letter from America
Controversy, scandal, and the need for discernment
Josh Moody
Date posted: 2 Jun 2026
One of the challenges of writing this “Letter from America” is the sheer scale of America, and in particular American Evangelicalism. It is hard to “take the temperature” of what is going on at any particular moment when, in truth, there are many different things going on.
Of course, the art is to simplify without falsehood, depict without distorting. But shall we talk of some of the conversations within the Southern Baptist Convention, or the Presbyterian Church of America, or The Gospel Coalition, or the collection of Christian Universities and Schools? Shall we survey the current state of (broadly speaking) reformed evangelicalism, progressive evangelicalism, dispensational evangelicalism? Or, instead, shall we take the tack of looking at the reputation of evangelicalism as it is being perceived?
letter from America
‘The Times They Are A-Changin’. Again. Tumultuously
Josh Moody
Date posted: 29 Jan 2026
“The times they are a-changin’.” So sang Bob Dylan. “Change” was a prophetic theme when the song first came out. And change is upon us once more, albeit this time a different kind of change. The times they are a-changin’.
Ever since the 1960s, America – and I suppose most of the quote-unquote “Western World” – has lived with the revolution of those turbulent years. Fuelled by protest against Vietnam, and singing along to the tunes of not just Bob Dylan but (of course) The Beatles, and others, much of the discourse and context in which the church lives and works in the Western World has been shaped by the changing times in which we live, and which have been bequeathed by the 1960s.
‘The God who is’
In recent years I’ve discovered and learned to appreciate the Westminster Shorter Catechism. It’s a bit of a niche thing – not that well known even in some evangelical circles – but, for all that it dates all the way back to 1647, it still contains some of the best and most concise doctrinal definitions to be found.
Its fourth question asks: “What is God?”, to which the set answer is: “God is a spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth.” I told you it was good!