Awakening the Evangelical Mind is a much needed look into the neo-evangelical lights of last century and their lasting influence today. I was well aware of the conservative resurgence in my own denomination and the split among Presbyterians among liberal and conservative lines, but I was largely ignorant of the cross-denominational movement among evangelicals to raise an academic standard. (A movement that included such notebles as Billy Graham, Harold Ockenga, Carl F. H. Henry, Gleason Archer, etc.)

This book maintains a great balance between the traditional historical division of the man and the times. Author Owen Strachan writes in both a historical and biographical style. He summarizes the life of Harold Ockenga in places and transcribes a brief history of the times among evangelicals in other places. He also spends a bit of time with Carl F. H. Henry.I was impressed to know that at one point several bright scholars and Christian statesmen were interested in developing a Christian research university. (One laments that this evangelical work never came to fruition).

This is a much needed volume and helps bring context to the current movements in evangelicalism. As Strachan notes many of today’s prolific theological writers and pastors have been influenced either directly or indirectly by Ockenga and the neo-evangelicals of Harvard.

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