Evangelical Anti-intellectualism. Part Three: How Has It Come to This? A Historical Analysis

In Part Three of this series on Evangelical Anti-intellectualism, Anthony Alberino explores the historical roots and development of the now-characteristic evangelical neglect of the mind. The Christian heritage is an intellectually rich one. Many of the most gifted thinkers over the last 2000 years have been committed Christians. Both the university and modern science are Christian innovations. The Colonial period of American Christianity carried forward this deep care for the mind. The Puritans, in particular, embodied a delicate balance of intellectual rigor and spiritual piety. Two broad historical movements contributed to the erosion of the Puritan mind in America. The first is revivalism. The Colonies, and later, the new American nation, experienced several rounds of revivals referred to as Great Awakenings. Although very positive in many ways, the revival movements tended toward emotionalism, populism, and individualism. After the American Revolution, the revivals also promoted the democratization of Christianity which applied the attitude and rhetoric of the Revolution to the faith. This, combined with the restoration movement which sought to purify the church of its historical dross, tended to encourage anti-historicism as well as anti-traditionalism. The fundamentalist movement of the early twentieth century was a reaction to the takeover of the American universities by scientific naturalism. In response, Christian intellectuals generally abandoned the universities and set up their own schools and institutions of higher learning. As a result, a Christian subculture emerged that was largely isolated from the secular culture. Gradually, the church became privatized and marginalized. Today the American Evangelical Church is still recovering from these historical movements that have helped to instilled in it a deep-seated anti-intellectual disposition.