Honest question I should have thought of asking on FR long ago: What does the word “evangelical” mean as you’re using it here? I know the word stems from the “gospel,” but even after looking it up in Webster’s, I don’t feel like I have a correct definition. How’s it being used in opposition to Roman Catholicism?
Thanks to all who can help!
I was born & raised in Protestant Evangelicalism, studied at Evangelical icons Moody Bible Institute (B.A.) and Wheaton College (M.A.), both degrees in theology. I received my Ph.D. in Theology at Marquette University, a Jesuit institution.
In a nutshell, Evangelicals are conservative Protestants who emphasize the spiritual rebirth called being "born again." They have a very high view of Scripture (inerrancy) and stress evangelism and a pietistic lifestyle ("We don't smoke, drink, dance or chew, or go with those who do").
I recall in my younger years a mild anti-Catholicism which grouped Catholics with other "liberal" Protestant denominations that no longer "preached the gospel." We mistakenly believed that Catholics taught "salvation by works" rather than relying totally on Faith in Christ. We did not understand the fine distinctions between Pelagianism and the nuanced Catholic view that "faith without works is dead."
Times have changed, and I do not detect hostility towards Catholicism in Evangelical circles. Rather, there is a growing awareness of a commonality especially with regard to standing for fundamental Christian doctrines and morality.
The central concerns of Evangelicals are spiritual rebirth and standing for the authority of Scripture and fundamental Christian doctrines. I have retained these emphasis, and continue to believe that "God has no grandchildren" (= each person much make a personal commitment to Christ).
At the same time I have tremendous respect for the Catholic Church, and in fact attempt to defend it against it's accusers. My hope is that Christians will become more united, and I am willing to let the Lord guide that process.
Hope this helps. God bless!
The scary thing about your question is I think it **IS** an honest question, and it is our own fault that we haven't made it clear.
I'm pinging the Reformed ping list since I think this may be an opportunity to answer some important questions. If we spend so much time talking about conservative Christian politics that we never get around to the fundamentals of the faith, it is our fault.
(BTW, tjd1454, my wife is a Wheaton graduate from their doctoral program on clinical psychology. I'm guessing from other items in your posts that you went to Wheaton many many years ago and probably didn't run into each other. She finished college and her masters long ago at a different school, and went back for her doctoral degree at Wheaton a dozen years ago).
FNU LNU, here's your short answer: Assuming you're a Roman Catholic, think of evangelicals as being the traditional Protestant equivalent to a traditional Roman Catholic — i.e., someone who actually believes what their faith teaches rather than mucking it up with watered-down stuff. Frankly, while evangelical Protestants and traditional Roman Catholics can and do argue about important differences, we have a lot more in common with each other than we have with liberals who call themselves Christians but deny most of what Christ taught.
A longer answer, of course, is important. You can't summarize Roman Catholicism in ten words and you can't summarize what evangelicals believe in ten words either.
Trying to be simple without being simplistic, an evangelical is someone who believes certain core doctrines which themselves proceed from the belief that the Bible is without error and is sufficient to tell us what we need to know to be saved.
Among those core doctrines are the nature of human sin, the need for salvation from sin by grace alone, the Trinity, the death and resurrection of Christ as our substitute for the penalty we deserve, and the need for Christ as our personal savior. We differ with Roman Catholics on some of these issues dating back to the Council of Trent; on other issues our differences are more a matter of emphasis, and there are some traditions within the Roman Catholic Church (the Augustinian tradition, for example) which come very close to what many evangelicals believe though we will still differ with Roman Catholics on the sacraments, the role of Mary and the saints, and the authority of the Pope and the councils of the church.
I generally agree with tjd1454’s description of evangelical emphases, though I'd differ with him on the emphasis of certain pietistic lifestyle issues (”We don't smoke, drink, dance or chew, or go with those who do”).
That is a fair evaluation of American evangelicalism but not of the broader evangelical Protestant tradition outside the United States (and places where our missionaries have brought those emphases). One would be hard-pressed to argue that Luther, Melanchton, Zwingli, Calvin or Knox would have had a problem with smoking or drinking, and dancing in the 1500s and 1600s would have mostly been a problem as an opportunity for lewd contact between young men and women. Let's just say we have a lot more such opportunities today than dancing.
Also, you are correct that evangelicals believe salvation is a personal relationship and God has no grandchildren.
Two qualifications must be made to that, however:
First, that does not mean that Christian parents don't have a responsibility to raise their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Some evangelicals **DO** let their kids act like little hellions waiting for God to convert them. That is no more faithful to evangelical teaching than a Roman Catholic who does nothing to teach his children.
Second, different evangelical traditions will place different levels of emphasis on the institutional church. None of us believe the church is infallible, but some evangelicals, including Lutherans and Calvinists, place a very strong emphasis on the importance of respect for the teaching authority of the church and its ordained pastors.
More can and perhaps should be said. Evangelicals can and do differ on important secondary items — a Calvinist is not a Lutheran or an Arminian, and there are additional issues such as when children should be baptized and whether speaking in tongues continued past the days of the early church. We're going to have some pretty major internal disagreements within evangelicalism on those issues — but then again, the Roman Catholics have their own internal disagreements, too.
However, the items I cited are among the “big ones” which are critical to being evangelical.
I hope that is of some help.