The Church on the World's Turf

the long version

"For decades, evangelical Protestants have been actively involved in major North American institutions, from sports and entertainment to politics and education to law. But how precisely do such believers and their distinctive religious organizations relate to these secular institutions?". "In an attempt to address this question, author Paul Bramadat takes readers into the heart of the McMaster University chapter of the Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF). The largest evangelical student group in North America, the IVCF espouses many conservative Protestant (some would say "fundamentalist") interpretations of the Bible, of women's roles, the age of the earth, alcohol consumption, and sexual ethics. These beliefs are often in direct conflict with the values and practices that are promoted within the liberal environment of most university campuses.". "In order to explain this apparent contradiction, Bramadat conducts interviews with members of the McMaster IVCF and explores their various survival strategies. He shows that the secular setting is contested turf, a context within which believers engage in a complex process of negotiation in an attempt to find a fertile place for themselves and the small number of true Christians in a rapidly changing world."--BOOK JACKET.