"The Other Evangelicals" w/ Isaac B. Sharp M.Div, Ph.D.

In this episode, we traverse the complex landscape of evangelicalism, an often misunderstood and hotly debated religious identity. Join us as Isaac Sharp, a prominent scholar of religion and acclaimed author, unravels the intricacies of this profound topic.

Our conversation initiates with Isaac defining evangelicalism. He emphasizes its multifaceted nature, elaborating on how it's perceived differently by secular scholars, historians, journalists, theologians, and evangelicals themselves. Isaac further highlights how evangelicalism transcends denominational boundaries within Protestantism, reinforcing its status as a more conservative form of American Protestantism.

In the absence of a universally accepted definition, the term 'evangelical' is perpetually negotiable. This leads to intriguing debates around the authenticity of one's evangelical identity. In the quest for understanding evangelicalism, Isaac introduces us to the "Bebbington quadrilateral," a four-pronged definition of evangelicalism focusing on the cross, a high regard for the Bible, individual conversion, and an evangelistic or activist impulse.

However, the distinctions between sociological and theological definitions of evangelicalism can paint diverse pictures of this religious group. Isaac reflects on how these differing perspectives can influence our understanding of the evangelical community. The episode concludes with a profound discussion on the complex relationship between evangelicalism and race, showcasing how historical contexts and racial dynamics intersect with faith identities.

#Evangelicalism #Religion #Protestantism #BebbingtonQuadrilateral #FaithIdentity #TheologicalPerspectives #ReligiousScholarship #AmericanReligion #IsaacSharp

Buy the book

Guest Bio:

Isaac B. Sharp is the Director of Certificate Programming and Visiting Professor. He graduated from Union Theological Seminary with a Ph.D. in Social Ethics, with a minor emphasis in Religious Studies, in May 2019.

Dr. Sharp’s current research focuses on the theology, ethics, and history of U.S. American evangelicalism. His dissertation, “The Other Evangelicals,” develops an alternative reading of 20th-century evangelicalism from the point of view of some of the most marginalized, minoritized, and frequently overlooked constituencies in recent evangelical history in order to demonstrate how American evangelical identity became so closely associated with only its most politically conservative, religiously narrow, and culturally white claimants.

Dr. Sharp is the co-editor of Evangelical Ethics: A Reader in the Library of Theological Ethics series (Westminster John Knox, 2015) as well as the forthcoming Christian Ethics in Conversation (Wipf & Stock, 2020).

Prior to his doctoral studies at Union, Dr. Sharp received the B.A. with Honors in Religion from Carson-Newman College, where he served as an Oxford Studies Fellow, conducting research in British Baptist history at Regent’s Park College, Oxford University, and an M.Div. with an emphasis in Christian Ethics from the McAfee School of Theology, Mercer University, in Atlanta, GA.