And with All Your Mind: A Novel about Evangelical Theology

It's 1971, and Silas Baker is a high school senior in California, whose main interests are basketball, and weekend parties. But his life takes a dramatic turn, when he encounters a group of committed Christians, who soberly inform him that "Jesus is coming soon!" They enroll at Riverstent Bible College. It's an exciting time, as leading Bible teachers have predicted that Jesus will return to Rapture his Church within "one generation" of the 1948 formation of the State of Israel. Popular movies further inflame this passion, as the eager students study Apologetics and Biblical Archaeology; aberrant theologies such as the "Death-of-God" movement; and even conflicting interpretations of the End Times. An activist spirit develops within evangelicalism, culminating in the so-called "Christian Right," as the evangelical world is rocked in the aftermath of the televangelist scandals. Confronted by world views such as Calvinism and Christian Reconstruction, the characters passionately debate controversies such as Biblical Inerrancy and the age of the cosmos, in addition to challenging evangelicals who deny traditional doctrines such as that of "endless punishment" in Hell, or who promote an "Open" (yet limited) concept of God himself. As society evolves, so does evangelicalism: "seeker sensitive" megachurches appear, while Postmodernism and the "Emergent Church" become realities. Theologians wrestle with the question of divorce and remarriage, and the role of women in the church, as well as the divisive issue of homosexuality. As they struggle with life's realities, they ultimately must also respond to nonchristians who are alienated, indifferent, or engaged in active opposition to Christianity, while searching for the meaning of Christian faith in the modern world.