List Price: $16.99 (USD)
ZCS Price: $15.29 (USD)

Format: Hardcover, Jacketed
Case Quantity: 40 Case Quantity Discount
Case Weight: 32.67
Book & Bible Cover Size: Medium
Page Count: 208
Size: 5.7 wide x 8.8 high x 0.8 deep in. | 145 wide x 223 high x deep 20 mm
Weight: 0.78 lb | 353 gms
ISBN: 0310283388
ISBN-13: 9780310283386
Ages: Adult

Available: March, 2008
Publisher: Zondervan

Synopsis:
In recent years the American media have portrayed the evangelical movement as a conservative force in society equating it with fundamentalism. Many people equate evangelical Christianity with conservatism in religion, politics, theology and social attitudes. But is this the whole story of evangelicalism? Roger Olson’s new book sets forth evidence that the link between evangelicalism and conservatism has not always been as strong as it is today in the popular mind. Olson shows how contemporary evangelicals—who want to remain evangelical—can do so without identifying with conservatism in every way.

Author of How to Be Evangelical without Being Conservative
Roger E. Olson
Roger E. Olson (PhD, Rice University) is professor of theology at George W. Truett Theological Seminary of Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He is the author of many books including Questions to All Your Answers: The Journey from Folk Religion to Examined Faith, The Story of Christian Theology: Twenty Centuries of Tradition & Reform, The Mosaic of Christian Belief: Twenty Centuries of Unity and Diversity, and The Westminster Handbook to Evangelical Theology. He is also coauthor of 20th-Century Theology: God & the World in a Transitional Age and Who Needs Theology? An Invitation to the Study of God (both with Stanley J. Grenz) and The Trinity (with Christopher A. Hall).

Reviews of How to Be Evangelical without Being Conservative

Endorsements for How to Be Evangelical without Being Conservative:

“Roger has put words and theological thinking to exactly what so many of us are feeling. We don't want to abandon our evangelical heritage and theology, but we aren't comfortable with how it is being redefined.” — Dan Kimball, Author, “They Like Jesus but Not the Church”

“In this clear and succinct volume Roger Olson disentangles the idea of Evangelical from its common association with the label conservative and shows that the two are not the same. In so doing he helps us to see that the Evangelical commitment to the Word of God calls on us to resist the cultural captivity of any ideological agenda.” — John R. Franke, Professor, Theology, Biblical Seminary

“This wonderfully written work reclaims the beauty of the Christ-centered evangelical tradition. For all of us for whom ‘evangelical’ has become largely synonymous with an angry, reactionary, dogmatic, and largely politicized mindset, this insightful, balanced, and biblically based book is beyond encouraging: its positively therapeutic! All evangelicals need to read this!” — Dr. Gregory A. Boyd, Senior Pastor, Woodland Hills Church, Maplewood Minnesota

Product Details for How to Be Evangelical without Being Conservative

In recent years the American media have portrayed the evangelical movement as a conservative force in society equating it with fundamentalism. Many people equate evangelical Christianity with conservatism in religion, politics, theology and social attitudes. But is this the whole story of evangelicalism? Roger Olson’s new book sets forth evidence that the link between evangelicalism and conservatism has not always been as strong as it is today in the popular mind. Olson shows how contemporary evangelicals—who want to remain evangelical—can do so without identifying with conservatism in every way.

Description:
Many people equate evangelical Christianity with conservatism in religion, politics, theology and social attitudes. Some are scandalized by any separation between them. As one evangelical pastor's wife declared to a church group "We are a conservative people!"

In fact, however, evangelicals have not always been conservative; radical stances on doctrines, worship, social norms, politics and church leadership have often marked evangelicalism in the past. The 2007 movie Amazing Grace about William Wilberforce's protracted battle against the slave trade featured a small group of British evangelicals committed to abolition. The same radicalism characterized much of American evangelicalism in the years before the Civil War.

In recent years the American media have portrayed the evangelical movement as a conservative force in society sometimes equating it with fundamentalism and puritanism.

The missing piece of the story is, however, that both fundamentalism and puritanism contained radical elements that opposed the status quo.

This book sets forth evidence that the link between evangelicalism and conservatism has not always been as strong as it is today in the popular mind and it will provide suggestions for contemporary evangelicals who want to remain evangelical (and not become "post-evangelical") without identifying with conservatism in every way.