The history of evangelicalism, as well as that of the Southern Baptist Convention, in the twentieth century is marked by ongoing debates over identity and boundaries. In this paragraph, Margoret Bendroth seems to put her finger on one reasons for these almost constant (and likely necessary) debates:
In some traditions, especially those with visible hierarchies, questions about who belongs and who does not travel through set institutional channels. Thus, for example, the line separating Catholics from non-Catholics is rarely an object of dispute–although internal debates about what constitutes a ‘good Catholic’ might well persist. But when hierarchy is weak, continuing and often irresolvable debate is almost compulsory; boundaries stay strong only under regular scrutiny. In recent years, this theoretical understanding has proved very important in analysis of modern evangelicalism, a diverse movement that has generally lacked a central institutional or ideological core.
– From Bendroth’s essay, “New Directions on the Congregational Way,” in American Denominational History: Perspectives on the Past, Prospects for the Future, ed. Keith Harper (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2008), 33:
