I’m talking about only noticing a change to nurture young converts in Evangelical circles over the past 15 years, but much less so the 15 years before that. Who said anything about “an old, traditional form of Protestantism”?
You misunderstood. Your language implies that “traditional” Protestantism didn’t nurture converts. I’m saying that that “older” attitude (just get people to sign on the dotted line and assume they’re going to heaven because of that) was itself a relatively recent (last couple centuries, mostly the last century) corruption of Protestantism.
What you’re seeing as a “new” phenomenon (recognizing the importance of growth and maturity in the Christian life) is a return to the kind of sanity that was once normal even among evangelical Protestants.
In fact, I think a lot of what you describe experiencing in various Protestant churches in your lifetime is actually a post-WWII phenomenon in particular–at least if my friend and colleague Tom Bergler is to be believed. He wrote a book recently called “The Juvenilization of American Christianity” in which he argues that the youth-group model has taken over American evangelicalism, so that the very idea of spiritual maturity is seen as suspect.
What you’re seeing happen in the last 15 years or so is a reaction to *that, *I think.
In other words, I’m reversing your paradigm. You’re saying, “I’ve only seen Protestants try to foster growth and maturity in recent years, so that means that Protestants had never done it before.” I’m pointing out that your personal experience only goes back decades, not centuries (assuming that you don’t have miraculous longevity), and that what you’ve experienced (the focus on a moment of conversion, with little interest in process) is an unhealthy trend in Protestantism that built throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, culminating in post-WWII evangelism conducted by the likes of Billy Graham and fostered in evangelical “youth-group” culture.
Edwin
Edwin
