Far from being untouched by the cultural trends (a shift in values), the coming generation of Evangelicals, in their own distinct way, have come to participate in them. From a distance, it would appear as though little if any change has occurred in the past century, but closer scrutiny reveals qualitatively noteworthy differences. If contemporary cultural analysis is to be taken at all seriously, that is that Western civilization has become "impoverished," then conservative Protestantism participates to various degrees in that impoverishment. If the institutions of American society have become "decadent" or "hollowed-out," American Evangelicalism participates in that decadence. This is not to say that this faith is not deeply meaningful and personally vibrant for millions of American. Nor is it to suggest that this faith takes form as an insignificant cultural/political force. It is only to say that Evangelicalism participates in the same cultural processes that are at work in the larger contemporary world. The level is different and the pace is different but the process (whether or not one calls it impoverishment or decadence) is the same.

In particular, this book concentrates on four general dimensions of the Evangelical cultural system: its theology, it’s view of work, morality and the self; its ideal of the family; and its political culture. It will be argued that fundamental changes have begun to take shape in all of these areas. These changes are so rudimentary that the world of the coming generation may bear little resemblance to the Evangelical world of many previous generations. If current tendencies and trends continue, the likelihood that conservative Protestantism will be a prominent and autonomous source of cultural renewal in contemporary society is not very high.

The story of conservative Protestantism in America is in some ways the story of the pilgrim in John Bunyan’s epic allegory. In his journey from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City, Bunyan’s pilgrim stumbles into innumerable difficulties and temptations. Yet what our pilgrim (Evangelicalism) endures and Bunyan’s does not, is a long and sustained season in the Labyrinths of Modernity. Not only does he emerge a little dizzy and confused, but out of the experience our traveler is transformed. The pilgrim becomes a tourist. Though still headed toward the Celestial Country, he is now traveling with less conviction, less confidence about his path, and is perhaps more vulnerable to the worldly distractions encountered by Bunyan’s pilgrim.

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