Evangelicalism | Mockingbird

Another Year Ends: Evangelical Decline, more Les Mis, Tebow Absurdity, Anxious Parents, The Hobbit, Apatow in Crisis, Millenial Affirmations and A Muppet Family Christmas

by David Zahl on Dec 21, 2012 • 2 Comments

1. An uncommonly insightful piece by John Dickerson appeared in The NY Times about “The Decline of Evangelical America.” Writing as an evangelical himself, Dickerson recites some jarring statistics before launching into a sympathetic and genuinely hopeful conclusion, ht SZ:

In 2007, the Institute for Jewish and Community Research, in a survey of 1,300 college professors, found that 3 percent held “unfavorable feelings” toward Jews, 22 percent toward Muslims and 53 percent toward evangelical Christians…

The core evangelical belief is that love and forgiveness are freely available to all who trust in Jesus Christ. This is the “good news” from which the…

Literature / Religion

High-School Jesus Phases and Doubts About One’s Doubts

by David Zahl on Jan 17, 2012 • 3 Comments

How to create a Pavlovian response in yours truly: 1. Produce extended, compassionate essays on Michael Jackson and Axl Rose. 2. Let it slip that you were raised Episcopalian. 3. Prompt a number of your colleagues to compare you with David Foster Wallace, going so far as to proclaim you his literary heir. 4. Write an extremely funny and not entirely unsympathetic article about a Christian Rock festival. This is what John Jeremiah Sullivan has done in the past few years.

I remember reading his piece on the initial GNR comeback shows in 2006 and thinking it was the best writing…

America / Books / Children / Conferences / Film / Humor / Music / Psychology / Reformation / Religion / Social Science / Suffering / Week In Review

Another Week Ends: Moonrise Kingdom, Foolish Folly, Conflicted Lewis Worship, Tiger Moms and Snake Handlers, Hitchens on Dickens, and New Shins

by David Zahl on Jan 13, 2012 • 2 Comments

1. A couple of hot-off-the-presses reasons for living. First, pre-registration for the 2012 NYC Mockingbird Conference (4/19-21) opens on Monday! Again, the theme this year is “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts: Honesty, Humility and the Grace of God” and our keynote speaker will be none other than Michael Horton, Reformation Impresario Numero Uno and all around Gospel guru. He’ll be joined by Aaron Zimmerman, myself and a host of other birds of various stripes. Keep an eye on our events page. Second, and equally important, the trailer for Wes Anderson’s new film, Moonrise Kingdom, hit the web yesterday and it’s world-class.…

Church / Law / Religion / Theology

Reflections on a Midwestern Church

by Zach Williams on Oct 6, 2011 • 13 Comments

It meets in a old, charming church building, not an office park or a bar or a towering arena in the suburbs. Red bricks overshadowing gothic archways suggest a Methodist or Baptist past. From the lunch hall opposite the sanctuary one can almost smell the aroma of a thousand pots of coffee brewed and numerous potluck dishes served through the decades.

Don Shall

Updating has occurred. It is odd to see an espresso bar and metallic trimmings fill the foyer alongside the almond staircase and the understated clover windows of the narthex. Nonetheless, the combination puts everyone at ease, the young…

Addiction / America / Conferences / Film / Humor / Music / Politics / Religion / Social Science / Week In Review

Another Week Ends: Brooks on Empathy, more Quiet Beatle, American Commandments, Kaling on Chick Flicks, Meth to Master, Pre-Marital Hanky Panky, Psycho Congress, Tweedy & Ryan Adams

by David Zahl on Sep 30, 2011 • 2 Comments

1. David Brooks continues with his one-man campaign for a more realistic conception of human nature, and the implications it might have on ethical behavior, in his new column, “The Limits of Empathy.” This time he focuses on the question of motivation, exploring how easily/frequently something as ‘good’ as empathy is subordinated to self-interest (and laziness), ht TB:

People who are empathetic are more sensitive to the perspectives and sufferings of others. They are more likely to make compassionate moral judgments. The problem comes when we try to turn feeling into action. Empathy makes you more aware of other people’s suffering, but it’s not…

Church / Religion

Reverse Intolerance and the Redemption of Evangelical Blowhards

by David Zahl on Aug 1, 2011 • 2 Comments

If we malign Evangelicalism a bit too often on this site it’s not because it’s an easy target – which it is – no, as precious or naive as it might sound, we do it mainly because we care. Evangelicalism refers, of course, to a historical movement that has stressed the Good News of Salvation (the Evangel or Evangelium) – which is certainly something worth getting behind! Who doesn’t need some good news? Or some saving?! The problem, as we tirelessly point out, is how the movement has tragically come to stand for the opposite of “Good” or “News” (i.e.,…

Church / Conferences / Religion / Theology

Mockingbird Interviews Mark Galli (Slight Return)

by Mockingbird on Feb 23, 2011 • 4 Comments

Last year, many of us at Mockingbird discovered the writings of Mark Galli, Senior Managing Editor of Christianity Today, the flagship magazine of Evangelicalism (started in 1956 by none other than Billy Graham). Galli’s grasp of the Gospel—God’s grace in Jesus Christ to broken human beings, including Christians who can’t get it together—was as deeply refreshing as it was (almost) unique in the wider world of Evangelical Christianity. We were so intrigued that we sought him out for an interview. Needless to say, it turned out to be a fascinating conversation, looking at the current landscape of Evangelicalism, the radical…