Despite the lessons that history might teach about the creation of an evangelical elite now, a fundamental hiccup in the ideal, whether mainline Protestant, evangelical, or Christian nationalist, is the distinction between the sacred and the secular that pietists (high and low brow) refuse. Simply put, teaching Sunday school and preaching is different from teaching an undergraduate seminar at a private college. The church is not the academy. The credentials the Christian ministry requires – a seminary degree and ordination – is not the same as the gate by which scholars may enter the academy – a terminal degree and accreditation. The church is a private and voluntary institution in ways the academic is public and involuntary (through government oversight and regulation). Read more»

D. G. Hart | “Protestant Elites Then and Now” | Old Life | September 8, 2026

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