Trend or not? Evangelicals reportedly questioning the Bible

"a medium-sized evangelical church in Laguna Beach where [Rob] Bell sometimes attends services" Strange not to ID it http://t.co/lYmOqBPjjw

— Ted Olsen (@tedolsen) July 23, 2014

But that's not that article's biggest problem. It really seems not to know what it's reporting. Or if/when its exemplars agree

— Ted Olsen (@tedolsen) July 23, 2014

@tedolsen More analysis that I can steal for @GetReligion, please.

— Bobby Ross Jr. (@bobbyross) July 23, 2014

Ted Olsen is managing editor for news and online journalism for Christianity Today, the popular evangelical magazine. He’s an excellent journalist who recently co-authored an intriguing piece titled “Meet the Non-Christians Who Take the Bible Literally, Word for Word.” As a matter of full disclosure, I write freelance stories for CT.

All that said, if Olsen has concerns about a news report on evangelicals (see the above tweets), then I’m inclined to agree. He has the street cred.

The Orange County Register (which earlier this year laid off veteran Godbeat pro Cathleen Falsani) reports that some evangelicals are rethinking the Bible and “growing numbers are asking whether their reading has become too rigid, too simplistic and too alienating.”

The top of the story:

What is the Bible?

It’s a straightforward question. But for Christians these days, it turns out there’s no straightforward answer.

Not even for evangelical Christians, who for centuries have remained near unanimous in their belief that the Bible is the authoritative word of God – until now.

At a time when fewer Americans than ever read the Bible or even regard it as sacred, even evangelical Christians are beginning to ask whether their historic embrace of Scripture has become too rigid, too simplistic and too alienating in an increasingly pluralistic society.

“We’re in a moment of history where things are shifting,” said Rob Bell, a best-selling evangelical author and former megachurch pastor who lives in Laguna Beach.

Bell is one of several prominent evangelicals who in recent months have published books or extended online essays questioning traditional claims that the Bible, as Bell put it in all capital letters in a blog post, “IS THE INERRANT TRUTH ABOUT WHICH THERE CAN BE NO COMPROMISE.”

Alas, this is one of those “three examples make a trend” stories that presents a collection of anecdotes as empirical evidence.

For a variety of reasons, it’s extremely difficult to put a precise number on the evangelical population in the U.S. But just for fun, let’s say the figure is 100 million. Yet the Register quotes three or four evangelicals scattered across the nation and deems their perspectives a major trend.

After quoting Bell, here’s the second example offered by the California newspaper:

In churches, seminaries and online, evangelicals are asking whether the Bible was directly inspired by God; whether Scripture truly condemns homosexuality; and whether strict observance of biblical rules is even possible given the complexities of language, history and culture inherent in biblical interpretation.

“The Bible is complex and, while influenced by God, it is not dictated by God,” prominent megachurch pastor Adam Hamilton told the Religion News Service in May.

Hamilton was speaking about a book he published in March that encourages Christians to abandon overly literalistic approaches to Scripture.

Here’s my (sincere) question: Is Hamilton an evangelical? The RNS story that the Register referenced noted that he leads the nation’s largest United Methodist church — a congregation “considered by many to be America’s most influential mainline Protestant church.” Aren’t evangelicals and mainline Protestants different animals?

The Register’s third example is a 24-year-old from Kansas who “leads a national network of evangelicals dedicated to promoting tolerance of homosexuality in churches.”

Later in the story, this is the paragraph that sparked Olsen’s original tweet:

Jeff Tacklind, pastor of a medium-sized evangelical church in Laguna Beach where Bell sometimes attends services, said his congregation embodies the complex evolution of evangelical approaches to Scripture.

Yes, it was strange not to ID the church. And just for kicks and grins, why not give an actual membership figure instead of using a vague term such as “medium-sized?” Of course, that might constitute too much hard data for this story.

In the same way I flee root canals, broccoli and New York Yankees fans, I usually avoid reader comments on newspaper stories.

It's such a beautiful day… why would you spoil it by reading comments?

— Don't Read Comments (@AvoidComments) July 21, 2014

But in the case of the Register story, one comment — from a reader whose Facebook profile identifies him as a journalism teacher — seems apropos:

such an unbalanced story … where are the quotes from the many pastors of “mega-churches” who believe the Word of God comes directly from God Himself?

Exactly.

Bottom line: If the trend the Register purports to identify actually exists, this story falls way short in reporting it fully, accurately and with appropriate context.