A Jew among the Evangelicals: A Guide for the Perplexed

by Mark I. Pinsky

In this insightful and accessible book, religion journalist Mark Pinsky takes the curious reader on a tour of the fascinating world of Sun Belt evangelicalism. Pinsky, religion reporter for the Orlando Sentinel , uses his unique position as a Jew covering evangelical Christianity to help nonevangelicals understand the hopes, fears, and motivations of this growing subculture and breaks down some of the stereotypes of evangelicalism.

168 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

A former staff writer for the Los Angeles Times and Orlando Sentinel, Mark Pinsky holds degrees from Duke University and Columbia University. As an investigative journalist specializing in capital murder cases around the Southeast, he has written for the Wall Street Journal and USA Today.

Although Met Her On The Mountain is his first true-crime work, he has previously published four religion books.

Reviews

[Rich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mark Pinsky, a Jewish Orlando-based journalist, set out to profile evangelical Christians, particularly those from his neck of the woods. The result isn't half bad, but falls short of being a "guide for the perplexed." Pinsky has developed numerous friendships with Christian and Jewish leaders and he uses those connections to good advantage. The thing is, Pinsky mostly profiles only a subslice of American evangelicalism. He tells us as much from the outset, so he cannot be faulted for the results. As a portrait of one subculture among evangelicals, it makes for great, sometimes illuminating reading. I particularly found the chapter on Orlando's Holy Land theme park helpful, because of its in depth profile of Marv Rosenthal's project. The odd duck in the book is the chapter profiling Chris King. King, a young evangelical with a Florida upbringing who ends up at Harvard is — pardon the mixed animal metaphors — a horse of a different color from many of the others described here. Despite the repeated voices heard here to the effect that evangelicals are a diverse group, that diversity needed fleshing out. I wonder what kind of portrait would have emerged had Pinsky gone back to his native Northeast and interviewed, say, Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City along with a few storefront ethnic churches, some old-line, some in more modern dress. Or if he had gone to Seattle or Northern California.

As it stands, A Jew among the Evangelicals is quite helpful in learning about the evangelical culture of the Orlando area; less helpful in understanding evangelicals overall. (One consideration: "evangelical" in faith terms is primarily defined in terms of beliefs and corresponding actions; "evangelical" as a subculture of music, styles, politics, and so should be held distinct from the faith definition, even if both definitions overlap.)

In terms of understanding Jews and evangelicals, Pinsky is helpful in charting particular Jewish responses to particular evangelical actions. In processing the response of area rabbis to the opening of the Holy Land theme park, one has to question the reaction of alarm. With Holy Land bringing in its income largely from evangelicals, it is doubtful, despite the (alleged) intentions of Marv Rosenthal, that the park will in any way "convert the Jews." It will probably help Christians to feel good about understanding the backdrop to the Bible story and many will be glad to learn about the Jewishness of their faith — just as few Christians who go to Israel do so to meet Israelis on the ground and explain their faith, but to "go where Jesus walked." What evangelical Christians may do in conversation with their Jewish friends after visiting Holy Land is on their dime.

I don't know if Pinsky will help Jews perplexed by evangelical Christians or not. I suspect some perplexity can be alleviated by asking why evangelicals even care that Jews should believe in Jesus? The by-now-old canard that it's to rush the Second Coming of Jesus hasn't stood up to scrutiny. Perhaps more Jews and non-Jews should simply ask, Who is Jesus? And what does it matter? That question has often generated its own perplexity, along with surprising answers.

[Nancy Butts · Rating 3 out of 5]

As Pinksy himself says in the afterword, he may be a victim of "Stockholm Syndrome," as his son teases him. He has lived and worked as a religion reporter in Orlando, FL, for so long that he identifies with his "captors," whom he describes as that subset of evangelicals who are white, upper middle class, and suburban. This Duke graduate, self-avowed 60s leftist liberal, and temple-attending Reform Jew clearly has affection and regard for many of the evangelicals who are his neighbors and who have been his subjects. That's both what is best and worst about his book: it is a model of the plea for civility that he makes in the book between people who disagree on something so fundamental as religious faith. But at times he tries so hard to avoid the appearance of demonizing people with whom he doesn't agree that it's not clear what he's trying to say. Still, I think this is a good book: both for those who haven't lived in the Bible Belt to understand who evangelicals are and what they believe, and for evangelicals themselves—to see how they are viewed by others.