MANNAFEST

The Voices

Tony Evans

Dr. Anthony T. Evans (born September 10, 1949) is an American evangelical pastor, author, and speaker.

Short bio

Dr. Anthony T. Evans (born September 10, 1949) is an American evangelical pastor, author, and speaker. He founded Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship (Dallas, TX) in 1976 with 10 members meeting in his home; the church has grown to a multi-thousand-member congregation. He earned his Th.M. (1976) and Th.D. (1982) from Dallas Theological Seminary — the first African-American to earn a doctorate of theology from DTS. He is the founder of The Urban Alternative (urban ministry network), a longtime DTS adjunct in evangelism, homiletics, and Black-church studies, and one of the most respected African-American evangelical voices of his generation. His book catalog is substantial (50+ titles). In June 2024, Evans stepped down from Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship's senior pastorate due to a publicly-acknowledged but unnamed past sin — the church and Evans's family have framed this with substantial transparency while preserving privacy on specifics. The MannaFest registry holds this transparently per Rule 9 — Evans's substantive teaching contribution to evangelical theology is real; the 2024 step-down is part of the public record.

What they believed

  • Rapture Timing — Pre-millennial pre-tribulation rapture, classical Dispensational DTS-tradition.
  • Cessation — Broadly cessationist DTS-tradition mainstream. Evans does not engage continuation/cessation debates substantially as primary catalog focus.
  • Justice Frame — "Kingdom Race Theology" — biblical race-and-justice framework offered as alternative to Critical Race Theory. Addresses systemic and personal dimensions through biblical-kingdom-and-imago-Dei framework rather than secular-critical framework. Both sides of the CRT-evangelical debate engage Evans's articulation.
  • Sexuality and Marriage — Conservative biblical sexuality and marriage; complementarian on women in ministry. The Kingdom Man / Kingdom Woman framework articulates differentiated-roles-within-equal-dignity framework.
  • Inerrancy — Strong inerrantist; DTS-tradition.
  • Cultural Engagement Posture — The kingdom is comprehensive — God's rule extends over individual, family, church, and society. Christians engage culture from kingdom-loyalty rather than political-partisan loyalty. Already-not-yet held in balance: substantive engagement now under God's reign, full consummation at Christ's return.

Notable works

3 listed

TitleYearDescription
Kingdom Agenda: Life Under GodEvans's signature framework articulation; the Kingdom Agenda is the load-bearing concept across his catalog.
Kingdom Man / Kingdom Woman / Kingdom Marriage / Kingdom FamilyEvans's family-discipleship articulation through the kingdom-framework lens; widely circulated in evangelical men's-and-women's ministry contexts.
Oneness Embraced: Reconciliation, the Kingdom, and How We Are Stronger Together2011Evans's articulation of biblical racial-reconciliation theology; foundational for his Kingdom Race Theology development.

Where to find them