The New Internationalists: World Vision and the Revival of American Evangelical Humanitarianism, 1950–2010
Journal Title: Religions - Year 2012, Vol 3, Issue 4
Abstract
International relief and development agencies consistently rank among the largest evangelical organizations, and in recent decades, they have gained increased exposure and influence within the greater humanitarian community. World Vision, the largest evangelical agency, is also the largest Christian humanitarian organization in the world. Themes of politics and culture wars have led many to scholars to categorize American evangelicals into distinct conservative and liberal parties. Yet the history of American evangelicals‘ humanitarianism demonstrates how they often resisted such dichotomies. As evangelical humanitarian agencies expanded exponentially over the past five decades, they came to embrace a ―holistic gospel‖ that helped shape evangelical mission debates concerning the relationship between evangelism and social action; they engaged international evangelicals that forced Americans to reconsider their own categories; and many modeled a practical ecumenism that allowed evangelicals to expand beyond a limited subculture to work alongside other religious and even secular NGOs. While other evangelical progressives fragmented over identity politics or remained tethered to small alterative communities, the leading aid agencies have achieved broad support across evangelicalism, making them some of the most influential voices.
Authors and Affiliations
David King
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP25275
- DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/rel3040922
- Views 385
- Downloads 15
Urban Residents’ Religious Beliefs and Influencing Factors on Christianity in Wuhan, China
In this paper, we conducted an empirical analysis of the reasons for belief in Christianity in Wuhan, China. The data in this paper is from Chinese Urban Research Center for Ethnic and Religious Affairs Management, col...
Experiencing and Teaching Pilgrimage in a Sacred Spaces Course
As part of an integrated studies curriculum at the author’s college, all juniors must take a Reflections course in which students consider personal values and analyze familiar and unfamiliar systems of thought and beli...
Abelard: Celebrity and Charisma—A Response to Dickson
One might think that Peter Abelard (1079?–1144?) would be the best example of a medieval charismatic teacher. But his rival and prosecutor St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090?–1153) fits the criteria rather better. Unlike Be...
Religion and Ethnicity: Theoretical Connections
The religion literature in Sociology remains largely disconnected from the ethnicity and immigration literature despite enduring connections between religion and ethnicity. This review helps to close this gap. It shows...
Faith and Work: An Exploratory Study of Religious Entrepreneurs
The influence of religion on work has not been fully explored, and, in particular, the relationship between religion and entrepreneurship as a specific type of work. This study explores the link between entrepreneurial...