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In Worldview Theory, Whiteness, and the Future of Evangelical Faith, Jacob Alan Cook argues that evangelical Christians’ embrace of worldview theory has, in effect, compelled them to adopt the world’s divisive modes of dealing with difference rather than live out a compelling, faithful alternative. As a popular framework for theology, world-viewing has driven evangelical adherents to narrate human lives (including their own) in ways that warp Christian identity as a personal, social, and theological reality—grounded less in the Bible than an unacknowledged, self-norming “whiteness.” Through close studies of key white evangelical leaders who utilized the worldview concept for political engagement and cultural transformation, Cook reveals why worldview theory fails to grasp human complexity and how it artificially limits community in a world only God can truly “view.” In between these case studies, he draws from current conversations in psychology, sociology, critical race studies, and other fields to vigorously critique the worldview concept, its use, and its underlying impulse. This book is for those wrestling with the relationship between Christianity and whiteness in America, how the dynamics of whiteness have become transparent and contentious, and where to go from here if one is to follow Jesus.

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What People Are Saying

In this insightful and engaging book, Cook explains why American evangelicalism is in crisis. He demonstrates how over a century and a half a group of predominantly white, straight, elite men created a “Christian” worldview that sacralized ethno-nationalist identity politics. In the process, they failed to see the diversity of God’s creation and landed on the wrong side of several great social movements of recent generations. Nevertheless, in excavating this troubled history, Cook sees potential for redemption.

Matthew Avery Sutton

Washington State University

“Worldviews” has served as the central image animating the intellectual life of generations of evangelical thinkers. My sociological observation of people’s cognitive behavior disabused me long ago of the worldview thinking on which I was raised. Jacob Alan Cook’s story reveals just how profoundly problematic “worldview” discourse really is, further unmasking the “scandal of the evangelical mind.” Evangelicals are not the only ones incriminated, however. Cook’s analysis suggests just how insidiously social positions of power and sanctimony can deform ideas, identities, and arguments of potentially any group seeking influence. In a world bereft of courage and humility, this book is an important corrective intervention; a gift for those with ears to hear.

Christian Smith

University of Notre Dame

In contributing to scholarly research on evangelical trends, and in refuting the theological concept of a worldview, Cook punches hard. The greatest insights in Cook’s analysis emerge in his dissection of the epistemological brashness of twentieth-century evangelical theorizing and preaching, and the capacity of such bloviating to hide or downplay injustices. This analysis will be stirring reading for clergy and academics who may be tempted to exhort their audiences with exaggerated promises about the epistemic benefits of being a Christian.