In his justly famous Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, historian Mark Noll makes this hopeful observation with respect to evangelicalism's future: "Evangelicals who believe that God desires to be worshiped with thought as well as activity may well remain evangelicals, but they will find intellectual depth – a way of praising God through the mind – in ideas developed by confessional or mainline Protestants, Roman Catholics, or perhaps even the Eastern Orthodox" (p. 239).
Since writing these words, Noll has written a very important book on evangelical engagement with Roman Catholicism, and is now moving to one of the premier Roman Catholic schools in the United States (Notre Dame) to replace his friend and colleague George Marsden. (HT: Steve Bush)
Perhaps Maxie Birch's fine book The Evangelical Historians: The Historiography of George Marsden, Nathan Hatch, and Mark Noll will appear in a second edition and Roman Catholic-Evangelical dialogue will continue to remain rigorous and interesting.
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