How Evangelicals Failed to Change the World
Anna Littauer Carrington Monday, 29 November 2010
"Advancing the kingdom." "Redeeming the culture." "Changing the world." These are all phrases familiar to evangelical Christians in America. They are also phrases James Davison Hunter would like us to jettison, along with our ambitions of political power and cultural revival.
In To Change the World, Hunter paints a disparaging picture of Christian efforts to transform culture in America, focusing in particular on the evangelical movement. In three essays based on earlier lectures, the sociologist challenges the notion that transforming millions of "hearts and minds" actually effects cultural change; critiques the over-politicized efforts of the Christian Right, the Christian Left, and the neo-Anabaptists; and concludes that Christians need to engage culture through "faithful presence" in their vocations and communities.
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