The Anointed : : Evangelical Truth in a Secular Age / / Randall J. Stephens, Karl Giberson.

American evangelicalism often appears as a politically monolithic, textbook red-state fundamentalism that elected George W. Bush, opposes gay marriage, abortion, and evolution, and promotes apathy about global warming. Prominent public figures hold forth on these topics, speaking with great authorit...

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Superior document:Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter E-BOOK GESAMTPAKET / COMPLETE PACKAGE 2011
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Place / Publishing House:Cambridge, MA : : Harvard University Press, , [2011]
©2011
Year of Publication:2011
Language:English
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Physical Description:1 online resource :; 25 halftones
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Other title:Frontmatter --
Contents --
Introduction --
1. The Answer Man --
2. The Amateur Christian Historian --
3. The Family of God --
4. Trust Me, the End Is Near --
5. A Carnival of Christians --
6. Made in America --
Notes. Acknowledgments. Index --
Notes --
Acknowledgments --
Index
Summary:American evangelicalism often appears as a politically monolithic, textbook red-state fundamentalism that elected George W. Bush, opposes gay marriage, abortion, and evolution, and promotes apathy about global warming. Prominent public figures hold forth on these topics, speaking with great authority for millions of followers. Authors Stephens and Giberson, with roots in the evangelical tradition, argue that this popular impression understates the diversity within evangelicalism-an often insular world where serious disagreements are invisible to secular and religiously liberal media consumers. Yet, in the face of this diversity, why do so many people follow leaders with dubious credentials when they have other options? Why do tens of millions of Americans prefer to get their science from Ken Ham, founder of the creationist Answers in Genesis, who has no scientific expertise, rather than from his fellow evangelical Francis Collins, current Director of the National Institutes of Health?Exploring intellectual authority within evangelicalism, the authors reveal how America's populist ideals, anti-intellectualism, and religious free market, along with the concept of anointing-being chosen by God to speak for him like the biblical prophets-established a conservative evangelical leadership isolated from the world of secular arts and sciences.Today, charismatic and media-savvy creationists, historians, psychologists, and biblical exegetes continue to receive more funding and airtime than their more qualified counterparts. Though a growing minority of evangelicals engage with contemporary scholarship, the community's authority structure still encourages the "anointed" to assume positions of leadership.
Format:Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
ISBN:9780674062672
9783110261189
9783110261233
9783110261271
9783110374889
9783110374926
9783110442205
9783110459517
9783110662566
DOI:10.4159/harvard.9780674062672
Access:restricted access
Hierarchical level:Monograph
Statement of Responsibility: Randall J. Stephens, Karl Giberson.