When one thinks of evangelical Christianity, “nation-shaping” is not the first concept to come to mind.
But Michael Warner, a professor of English literature and American studies at Yale University, said Thursday that evangelical Christianity is the mother of all social movements.
More than 140 students and faculty members attended Warner’s lecture — entitled “An Evangelical Public Sphere” — about the evolution of the movement Thursday in Dey Hall.
Warner defined evangelicalism as a “transnational movement” that focuses on converting strangers. The movement is loud and unafraid to adapt to technology, he said.
He focused on the rise of evangelical Christians as a “counter public” in America from the late 18th century until the mid-1970s, which he claimed was the turning point for modern evangelicalism.
He discussed early American evangelical publications created for the purpose of converting readers, including “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” a sermon delivered in the 1740s by theologian Jonathan Edwards.
“The idea of evangelicalism follows the assumption that a reading of these texts anywhere by anyone leads to a conversion,” Warner said. “To read it is to imagine a spectacular conversion happening somewhere.”
“Free speech created a very special kind of culture,” he said.
Many students attended as part of their “Introduction to Fiction” class, said John Weeks, a junior psychology and political science double major.
