One of American Evangelicalism’s Biggest Failures…

Last updated on: August 30, 2016 at 7:41 am by Roger E. Olson

One of American Evangelicalism’s Biggest Failures… 2016-08-30T07:41:05-05:00 Roger E. Olson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

One of American Evangelicalism’s Biggest Failures: Lack of Literary Fiction about Itself

When I write a blog post I have to assume readers know something about “where I’m coming from.” I can’t stop and spent hundreds of words explaining my background, my mental, spiritual and emotional context. On the other hand I am excruciatingly aware that not knowing that (which is often the case with newcomers to my blog) sets up a likelihood of misunderstanding. So, for those who don’t already know, I am a Christian theologian with a “lover’s quarrel” with my own tradition—American evangelical Christianity. And “my American evangelical Christianity” is not the one depicted by the mass media as the Republican Party at prayer. I have stated how I understand “American evangelical Christianity” here so many times that I will not go over that again. However, I would ask those who don’t know it to look up and read a few of my blog posts about the subject here before jumping to any conclusions.

I read a lot of fiction—probably about twenty-five to fifty novels per year. (I listen to many of them on my ipod and read others either in solid book form or in electronic form on my ipad using the Kindle application.) One thing I have noticed is that most novels written in the latter half of the 20th century or so far in the 21st century that touch on religion tend to be biased toward atheism or Judaism (or Jewish ethnicity) or Catholicism. By that I mean the main characters’ religious and/or worldview beliefs and experiences, if any, are rooted in those traditions. If evangelical Protestant Christianity comes up at all it is usually treated from an outsider’s perspective and one heavily biased against it.

I just finished listening to a novel I greatly enjoyed—Indignation by Phillip Roth, a great American novelist. As with most of his main characters the one featured in the novel (which is the basis of a movie soon to be released under the novel’s title) is Jewish by ethnicity and culture and religious upbringing but has a lover’s quarrel with both (i.e., his Jewish heritage). A significant part of the plot involves the main character’s attendance at a conservative Christian college. The setting is 1950s Ohio. At the center of the novel is the main character’s conflicts with his father, an orthodox Jewish butcher in New Jersey, and the dean of the college, who is portrayed as a kind of religious fascist.

Sidebar: *The opinions expressed here are my own (or those of the guest writer); I do not speak for any other person, group or organization; nor do I imply that the opinions expressed here reflect those of any other person, group or organization unless I say so specifically. Before commenting read the entire post and the “Note to commenters” at its end.*

Why I enjoyed the book is difficult to explain except that it is extremely well written; it is a great character study and—to me—gripping story that involves two of my favorite subjects: religion and psychology and especially how they are related to each other. However, in introspective mode, I suspect that I enjoyed the novel partly because of the main character’s courageous response to the college dean’s extremely intrusive interrogations and attempts to control him. I could identify with him in that he obeyed the college’s rules to a fault while objecting to some of them and reserving the right to have his own inner life not controlled by the college’s leaders. He “talked back” to the dean in a way few students could or would and that I wish I had (knowing I would have been expelled for it which is why I didn’t).

However, having said all that about Indignation, I must also say that it portrays American evangelical Christianity very negatively—as a kind of not very subtle religious fascism. I admit there is that side of it; there is that tendency within it. Evangelical leaders of institutions and organizations can be extremely heavy-handed toward even respectful dissent expressed as honest questions.

So what do I wish more novels did? I wish that occasionally, at least, the positive sides of evangelical Christianity would be at least acknowledged in literary fiction. But I realize that can probably only be done effectively by someone with an insider’s experience of and appreciation for that tradition.

Don’t get me wrong! I am not interested—for myself, anyway—in fiction genres such as the extremely popular “Amish romance” novels that crowd the shelves of conservative Christian bookstores. While I have nothing specifically against those novels, I do not consider them literary fiction. Nor is being Amish quite the same as being American evangelical. (Although I have nothing against being Amish.)

So, occasionally over the years I have asked myself—and heard and read other evangelical lovers of literary fiction asking—where are such novels as I seek? If they existed I would not limit myself to reading them. Not at all. However, at least occasionally, I would like to have the experience of reading a literary novel that is written from within the American evangelical tradition even if it is somewhat critical of aspects of that (my) tradition. But I do not want it to be “nice;” I want it to be realistic.

For whatever reasons, so it seems to me, American evangelical Christianity has largely failed to produce from within itself such realistic, literary fiction about itself. And by “about itself” I mean simply where at least some of the main characters are authentically portrayed as having that as their culture and spiritual tradition and where it is treated at least somewhat sympathetically (e.g., not as snake handlers or blatant hypocrites, or only judgmental of everyone, etc.). I do not want the “dark sides” of American evangelical Christianity ignored; what I want is for them to be incorporated into fiction written from within the evangelical subculture.

Recently I stumbled across a relatively new novel by an author I heard about many years ago. She and her husband have co-authored a novel I am enjoying immensely that seems to fit the kind of evangelically-based, realistic, literary fiction I seek. Her name is Shirley Nelson and her husband and co-author (for this book) is Rudy Nelson. The book is The Risk of Returning. It is currently published by Wipf & Stock (second edition, 2014). You can purchase it on Amazon for Kindle. If I’m not mistaken it was originally published by Troy Book Makers—a publisher I’m not familiar with.

Now I realize I am no expert on literature, but I think I can tell the difference between realistic literary fiction and just story-telling. In my opinion, for what’s it’s worth, The Risk of Returning is realistic literary fiction and treats evangelical Christianity with some respect. I know it is the authors’ own religious heritage. Both in this novel and in Shirley Nelson’s better known, earlier novel The Last Year of the War (originally published in 1978 by Harper & Row and now published by Wipf & Stock) American evangelical Christianity is written about from the perspective of a lover’s quarrel.

The Risk of Returning is, in my judgment, a gripping story about an American adult male (another thing I like about the book) who grew up as an “MK” (evangelical lingo for “missionary kid”) in Guatemala. There’s a mystery at the heart of the book—what happened to his father in that country. As an adult, having largely abandoned his evangelical Christianity, he returns to Central America to find his father’s grave and to discover, if possible, what happened to him there after he, the central character, “Ted,” was sent to a boarding school for MKs in the United States. His mother returned, but his father never did. His mother would not tell him what happened to his father. The book is about his journey back to Guatemala to uncover the secret that has haunted him his whole life. I won’t give anymore of the plot away; I’ll just say it’s a gripping story that involves mystery, Central American politics, liberation theology, and indigenous Central American Protestantism.

This novel deserves much greater attention than it is getting! If you, like me, would like to read a gripping character study surrounding a mystery of a missing parent realistically written from within a broadly evangelical worldview sympathetically treated that is also literary, this may be the book for you. It is for me. Every day I can’t wait until evening to return to the book. I think I will be sad when it’s over. I have already fallen in love with Ted—the main character. I literally cried when I read the rather lengthy section where he finally returns to the Mayan village where he and his parents lived and is drawn back, however reluctantly, into their indigenous evangelical Christianity including singing “How Great Thou Art” in their language.

I wish there were more novels like this. I’m sure many of my readers will have suggestions, but please (!) remember my description of what I seek: literary fiction that authentically and at least somewhat sympathetically treats evangelical Christianity as so many novels do Judaism (or at least Jewish tradition and heritage) and Roman Catholicism and occasionally “mainline” Protestantism (e.g., Gilead).

*Note to commenters: This blog is not a discussion board; please respond with a question or comment solely to me. If you do not share my evangelical Christian perspective (very broadly defined), feel free to ask a question for clarification, but know that this is not a space for debating incommensurate perspectives/worldviews. In any case, know that there is no guarantee that your question or comment will be posted by the moderator or answered by the writer. If you hope for your question or comment to appear here and be answered or responded to, make sure it is civil, respectful, and “on topic.” Do not comment if you have not read the entire post and do not misrepresent what it says. Keep any comment (including questions) to minimal length; do not post essays, sermons or testimonies here. Do not post links to internet sites here. This is a space for expressions of the blogger’s (or guest writers’) opinions and constructive dialogue among evangelical Christians (very broadly defined).

Uncategorized

Previous Post

August 26, 2016

An Evangelical Response to David Gushee's RNS Essay "On LGBT Equality"

Next Post

September 1, 2016 Is There a "Christian Ideology?"

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Against Liberal Theology Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: The mystery hidden for ages is Christ in us, the hope of glory.

Select your answer to see how you score.

TRUE FALSE