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This thesis is an intellectual history of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) and its public policy activity from 1983 to 2006. The EFC represents many of the major evangelical Protestant denominations and organizations in Canada. Although some commentators interpret its work in light of the American Religious Right, the EFC is non-partisan and strives to be more politically moderate. This stance reflects the historical political moderation of Canadian evangelicalism. EFC leaders give direction to the evangelical community by contributing to the development of an evangelical identity that assumes political engagement, ecumenism, persuasion, and a high view of the state. Their model of engagement is politically pragmatic and emphasizes the imago Dei principle and the common good. The two concerns that contributed to evangelical political mobilization in the early 1980s were the increasing secularization of Canadian society and the privatization of religion. The EFC responded to these concerns in two ways. First, it defined secularism as intent on limiting religion in the public sphere. This interpretation enabled EFC leaders to mobilize their constituency, argue that public policy can never be religiously neutral, and insist that liberalism is not a neutral philosophy. However, it also meant that they did not critique the most secular of all spheres, the economy, or recognize the degree to which Christianity continues to enjoy cultural privileges as compared to other religions. The struggle against secularism took the EFC to Parliament Hill and into the courts. Second, the EFC called for religious groups to be at the policy making "table." This "table" is a liberal-democratic one that often requires participants to engage in discussions in a secular liberal manner. The impact of these requirements was evident in the EFC‘s participation in the public debates surrounding the definition of marriage. Many of its arguments employed liberal reasoning and de-emphasized religious convictions. Over time the EFC moved toward the social consensus about the need to protect same-sex relationships. This movement, however, did not indicate secularization on the part of the EFC. Rather, its leaders desired to develop publicly accessible arguments and thereby they contributed to civil society.

This thesis is an intellectual history of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) and its public policy activity from 1983 to 2006. The EFC represents many of the major evangelical Protestant denominations and organizations in Canada. Although some commentators interpret its work in light of the American Religious Right, the EFC is non-partisan and strives to be more politically moderate. This stance reflects the historical political moderation of Canadian evangelicalism. EFC leaders give direction to the evangelical community by contributing to the development of an evangelical identity that assumes political engagement, ecumenism, persuasion, and a high view of the state. Their model of engagement is politically pragmatic and emphasizes the imago Dei principle and the common good. The two concerns that contributed to evangelical political mobilization in the early 1980s were the increasing secularization of Canadian society and the privatization of religion. The EFC responded to these concerns in two ways. First, it defined secularism as intent on limiting religion in the public sphere. This interpretation enabled EFC leaders to mobilize their constituency, argue that public policy can never be religiously neutral, and insist that liberalism is not a neutral philosophy. However, it also meant that they did not critique the most secular of all spheres, the economy, or recognize the degree to which Christianity continues to enjoy cultural privileges as compared to other religions. The struggle against secularism took the EFC to Parliament Hill and into the courts. Second, the EFC called for religious groups to be at the policy making "table." This "table" is a liberal-democratic one that often requires participants to engage in discussions in a secular liberal manner. The impact of these requirements was evident in the EFC‘s participation in the public debates surrounding the definition of marriage. Many of its arguments employed liberal reasoning and de-emphasized religious convictions. Over time the EFC moved toward the social consensus about the need to protect same-sex relationships. This movement, however, did not indicate secularization on the part of the EFC. Rather, its leaders desired to develop publicly accessible arguments and thereby they contributed to civil society.

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This dissertation traces the history of black and white evangelical encounters between the 1960s and 1990s. In the crucible of these encounters, white evangelicals forged a new theology of race: Christian colorblindness. Drawing on biblical idioms and the rhetoric of spiritual unity, white evangelicals turned their back on white supremacist theologies even as they resisted black evangelical calls for a more thorough redistribution of power. In the ambiguous space between racist reaction and anti-racist Christianity, white evangelicals successfully expanded their movement and adapted to the changes the civil rights movement wrought. Professing to be united in Christ, they molded an evangelical form of whiteness while proclaiming colorblind intentions. Colorblind Christians embraced a politics of church primacy. They believed that conversion to evangelical Christianity, not systemic change or legal reform, was the source of racial progress. When people became Christians, their new identity as members of the Body of Christ superseded any racial identity. Black evangelicals could use such claims to press for inclusion in white evangelical institutions. But white evangelicals often used the same logic to silence black evangelical demands for reform. In these spaces of ostensible Christian unity, white evangelicals preserved whiteness at the center of American evangelicalism. The story of black and white evangelical encounters reveals an American racial order that was at once racial and religious. Colorblind Christians invites scholars of race to consider how religion shapes racial formation and encourages scholars of religion to think about how race structures religion. Using the archives of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, overlooked records from the most influential church growth initiative of the era, and rarely-examined sources such as student newspapers from white evangelical colleges, Colorblind Christians shows how white evangelicals shaped the American racial order and became successful religio-racial entrepreneurs in a time of rapid change. Using race strategically to grow their churches, white evangelicals invested in whiteness in the name of spreading a colorblind gospel. Black evangelicals promoted an alternative evangelical vision that placed racial justice at the center of the gospel. Their efforts to belong in American evangelicalism revealed the racial boundaries of the movement. By the end of the twentieth century, Christian colorblindness had helped to grow evangelicalism and enhance its political power, but it did so by coloring evangelicalism white. Black evangelicals, outsiders in their own religious tradition, continued to expose these often-invisible investments and pointed the way toward an evangelicalism beyond whiteness. / History

The study of southern evangelicals during the late colonial and revolutionary eras of American history has focused primarily on the social antagonisms that separated evangelicals from southern elites and has concluded that the rapid growth of post-war evangelicalism came as a result of evangelical acquiescence to southern gentry mores. Most study of southern evangelicals has concentrated on the upper South missing important developments in the Deep South which contradict historical assumptions of Separate triumph and the subsequent subversion of radical evangelicalism by evangelical leaders eager for societal acceptance. Evangelicals were not a monolithic movement. Key doctrines, primarily the need for conversion, united them, but the social range of evangelical groups included outcast Separate Baptists to elite members of Charleston and Savannah society. Because evangelicals have been viewed as outside the mainstream of southern society, evangelical contributions to the revolutionary cause have gone mostly unnoticed. This work seeks to illuminate the contributions of evangelicals to the American Revolution by examining the roles of evangelicals in the Imperial Crisis and in the war itself. Evangelical leaders were strong proponents of American rights. Far from being outcasts, many evangelicals enjoyed positions of prominence in southern society and several served in the governments of South Carolina and Georgia. Almost all evangelicals in this region supported the American cause and were viewed by many elite revolutionaries as indispensable to solidifying the unity necessary to fight Great Britain. Evangelicals and Anglican elites worked together to cement support for provincial government and bring about the disestablishment of the Anglican Church. Evangelicals also served an important role in winning the American Revolution in the South. Evangelicals, particularly New Light Presbyterians and Regular Baptists, formed a major portion of the militia that rose to bedevil Lord Cornwallis‟s attempts to implement British strategic goals. His failure in South Carolina led to his ultimate downfall at Yorktown. In the final chapter, this work examines the proud, if divided, republicanism of southern evangelicals, highlights their political activity, and explores the beginning of the evangelical ascent to religious dominance in the Deep South.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, MA, 2003. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-124).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, MA, 2003. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-124).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, MA, 2003. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-124).