One Faith No Longer

Yancey and Quosigk address what makes a distinct, separate religion, as opposed to a variation within a larger faith tradition ... They find that progressive Evangelicals were less comfortable with the descriptor “Evangelical,” and were more apt to make common cause with fellow progressives than conservative Evangelicals and to avoid collaboration even where interests converge. Yancey and Quosigk find that religious motivation also diverges: conservatives ground their actions in their desire to pattern their lives on a biblically derived imperative, while progressives look instead to humanitarian ideals. * Library Journal *
One Faith No Longer upends the conventional wisdom that conservative Christians are uniquely prone to falling captive to unbiblical political ideologies, or that conservative Christians are filled with rage toward their theological opponents. Through research and interviews, Yancey and Quosigk demonstrate the opposite: it’s progressives who rarely defy political orthodoxy and who harbor disdain for conservatives. And the hardening lines between these two groups add weight to the thesis of J. Gresham Machen a century ago: when it comes to Christianity and theological liberalism, we really are talking about two different religions. * The Gospel Coalition *
Traces the fault lines of an entrenched division in Christian identities between progressives and conservatives, explored in the light of divergent attitudes to Islam and Muslims. The bifurcation runs deep, cutting across long-established identities such as ‘Protestant,’ ‘Catholic,’ and ‘Evangelical,’ to the extent of calling into question the continued relevance of the term Christian as a shared label. The authors’ prophetic thesis anticipates a permanent parting of the ways—one religion becoming two—which will dramatically reshape the role of faith in America’s public life. -- Mark Durie, Senior Research Fellow, Melbourne School of Theology
In this provocative new book, George Yancey and Ashlee Quosigk boldly argue that progressive and conservative Christians have diverged so much in their politics, theologies, and sources of meaning that we should now think of them as different religions. Bolstered with forensic quantitative analysis and refreshing, original qualitative work, their argument is as compelling as it will be controversial. . . . A must-read for those wishing to learn more about the United States’ ‘culture war’ and the role of religion in it. -- Gladys Ganiel, co-author of The Deconstructed Church: Understanding Emerging Christianity
In their rigorous sociological account of Christianity in America today, George Yancey and Ashlee Quosigk provide many important insights, particularly in relation to progressive Christians, though overall the book simply confirms the enduring truth that Christians have always disagreed among themselves about faith and politics. -- Lee Trepainer * The Public Discourse *
Their book’s central argument is that conservative and progressive Christians have become so different in the ways they determine social identity and moral values that they ought to be thought of as separate religions. This conclusion will ring true for anyone who pays attention to the news. -- The Christian Century * The Christian Century *
Yancey (sociology, Baylor Univ.) and Quosigk (visiting scholar, religion, Univ. of Georgia) assert that… it is no longer meaningful to use the rubric Christian to describe both conservative and progressive churches. -- D. A. Brown, emeritus, California State University, Fullerton * CHOICE *