{"id":104562,"date":"2013-05-12T13:10:16","date_gmt":"2013-05-12T17:10:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/?p=104562"},"modified":"2013-05-12T13:16:40","modified_gmt":"2013-05-12T17:16:40","slug":"wwrod-another-stab-at-defining-the-word-evangelical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/05\/wwrod-another-stab-at-defining-the-word-evangelical\/","title":{"rendered":"WWROD? Another stab at defining the word ‘evangelical’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Long ago, I asked the Rev. Billy Graham a question that I really thought he, of all people, would be able to answer.<\/p>\n

The question: What does the word \u201cevangelical\u201d mean?<\/p>\n

As I have reported several times,<\/a> the world\u2019s most famous evangelist tossed the question right back at me:<\/p>\n

\u201cActually, that\u2019s a question I\u2019d like to ask somebody, too,\u201d he said, during a 1987 interview in his mountainside home office in Montreat, N.C. This oft-abused term has \u201cbecome blurred. \u2026 You go all the way from the extreme fundamentalists to the extreme liberals and, somewhere in between, there are the evangelicals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wait a minute, I said. If Billy Graham doesn\u2019t know what \u201cevangelical\u201d means, then who does? Graham agreed that this is a problem for journalists and historians. One man\u2019s \u201cevangelical\u201d is another\u2019s \u201cfundamentalist.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, a few months ago, I asked the Rev. Rick Warren \u2014 one of today\u2019s most high-profile evangelicals \u2014 the same question. And his response?<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI know what the word \u2018evangelical\u2019 is supposed to mean,\u201d said Warren, 58, leader of the 20,000-member Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., with its many branch congregations and ministries. \u201cI mean, I know what the word \u2018evangelical\u2019 used to mean.\u201d<\/p>\n

The problem, he said, is that many Americans no longer link \u201cevangelical\u201d with a set of traditional doctrines, such as evangelistic efforts to reach the lost, the defense of biblical authority, projects to help the needy and the conviction that salvation is found through faith in Jesus Christ, alone.<\/p>\n

Somewhere during the George W. Bush years the word \u201cevangelical\u201d \u2014 a term used in church history \u2014 got \u201cco-opted into being a political term,\u201d said Warren. \u2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Cue: audible sigh)<\/a><\/p>\n

Needless to say, this is an issue that has been discussed many times<\/a> here at GetReligion, where we continue to argue that \u2014 damn the postmodernism, full speed ahead \u2014 journalists should attempt to use words precisely. On the religion beat, words with links to history and doctrine really matter. Words have meanings.<\/p>\n

So, how are journalists supposed to know what \u201cevangelical\u201d means, since it is almost impossible to avoid using it these days?<\/p>\n

This is a battle and, lucky for us, the other day someone asked this question to Godbeat patriarch Richard Ostling, over at his weblog, Religion Q&A: The Ridgewood Religion Guy Answers your Questions<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

PAUL IN VIRGINIA ASKS:<\/strong> Many people refer to themselves as \u201cEvangelical Christians\u201d to distinguish them from others. What is The Guy\u2019s definition?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

After dealing with several short answers, at the national and international levels, Ostling offers these comments based on his own experience and reporting:<\/p>\n

1) Yes, a personalized<\/strong>, conscious commitment to follow Jesus as Savior and Lord is central, though this doesn\u2019t necessarily involve a specific \u201cborn again\u201d or conversion experience, particularly for those raised Christian.<\/p>\n

2) Yes, the Bible is God\u2019s Word<\/strong> and the sole source of authority, interpreted as literally as contexts allow, and trusted as reliable or \u201cinfallible\u201d \u2014 and for some, historically \u201cinerrant.\u201d<\/p>\n

3) In addition, since Evangelicals<\/strong> cherish the \u201cevangel\u201d (Greek for \u201cgood news,\u201d referring to the Christian message) they\u2019re notably \u201cevangelistic\u201d or missionary-minded in spreading it at home and abroad.<\/p>\n

4) It\u2019s important to add<\/strong> their commitment to classical Christian doctrines and morals, based upon the Bible.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ah, but there are complications:<\/p>\n

\u2026 (Some) Evangelicals shun doctrinal statements and favor \u201cthe Bible only\u201d or \u201cno creed but Christ.\u201d Some groups with an evangelical flavor are not evangelical in theology, for instance \u201cOneness\u201d Pentecostalists who reject the orthodox doctrine of Christ. So do Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses, yet journalists sometimes mislabel them \u201cFundamentalists\u201d because they\u2019re literalistic on the Bible, and evangelistic.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Cue: audible sigh)<\/a><\/p>\n

Go ahead, read it all.<\/a> There are, after all, true evangelicals in liberal mainline churches. And there are African-American churches that are very evangelical in theology, yet rarely gather under the \u201cevangelical\u201d umbrella in the public square.<\/p>\n

Etc., etc. Be careful out there.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Long ago, I asked the Rev. Billy Graham a question that I really thought he, of all people, would be able to answer. The question: What does the word \u201cevangelical\u201d mean? As I have reported several times, the world\u2019s most famous evangelist tossed the question right back at me: \u201cActually, that\u2019s a question I\u2019d like […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,27,6,5],"tags":[389,1572,282,608,1329],"class_list":["post-104562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-creeping-fundamentalism","category-evangelicals","category-godbeat","category-webtech","tag-billy-graham","tag-church-history","tag-fundamentalism","tag-richard-ostling","tag-rick-warren"],"yoast_head":"\nWWROD? 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