Recovering Evangelicals #39 – who are these “Evangelicals”?
Our previous four episodes, and the tremendous listener feedback they generated, referred often to Evangelicals and Evangelicalism. Some listeners suggested that those terms were applied incorrectly, and that we should instead be using labels like Fundamentalists, Christian Nationals, Moderates, Modernists, or Liberals.
Do those who self-identify as “Evangelicals” … in their daily conversations, or when talking to Pew … know what they’re saying?
Are they allowed to self-identify, and can other people deny them that right (for example, by declaring: “those people that Pew call Evangelicals are really Fundamentalists”)?
Do we need a “shibboleth” before one can self-identify or be identified as an Evangelical? [the 12th chapter of the book of Judges describes a civil war between two sub-groups of Israelites who were in almost all respects indistinguishable, except that one side recognized that the other pronounced the word “Shibboleth” differently: they decided that everyone should be challenged to say this word and those who said it differently were immediately seized and killed.]
When Pew Research describe the values and actions of Evangelicals, are they painting Christianity with too broad a brush?
How has modern Evangelicalism gotten so far off course from her original mission given to them by Jesus? How did it morph into Christian Nationalism and Dominion Theology?
In this episode, Boyd and Luke talk to a Professor of Church History about questions like these and several others which have come up in the last few episodes as we explore “who are Evangelicals?”
Spoiler alert: “Evangelical” comes from the Greek word for Gospel (euangelion): the Good News. It’s the word that Jesus used when he sent his disciples to “go out and take control of the world“. “… and take control of the country“. “… and set up a theocratic nation.” “… and tell people they’re all going to hell“. “… and stand opposed to the sexual norms of your society“, “… and preach the Good News of liberation, forgiveness, and love for all people.” We talked about this in great detail last year in episode #14.
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