John G. Stackhouse Books

Evangelicalism has rapidly become one of the most significant religious movements in the modern world. Evangelicals affect elections up and down the Americas and across Africa, provoke governments throughout Asia, fill up some of the largest church buildings, and possess the largest congregations of any religion in the world. This Very Short Introduction tells the story of global evangelicalism - perhaps the most dynamic, and certainly one of the largest, religious, and cultural movements of our time. Evangelicalism: A Very Short Introduction focuses on what motivates evangelicals, on their hopes and fears, and on their agenda for the future.

Maybe Christianity is actually true. Maybe it is what believers say it is. Indeed, although there are many, many other options, today Christianity has more adherents than any other religion in the world. Why? How is it possible for modern people to believe this story of miracles and triumph over death? This book begins by establishing how faith should be properly grounded in knowledge. It than clears away misunderstandings about the basic story of the Christian religion, misunderstandings that repel reasonable people who might otherwise be intrigued. John Stackhouse outlines the reasons why two billion people find this religion persuasive, making it the most popular "explanation of everything" in human history. He responds to the reality that so many people find Christianity utterly implausible, not least because of the persistence of the problem of evil, which seems to undercut everything Christianity asserts. Grounded in scholarship but never ponderous, Can I Believe? refuses to doge the hard questions as it welcomes the intelligent inquirer to give Christianity at least one good look. Book jacket.