Evangelical Manifesto

  I am probably as guilty as anyone about throwing around terms without necessarily offering a context or definition.  I suppose in my own little world everyone simply understands. But then again, I am the only one who actually lives in my little world.

 

One of those terms I freely flout is: Evangelical. 

 

Now, I suspect that most of you who read this blog are familiar with the term, if not even yourselves being full-fledged initiates into Evangelicalism.  But it is probably somewhat presumptive of me to assume everyone who reads this blog understands to what I am referring. (The ClustrMap of this blog even suggests that a number of you readers live in parts of the world where the Gospel is not so prevalent; where there seems far less need to create distinctions between Christians.) 

 

At a deeper level, it is probably inappropriate to assume that even all who number themselves among Evangelicals have a fully developed understanding of what the phrase means.  This is not because I suspect people lack capacity, but because the word has lost its meaning over the past several years.  It has been the victim of an attempted hijack. The result has been distortion & confusion over what an Evangelical really is – and who the Evangelicals really are. 

 

I’m appreciative of Dr. Timothy George, Dr. Os Guinness, and the others who worked with them on the Steering Committee to draft An Evangelical Manifesto. Their work provides a valuable reference tool for the defining – or rather, the recovery of the definition – of Evangelicalism.  Whether you are, like me, a passionate participant in the Evangelical family, or skeptical of those who wear the Evangelical label, An Evangelical Manifesto should bring some clarity.

 

To read:

 

An Evangelical Manifesto (.pdf)

 

An Evangelical Manifesto – Summary (.pdf)