This article is a summary of David Bebbington’s 1994 essay “Evangelicalism in its Settings: The British and American Movements since 1940.”[1] The essay highlights some of the differences between Evangelical Christianity since the 1940s in its two historic centers of gravity—Britain and America—and seeks to give an account for those differences. Bebbington is an esteemed historian of evangelical Christianity. Many of the details of the essay are (of course) omitted—I recommend you read this fascinating piece of work for yourself!
What I found particularly interesting was how differences in each setting has shaped Evangelical Christianity on either side of the Atlantic. Obviously, history has continued since Bebbington wrote thirty years ago. British and American readers might like to comment on how things differ or have developed since then, and New Zealand evangelicals might like to ponder how each of these centers of gravity in the evangelical world have shaped us—and how our own setting and history has uniquely shaped our own evangelicalism.[2]
At the outset, Bebbington highlights one challenge in writing a history of evangelicalism: definition. The term ‘evangelicalism’ has “embraced an enormous range of Christians play from the evangelical revival of the 18th century” (p.365).[3] Evangelicalism is not bounded by denominations such as “Anglican” or “Baptist” or “Open Brethren.” Rather, it is a set of convictions and commitments which may be found within many Christian denominations (within some denominations it is universal), and which gives a common religious identity across denominational divides.
Because of this, evangelicalism embraces a wide diversity of people and commitments, typically centered around four defining characteristics Bebbington has identified. These are:
- Conversion: The belief that true Christians have made a personal commitment to and have been definitively changed by God.
- Activism: A commitment to evangelism and often also social activism.
- Scripture: The Bible is held in high respect, understood to be inspired by God, and definitive for Christian belief and practice, as displayed in an emphasis in the study and preaching of biblical texts.
- The cross: A focus on the redemptive work of Christ by his death, also known as the atonement.
A key difference that Bebbington explores is that American Christianity has been much more likely to fragment into new groupings. He raises several factors which have contributed to this.
In Britain, by contrast to America, patterns of churchly organisation were much more bounded by denominational structures (not least in the Church of England), and so evangelicals were much more used to rubbing shoulders with co-religionists who held sub-par theological standpoints, and thus less shocked by these positions and less inclined to make bold movements toward separatism.
Another contributing factor to the more sectarian nature of American evangelicalism was the larger element of fundamentalism. Bebbington identifies several influential figures and institutions and distinctives which helped to embed the separatist impulse of fundamentalism and much of US evangelicalism, but which had no comparable counterparts across the Atlantic.
The nature of civic life in either context is identified as another contributing factor. America’s egalitarian and democratic bent is noted as shaping the life of its churches, as is Britain’s differential and more aristocratic culture. He notes that America’s culture is more utilitarian than Britain’s stronger orientation toward tradition, and that each has shaped evangelical culture differently.
Differences in the sphere of education also contributed to differences between British and American evangelicalism—with America hosting a larger number of evangelical Bible colleges and catering for a wider spectrum of the nation than was found in Britain.
There is also the factor of geography. The US has a lot of space, making new ventures requiring land relatively cheap. Building new church buildings is much easier in the USA than in Britain. The differences in space also affected the way differing Christian groupings were able to either avoid each other (thus facilitating divisions, even over minor differences), or, contrastingly in Britain, were induced to maintain contacts with those they differed with.
Bebbington also observes that evangelicals have been a more potent force in public affairs in the United States. This has been seen and the reimagines of many fundamentalists from their disengagement with social concern since the 1940s end the formation of the so-called “moral majority” in the 1970s. Babington attributes this difference to the sheer numbers of evangelicals in America compared to Britain the higher wealth, and the fact that they were prepared to use it to further the causes they cared about. He also notes the Supreme Court rulings in 1962–63 and 1973 banning prayers in school and allowing abortion, provoking evangelicals to political involvement as well as the more diffuse forms of political structures allowing for lobby groups such as evangelicals to change things in civic life.
He also identifies a deeper sense of patriotism in the United States, as something which nudged evangelicals more strongly towards political conservativism and therefore made them a more politically unified group which was thus able to be mobilized towards common goals in society and politics.
These factors show several ways in which experience evangelicals in each context although Bebbington is careful to point out that they have not been “wholly determined by it”. As he concludes his essay, this…
“…is not to claim that the pattern of their activity was wholly determined by conditions in the post war world. On the contrary the fundamentalist legacy from the interwar years and the high evangelical numbers inherited from a remote past exerted a powerful influence and distinguishing the American phenomenon from its British counterpart. Yet it is impossible to deny that social, educational, geographic, economic, communications, and political factors each played a part in creating the differences. In both countries the gospel, for good or ill, was interacting with its whole cultural environment. The British and American versions of evangelicalism differed in large measure because of their settings.”
Bebbington’s essay is a fascinating short read which highlights the effect that context and experiences can have as a factor shaping variations of Christian faith. It implicitly invites readers to consider how their own faith—individually, corporately, and generationally—has been influenced. As such, I recommend the essay for perusal and personal reflection.
[1] David Bebbington, “Evangelicalism in Its Settings: The British and American Movements Since 1940,” in Evangelicalism: Comparative Studies of Popular Protestantism in North America, the British Isles, and Beyond, 1700-1990, ed. Mark A. Noll, David W. Bebbington, and George A. Rawlyk (New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994), 365–88. Unfortunately you may need library access to the book to read the essay as it does not appear to be available online.
[2] The same book includes an essay considering this for Australia – see Stuart Piggin, “The American and British Contributions to Evangelicalism in Australia,” in Evangelicalism: Comparative Studies of Popular Protestantism in North America, the British Isles, and Beyond, 1700-1990, ed. Mark A. Noll, David W. Bebbington, and George A. Rawlyk (New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994), 290–309.
[3] Also worth reading is the excellent five-volume series History of Evangelicalism.
Chris Northcott 