Ken welcomes author, professor, and scholar of religion Isaac Sharp, Ph.D. to talk about his new book, The Other Evangelicals: Liberal, Black, Progressive, Feminist, and Gay Christians - and the Movement that Pushed them Out. Recently, a raft of scholarship has emerged around the question - who are "The Evangelicals" and how did they manage to wield such social and political power? Dr. Sharp charts out a unique approach - he dials back the clock some fifty years and identifies prominent individuals in each of the five categories who were theologically, biblically, and self-proclaimed "Evangelicals." But their interpretation of Scripture, and their political and social concerns became unacceptable to the self-appointed guardians of what Sharp calls the "capital E" Evangelicals. In other words, one can better understand the movement by identifying the individuals who were rejected, ejected, or banished by the dominant tribal leaders.
In this Part I of a two-part series, Isaac shares how his doctoral dissertation gave birth to this published work. Sharp reveals that many if not most of the individuals in his profiles were heretofore unknown to him - for good reason. Not only are they forgotten in Evangelical history, their work has been "erased." Not for Ken. This book tracks the personal story of the Beached White Male. Many of the men and women who appear in Isaac's book were Ken's professors, authors of books he read, and keynote speakers in conferences and other venues. In this episode, they focus on the early roots of evangelicalism that include some surprising characters - "liberals" like Harry Emerson Fosdick, black (African American) evangelicals like Tom Skinner and Bill Pannell, "progressives" like Jim Wallis and Ron Sider, and "feminists" like Henrietta Mears, Nancy Hardesty, and Virginia Mollenkott... and more. SHOW NOTES
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Dr. Sharp's expansive book, The Other Evangelicals, dials back the clock to the early days of evangelicalism. Isaac identifies a significant collection of high-profile, self-identified "evangelical" Christians who just do not fit the current stereotype. Some were liberal, others black or progressive or feminist even gay. What these believers have in common is that they were ultimately rejected as "evangelicals" by the self-appointed gatekeepers of the movement. In this PART II of this series, Ken and Dr. Sharp begin with a discussion of the Bible - as the inerrant and infallible authority over the movement as argued by Harold Lindsell in his Battle for the Bible. It's not just the book itself, but the sectarian interpretation of the book that for many becomes non-negotiable for many. Women like Letha Scanzoni, Nancy Hardesty and Virginia Mollenkott engaged feminism as part of their biblical faith. Dr. David Gushee (Sharp's academic advisor turned literary colleague) challenges evangelicalism's condemnation of the LGBTQ+ community. They talk about Dr. Ralph Blair, an ardent biblical Christian psychologist, and his critique of "pray-it-away" reparative therapy. The Exodus International, promoted by Rev. Jerry Falwell, represented itself as a biblical ministry that existed to "cure" homosexuality. But it was ceremoniously shut down by founder Alan Chambers. Lawsuits, abuse and documented psychological harm overwhelmed the operation and led to its demise. John R. W. Stott and Tony Campolo challenged evangelical assumptions, but their advice went unheeded. In the era of Trumpism, evangelicals virtually eliminated these non-conformists from their exclusive tribe. In spite of the efforts of these biblical voices, evangelicalism has become the domain of white, conservative Republicanism. SHOW NOTES
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by Isaac B. Sharp (Author), David P. Gushee (Foreword)
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear “evangelical”?
For many, the answer is “white,” “patriarchal,” “conservative,” or “fundamentalist”—but as Isaac B. Sharp reveals, the “big tent” of evangelicalism has historically been much bigger than we’ve been led to believe. In The Other Evangelicals, Sharp brings to light the stories of those twentieth-century evangelicals who didn’t fit the mold, including Black, feminist, progressive, and gay Christians.
Though the binary of fundamentalist evangelicals and modernist mainline Protestants is taken for granted today, Sharp demonstrates that fundamentalists and modernists battled over the title of “evangelical” in post–World War II America. In fact, many ideologies characteristic of evangelicalism today, such as “biblical womanhood” and political conservatism, arose only in reaction to the popularity of evangelical feminism and progressivism. Eventually, history was written by the “winners”—the Billy Grahams of American religion—while the “losers” were expelled from the movement via the establishment of institutions such as the National Association of Evangelicals.
Carefully researched and deftly written, The Other Evangelicals offers a breath of fresh air for scholars seeking a more inclusive history of religion in America.
EDUCATION
B.A., Carson-Newman College
M.Div., Mercer University
M.Phil., Union Theological Seminary
Ph.D., Union Theological Seminary
Isaac B. Sharp is the Director of Certificate Programming and Visiting Professor. He graduated from Union Theological Seminary with a Ph.D. in Social Ethics, with a minor emphasis in Religious Studies, in May 2019.
Dr. Sharp’s current research focuses on the theology, ethics, and history of U.S. American evangelicalism. His dissertation, “The Other Evangelicals,” develops an alternative reading of 20th-century evangelicalism from the point of view of some of the most marginalized, minoritized, and frequently overlooked constituencies in recent evangelical history in order to demonstrate how American evangelical identity became so closely associated with only its most politically conservative, religiously narrow, and culturally white claimants.
Dr. Sharp is the co-editor of Evangelical Ethics: A Reader in the Library of Theological Ethics series (Westminster John Knox, 2015) as well as the forthcoming Christian Ethics in Conversation (Wipf & Stock, 2020).
Prior to his doctoral studies at Union, Dr. Sharp received the B.A. with Honors in Religion from Carson-Newman College, where he served as an Oxford Studies Fellow, conducting research in British Baptist history at Regent’s Park College, Oxford University, and an M.Div. with an emphasis in Christian Ethics from the McAfee School of Theology, Mercer University, in Atlanta, GA.
More Pending
