When Trickle Down Doesn’t Work: Evangelicals and Interfaith Dialogue

It was an unassuming debate, the kind that takes place before everyone has arrived and you are still mixing sugar and cream into your coffee. A tantalizing mix of progressive social justice types and conservative evangelicals, this particular Bible study group lent itself to provocative conversation. The topic of contention: whether evangelical Christians can, in good conscience, work side by side with members of other religions for humanitarian purposes. We remained fairly evenly divided. Some claimed that this type of engagement would cause evangelicals to implicitly affirm erroneous theological motives and forsake their duty to evangelize through proclamation. Others cited a holistic vision of mission and the Biblical mandate for neighbor-love.  I left thoroughly frustrated that the topic even lent itself to debate.

Yet this conversation reflected on a popular level the debate that has been raging between evangelical academics for years, a debate that has come to define evangelical dialogical efforts. American evangelicals have long been in the shadow of the Modernist/Fundamentalist Controversy. Old Princeton-style theologians such as Carl Henry planted the evangelical flag in Biblical inerrancy and refused the status of “Christian” to anyone who did not fully adhere to this doctrine. Thus when evangelical theologian Clark Pinnock went out on a limb and adopted, with some adaptation, Karl Rahner’s inclusivism, and when evangelical scholars such as Miroslav Volf, Alister McGrath and Rodney Clapp have dared reconsider the faith in light of postmodernity and the foundationalist assumption, more traditional evangelicals have cried heresy. One needs to look no farther than D.A. Carson’s 569-page tome, The Gagging of God, to find an example of this phenomenon.

What does all of this mean for ordinary church-going evangelical folk? It seems the non-endorsement of more progressive theologies of religions by the recognized “gatekeepers of orthodoxy” – those conservative evangelical heroes like Carson and John Piper – has precluded the fruit of this debate from informing any real, on-the-ground evangelical dialogical efforts. As Gary Dorrien notes, conservative Calvinist theologians still control most of the evangelical seminaries and publishing houses (Dorrien, Gary. The Remaking of Evangelical Theology [Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1998], 182). That means that the books promoted in evangelical churches and many of the pastors of those churches are on the whole going to side with Piper and Carson, not with Pinnock and Volf. As a result, almost every evangelical has heard of John Piper but for the most part only those who run in academic or progressive circles (circles that, one might imagine, overlap quite a bit) have heard of theologians on the “evangelical left.”

Yet all is not lost. Indeed, what is not trickling down from the echelons of the academy is emerging from the grassroots. There is a growing critical mass of evangelical pastors and lay leaders who are pioneering into the murky waters of interfaith dialogue. Take Bob Roberts, a megachurch pastor in Texas who spearheaded the Global Faith Forum, a conference for Muslims, Jews and Christians attended by figures such as Eboo Patel of the Interfaith Youth Core, Islamic scholar John Esposito and prominent Jewish peace activist Mark Braverman. Efforts such as these, however, remain a bit bumbling and awkward. A Christianity Today online article about Roberts’ dialogue, for instance, notes that the traditional evangelical sacred cow of evangelism through proclamation remained an elephant in the room throughout the event: “attenders kept wondering if merely participating in such an event—where mutual understanding was the key note—was to compromise.” The author of the article goes on to muse, “when you set up a conversation in which conversion is never a real possibility, and yet in which genuine and respectful love is clearly evident—well, is it an event worthy of an evangelical’s time?” (Galli, Mark. “Putting Evangelism on Hold” in Christianity Today, November [web only] 2010). My Bible study debate came flooding back.

Evangelical grassroots praxis in interfaith dialogue is an encouraging trend. As Eboo Patel has commented, “Evangelicals are a hugely important community in advancing a global interfaith movement because of their size, their strong faith commitment, and their keen perception of culture.” (Patel, Eboo. “The Faith Divide: What Brings us Together and Drives Us Apart” in The Washington Post [online], January 4, 2011) But the truth is, as long as evangelicals are left groping in the dark for more progressive, yet indigenously evangelical, answers to theological questions about soteriology and evangelism, attempts at dialogue will remain awkward at best. Yet I will not conclude this, my first post, on such a gloomy note.  There are, in fact, a few shining lights answering the need for more progressive evangelical public theologians and pastors. For instance, Fuller Theological Seminary has established the Journal of Evangelical Interfaith Dialogue, a publication with a mission “to create space for evangelical scholars and practitioners to dialogue about the dynamics, challenges, practices and theology surrounding interfaith work, while remaining faithful to the gospel of Jesus and His mission for His church.”  May such efforts be multiplied.

17 thoughts on “When Trickle Down Doesn’t Work: Evangelicals and Interfaith Dialogue”

  1. Sara – thank you for this! It is very interesting indeed to hear that evangelicals share some of the same dilemmas in interfaith spaces as atheists and Humanists do. To some in our community, simply participating is to give too much ground to people of faith. It’s fascinating to see this phenomenon mirrored in your experience.

    1. James,

      That is interesting that two groups on opposite peripheries of the interfaith conversation are having such a similar experience. Thanks for your comment!

      Sara

  2. Great post, Sara, and thanks for your response to my earlier post. I wonder if the beginnings of one of those “progressive, yet indigenously evangelical, answers to theological questions about soteriology and evangelism” might come through disentangling soteriology from evangelism–ie, to stop thinking the Christian’s motivation for preaching the Gospel (even with words when necessary) is to depopulate Hell. Such a legalistic motivation almost always leads to the sort of self-righteous sanctimony that hardly proves attractive to the unbeliever– it’s even given some many a Christian reason to jump ship (ie, the Ark of Christendom).

    And … I don’t know Prof. Marsh very well, but from the tone of your post, it sounds as if UVA could very well be a good fit for you. Let me know if you’d like to chat.

    Peace.

    1. Ben,

      I could not agree more. I have been reading a bit of David Bosch lately and really appreciate his holistic perspective on evangelism, especially on Matt 28. I have not yet tackled Transforming Mission, however, which I hear is his magnum opus. Perhaps this summer…

      Yes, would love to talk UVA. I will not be applying to PhD programs for another couple of years, but looking ahead UVA’s program seems like a great fit for my interests.

      Sara

  3. Hi Sara, (I first posted this on Ben’s post and he emailed me that perhaps you might not get it… so) I work directly with Charles Marsh, please let me know if I can be of any help.

    Peace,
    Kelly

    1. Hi Kelly,

      I saw that you are at The Project on Lived Theology – I have perused the website a few times and love the mission. I am quite interested in UVA, though as I told Ben do not plan to be applying to PhD programs until two years from now. But I would really love to hear about your experience at the Project and working with Dr. Marsh.

      Sara

  4. You may also want to look into work done in the context of foreign missions. In places such as the United Mission to Nepal, evangelicals and others have been struggling for years with, not just dialogue, but living with, working with and loving people who have no intention of converting to evangelical Christianity. The whole debate within the humanitarian assistance community is one that will inform your study deeply.

    1. Thanks, Nancy. As someone who has had a mere one-year “taste” of what it is like to live and work on the ground in a different cultural context, I am also convinced that firsthand perspectives are the most valuable and accurate. Unfortunately those voices often do not inform academic debates such as this one as much as they should. I most certainly take your comment to heart. Thanks again!

      Sara

  5. I just found this essay in a Google search related to Evangelicals and interfaith dialogue. It does put its finger on one of the main sticking points for Evangelicals related to dialogue, where the process has been tainted by concerns over compromise in more progressive or liberal Christian traditions, and in the practice being confused with monologue and evangelism on the other. I find your MA study subject matter of great interest, and related to that, you might be interested in the formation of the new Evangelical Chapter of the Foundation for Religious Diplomacy. The press release can be read here: http://johnwmorehead.blogspot.com/2011/09/foundation-for-religious-diplomacy.html

    1. Thanks for sharing this, John! I am glad you found my post. I actually have a friend who just went on staff at Bob Roberts’ church in Texas. He has developed a Bible Study curriculum for evangelicals regarding interreligious engagement. There are definitely encouraging developments, but there is a long way to go.

  6. I spoke with Pastor Roberts last week and he is interested in my work with the Foundation for Religious Diplomacy. Small world. I would dearly love to get in touch with your friend and get a look at that curriculum. Could you contact me privately and share his/her name and contact information? Many thanks. By the way, I’d like to follow your work and degree. Are you you Academia.edu?

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