- Feb 5, 2002
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(ANALYSIS) The death spiral of evangelicalism has long been written about in both the religious and mainstream press.
The assumption is that evangelicalism has weathered the storms of secularizationand politicization poorly. Journalist Eliza Griswold, writing for The New Yorker, chalks this up to the theological rigidity of evangelicals: that they have been structurally incapable of changing course quickly enough to stem the tide.
Others have suggested that the alliance between white evangelicalism and Republicanism is largely to blame for the decline of evangelicals. They believe thatbecoming so intertwined with the polarizing figure of former President Donald Trump has marginalized evangelicals in the public arena, making it even less likely for them to win over new converts.
While the share of Americans who identify as evangelical by religious tradition does seem to be falling – from 19% to 16% for white evangelicals, according to a recent Pew survey – that does, I believe, obscure a bigger and possibly more important story.
Continued below.
Think U.S. evangelicals are dying out? Depends how you define evangelicalism
The assumption is that evangelicalism has weathered the storms of secularizationand politicization poorly. Journalist Eliza Griswold, writing for The New Yorker, chalks this up to the theological rigidity of evangelicals: that they have been structurally incapable of changing course quickly enough to stem the tide.
Others have suggested that the alliance between white evangelicalism and Republicanism is largely to blame for the decline of evangelicals. They believe thatbecoming so intertwined with the polarizing figure of former President Donald Trump has marginalized evangelicals in the public arena, making it even less likely for them to win over new converts.
While the share of Americans who identify as evangelical by religious tradition does seem to be falling – from 19% to 16% for white evangelicals, according to a recent Pew survey – that does, I believe, obscure a bigger and possibly more important story.
Continued below.
Think U.S. evangelicals are dying out? Depends how you define evangelicalism
