Why I Am No Longer an Evangelical – Introduction
There have recently been numerous articles by Evangelicals, pleading at times, insisting on others, that existing adherents do not leave the Evangelical movement. They acknowledge the surfeit of travesties and follies: of politicized and/or nationalized Christianity, of venal jet-plane hucksters, of the conflation of Christianity with ideological and sociopolitical conservativism or alternatively progressivism, of Madison Avenue sales tactics and consumeristic shallowness, of anti-intellectualism, of atomistic unconcern for the community (both the congregational and larger society), of the loony separatist Fundamentalist fringe, and more recently, even of vice, abuse, and institutional corruption
Some 500 years ago, a famous philosopher, theologian, and writer, Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536), likewise acknowledged and delineated a long list of travesties, corruptions, and follies within the theological stream to which he belonged.1 He likewise declared the equivalent of “Evangelical is at the core of what it means to be a Christian,”2 although swapping out for a different brand name.
Another theologian and author, Martin Luther (1483–1546), insisted that these manifestations of corruption and folly were indications of something far deeper, even theological and dispositional in nature. More recently, Alexander Solzhenitsyn made similar claims about the integral relationship between the core concepts of Marxism and Stalin’s gulags, rather than the latter phenomena being consequent of a “cult of personality” aberration (Nikita Khrushchev, On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences, 1956).
There remain, to be sure, many bona fides Christians within the Evangelical movement. One of those pleaders is Russell Moore,3 who passes the “by their fruit you will recognize them”4 criteria by my reckoning. Moore, himself, has received much flak from those within his former church denomination and from Evangelical circles in general. However, while Moore, like Erasmus, acknowledges all the faults within the Evangelical movement, even at a little deeper level than his peers, I doubt that he appreciates how deep the rabbit hole goes.
Were Moore’s problems with the SBC Executive Committee, the consequence of the latter being “carnal Christians,” or of the latter being actual wolves?5 And if the wolves have mounted the Commanding Heights of a church or denomination, how productive and profitable can a true Christian expect himself or herself to be within that body, especially after admitting that “I have been attacked with the most vicious guerilla tactics”6 from such wolves? Those, who might desire to reform Evangelicalism from within, must delight in the masochistic head-banging of futility.
If Moore realized that he needed to remove himself from the SBC on that basis, then, it seems likewise appropriate to remove oneself from self-identifying as an Evangelical.
In my case, it is not necessarily because the wolves have mounted the Commanding Heights of the Evangelical churches, although they have. It is rather because that at its foundational soteriological root, its fundamental core of belief, contemporary Evangelicalism teaches “a different gospel—which is not even a gospel.”7 Due to such foundational heresy, Evangelicalism has become spiritually moribund. Through such foundational heresy, a long list of the travesties, follies, and corruptions ensue. These are but fingers and toes manifestations, traceable to this first and foremost inner rot.
Why am I no longer an Evangelical? The short answer is that I am too much the Christian. I am thankful for those rare individuals within that fold for their contribution to my Christian walk. I am more thankful of the theological ancestors of centuries past. However, churches, denominations, and theological streams do decay and die, in parallel manner as that of civilizations and societies. So, the admonition that continuously resounds through my mind and psyche is “get thee out of Babylon!”
Flee from Babylon! Escape with your lives! Do not be destroyed in her punishment. For this is the time of the LORD’s vengeance; He will pay her what she deserves.8
While that leaves me without a proper ecclesiastical home, and while I am an exile in the wilderness, I hardly think that I am alone. There has, however, not yet reached a critical mass of dissidents, sufficient to forge a whole new theological stream. The ad fontes legwork, required to re-establish the theological foundations of True Christianity, has barely begun by any who might belong to such a theological stream. In effect, I am very much advocating that the sheep who know His voice, start all over and create whole cloth.9
Desiderius Erasmus, In Praise of Folly, 1511, translated by John Wilson, 1688, [REPRINT] Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library, https://www.ccel.org/ccel/e/erasmus/folly/cache/folly.pdf.
Hannah Anderson, “I Can’t Quit My Evangelical Heritage. Neither Can You.” Christianity Today, November 19, 2021, https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2021/november-web-only/exvangelicals-evangelicalism-doubt-faith-heritage-cant-quit.html.
Russell Moore, “Disowning ‘Evangelical’ Is a Denial of Responsibility,” Christianity Today, November 22, 2021, https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2021/december/dan-stringer-struggling-evangelicalism-leave-stay.html.
Matthew 7:16, 20
Rev. Gilbert Tennent, “The Danger of an Unconverted Ministry,” 1740, in The Log College, edited by Archibald Alexander, Edinburgh, UK: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1968, http://www.sounddoctrine.net/Classic_Sermons/Gilbert%20Tennent/danger_of_unconverted.pdf.
Paul O'Donnell, Bob Smietana, “Leaked Russell Moore letter blasts SBC conservatives, sheds light on his resignation,” Religion News Services, June 2, 2021, https://religionnews.com/2021/06/02/leaked-russell-moore-letter-blasts-sbc-conservatives-sheds-light-on-his-resignation.
Galatians 1:6b–7a
Jeremiah 51:6
Anderson, I Can’t Quit My Evangelical Heritage. Neither Can You.