>Robert L. Miller wrote:
>> I think an evangelical is one who has accepted Jesus Christ as his
>savior
>> from sin through an act of repentance and subsequent obedience. Acts
>> 2:37,38; 16:30,31; Rom 10:9,10
>>
>> Many things could be added to flesh out the definition, but I think
>this is
>> the core that differentiates the evangelical. It goes without saying
>that
>> evangelicals are found in every kind of church, for instance Catholic
>or
>> Lutheran, but not all members of churches are evangelical (or even
>Christian
>> for that matter).
> In the most basic sense, an evangelical is someone who believes
>the evangel, the gospel, that salvation is given freely in Jesus
>Christ.
>I'm quite happy to describe myself as an evangelical catholic. The
>point I wanted to make, though, was that most of the discussions here
>about science-theology issues, the influence of Johnson, &c treat "the
>evangelical church" in the sense that it's popularly used in American
>Christianity - which does not include Roman Catholics, Orthodox, many
>Lutherans, Anglicans, &c - as if it were the whole of genuine
>Christianity. It isn't.
> George Murphy
I'd agree with you, George, that the Evangelical movement is not the
definitive and exclusive group of "true Christians." It is, however, a
more exclusive sect of Christianity than your above statemsnt defines.
I am currently enrolled in an apologetics course at Biola University,
where I'm a Junior Biology Major. We just finished a brief history of
the various church movements. Here is what our textbook defines as the
evangelical movement:
"A recationary movement in oposition to Fundamentalism, which began in
1947. It acceps the essentials of the faith as listed by the
fundamentalists (the Inerrancy of the Bible, the Diety of Jesus Christ,
the Virgin Birth of Christ, the Substitutionary Atonement, the Bodily
Resurrection, the Historicity of Miracles, and the Second Coming of
Christ), but disagrees with the fundamentalists on the grounds of their
Attitued, Strategy, and Results in ministering to the lost, believing
that one should be more loving and less exclusive than the
fundamentalists. Two sub-groups of the evangelical movement are the
Neo-evangelical, who believe that the Bible is infallible, not
inerrant, and the Liberal Evangelical, who question the historicity of
miracles." --Lewis, Kevin, Th.D., Christian Thought I, p14.
This is not to say that anyone not falling into this group is not a
Christian. I'd never make that statement, and so I don't think it's
neccisary to be an Evangelical in order to be saved, but as defined
above, it is not as inclusive as others have been describing.
Just wanted to drop my two cents in.
In Christ,
Jason