The Activist Impulse: Introduction

In our introduction to the book, Jared and I* situate The Activist Impulse relative to the last book on the topic of the intersection of evangelicalism and Anabaptism, the 1979 volume simply titled Evangelicalism and Anabaptism, edited by C. Norman Kraus (hereafter E&A). At the time of E&A, evangelicalism was still pretty new to the American national consciousness, and the contributors to E&A thus try to make sense of this phenomenon from an Anabaptist perspective. Their treatment of evangelicalism tends to be largely negative, focusing on the excesses in books such as The Battle for the Bible and The Late Great Planet Earth. The general approach of those essays--with a few exceptions--was to view evangelicalism as a negative force infiltrating the ranks of Anabaptism. While there may be some truth to this "infiltration" thesis, in the light of over thirty years of hindsight, The Activist Impulse takes a markedly different approach. First, rather than comparing the best of Anabaptism with the crassest forms of evangelicalism (say, for instance, a treatment of the the Left Behind series of the apologetic ministry Kirk Cameron), The Activist Impulse highlights the best of both traditions, while not ignoring the foibles of either. Second, instead of viewing evangelicalism as a force that infiltrated Anabaptism, The Activist Impulse highlights the mutual influence of these traditions as well as the ways both traditions simultaneously wrestled through the same issues, such as the modernist-fundamentalist controversies of the early twentieth century. Third, The Activist Impulse tries to strike a better balance of authorial perspectives. While the majority of contributors would self-identify as Anabaptists, a large portion would self-identify as evangelicals, with a number (perhaps most) self-identifying with both traditions. This allows, I believe, for a more balanced assessment of these traditions. Finally, as I mentioned above, The Activist Impulse has the advantage of being able to reflect on the last three decades, which have seen much activity and development from both traditions. We thus conclude our introduction by expressing

our hope that these essays demonstrate the potential for fresh scholarly inquiry, continued conversation, and greater clarity regarding the activist impulse at the intersection of evangelicalism and Anabaptism. Moreover, though we would not presume to speak for the others who have contributed to this volume, as both of us have been profoundly shaped personally and spiritually by the evangelical-Anabaptist intersection, it is our hope that these essays will offer a glimpse into the richness of Kingdom living that is at once irreducibly evangelical and unabashedly Anabaptist.**

*Truth be told, Jared wrote the first draft of the introduction solo, and I came in and made some suggestions and added some content on a later draft. I'm grateful that he nevertheless decided it would be okay to include me on the byline!

**The Activist Impulse, 5. Most of the introduction can be accessed at Amazon's "search inside this book" feature.