Evangelicals trying to save evangelicalism

David Brooks has collected a list of evangelicals who are trying to “save evangelicalism from itself.” They are Thabiti Anyabwile, Tim Dalrymple, Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Russell Moore, David Bailey, Karen Swallow Prior, David French, Rachael Denhollander, Beth Moore, Lecrae, Jason Giboney, Eugene Rivers, Mark Labberton, Walter Kim, and Tim Keller. It appears a new evangelical celebrity class is here.

Read the entire piece here, and follow the movements of these potential saviors twice weekly in our Evangelical Roundup where we cover, curate, and chronicle their activities and commentary.

Here are some early responses to Brooks’s piece:

Grateful for this piece from @nytdavidbrooks looking at the possibility of a renewed evangelicalism. A must read. https://t.co/1MM1cVASrt
— National Association of Evangelicals (@NAEvangelicals) February 4, 2022

I appreciate @nytdavidbrooks' overview of many anti-Trump evangelicals' disillusionment & their efforts to redress racism, patriarchy, partisanship, etc–but he could/should have highlighted how a minority of evangelicals have been doing this for 40+ yearshttps://t.co/CyvipaFJhr
— Brantley W. Gasaway (@BrantleyGasaway) February 4, 2022

https://twitter.com/AntheaButler/status/1489617014402519040

https://twitter.com/AntheaButler/status/1489568011367469060

"A certain percentage of these macho celebrities inflict their power on the vulnerable and especially on young women." Did David Brooks somehow get an early copy of CELEBRITIES FOR JESUS? 👀https://t.co/m9wS7k8Kle
— Katelyn Beaty (@KatelynBeaty) February 4, 2022

"There can probably be no evangelical renewal if the movement does not divorce itself from the lust for partisan political power. … Those who are leading the evangelical renewal know they need one." https://t.co/rQDAYMcfOl
— Daniel Silliman (@danielsilliman) February 4, 2022

Wow, that David Brooks essay today is like the ultimate exercise in evangelical name-dropping.
— Tony Jones (@jonestony) February 4, 2022

https://twitter.com/Greg_Carey/status/1489589015661711364

When you’re citing Kristin Kobes Du Mez as someone trying to save evangelicalism from itself, you’re doing it wrong. Her more recent statements make clear she’s hostile to orthodoxy, not evangelicalism. https://t.co/s0mCSsdDJR
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) February 4, 2022

How do you feel about this piece? Does this not feel indicative of @EWErickson’s point? Difference is, one side of infighting has megaphone of NYT, WaPo, & Atlantic at their disposal. And they use it to dump on people who have no such recourse to respond.https://t.co/sqk3Rvnv2U
— Megan Basham (@megbasham) February 4, 2022

I keep reading pieces about evangelicals who are shocked – shocked! – at the authoritarian tendencies of their movement, but those tendencies are baked into evangelicalism. whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap https://t.co/FIC9eZs5fr
— Sarah Jones (@onesarahjones) February 4, 2022

https://twitter.com/knightopia/status/1489627340967755779

This isn’t a call for renewal. It’s an exercise in rebranding.

For Brooks Christian = conservative evangelical and he thinks the core problem is political partisanship. It’s not. It’s conservative evangelical theology itself that needs dismantling.

https://t.co/8iGES7MIxF
— Zack Hunt (@ZaackHunt) February 4, 2022