Quote of the Day
No one knows what the word “evangelical” means, including evangelical leaders. It’s like defining fog. At the same time, this is a word that describes a movement of religious believers, not a movement of registered GOP voters. It’s time to stop treating it like a political term. Meanwhile, the word “fundamentalist” has a meaning and it can be found in an accurate reference in the Associated Press Stylebook. Many journalists still need to look that up.
Tags: Media
February 3rd, 2012 at 12:14 pm
I would offer a definition, but I wouldn’t want to start a fight.
February 3rd, 2012 at 12:48 pm
Actually, evangelization and evangelical are easily defined. Evangelization is the process of systematically instructing and (ultimately) converting people to the practices of Christianity, generically speaking. When that process is oriented toward a particular Protestant denomination, the term Proselytizing is typically substituted. Evangelicals are a particular sect of Protestant Christians who see this task as their primary mission above and beyond some other facet of Christian belief like “social justice,” “Christian charity,” religious instruction or prayerful intercession.
For what it’s worth, the Associated Press Stylebook seems like an odd “last word” in whether or not 1/2 of Protestant Christians in the US know who they are and why they call themselves Evangelicals…
February 3rd, 2012 at 3:23 pm
There’s no real doubt as to what the word means. What we have, instead, is people who aren’t evangelicals who want to use it for themselves, since their own labels have become rather tawdry.
This game has run before, and has run over the last 30 years as follows. Christians usually call themselves Christians. Then the “liberals” — who don’t believe in Christianity — demand to be called Christians, and that the Christians are referred to as evangelicals. A certain amount of sneering at evangelicals then follows. But, somehow, the “liberals” discover that the term Christian, that they have hijacked, doesn’t have the kudos any more. So they demand to be called evangelicals too — and that the Christians should now be called “conservative evangelicals”. Then, of course, the word “evangelical” likewise loses meaning.
We need hardly ask which spiritual power uses words to obtain things, rather than describe things.
February 3rd, 2012 at 3:40 pm
CS Lewis got into this in “Mere Christianity.” He said the word “gentleman” suffered the same fate. Someone isn’t a gentleman because their nice, they’re a gentleman because they’re landed and titled.
I totally agree with Roger that a real effort has been made to undermine the meaning of “Christian.” But I don’t think we have to simply sit back and watch it happen…
February 4th, 2012 at 10:30 am
And then there are ‘Born Again Christians’ as opposed to ‘christains’. The real problem comes when taking a funeral . . . ‘He didn’t really believe in God Vicar, but he was a good christian . . . ‘.