On American Evangelical Christianity

 This is the conclusion to a short book I've written with the title The Sins of American Evangelical Christianity. I may self-publish it, or I may not; but what I say in it is definitely worth saying.

In Conclusion

© Thomas C. Sorenson, 2024

 

American evangelical Christianity has developed into nothing short of sinful Christianity. It is a betrayal of Jesus Christ. Its failings begin with the fact that it has its adherents living in fear. Beyond that, it makes the great Christian religion be about how to get souls to a supposed next life in heaven rather than about transforming the world into the realm of God as Jesus calls us to do. It tells is adherents that they have to do something, namely, believe in Jesus, in order to avoid hell, often terrifying people into saying they believe when they really don’t. Its biblical literalism and belief in the divine inspiration of the Bible cut off intellectual inquiry. It raises ancient cultural prejudices to the level of divine truth. It disparages and restricts the role women. It condemns LGBTQ+ people. Its adherence to the classical theory of atonement makes God too small, makes God too human, turns God into a monster, and betrays Jesus by calling him a sacrifice, sacrifice being something he steadfastly opposed.

A great many of its adherents idolize the American fascist Donald Trump. A great many of its adherents idolize the United States of America, which they badly misunderstand. Nearly all of its adherents idolize the Bible. They call the Bible the word of God when the Bible says Jesus is the Word of God. Many of them call themselves Bible-believing Christians rather than Jesus-Christ-believing Christians. Many of them call their churches Bible churches rather than churches of Jesus Christ. Many American evangelicals are paranoid, thinking that the secular society in which they live and their country’s federal government are out to get them when there isn’t a shred of evidence that either of them is. They say the federal government will try to stop them from worshiping, something the federal could not constitutionally do. Many of them serve extreme right-wing politicians when Jesus, whom they claim to follow, was one of the most radically progressive people who has ever lived. Most of them support the militaristic policies of the American government and oppose sensible gun regulation when Jesus was one of history’s great prophets of nonviolence. American evangelism’s Christian exclusivism leads to hatred of and violence against Jews, Muslims, and people of other faiths. The list of the sins of American evangelical Christianity just goes on and on.

We’ve already considered some of the ways evangelical Christianity is harmful, yet there is one profound way that it is harmful that cannot be overstated. It is killing the Christian faith. It makes Christianity believable and attractive to a relatively small number of people while driving a great many people away from the faith. The loud public proclamations of its leaders have convinced most Americans that evangelical Christianity is true Christianity, which it is not. It is a bastardization of Christianity that fewer and fewer people all the time are willing even to consider much less accept. If Christianity cannot overcome American evangelicalism it will die, and it will deserve to die. Religious symbols cease being true symbols when they no longer correspond to the spiritual needs of a people. Christianity is symbolic, and its symbols appeal to fewer and fewer people all the time not because the symbols are wrong but because of what evangelical Christianity tells people they mean.

The symbols of Christianity appeal so little to so many because of the nearly universal belief among us that evangelical Christianity is the only Christianity there is. It isn’t. There is within the Christian denominations we used to call mainline a better vision of our ancient faith. Not everyone in those churches gets it of course, but some of us do. Some of us know that Christianity is a faith of love not hate. Of hope and courage not fear. Of inclusion not exclusion. Of respect for other faith traditions not self-righteous condemnation of them. Of justice not oppression. Of nonviolence not violence. Of open-mindedness not closed-mindedness. Of broad spiritual and intellectual inquiry not the checking of the mind at the church door.

In short, there is a Christianity that is the opposite of what evangelical Christianity has become in nearly every respect. Yes, both evangelical Christianity and true Christianity center their faith on Jesus Christ, but they understand Jesus Christ very differently. Yes, both evangelical Christianity and true Christianity use the Bible, but they understand and use it very differently. In essentially every other way, these two types of Christianity could hardly be more different.

They will, or at least can, lead to two radically different results. Evangelical Christianity will kill Christianity. Not tomorrow. Perhaps not for decades. But it will kill it. True Christianity has the ability to address the existential concerns of people today in a way evangelical Christianity cannot. It offers hope that the twenty-first century will not be the last century for a great faith tradition now nearly two thousand years old. It can lead people out of despair. It can give them hope and calm their fears. It can give their lives meaning in a way evangelical Christianity simply cannot. Will Christianity survive? I don’t know. If it cannot overcome American evangelical Christianity and give the world a better Christian vision, it will not. I hope and pray that it will.