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Evangelicalism, in a strictly lexical, but rarely used sense, refers to all things that are implied in belief that Jesus is the savior. To be evangelical would then mean to be merely Christian - that is, founded upon, motivated by, acting in agreement with, or in some other way identified with τὸ ευαγγελιον (τὸ εὐαγγέλιον): the good news, the Gospel of salvation given to humanity by Jesus.
Scriptural basisIn the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Jesus gives his apostles instructions to spread the Gospel to all the earth. This is commonly known as the Great Commission. Early Christian Church periodAfter the death of Jesus, some of the disciples or followers of Jesus travelled throughout the region to spread the teachings of Jesus. Among these include Paul of Tarsus and Saint Timothy. 1700-1799During this century, there was a religious revival in the Americas which is known as the First Great Awakening. Characteristics (based on the most common definition)Commentators and historians have described four distinctive characteristics of evangelicals (Bebbington):
Evangelicals generally believe the Bible to be reliable and the ultimate authority in matters of faith and practice and subscribe to the doctrines of sola scriptura and sola fide. They believe in the historicity of the miracles of Jesus and his literal virgin birth, crucifixion, resurrection, and Second Coming. It follows that they generally adhere to their interpretation of biblical views which may affect their social outlook, believing, for example, that homosexual behavior is sinful and that human life begins at conception. Active involvement in secular society is a characteristic of modern evangelicals, who see the danger of withdrawal on the one hand, and accommodation, on the other, and try to take the middle course, that of following the biblical injunction to be "in the world yet not of the world". As such, evangelicals are highly active in social causes. Historically, Evangelicals have often been in the forefront of movements such as abolition, prison reform, orphanage establishment, hospital building, and founding educational institutions. Today this activism is also expressed in literacy training, adoption agencies, food banks, and day-care centers for children, as well as more politically controversial causes such as the pro-life movement and the prohibition of same-sex marriage. Within US mainline denominations there is often a political dichotomy, with the non-evangelicals and evangelicals both actively lobbying in Washington, but for opposite causes. Evangelicals also tend to prefer individual understanding of the Bible and participation in the service by all on an equal footing to a highly structured liturgy and church hierarchy. On the other hand, there is little variation of understanding of the Bible within individual evangelical churches. Evangelicals can be found in a wide variety of Christian traditions and locations, although they are most commonly Protestant. Many fundamentalists can also be defined as evangelicals, although not all evangelicals are fundamentalists, because they may not hold to a literal interpretation of the Bible. Some Evangelicals also identify with the Pentecostal movement. In the late 20th century, several evangelicals became involved with the informal renewal movement referred to as paleo-orthodoxy. A 1992 survey (Green) showed that in the United States and Canada evangelicals make up both the largest and the most active group of Christians (surpassing both Roman Catholics and non-Evangelical Protestant groups). On a worldwide scale evangelical Churches are (together with Pentecostals) the most rapidly growing Christian churches. The two are even beginning to overlap, in a movement sometimes called Transformationalism. According to the Washington Post, John C. Green, director of the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron in Ohio, said that despite many variations, evangelicals generally adhere to four core beliefs:
Barna Research [1] (http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=Topic&TopicID=17) defines an evangelical based on a nine question test covering these criteria
Other informationFamous evangelicals include:Historical:
Contemporaries: (many of these would be more accurately listed under Neo-evangelicalism)
Evangelical para-church organizationsMany Evangelical Christians share an understanding of cross denominational collaboration in mission and evangelism, while at the same time eschewing large institutional church structures. As a result of this emergence, a plethora of not local church-based but church-related organizations, often founded with a direct and limited purpose in mind which are sometimes called para-churches or para church organizations. Some examples of larger, international organisations of this kind, are:
Parachurch organizations well-known in the United States, are:
References
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