Schmitz links evangelical strength to Wesleyan and Pentecostal traditions

Matthew Schmitz says evangelicalism is vibrant, but the strongest currents of American Protestantism are Wesleyan and Pentecostal, not Calvinist and Presbyterian¹. He was answering The Free Press, which had promoted Ross Douthat's argument that evangelicalism is best placed to thrive in America².

Schmitz says intellectual Protestants who celebrate an evangelical triumph are celebrating a Christianity that differs from their own. Schmitz says intellectual Protestants, though rooted in traditions that helped shape the United States, are alienated sociologically and doctrinally from the most vigorous contemporary expressions of American Christianity¹.

Schmitz draws the contrast from his own history, saying he was raised in a non-denominational evangelical church. When he became "young, restless, and Reformed," he says, his parents were alarmed. They asked their pastor how to handle what they saw as his defection from the faith. Whatever he believed, Schmitz says, they thought it was not true Christianity¹.

The argument now turns on Douthat's essay, which holds that the form of Christianity most adapted to late-modern America is evangelical Protestantism, not the Church of Rome³. Schmitz’s argument is that evangelicalism’s strongest American currents are Wesleyan and Pentecostal, not Calvinist and Presbyterian¹.

Sources

1. @matthewschmitz on X, 2026-10-22: Ross is right about the vibrancy of evangelicalism. But a distinction needs to be made. The strongest currents of Protestantism in the US are Wesleyan, not Calvinist, Pentecostal rather than Presbyterian. When intellectual Protestants wax triumphant about, 2026-10-22
2. The Free Press on X: "For all the buzz around a ‘Catholic century,’ evangelicalism is the denomination best placed to thrive in contemporary America. https://t.co/e3hTYPNEmb" / X
3. Ross Douthat: Our Evangelical Era - by Ross Douthat