Embodying the Global Soul: Internationalism and the American Evangelical Left

Journal Title: Religions - Year 2012, Vol 3, Issue 4

Abstract

In the last half of the twentieth century, neo-evangelicalism moved from an anticommunist nationalist consensus to a new internationalism characterized by concern for human rights, justice, and economic development. Case studies of World Vision, a global relief and development organization, and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, a campus ministry, demonstrate that this trajectory was due in part to a growing global reflex in which many missionaries and third-world evangelicals ―spoke back‖ to American evangelicalism. Interpreting the Bible for themselves—and increasingly for American evangelicals—substantial numbers of non-Western converts and missionaries offered sharp criticisms of American politics, culture, and capitalism. These critiques, sacralized by their origins on the mission field, helped turn some young evangelicals toward Vietnam protests, poverty relief, civil rights, and a tempered nationalism. By the 1970s, these progressive elements—and a more resolute global concern generally—had become important markers of the evangelical left.

Authors and Affiliations

David R. Swartz

Keywords

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  • EP ID EP25273
  • DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/rel3040887
  • Views 407
  • Downloads 15

How To Cite

David R. Swartz (2012). Embodying the Global Soul: Internationalism and the American Evangelical Left. Religions, 3(4), -. https://europub.co.uk/articles/-A-25273