David Fitch - The End of Evangelicalism?

So, I recently got my hands on a copy of Fitch's book, which makes me only a bit behind the game, as it was published in 2011. I had heard about the book already, on a podcast, and wanted to take a look at it, but to be honest, I wasn't searching too hard - and I was wrong!

 I was loaned this book on a Monday afternoon, and by Tuesday noon, I was through it. Fitch uses categories drawn from Žižek to critique evangelicalism as an ideology. After an introduction to Žižek’s thought, with the admission that Žižek would certainly not agree with Fitch’s own use of the ideas in some places, and certainly not with the constructive section, he gets going analyzing the ideology.

Over three chapters, Fitch looks at “The Inerrant Bible”, “The Decision for Christ” and “The Christian Nation”, examining how these have become empty master-signifiers within evangelical culture and how instead of contributing to faithfulness they help evangelicals define themselves by opposing themselves to what they are not, sometimes in an absurd manner. Fitch wishes to remain orthodox in belief, without the definition by the radical other or empty adherence to an ideology.

These chapters are spot on in describing what is going on in North America. I felt like I was reading an academic assessment of things that I either personally experienced or somehow knew were going on – and if for no other reason, if you identify at all with the term “evangelical”, you should pick up this book.

His final constructive chapter and epilogue walks a fine line – he is aiming at one of the bigger segments of evangelicalism, which necessarily leaves out some folks, and I feel that he (although he does give a few warnings) unnecessarily downplays what are true doctrinal differences between orthodox Christianity and movements that are in the gap created by the upheaval of evangelicalism. It is not the solution that I would advise, but then, I didn’t write the book. 

Overall, this book is a good view of what is going on in North American evangelicalism, and it is something I think everyone should be talking a look at – either to see yourself in a new light, to understand more about the folks you are not, or to figure out what is happening in general. The constructive part is, I’m afraid, the sort of advice that isn’t bad, but one knows when one reads it that it likely will be misinterpreted by those who made it far enough to read it – and I have my own doubts if Fitch’s vision is something to strive for, though in many cases he’s on the right track.