The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It has answered many questions I had regarding the social, religious, and political climate that has gripped America. I agree with the author’s premise that evangelicals have historically brought an orthodox Christian perspective to the various field of study. The anti intellectual movement must be halted in order to continue being a valuable voice in turbulent times.

I was gripped by this book and did not want to stop reading it until I was done. I read a lot of nonfiction, but seldom do finish them, even when I'm fascinated. So many things distract me, especially so many other books. But this book, difficult as it was, it was personal - like I was reading about my own extended family. It shed light on things that have been troubling me most of my life. I had been wanting to read some church history for a while and have investigated a lot of the books available on amazon. This is the one I happened on though, by accident. Church history made personal. I've read some complaints here that it's very hard to read - well it is kind of. I found it fascinating enough that I struggled through. Some things I probably missed - not sure if it was because of his lack of clarity or my own ineptitude. Would have appreciated a little more clarity early on in the book about what was meant by baconian science. This figured big in Noll's description of the evangelical mind - it wasn't until late in the book that I got a bit more clarity on what was meant by baconian science - still not sure I understand it 100%. I have enough experience with evangelicalism though, that I think I have a pretty good intuitive feel for what he was talking about.Another thing I will say regarding how difficult the book is - he did dedicate it to the faculty and trustees of Wheaton College. Those were the people he wanted to have front row seats for this - the rest of us may have to struggle a bit. But it was fascinating and worth the struggle.I have a list now of people and ideas mentioned that I want to do further reading on. It really was a good read.I had Dr. Noll as a history professor many years back. If evangelicalism is a part of your life and you want to do some thinking - this is a book for you - I think you'll like it.

Mark A. Noll begins The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind with a staggering indictment. "The scandal of the evangelical mind", he writes, "is that there is not much of an evangelical mind." With those words begins perhaps the most sobering critique of the place of Evangelical Protestantism within major intellectual currents shaping the culture. This accusation was most striking as it came from within Evangelicalism itself by one of its leading scholars. Since the book's publication, some have applauded and others attacked its major theses, but most will grant that the intellectual landscape of the Evangelical movement was greatly impacted by Noll's criticism and serious new efforts dealing with Evangelicalism and modern culture issue must wrestle with Noll's work.In the four sections of The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind (covering the importance of the scandal, an historical analysis of the scandal, negative repercussions of the scandal, and some hopeful signs of a renaissance in Evangelical thought), Noll meticulously builds a case that the Evangelical disengagement from intellectual pursuits has rendered it impotent to interact within the major intellectual currents of the day. Unable to develop a uniquely Evangelical approach to issues of higher culture, the Evangelical response - if any - is often dependent upon the work of scholars from Roman Catholicism and other Protestant traditions. This sterility of thought fosters a retreat into an Evangelical ghetto where the lack of interaction with competing ideas leaves faulty presuppositions unchallenged and its own fruitful sources untapped.Noll is particularly to be commended for his excellent insights into the genesis of the current intellectual malaise. Pointing out the strong efforts of Puritans such as Jonathan Edwards to vigorously address the major intellectual themes of their day (following a long tradition of such efforts by Protestants since the Reformation), he traces a number of interacting factors joining together to produce the uniquely American strain of Protestantism. These include the populist revivals of the Great Awakening, the "common sense" Baconian approach to all inquiry promoted by the Scottish Enlightenment, and the spirit of anti-intellectualism spurred on by modernist views of the Bible and debate on the Darwin's evolutionary theories.Noll sees in current Evangelical uses of Scripture an attempt to recycle ideas discarded elsewhere in the Church as lacking a proper appreciation for historical and cultural contexts. Locked into a system of thought indelibly marked by the nineteenth century, they find themselves unable to respond to intellectual movements far more complex than their narrow categories can handle.Becoming more optimistic in the last section of the book, Noll focuses on signs of a possible renaissance of Evangelical thinking. Interestingly, much of what Noll views as positive signs are the result of influences from interactions with other Christians. In the process of pointing out many that Evangelical distinctives are not essential to Christianity, Noll seems to inadvertently suggest the way for Evangelicals to become more intellectually rigorous is to become less Evangelical.It remains to be seen whether it is possible to reform Evangelicalism along the lines Noll poposes without becoming something else entirely. Whether one thinks of them as strengths or weaknesses, a downplaying of those aspects of Evangelicalism that Noll finds most disturbing (anti-intellectual strains of populism, self-righteous separatism, strict interpretations of Biblical inerrancy, methods of hermeneutics based upon outmoded theories of textual objectivity, dispensational approaches to eschatology, attacks on scientific theories) would so alter the landscape of the Evangelical movement as to lose any claim of continuity. Is it possible for a Christian who eschewed the imminent rapture, did not approach the Bible as a source of "proof texts", and reconciled his faith with evolution to be identified as an Evangelical? Without the emotional hold those distinctives generate would they not then descend into the same malaise as mainstream Protestantism?Noll is not off target in his criticism, but the solution may not lie in Evangelicalism. Many thoughtful Evangelicals, disturbed by the anti-intellectual and ahistorical approaches to the faith common in their doctrine and worship, have resolved the issue by moving to the Anglican, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, and Reformed traditions where a richer theology exists, a more dignified worship of God prevails, and intellectual inquiry is accorded a more vital role. Thus the best solution to the problem of the Evangelical mind may well lie in turning one's back on Evangelicalism.Regardless of the future resolution of these issues, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind is among the most important books on the state of American Christianity written in the last fifty years. For anyone attempting to understand the place of Christianity in American life, it is a must read. For Evangelicals themselves, it may be shocking to grasp the biases within their approaches to their faith, but it may also lead them to a more faith rooted more in the Gospel than in nineteenth century America.

Ce livre très lucide et très clair sur le rapport entre les évangéliques nord-américains et l'activité intellectuelle, écrit par un historien lui-même évangélique mais passé maître dans l'auto-critique (ravageuse mais constructive) du mouvement, a fait date. Il mérite encore d'être lu. Pour une "mise à jour" de l'opinion de Mark Noll sur le sujet, on peut lire son article paru en 2004 dans la revue First Things ([...])

Written a quarter of a century ago, the book is both prophetic and e ncouraging. I think it could have prevented some of the evangelical failures of the Trump Era, if we had listened carefully.

Very informative. Written by an evangelical so it does not have an agenda against evangelicalism but it gives an honest account of why evangelicalism is where it is today (or at least in the 1990s) in the United States. You don’t have to be “all heart and no head” to be a Christian, but evangelical history in the US (and Canada) have made that a difficult reality to take hold of.

Nothing else

Evangelicals need to read, study and discuss this book. If we are to have a real Christian experience, we need to learn how to think in a world where our minds have been really messed up. This book is a start to the road on which God is encountered in a meaningful way. Our thought systems have been seriously censored by the philosophies of the last few centuries - time to leave the fog of man's empty philosophies and find the Creator's ways of truly living in His world.