What is an evangelical?
Published January 28, 2024
Evangelicalism is not just white, not Republican, and not monolithic. It is defined by the good news of Jesus Christ as revealed in scripture.With yet another election cycle we’ve seen polling addressing evangelical preferences.
The New York Times recently introduced us to “evangelicals” who never attend church. Say what?
Yet again we see very little nuance about what is meant by the term “evangelical” and, frankly many who identify themselves as evangelical really aren’t.
I believe evangelicals should reclaim the word and educate people about what it really means. To reclaim evangelical we need to first define the word and discuss characteristics of evangelicals.
“Evangelical” comes from the Greek word εὐαγγέλιον (transliterated “euangelion”) which means “gospel” or “good news.”
The English word “evangelical” first appeared in 1531 when William Tyndale wrote in his commentary on the Gospel of John, “He exhorteth them to proceed constantly in the evangelical truth.” Tyndale used “evangelical” as an adjective that likely meant truth that was rooted in the Gospel.
However, we didn’t see the subgroup of protestant Christianity labeled as evangelicals until the 1730s with the First Great Awakening with George Whitfield, Jonathan Edwards, and John Wesley being predominant figures.
The English word “evangelical” first appeared in 1531 when William Tyndale wrote in his commentary on the Gospel of John, “He exhorteth them to proceed constantly in the evangelical truth.” Tyndale used “evangelical” as an adjective that likely meant truth that was rooted in the Gospel.
However, we didn’t see the subgroup of protestant Christianity labeled as evangelicals until the 1730s with the First Great Awakening with George Whitfield, Jonathan Edwards, and John Wesley being predominant figures.
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