ABSTRACT
In every generation, from the eighteenth century to the present, evangelical identity has been contested. This chapter examines the more recent evolution of these continuous debates, from the 1970s to the early twenty-first century. It analyses three themes which shape the debate. First, the chapter surveys the development of competing taxonomies and contested labels such as 'neo-evangelical', 'post-evangelical' and 'post-conservative evangelical', and the existential angst generated by the morphing of evangelical identities. Second, it examines recent attempts by historians to delineate the essence or coherence of evangelicalism, and the difficulties of conceptualizing what precisely evangelicalism is, especially when hybridized with denominational allegiances. Third, the chapter assesses controversies on both sides of the Atlantic concerning evangelical boundary markers, in disputes over ecumenism, the inerrancy of Scripture, open theism, penal substitutionary atonement, and homosexuality. It argues that contest over authentic evangelical identity is one of the movement's permanent and perennial features.
