David Wells on the evangelical theological drift

Today's article is quite a long one (be warned) so today we provide a bit of a teaser trailer.

'In 1975, I teamed up with church historian John Woodbridge to produce The Evangelicals: What They Believe, Who They Are, Where They are Changing. The three decades following the end of the Second World War, from 1945 to the year when our book appeared, had seen astonishing growth in the evangelical world. The older fundamentalist strictures had faded, the world was being engaged, mainline denominations were being entered, scholarship was beginning to flourish, churches were growing, new organizations were sprouting, educational institutions were emerging, and the nation began to take note. Gallup's finding that one third of the nation claimed to be spiritually reborn quickly dislodged any other contenders from the spotlight and 1976 was declared to be 'the Year of the Evangelical.' When we put together this book, however, the very early signs could be seen of a Faustian bargain in the making, though at that time I had no idea that the unraveling of Evangelicalism would come so quickly. At the very moment when evangelicals seemed poised to conquer the world, they were beginning to lose their soul. The astonishing outward success of printing presses in high gear, massive political coalitions forming, megachurches popping up, and a steady trail of visitors to the White House could not mask the growing emptiness that would become increasingly evident...

...The truth of the matter is that the fraying at the edges of the evangelical world has now turned into an unraveling at its center. First came the new definitions about who evangelicals were. Then the boundaries were shifted. Then they were crossed. And now the reality of God is redefined and made altogether more accommodating to our postmodern culture. It is for these reasons that I believe Evangelicalism is now in a free fall. I therefore hope that my writing will play an important role in bringing the Church back to more cogent, biblical understanding, a more serious mind, a greater love of truth and righteousness, and a closer walk with God.'

Read the entire article at:
www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/rejection.html