Three years ago this month First Things launched this blog to provide a space for a broad range of evangelical viewpoints. We’ve had dozens of contributors, more than 1,500 posts, and nearly 20,000 comments. But today it’s time for us to say goodbye.
Group blogs that have numerous contributors tend to have a short lifespan. Within a few years they either morph into full-blown web magazines, downsize until only a few dedicated bloggers remain, or fade away due to inattention. Evangel has been losing readers and contributors over the last year—in October 2009 we had 152 posts; in October 2012 we had 8—so it appears to be time to move on. While the archives will remain open indefinitely, this will be the last post.
Almost all of our contributors continue to write for other blogs (a few have even agreed to join FT’s main blog, First Thoughts), so I hope you’ll seek out and follow your favorites. I believe I speak for all of our contributors when I say that we’ve appreciated those who have read and commented over the past few years.
Thank you and God Bless,
Joe Carter
Online Editor
First Things
October 31st, 2012 | 9:05 pm | #1
Thanks for starting the blog, Joe. It was an honor to be included.
October 31st, 2012 | 10:06 pm | #2
Hey Joe,
I also appreciated what you guys did here, and always had this blog on my RSS feed to see the updates.
For perception’s sake, I think the whole project went sour after the Evolution debate, and the resulting large scale change in the masthead. I kept reading, but the focus of the posts was much narrower after that, and there didn’t seem to be a tight rein on the “concept.”
In other words, how could “Evangel” contribute a unique perspective in a historically Catholic publication (I know, I know, FT isn’t all Roman Catholic). I think that if there could be a tight understanding and vision for what kind of Protestant/Evangelical perspective could be had on FT that it’d be worth a try. I subscribe to the print version of FT, but would still appreciate some kind of narrowed out Protestant focus online. Might be worth another shot down the road, anyhow.
November 1st, 2012 | 3:07 am | #3
You know, we had a hell of a run in these comment sections. I’ve had many a great discussion with Orthodoxdj, Tom Gilson, Truth Unites… And Divides, Bret Lythgoe, and Blake, amongst others. Thanks to everyone who participated here for giving me something to talk about, and improving the quality of the dialogue I’ve had amongst believers. I wish you all the best.
November 1st, 2012 | 10:53 pm | #4
I didn’t always comment as frequently as I had liked to on these articles, but I always appreciated the service and atmosphere for discussion that this site provided. I am deeply sad to hear that there will be no more contributions, but I would like to express my gratitude to my fellow commenters as well the contributing authors. Thank you, best of luck to you all.
November 5th, 2012 | 2:27 pm | #5
As Tolkien said to Lewis as they parted on that fateful night in Oxford, “Goodbye.”
November 6th, 2012 | 8:35 am | #6
Thanks you for the opportunity to express our opinions with the time that we had. Tongues will cease, knowledge will pass away, I hope for that day when all this will come to pass.
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