I found the Evangelical Manifesto to be one of the most hopeful documents to come out in the last few years. It gives me hope that, along with the committee that wrote A Call to an Ancient Evangelical Future, the leaders of Evangelicalism are wresting control away from those that seek political, religious, and economic power over the largest demographic of American Christendom.

The good points:

• ---A move toward post-conservative/post-liberal theology as the consensus of evangelicals
• ---A dismissal of power
• ---A stubborn refusal to submit to the "discourse"
• ---A holistic socio-political outlook that denies pandering from political parties and interest groups
• ---A long and generously repentant section of confessions (I think that Evangelical churches should read these confessions from the pulpit and confess these sins together)
• ---A tone that seeks to establish Evangelicals as the definers and leaders of Evangelicalism, wresting control away from the Religious Right and paving the way for Evangelicalism to take hold of the evangelical conversation again
• ---A call to civility

The bad points:

• ---The Holy Spirit is mentioned only once in 20 pages. This is woefully incomplete.
• ---Both modernism and postmodernism are dismissed in one sentence: "we have succumbed to the passing fashions of the moment and made noisy attacks on yesterday’s errors, such as modernism, while capitulating tamely to today’s, such as postmodernism." The philosophies of modernism and postmodernism are not simplistic enough to just write off in one sound bite.
• ---A welcomed critique of the liberal revisionist position to have an "exaggerated estimate of human capacities" is undercut by the final sentence: "With God’s help, we stand ready with you to face the challenges of our time and to work together for a greater human flourishing."
• ---The movement back to the Reformation ideals is good, yet the omission of any mention of medieval or ancient church writings, traditions, and practices will only delay the recapitulation of Evangelicalism's problems. A return to the past must go all the way back to Christ and the early church and move forward to the future.
• ---A lack of kingdom of God language.

Several others are already weighing in, including James K. A. Smith, Evangelical Outpost, Jim Wallis, Boar's Head Tavern, and Emergent Village.