Sacred Tribes Journal
Volume 4 Number 2 (2009):69-73 ISSN: 1941-8167
INTRODUCTION: THE PEACEABLE CHRISTIAN Michael T. Cooper Trinity Graduate School Introduction In a recent discussion with a group of evangelical graduate students, I raised the question of how Western culture perceives evangelicals. They recognized that we live in a day when evangelicalism is increasingly thought of as fundamentalism. Names such as Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell are often the focus of the general American culture’s understanding of what it means to be an evangelical. Those names create an image of what an evangelical is and at times it seems that the culture is as much a part of defining evangelicalism as are evangelicals themselves. Along with many other characteristics that culture uses to describe evangelicalism, intolerance is thought of in terms of how evangelicals treat others and peace is rarely associated with us. This issue focuses explicitly on five evangelical perspectives on the topic of peace. It certainly does not represent all evangelicals, but there is a growing voice calling us to be peaceable Christians. Religion and Peace As has recently been demonstrated, religion continues to play a role in the pluralistic culture of the United States. Approximately 76 percent of adults in the U.S. identify themselves as Christians. While these numbers are continuing in a downward trend, other religious groups are growing. Islam, for example, has grown from 575,000 in 1990 to 1.4 million in 2008.1 Religion is not only important in this context, it has global importance as well. The Pew Forum on Religion and Public life commented, Trends suggest that religion’s public impact has increased worldwide, with major policy and security implications for the U.S. and the world. Religion exerts considerable influence on democratic transitions, and religious political parties and move-
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