On Becoming

In this episode, I continue my story of growing up Evangelical. I talk about my short-term missionary experience in Belgium, some aspects of my undergraduate education, and what it was like returning to Belgium as a graduate student and then studying with Gadamer on my Fulbright to Germany. Then I continue with how things went with returning to my undergraduate institution to teach and end with the first part of my story of getting tenure.

With this episode, we come to the last of the eight aspects of cults or totalitarian movements. The dispensing of existence concerns who has the right to exist, at least according to such movements or cults. Under this rubric, I'm looking back on my life in this and the next two episodes. This episode focuses on my childhood and teen years.

In this episode, I examine the teachings of Bill Gothard, who was influenced by Rousas John Rushdoony. You've probably never heard of either, but both have been influential on the development of Evangelical thought in the past few decades. Gothard is perhaps best remembered as the forerunner to the 'purity movement', though you'll discover that he and his organisation have been deeply discredited by scandals. I conclude by considering how James Dobson ended up in many ways continuing the movement started by Gothard. 

In this episode, I explore themes related to Easter: the resurrection, life after death, and what the Bible actually says about hell (hint: almost nothing).

In this episode, we consider the way in which language is used in the Evangelical world. Much of that language is couched in the form of cliché, which is designed to be 'self-evident' and thus not open to further questioning. Further, the way in which words are used represents a significant departure from their usual meanings, which makes it difficult to examine many Evangelical statements. 

In this episode, we consider the way in which Evangelicals hold on to their beliefs. In effect, there is very little room for questioning. Those who find themselves with doubts are often accused of lacking faith. But the ability to question and examine beliefs is crucial to being a thinking person. 

Confession of sin is an integral part of the Evangelical experience. It's there from the moment you 'pray the prayer'. But, in this episode, I consider how confession works in the Evangelical world and how confessions often end up being celebrated. 

We continue our examination of Evangelicalism through the ‘cult’ lens with this episode on the expectation of purity. You’ll most likely discover some things about Evangelicalism that will surprise you—such as how dispensationalism results in a strikingly different reading of the Sermon on the Mount (probably the best known of Jesus’ teachings).

In this episode, we consider the extent to which Evangelicalism is manipulative. Do Evangelical leaders (pastors, evangelists) realise that they are manipulating people? Or does this happen in a way that is less obvious to everyone involved? Or does it even happen at all? As always, my goal is to put in front you what I'm able to see and let you decide for yourself.

In this episode, we consider the first of eight characteristics of 'cults'. Milieu control is a way in which groups provide limits to what members can say, read, view, or even think. Such control happens all the time, in groups of all sorts. But the question is: at what point (if at all) does such control become 'cultish' in nature?