Deconstruction and the rise of the ‘exvangelicals’

The term ‘deconstruction’ has been doing the rounds in Christian circles over the past decade. Shortly afterwards came the term ‘exvangelical’. I first heard the latter term during a debate on God’s existence when a sceptic used it to describe themself. I asked a charismatic Pentecostal friend about it, and they insisted that if someone was exvangelical then they must have never been truly saved in the first place. One hears this refrain often from Christians and Muslims—no one could ever truly lose their faith; if they seemed to, they never had it to begin with.

The accusation of never having been a true believer is highly offensive to exvangelicals. Many of them were pastors, vicars, priests, worship leaders, and youth leaders, or led Christian groups in school or university. Some are children of prominent religious leaders raised in very religious homes, such as the sons of Terry Virgo and John Piper. It is hard to listen to their stories and think that they never truly believed. For many, the fact that evangelical religion was their whole world is the very reason they are now exvangelical.

The term exvangelical appears to mean that they were not merely religious, but part of a charismatic evangelical tradition and extremely passionate about their faith. According to self-described exvangelical Harry Amos, the rise of the exvangelicals is a recent and growing phenomenon sparked in large part by the internet and social media.

Deconstruction, which lit the flame of the exvangelical exodus, is the process of gradually undoing or taking apart aspects of the faith you learned from birth. This can mean simply figuring out where things went wrong and rebuilding your faith, or it can lead to an outright departure from religion. The YouTuber Genetically Modified Skeptic and his wife are a classic case of the deconstruction-to-deconversion pipeline.

Many exvangelicals left their faith after listening to others and doing their own research. Some left after realising young earth creationism was false, while others became disillusioned by the prosperity gospel, or dispensationalism, or end-times predictions. Different exvangelicals have different triggers, but these are ones that frequently come up. Often, having discovered that one aspect of the faith is false, they go on to deconstruct the whole belief system—and find it wanting.

The comedian Rhett McLaughlin’s viral exposition of what deconstruction is and how it played out in his life had many Christians nodding in agreement. His search was earnest, intelligent, and done in good faith. The religious can become defensive at the thought of any of their faith being false or at the thought of losing believers from their ranks, but Rhett did not come across as a bad-faith actor. His story was the honest journey of a truth seeker concerned that some elements of his belief system were mistaken. He found the church world around him unable or unwilling to engage with his questions, and he found apologetics unsatisfying, and he followed his conscience.

Sometimes simply being exposed to other religions or belief systems can be shattering to one’s belief, whether at school or university or in the workplace. I know religious people who simply met a gay person or an atheist and found the experience to be nothing like what they expected based on what they had been told. The recognition that what your leader told you is not the case can set one on a path of exploration and curiosity to see what else they might be incorrect about.

Another impetus to leaving religions is moral failure in the church. Harry Amos, whose blog The Book of Amos is one of the most prominent in the exvangelical space, has detailed his experiences as a young evangelical serving at festivals, university Christian Unions, and in church. He saw so much moral failure that his dogmatism loosened. This is not uncommon. Harry’s journey became intellectual rather than emotional, but the responses he received were not always kind. Many exvangelicals leave religion on good terms and harbour no ill will towards what they left behind, but others have a terrible experience and a door is slammed firmly shut behind them.

Most exvangelicals share the characteristic of intellectual curiosity. They are determined truth seekers who question everything, embrace uncertainty, treasure scepticism, and are open-minded. Harry has appeared in a large number of debates over issues such as suffering and pain, the Old Testament warfare stories, the Easter story, whether the Exodus actually happened, the canonisation of scripture, and slavery in the Bible. Exvangelicals enjoy asking the hard questions because they matter so much.

As an outside observer, deconstruction appears to me to be a healthy exercise for the most part. One should question one’s beliefs and examine whether they are true. This is a healthy practice of scepticism, one that we should all engage in. As the saying goes, at any one point each of us holds multiple beliefs about all sorts of things that are incorrect.

The rise of the exvangelicals correlates with the rise of deconstruction, and both rose in parallel with the burgeoning of internet communities where others on the same journey could be found. With AI and rapid internet on one’s phone, the answers (or some answers) to tough questions are available within seconds—without the filter of a leader, and in secret—and so the search for truth can be divorced from the dogma and gatekeeping of traditional communities.

The next challenge can be far harder. Leaving a religious community which offered belonging, security, and love is no easy feat; and perhaps even harder is the task of finding a new community which can offer those things without compromising one’s intellectual integrity.