Neil postman7/1/2023 ![]() ![]() University of Notre Dame historian Mark Noll (2001) says that from the beginning evangelicalism emphasized spiritual renewal over ecclesiastical formalism and made a popular appeal for living a “religion of the heart” (9). ![]() Edwards believed a personal relationship with God wrought by a conversion experience was in keeping with the spirit of the Reformation as articulated by Martin Luther and John Calvin. “New-Lights” like Edwards claimed that true religion goes beyond human reason to touch the affections. The Great Awakening was in essence a “restatement of the older Puritan teaching on the need for men first to be humbled if they are to be soundly converted” (Murray, 1987). But one must go back to the 1740s and the preaching of Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield to understand the beginnings of a movement that shook both America and Great Britain. Billy Graham, whose ministry began in the 1940s with citywide crusades, is often regarded as the elder statesman of modern American evangelicalism. Finally, some samples of evangelical scholarship that rely heavily on Postman’s work are reviewed.Īccording to a Gallup survey, roughly 4 out of 10 Americans identify themselves as evangelical or born-again Christians (Tolson, 2003). Second, Postman’s philosophical outlook is compared and contrasted with these evangelicals to ascertain the intersecting lines of agreement relating to a critical assessment of American culture. First, a definition of evangelicalism is in order, coupled with a description of the sort of evangelical that affectionately leans upon Postman. This article attempts to explain why certain evangelicals consider Postman, if not their favorite teacher, at least one of their favorite teachers, despite never having sat in a classroom with him or ever hearing of something called the New York School. It would be more accurate to say that it is a particular kind of evangelical fish that likes to quote Postman-a reflective fish, a Reformed fish, a confessional fish, a fish out of water. This is not to say that the entire evangelical community is familiar with Postman or would agree with the basic thrust of his writings, for evangelicalism is a big pond with an assortment of diverse fish, many paying no attention whatsoever to the water in which they swim. Lewis is no small matter for a Christian educator like Gordon who teaches Greek and Religion at Grove City College in western Pennsylvania. ![]() To rank Postman up there with the author and apologist C. Gordon’s comment, which appeared in an online post among other recollections of Neil Postman (Rosen, 2003), demonstrates how well the media theorist and educator who passed away in October 2003, is held in high regard by a selection of evangelical academics and scholars. He was basically a secular Jew, and I am basically a conservative Christian, but he taught me more than almost any Christian I can think of (C. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |