A review of Mark Noll´s "The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind".
"The scandal of the evangelical mind is that
there is not much of an evangelical mind". Those are the near-classic
opening words of Mark Noll's book about evangelical anti-intellectualism in
contemporary America. The author is a historian and has written several
interesting works on the development of evangelicalism in North America. He is
also, somewhat surprisingly perhaps, an evangelical himself.
Noll believes that the roots of evangelical anti-intellectualism, paradoxically, goes back to the 19th century, a period during which evangelicalism was very successful in the United States and became identified with American values such as republicanism, free market economics and patriotism. However, the movement was also marked by populism, Biblicism and revivalism, all of which contributed to an anti-intellectual atmosphere. Noll also believes that the intellectual thinking among evangelicals that did take place was rather shallow. "Common sense" philosophy and "Baconian" science dominated the evangelical life of the mind. These "self-evident truths" eventually turned out to be much less self-evident than expected, and hence fell short.
During the 20th century, the evangelicals were in retreat. Belief in evolution, higher criticism and other secular notions pushed the evangelicals to the sidelines, at least in intellectual circles. The evangelicals didn't respond by launching an intellectual counter-offensive. Rather, they retreated into an anti-intellectualist ghetto. The Holiness movement's emphasis on personal piety, the Pentecostal revivalism complete with tongues and supposed miracles, and the weird and cultish theology of the Dispensationalists all contributed to this anti-intellectual development. Noll mentions two typical examples, both from the fundamentalist scene: apocalyptic prophecy-mongering and "scientific" creationism.
Instead of serious reflection about world politics, or Mideast politics, fundamentalists simply attempt to correlate contemporary events with badly digested Bible prophecies, waiting for the Rapture. During the Gulf War, several books on Iraq's role in Bible prophecy became national best sellers among evangelicals, just as Hal Lindsey's notorious "The Late Great Planet Earth" was the non-fiction bestseller of the 1970's. (I've read it. It does indeed lack real political insight or foresight, concentrating instead on evangelizing psychedelic students with the aid of sensationalist Bible prophecies, all of them eventually proven wrong.) Instead of developing a sophisticated response to naturalist interpretations of evolution, fundamentalists have created a weird pseudoscience ultimately based on the writings of a devoted Adventist, one George McCready Price. Evangelicals, of course, regard Adventists as a sect or cult. Yet, their "flood geology" is taken straight from Price's books!
There is much to learn from "The scandal of the evangelical mind". Noll's analysis is sophisticated and subtle, and cannot really be given justice in a short review like this one. Still, I get the feeling that he has missed one salient fact. Perhaps the evangelical "scandal" was inevitable.
Evangelicalism and the modern world may be incompatible.
Biblicism and/or revivalism are surely necessary ingredients of evangelicalism, yet the modern world rejects them both. It's hardly possible to mount a sophisticated intellectual defence of such notions, at least not one that would be taken seriously in the halls of higher learning. All serious engagement with the world risk taking the evangelical intellectual to the mainline Protestant denominations, or even becoming Catholic! The halcyon days of Jonathan Edwards, who was both a well educated intellectual and a revivalist preacher, are long gone. Also, evangelicalism has populist traits which would make life hard for any modern intellectual. If any backwoods farmer can read and interpret the KJV all by himself, if populist "common sense" (or self-interpreted Biblicism) is the best guide to what's going on in the world, what need is there for pundits and scholars? Indeed, fundamentalism does seem to be a right-wing populist protest against the "Eastern liberal establishment" and its intellectuals, scientists, etc.
I get the feeling that Noll is really headed in a more mainline Protestant direction, and that his attachment to evangelicalism is mostly psychological. He rejects the idea that Bible prophecies are easy to understand, and seems to imply that some of them are incomprehensible. He quotes Scofield's exegesis of the 70 weeks of Daniel as an example of absurd hubris in Biblical interpretation. Noll also believes that the Bible should be interpreted in the light of modern science, quoting Augustine as an authority.
"The scandal of the evangelical mind" is over 15 years old, but it seems that the evangelical scene is just as anti-intellectual as ever. I guess a very charitable person could call Phillip Johnson an intellectual (Noll does), but the rest of the ID crowd are just pathetic, and beyond that, there is "Left Behind" and good old prophecy-mongering as usual.
Perhaps evangelicals are doomed to suffer from happy hearts and empty minds...
Noll believes that the roots of evangelical anti-intellectualism, paradoxically, goes back to the 19th century, a period during which evangelicalism was very successful in the United States and became identified with American values such as republicanism, free market economics and patriotism. However, the movement was also marked by populism, Biblicism and revivalism, all of which contributed to an anti-intellectual atmosphere. Noll also believes that the intellectual thinking among evangelicals that did take place was rather shallow. "Common sense" philosophy and "Baconian" science dominated the evangelical life of the mind. These "self-evident truths" eventually turned out to be much less self-evident than expected, and hence fell short.
During the 20th century, the evangelicals were in retreat. Belief in evolution, higher criticism and other secular notions pushed the evangelicals to the sidelines, at least in intellectual circles. The evangelicals didn't respond by launching an intellectual counter-offensive. Rather, they retreated into an anti-intellectualist ghetto. The Holiness movement's emphasis on personal piety, the Pentecostal revivalism complete with tongues and supposed miracles, and the weird and cultish theology of the Dispensationalists all contributed to this anti-intellectual development. Noll mentions two typical examples, both from the fundamentalist scene: apocalyptic prophecy-mongering and "scientific" creationism.
Instead of serious reflection about world politics, or Mideast politics, fundamentalists simply attempt to correlate contemporary events with badly digested Bible prophecies, waiting for the Rapture. During the Gulf War, several books on Iraq's role in Bible prophecy became national best sellers among evangelicals, just as Hal Lindsey's notorious "The Late Great Planet Earth" was the non-fiction bestseller of the 1970's. (I've read it. It does indeed lack real political insight or foresight, concentrating instead on evangelizing psychedelic students with the aid of sensationalist Bible prophecies, all of them eventually proven wrong.) Instead of developing a sophisticated response to naturalist interpretations of evolution, fundamentalists have created a weird pseudoscience ultimately based on the writings of a devoted Adventist, one George McCready Price. Evangelicals, of course, regard Adventists as a sect or cult. Yet, their "flood geology" is taken straight from Price's books!
There is much to learn from "The scandal of the evangelical mind". Noll's analysis is sophisticated and subtle, and cannot really be given justice in a short review like this one. Still, I get the feeling that he has missed one salient fact. Perhaps the evangelical "scandal" was inevitable.
Evangelicalism and the modern world may be incompatible.
Biblicism and/or revivalism are surely necessary ingredients of evangelicalism, yet the modern world rejects them both. It's hardly possible to mount a sophisticated intellectual defence of such notions, at least not one that would be taken seriously in the halls of higher learning. All serious engagement with the world risk taking the evangelical intellectual to the mainline Protestant denominations, or even becoming Catholic! The halcyon days of Jonathan Edwards, who was both a well educated intellectual and a revivalist preacher, are long gone. Also, evangelicalism has populist traits which would make life hard for any modern intellectual. If any backwoods farmer can read and interpret the KJV all by himself, if populist "common sense" (or self-interpreted Biblicism) is the best guide to what's going on in the world, what need is there for pundits and scholars? Indeed, fundamentalism does seem to be a right-wing populist protest against the "Eastern liberal establishment" and its intellectuals, scientists, etc.
I get the feeling that Noll is really headed in a more mainline Protestant direction, and that his attachment to evangelicalism is mostly psychological. He rejects the idea that Bible prophecies are easy to understand, and seems to imply that some of them are incomprehensible. He quotes Scofield's exegesis of the 70 weeks of Daniel as an example of absurd hubris in Biblical interpretation. Noll also believes that the Bible should be interpreted in the light of modern science, quoting Augustine as an authority.
"The scandal of the evangelical mind" is over 15 years old, but it seems that the evangelical scene is just as anti-intellectual as ever. I guess a very charitable person could call Phillip Johnson an intellectual (Noll does), but the rest of the ID crowd are just pathetic, and beyond that, there is "Left Behind" and good old prophecy-mongering as usual.
Perhaps evangelicals are doomed to suffer from happy hearts and empty minds...
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