IN A Church fractured over issues of sexuality, this book is a model of positive, honest, and generous reflection. It travels beyond the familiar, tired arguments on human sexuality and lays out the convictions of the emerging network of Inclusive Evangelicals who are firmly committed to biblical Evangelicalism, but see in that tradition fresh perspectives on well-known roadblocks. As such, Evangelical and Inclusive offers hopeful insights for those who are clear about their Evangelical home but increasingly frustrated by the grinding arguments of recent years.

Mark Vasey-Saunders traces the developments in Evangelical thinking which have always been at work within the so-called Bebbington quadrilateral of scripture, cross, conversion, and social action. He maintains that we are in the midst of a shift in Evangelical identity. This is not a threat, but precisely what has made Evangelicalism a vibrant missional movement.

Nikki Groarke examines the different views that people hold about the level of the debate: do we disagree over the issue, debate over it, divide over it, or die over it? Different views on that question determine different campaign approaches. Inclusive Anglicans believe that the gospel is primarily about reconciliation and the priority of grace and therefore look for relational solutions. Disagree and debate rather than divide and die.

Phill Groves gives a global perspective and demonstrates that the common narrative of a unified, conservative global South set against a liberal West is too simplistic, citing the crucial battleground of the criminalisation of LGBTQ+ people in several African countries. The mix of chapters is rich and engaging.

There are chapters on biblical interpretation, certainly, but they look at hermeneutical strategies rather than crawl over the exegesis of familiar texts. There is a helpful exploration of shame in Genesis and in the teaching and practice of Jesus. Kate Massey contributes a powerful chapter on the distrust of women’s voices in many women’s experience of Evangelicalism and the need continually to demonstrate the way in which scripture does not actually limit but, rather, liberates those voices.

There are careful examinations of the relationship of these debates to parallel ones on atonement and child abuse, not to confuse, but to illuminate.

All the way through this lively book, there are personal stories of Evangelicals who have found their way to an inclusive home and indeed “how being gay made me a better Evangelical” — the title of a chapter by Rachel Humphrey. These bring human faces to the debates running through the volume.

A key issue flowing through the book is the way in which different Evangelicals identify with different sides in the culture wars being waged over identity politics. In a second chapter, Vasey-Saunders argues that this is the issue that engages modern Evangelicals most urgently. Inclusive Evangelicals have not been won over by a conclusive new reading of the familiar texts, but, rather, “their theological outlook has shifted in a way that has relativized the significance of these passages.” The most important move in Evangelical thought has been in the arena of a theological understanding of culture in mission and discipleship. This can be seen in the thinking of John Stott, the Lausanne Movement, Lesslie Newbigin, Mission-Shaped Church, and Steven Croft’s Together in Love and Faith.

What this emphasis on culture means is that Evangelicals as a whole have become aware of the need to examine their non-negotiables in order to engage meaningfully with a new cultural context. Conservative and inclusive Evangelicals may be less divided on the texts themselves than on the precise nature of the challenge that the gospel needs to make to our culture. Is it framed by resistance or by reimagination?

This book offers a rich feast of thought-provoking contributions to a continuing, fraught debate. It draws deeply on classic Evangelical faith and opens welcome windows on weary discussions. It must be hoped that Inclusive Evangelicals continue their creative thinking and writing.

 
The Rt Revd John Pritchard is a former Bishop of Oxford.

Evangelical and Inclusive: A future and a hope
David Runcorn, editor
Canterbury Press £18.99
(978-1-78622-702-7)
Church Times Bookshop £15.19