What is an Evangelical Christian?
The term “Evangelical” denotes a group of Christian Protestants who have a coherent set of beliefs that set them apart from other Christian groups. Evangelicals emphasize personal conversion to Christianity and salvation through their faith in Jesus Christ alone, rather than Roman Catholics, for example, who have a strict set of tasks required to achieve salvation.
The difference between Catholic and Evangelical teaching can be shown in the theological belief of baptism. Infants born within the care of a Catholic family will be baptized as soon as possible, while Evangelical Christians choose the time of their baptism, typically once they feel they have been “born-again” or they have accepted Jesus as their lord and savior.
Evangelicals believe that the first birth is that of the flesh and the second is more symbolic and that is the birth of the spirit. “Born-again Christian” is commonly used to describe Evangelicals. Personal conversion and relationship with Jesus are essential to Evangelicals. In reality, all Christians are technically Evangelical because they have the conviction to spread the Gospel throughout the world; “Evangelical” comes from the Greek word “euangelos” meaning good news.
“Fundamentalist” is another term often used to describe Evangelicals. The concept of fundamentalism can get misconstrued when it comes to Christianity. Fundamentalism is not the belief that the words in the Christian holy book, the Bible, should be taken literally, but rather the words in the Bible are the inspired word of God and they are without error.
The entire Protestant community is often put under the category of Evangelical. However, Evangelicals are actually a further split from another large sect of Christianity known as Mainline Christians or Mainliners. Mainline Christians get their name from being the first groups of Protestant Christians during the Reformation. Evangelicals are a product of even more separation between Christians that took place largely in the United States during the Great Awakening.
Where Mainliners differ from Evangelicals is largely on their view of the Bible. Mainline Christians hold a more liberal interpretation of the Bible and on political issues as well. Mainliners tend to look at the Bible not completely holding the inspired word of God, but that the Bible is more of a historical document than anything else. In recent years, Mainline churches have seen a decrease in attendance, while Evangelical churches are growing to the point where new megachurches, or churches with an average of 2,000 people in attendance per week, are coming into being every two weeks.
The reason for this rapid growth is largely due to the prosperity Gospel. This modern form of preaching teaches that if you accept Jesus into your heart, God will grant you health, wealth, and success. This teaching has appealed to many individuals in the United States searching for a way to ensure happiness.
Unfortunately, Evangelical has been branded as a political term often used to describe white Protestants who tend to lean right on the political spectrum and most often vote for the Republican Party.
Expect to see a future article on Evangelicals and their influence on the political world.
