Know Who You Are”

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At Aaron’s suggestion, I recently began listening to the Rise and Fall of Mars Hill podcast from Christianity Today. It’s a biased account, the whole game being to smear conservatives with Driscoll’s bad behavior. Nevertheless, it is well-produced and can spur useful reflection among those of us who remain committed to a Biblical understanding of sexuality.

A clever trick the podcast sometimes uses is that of misdirection. If they want to make a point, for example, and Driscoll’s admittedly voluminous amount of raw material doesn’t lend itself to the point, they will pivot to feature someone other than Driscoll. One example of this was when Driscoll claimed that a woman propositioned him in the communion line. 

For those of us familiar with hypergamy, or just people with common sense, it’s entirely plausible Driscoll was being truthful. He was the most famous pastor in the world at the time, and he was specifically famous for being dangerous / controversial and he is an attractive, athletic guy. It’s not a surprise that women would be attracted to him, and since women are sinners too, it’s not implausible that someone in his gigantic church propositioned him. And, indeed, it is to Driscoll’s credit that his controversies have never involved a shred of personal sexual misconduct despite probably more opportunity than any pastor of the last twenty years. Necessity isn’t virtue, so his soy-faced critics probably can’t relate to the temptation he constantly faced.

The podcast, however, wanted to cast doubt on whether a woman had ever propositioned Driscoll. Sneakily, they immediately pivot to an unrelated story of James Dobson telling some anecdote about how he thought a woman was propositioning him with her eyes, while they were both in their vehicles at a stoplight. So they undermine Driscoll’s entirely plausible claim with a…

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There’s been a recent flurry of articles and podcasts discussing the failure of evangelical elites, whether they have in fact failed, wondering who these so-called elites are, disclaiming that people are elites, etc.

This week I look at the question of who the evangelical elite are, and whether or not they are doing a good job. I start by reprising the elite theory of E. Digby Baltzell, and also the views of others elite theorists like James Burnham, Robert Michels, C. Wright Mills, and Robert Dahl.

From this I create a definition of what an elite is and how elite power functions and apply it to America as a whole. Then I apply it to evangelicalism to show how the elites of various evangelical subdomains can be identified.

Looking specifically at the group often labeled Big Eva, I name names in terms of who is doing poorly, who is doing well, and who is struggling to adapt to the times.

I also examine and apply a different definition of the elite adapted from Kevin DeYoung, and discuss institutional constraints elites operate under, as well as virtues and perils of being inside vs. outside of institutions.

You can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and elsewhere. Check out the other podcasts here.

American Reformer: The Evangelical Embarrassment Reflex

The American Conservative: Church, State, and the Future of American Evangelicalism

Mark Galli on Evangelical Elites

Carl Trueman: The Failure of Evangelical Elites

Life Books and Everything Podcast on Evangelical Elites (segments starts at 29:00)

Mere Fidelity on Evangelical Elites

American Affairs: E. Digby Baltzell’s Sociology of Elites

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The controversy over a recent John Piper blog post on Covid-19 vaccines shows why some older evangelical leaders like Piper should consider stepping back from their public intellectual role.

I’ve avoided much commentary on the pandemic because it’s not my lane. But since I’m talking about what Piper wrote I should first put my own cards on the table. I am vaccinated and would encourage other adults to get vaccinated unless they have a medical issue that indicates they shouldn’t. I do think whether or not to get vaccinated is a choice people have to make for themselves. I won’t think better or worse about anyone one way or the other. I do oppose vaccinate mandates or vaccine passport type rules.

Now Piper’s post is aimed at a specific group of people: those who want to get vaccinated but have not done so because of peer pressure from people opposed to vaccines. He encourages them to use their Christian liberty in order to follow their conscience and get vaccinated.

I agree with Piper’s take on this. And it looks like his stance on vaccines is actually the same as mine or close to it.

Nevertheless, his post represents a maladroit reading of the moment of cultural moment we are in. It is this inability to discern and contextualize their message to the times that makes people like Piper increasingly ineffective in today’s world.

How many people fall into the category Piper is writing about? There are surely some. I expect to get blowback from some readers who are very antivax on account of this post, for example.

But far more people fall into the opposite camp. They are people who don’t want to be vaccinated, but are facing significant and escalating legal, economic, and social pressure to do…

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