The Anointed: Evangelical Truth in a Secular Age [Hardcover]

Randall J. Stephens (Author), Karl W. Giberson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 24, 2011

American evangelicalism often appears as a politically monolithic, textbook red-state fundamentalism that elected George W. Bush, opposes gay marriage, abortion, and evolution, and promotes apathy about global warming. Prominent public figures hold forth on these topics, speaking with great authority for millions of followers. Authors Stephens and Giberson, with roots in the evangelical tradition, argue that this popular impression understates the diversity within evangelicalism—an often insular world where serious disagreements are invisible to secular and religiously liberal media consumers. Yet, in the face of this diversity, why do so many people follow leaders with dubious credentials when they have other options? Why do tens of millions of Americans prefer to get their science from Ken Ham, founder of the creationist Answers in Genesis, who has no scientific expertise, rather than from his fellow evangelical Francis Collins, current Director of the National Institutes of Health?

Exploring intellectual authority within evangelicalism, the authors reveal how America’s populist ideals, anti-intellectualism, and religious free market, along with the concept of anointing—being chosen by God to speak for him like the biblical prophets—established a conservative evangelical leadership isolated from the world of secular arts and sciences.

Today, charismatic and media-savvy creationists, historians, psychologists, and biblical exegetes continue to receive more funding and airtime than their more qualified counterparts. Though a growing minority of evangelicals engage with contemporary scholarship, the community’s authority structure still encourages the “anointed” to assume positions of leadership.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Stephens and Giberson have produced a stunning and well-documented indictment of the evangelical right wing. Here is a 'must read' for anyone wanting an insight into one of the most powerful religious-political movements in modern American culture.
--Owen Gingerich, author of God's Universe

Two talented writers join forces to introduce us to some of the most influential religious and cultural leaders in contemporary America--such 'experts' as Ken Ham, David Barton, James Dobson, and Hal Lindsey. I know of no better place to discover how the conservative half of America lives and thinks.
--Ronald L. Numbers, author of The Creationists: From Creation Science to Intelligent Design

This is an important book on a pressing topic that should be read by everyone concerned with the place of religion in American life today.
--Michael Ruse, author of The Evolution-Creation Struggle

The Anointed demonstrates how questionable 'experts' emerge and flourish within American evangelicalism. Stephens and Giberson function as knowledgeable guides into this intriguing--and troubling--'parallel universe.'
--Randall Balmer, author of The Making of Evangelicalism

[Stephens and Giberson] rise triumphantly to the challenge of explaining the leaders and the culture of the religious Right without rancor or condescension.
--Ray Olson (Booklist 20111015)

The Anointed is one of the best and most important books on religion published this year. It is a well-written, well-argued study that penetrates to the heart of modern evangelical culture. Stephens and Giberson have done an excellent job of critiquing what Mark Noll has called the "scandal of the evangelical mind" (the scandal, wrote Noll, is "that there is not much of an evangelical mind") while empathetically explaining why so many evangelicals are smitten with dubious experts. Evangelicals who take the intellect seriously, as well as outsiders struggling to understand the evangelical sub-culture, will benefit from their hard work and keen insights.
--Matthew Avery Sutton (Christian Century 20111115)

In The Anointed, Randall J. Stephens and Karl W. Giberson, professors at evangelical Eastern Nazarene College near Boston, draw a fascinating group portrait of today's most popular intellectual leaders among evangelicals and attempt to explain why so many of the faithful buy their arguments...One of the principal virtues of The Anointed is that it represents an effort to demonstrate that the evangelical community is not a monolith of the unthinking.
--Kevin M. Schultz (Wilson Quarterly 20110901)

Neither an expose nor a screed, The Anointed is the work of educated evangelical Christians who reject the kitsch and anti-intellectualism that outsiders tend to equate with the faith itself...There are evangelicals who reject fundamentalism, find apocalyptic revenge fantasies distasteful, and don't see any reason why God wouldn't bless same-sex unions. The Anointed seems to be written for such readers--to explain the history and internal dynamics of the evangelical subculture, perhaps as a step towards changing it. As a report on the parallel culture of evangelical Christianity, the book is well-researched and intelligently composed.
--Scott McLemee (Inside Higher Ed 20111123)

The Anointed [is] a field guide to the evangelical experts you haven't heard of--but should...Why would anyone heed ersatz "experts" over trained authorities far more qualified to comment on the origins of life or the worldview of the founding fathers? Drawing on case studies of evangelical gurus, Stephens and Giberson argue that intellectual authority works differently in the "parallel culture" of evangelicalism. In this world of prophecy conferences and home-schooling curriculums, a dash of charisma, a media empire and a firm stance on the right side of the line between "us" and "them" matter more than a fancy degree...The Anointed condemns the current state of evangelical intellectual life, but Stephens and Giberson avoid monolithic stereotypes. They are careful to note that evangelicals disagree wildly among themselves about almost everything.
--Molly Worthen (New York Times )

With its coverage of wide-ranging figures and issues, the book reveals important facets of ways evangelicals maintain both their ideology and boundaries in what they perceive as a threatening culture. This insightful work is an important contribution to readers' understanding of the ways evangelicals maintain their self-identity and worldview.
--A. W. Klink (Choice 20120301)

In their new book, The Anointed: Evangelical Truth in a Secular Age, Randall Stephens and Karl Giberson explain the nature of intellectual insularity of so many in this world, in which "the teachings of dubiously credentialed leaders are favored over the word of secular experts in the arts and sciences."...The authors describe "what amounts to a 'parallel culture,'" where people like alleged "historian" David Barton...proffer[s] phony-baloney history lessons that distort almost everything professional historians know to be true about America's founders.
--Eric Alterman (The Nation 20111212)

About the Author

Randall J. Stephens is Associate Professor of History at Eastern Nazarene College.

Karl W. Giberson is former professor of physics at Eastern Nazarene College and author of several books on science and religion.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press (October 24, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674048180
• ISBN-13: 978-0674048188
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1.1 x 8.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #655,497 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 46 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars An Ambivalent Review of an Indictment of Evangelical Anti-intellectualism November 10, 2011

By George P. Wood VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

As I read The Anointed, my feelings of ambivalence toward it increased.

On the one hand, I agree with its indictment of evangelical anti-intellectualism. The fact that so many of my co-religionists take their scientific cues from Ken Ham rather than Francis Collins, their historical cues from David Barton rather than Mark Noll, and their eschatological cues from Hal Lindsey rather than George Eldon Ladd does not speak well of their good judgment. How Ham, Barton, and Lindsey (among others) become "the anointed"--that is, leading spokesmen both in and for our community--does not speak well for our leadership development pipeline, which too often emphasizes charisma over academic training, simplistic sloganeering over complex thought, and social withdrawal from than rather critical engagement with secular culture.

On the other hand, I am puzzled by the language and venue in which Randall Stephens and Karl Giberson have published their indictment. Both men are evangelical scholars, but throughout The Anointed, they speak of their fellow evangelicals in detached, third-person language. This gives the book an anthropologist-from-Mars feel. They explain common evangelical beliefs and practices, apparently on the assumption that their readers have never heard of them. And they published their indictment through Harvard University Press and, in abbreviated form, on the op-ed pages of The New York Times.

Both the language and the venue made me wonder who their intended readers are. If their intended readers are fellow evangelicals, both the language and the venue are strange choices. Why speak about "them" in detached, third-person language when they could speak about "us"? And aren't there evangelical academic publishers who would be more than willing to publish this indictment? (I think immediately of Eerdmans, for example.) If their intended readers are secular in outlook, the language and venue make more sense. But if that is the case, why would they hand readers the rocks with which to stone their co-religionists?

As I read The Anointed with ambivalence, I couldn't help but compare it to Mark Noll's 1995 indictment of evangelical anti-intellectualism, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, which Noll described as "an epistle from a wounded lover." Noll's commitment to and admonition of the evangelical community were both clear. The language and publication venue of The Anointed confused me about Stephens' and Giberson's motivations.

Another point of ambivalence concerns the concept of authority that seems to underlie their book. This issue arises most clearly in chapters 1 and 3, where the relationship between biblical interpretation and scientific study arises. Chapter 1 opposes Ken Ham's young Earth creationism to biological evolution. Chapter 3 opposes James Dobson's stances on child discipline and same-sex marriage to social-science research on those topics. Stephens and Giberson clearly think that science trumps Ham's and Dobson's interpretations of the Bible. This makes perfect sense if Ham's and Dobson's interpretations are wrong, of course, but what if the interpretation is right?

Take the issue of same-sex marriage, for example. Stephens and Giberson approvingly cite the conclusions of David G. Myers, a Christian psychologist who thinks evangelicals should support same-sex marriage. But Myers' support for that institution is open to challenge, not merely from anti-intellectual evangelicals, but from academically credentialed ones such as Stan Jones (psychology) and Robert Gagnon (theology). The most plausible interpretation of the relevant biblical passages, those scholars argue, prohibits homosexual behavior. If social science research normalizes homosexual behavior and supports same-sex marriage, what results is a rather clear-cut contradiction between biblical interpretation and scientific research. In that case, which of them prevails?

Or take the issue of corporal discipline of children. The most plausible interpretation of the relevant biblical passages indicates that the Bible permits spanking, even promotes it. But if social science research concludes that parental "aggression" promotes childhood "aggression," then which authority prevails? The Bible or science?

I don't believe that the Bible and scientific research need to conflict. They can be mutually illuminative. The Copernican Revolution, for example, exposed the flaws of geocentric interpretations of the Bible. It corrected, that is to say, human misinterpretation of divine words. Passages that seemed to indicate geocentricity--e.g., "the sun rose"--were better interpreted as expressing a phenomenological viewpoint rather than stating a scientific fact. Similarly, biblical commitments can expose illegitimate scientific authority. To conclude, as some New Atheists do, that science disproves God is bad metaphysics, not good physics.

Stephens and Giberson conclude the book with this statement: "Those leaders most skilled in appropriating both the spiritual authority of the Christian tradition and the secular authority of the present culture--whatever its changing epistemological priorities--will provide that intellectual authority and be anointed to lead." It's the "changing epistemological priorities" that worry me.

My guess is that non-evangelical readers of this review will scoff at my worry. That's their right, but they're not my concern. My fellow evangelicals are. For us, the faith-reason debate is a live one. But I'm not sure that The Anointed--despite my agreement with aspects of its indictment of evangelical anti-intellectualism--is the best guide for how to resolve this live debate among us.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Much-Needed Book: Humbling Yet Inspiring April 28, 2012

By Ilya Muromets Books

Format:Hardcover

This book gives an engaging and thoughtful summary of the often simplified and generalized evangelical worldview. It shows that evangelicals have a much broader spectrum of thought and beliefs, however, historically have been biased in their appearance through the misrepresentation of media and prominent extremist evangelicals. It also points out that evangelicals still have a long way to go. I have personally enjoyed the scholarly criticism and skepticism of both writers. They are both evangelicals that are promptly criticizing a number of other evangelicals (and non-Christians as well) f or their inconsistency of thought, extremism and arrogance and for the misrepresentation of evangelicals as a whole.
There are few criticisms that I partially disagree with. For example, in chapter two, they criticize Francis Schaeffer and L'Abri which he founded. Although they do a good job at criticizing Schaeffer's theology, I think they have overdone it with unnecessary skepticism. Schaeffer, even though being an extremist in some way regarding his theology, has made a sincere effort in loosening the strictness of conservative evangelicals by inviting for religious and non-religious engagement. Thus, I would argue that his views were not as conservative then at his time as they are seen now. I do not think that Francis Schaeffer could be put with Ken Ham and Jerry Falwell on the same line of criticism.
The authors state: "The Schaeffer's had embarked on a bold campaign, joining Marshall to reclaim America for Christ." I would disagree with this statement since the Schaeffer's were promoting more Christian integration in every field and not necessarily only in politics. There concepts might have been incorrect because of being self-taught yet they pushed Christians to integrate into places in life where many evangelicals at their time have stepped aside from. In addition, Stephens and Giberson describe L'Abri as being Christian Right dominant. I think that is a very general statement. I have been to L'Abri myself, and these were some of the most productive months of my life where I have `liberalized' my faith. With a hint of sarcasm they call L'Abri "Francis Schaeffer's European Evangelical retreat center." In my opinion, this is far from a retreat center. It is a place of intense questioning and identity formation. Thus, it seems as if the authors only read books about L'Abri yet did not actually experience it. This in my opinion is an example of scholarly bias purely based on research and books but not on experience.
Secondly, I think that both writers being scholars overly emphasize the academia aspect in Christianity. Although it is true that there is a lack of academia in the general evangelical society, the scholars sometimes tend to go to the other extreme. It seems that according to them, if there is no academia present behind a theological statement then it is, by definition, invalid. I think the academia aspect is overly emphasized where other key issues are ignored that define ones faith and theology. However, this is a common mistake of most scholarly writers in general. In a sense, they are making the same mistake as the evangelicals they are criticizing - they dissect the human into different sections and specialize only in one aspect. Thus, they criticize some prominent evangelicals for being too spiritual, yet, go to the other extreme of being too academic.
Lastly, at many times it is difficult to read through the book trying to identify what is criticism, skepticism or simply laid-out information.
On the positive side, the authors give a very good description of the dualistic mainstream evangelical thinking. In criticizing Marshal and Manuel's book The Light and the Glory they show the extremism of America being the Promised Land and the Divine Nation as many evangelicals see it. The authors sarcastically write, "Like the Israel of the old Testament, America was in a covenant with God. If Christians could only see that clearly, they could act accordingly. America's history was a divine drama, as good and evil constantly played off each other."
The authors criticize how at many times prominent evangelicals have made a business out of Christianity, anything ranging from Marshal and Manuel's Peter Marshall Ministries to Ken Ham's Answers in Genesis campaign both which made millions of dollars. Hal Lindsey made a career out of Christianity as well: "The twenty-eight million copies of The Late Great Planet Earth sold by the early 1990's made Lindsey very rich. With a taste for sports cars, he wore a Porsche racing jacket and zipped around Los Angeles in his Mercedes 450."
They have perfectly illustrated the simplified and comfortable Christian theology in many mainstream conservative theological branches. For example, they point out the persisting difficulty of many evangelicals to fully accept psychology based on sound science rather than "the inerrant Bible as the Standard of all faith and practice."
The five-star chapter is ironically chapter five where the authors mention that there is a much more diverse culture of evangelicals than is actually shown through the media and public generalizations: "More sober, moderate evangelicals are dismayed by LaHaye's rhetoric," the authors state. They also mention that many secularists do not know about this diverse culture because they are quick to judge and criticize.
At the end of the book it says, "The DNA of the parallel of evangelism is wound from two very different strands - an ancient religious tradition and a secular world increasingly dominated by science and influenced by forces outside of conservative Christianity. The countless points of contact create a complex and bewildering problems for believers, problems that have been with Christianity since its inception." Thus, the authors are correctly pointing out that Christians are meant to face these questions and not turn their faces back in search of dogmatic speeches. It is part of Christianity to face these questions; in essence, it is what defines a Christian.
Overall, in my opinion, this book is a success. With great detail it succinctly, engagingly and cleverly illustrates a prominent and critical condition of the evangelical world that is present today. It is a topic of today that has not been touched enough by many good scholars. This is a must read for any evangelical who is not afraid to be criticized (by other evangelicals); in the process, this is a humbling yet inspiring book.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good but could be better November 22, 2011

By SGR

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is important and needed. That said it overplays the hand as dealt. The authors purportedly pit evangelical scholars against "the anointed" but the scholars get little coverage and what is wrong with the anointed gets the focus of negative attention.

This creates two concerns. The first is that in the thesis the scholars are declared to be evangelicals but the term evangelical quickly gets relegated to those the authors eschew. A clearer distinction should have been made (possibly evangelical scholars believe... vs evangelical populists believe...) in order to prevent the simple title evangelical becoming a slur. Second, in using their book as a bully stick against what they believe is wrong with popular evangelicalism the authors close the door to conversation in a similar manner to those they critique.

This book would be of greater value to the Christian community if it was used to truly discuss the challenges created by the anointed rather than put their failings on display. Further, in addition to potentially alienating any evangelical reader, this work will simply reinforce the anti-evangelical opinions of academics and pseudo-academics. Anti-intellectualism is a serious problem with popular evangelical circles. Anti-evangelicalism is also a problem. The authors could have used their book to greater advantage had they sought to do more highlighting of the scholars within evangelicalism and less effort berating populists.

The result is that this book can be an excellent resource for those Christians in the middle. Those seeking a genuine practice of their faith that accepts the questions and mystery of God on one hand and the things science teaches of God's creation on the other will find great value in this book. For those on either extreme it will only reinforce the opinion that evangelicals are intellectually stunted on one side and that "the world is out to get us" on the other.