Hall Matthew - Essential evangelicalism: the enduring influence of Carl F.H. Henry

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Henrys commitment to both social justice and evangelism called a generation of Christians to engage the world. This book will deepen your understanding of how Carl Henry sought to place all aspects of life under the banner of the gospel.

Richard Stearns, President, World Vision US; author, Unfinished and The Holein Our Gospel

It has been a marked blessing of God in my life to have known Carl and Helga Henry personally. I do what I do and live where I have lived now for over twenty years in no small because of Carl Henry. Carefully reading each of these essays has left me feeling like Ive just spent time with him again. Careful research, clear writing, and shared concerns mark the chapters in this book. The authors are to be commended.

Mark Dever, Pastor, Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Washington, DC; President, 9Marks

It would be hard to overstate the importance and ongoing relevance of the writings of Carl Henry, one of the fathers of modern evangelicalism. Henry was a close friend of my organizations founder, Chuck Colson. His impact continues to be felt on our board of directors, in the Christian worldview ministry he helped to inspire, and in the hundreds of thousands of men and women behind bars who have also been impacted through his teaching. This book belongs on the must-buy list of todays evangelical readers.

Jim Liske, President and CEO, Prison Fellowship Ministries

Too many evangelical churches today are enamored with a therapeutic gospel and pander after yet another spiritual experience. What we need is a good dose of the theological depth and intellectual rigor of the likes of Carl Henry. You dont have to agree with everything he wrote, but you will be wise for having wrestled with his great mind.

Mark Galli, Editor, Christianity Today

Carl F. H. Henry is a writing mentor to me. Like Francis Schaeffer, I fear losing him to a generation that desperately needs to hear both their voices. This book will help contemporary evangelicals understand why they need to know this man and delve into his writings. It will stretch them intellectually. It will guide them spiritually. And it will greatly aid them in not repeating mistakes from the pastmistakes already uncovered and handled by this princely theologian.

Daniel L. Akin, President, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

The brilliant essays found in Essential Evangelicalism provide readers with a masterful and comprehensive look at the life and work of Carl F. H. Henry. So much more than a historical reflection, this timely and extraordinary volume not only presents Henrys massive thought to a new generation of readers, but carefully explores the identity and theology of the evangelical movement with remarkable insight. With great enthusiasm, it is a privilege to recommend this outstanding publication.

David S. Dockery, President, Trinity International University

Carl Henry was a giant on whose shoulders all contemporary evangelicals standwhether or not they know that. This volume represents another significant contribution to celebrating, assessing, and reclaiming Henrys massive influence. One need not agree with every aspect of Henrys thought (or this volumes claims about Henry) to rejoice in this multivoiced wrestling with Henrys huge role in shaping contemporary evangelicalism.

Ronald J. Sider, Senior Distinguished Professor of Theology, Holistic Ministry, and Public Policy, Palmer Theological Seminary, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania

ESSENTIAL EVANGELICALISM

The Enduring Influence of Carl F. H. Henry

MATTHEW J. HALL AND OWEN STRACHAN, EDITORS

Foreword by Timothy George

Essential Evangelicalism: The Enduring Influence of Carl F. H. Henry

Copyright 2015 by Matthew J. Hall and Owen Strachan

Published by Crossway
1300 Crescent Street
Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law.

Cover design: Josh Dennis

Cover image: Richard Solomon Artists, Gary Kelley

First printing 2015

Printed in the United States of America

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Trade paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-4726-3
ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-4729-4
PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-4727-0
Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-4728-7

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Essential evangelicalism : the enduring influence of Carl F. H. Henry / Matthew J. Hall and Owen Strachan, editors ; foreword by Timothy George.

1 online resource

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher.

ISBN 978-1-4335-4727-0 (pdf) ISBN 978-1-4335-4728-7 (mobi) ISBN 978-1-4335-4729-4 (epub) ISBN 978-1-4335-4726-3 (tp)

1. Henry, Carl F. H. (Carl Ferdinand Howard), 19132003. 2. TheologiansUnited States. 3. EvangelicalismUnited StatesHistory20th century. 4. TheologyUnited StatesHistory20th century. I. Hall, Matthew, 1980 editor.

BX4827.H38

230'.044092dc23 2015014524

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

American evangelicals and serious theology are terms that do not just naturally snuggle up to each other with easy equipoise. That, despite the fact that Jonathan Edwards, the greatest theologian America has produced, stands at the headwaters of the evangelical tradition. The diminution of the evangelical mind since Edwardsand not only in theologyhas been often rehearsed. The lure of pragmatism, individualism, revivalism (not to be confused with revival, about which Edwards knew a thing or two), expressivism, and fissiparous fundamentalism have all taken their toll when it comes to the nurturing of a theological tradition that is wise and deep. But in recent history, there is one evangelical theologian who stands above others in depth of insight and clarity of vision: Carl Ferdinand Howard Henry.

Born in New York City in 1913, Henry came of age at a time when the modernist-fundamentalist battles were going strong. But he heard no talk of these struggles, or of anything else religious, at the family dinner table. His father, a master baker from Germany, was a nominal Lutheran; his mother, a nominal Catholic.