Storytellig and Evangelical Identities

Abstract

In this chapter, I discuss autobiography in the Evangelical tradition, and how thisgenre can help us understand Evangelical identity. Conversion – the experience of“new birth”, or being born again – was the center of these stories. The emphasis on personalstorytelling (witnessing) united Evangelicals, but the way they told their storiesdivided them. As the movement grew more fragmented over the centuries, this patternbecomes more evident. Personal storytelling was part of what made this a modernmovement, but the way they told their stories set it apart as a distinct modernity