Evangelicalism

Evangelicalism is a Christian faith rooted in Protestantism that preaches the truth of the gospel and the authority of the Bible. Evangelicalism teaches that salvation can only be achieved through complete faith in the Atonement—the forgiveness of sin through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus’s crucifixion is considered a literal event to evangelicals, whereas more liberal Christians often see the crucifixion as a symbol of Christ’s altruism. Jesus gave his life as payment for the sins of humanity, and in doing so reconciled God with his creation (humankind). This act is the basis for all action in the Evangelical’s life. If Christians wish to enter heaven, they must live pious lives and spread God’s word whenever and wherever possible. Evangelicalism got its start during the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century and distinguished itself during the First Great Awakening of the early eighteenth century. Modern American Evangelicalism takes its cue from this era of spiritual revivals and is based on the four basic principles of biblicism, conversionism, activism, and crucicentrism.

Origins

The word evangelicalism derives from the Greek word euangelion, often translated as evangel, which was used in the New Testament to describe the “good news” brought by salvation through Jesus Christ. The word evangelize came to mean believing and proclaiming this good news, and the term evangelical initially described all Christians before the Reformation. At that time, a German priest named Martin Luther had begun protesting against the Roman Catholic Church. Luther considered Catholic doctrine inadequate. He believed salvation could only be attained through complete faith in the Bible and the crucifixion of Jesus. Faith alone was the only means by which Christians could achieve grace. Luther concluded that the Bible was the only source of authority. This diverted from the Catholic teaching that the Church was also authoritative.

Luther’s teachings permeated Protestant beliefs throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, eventually making their way to the First Great Awakening of the eighteenth century. By that time, the term evangelical had become synonymous with Protestant. Many Protestant sects formed during the following years, but all adhered to the belief system established by Luther. Modern American Evangelicalism took root during this era, led by figures such as Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield. These revivalists gave evangelical a more radical meaning. A new tone was given to sermons emphasizing an angry and merciless God who cast sinners into the underworld. Edwards was a major influence of this new attitude. He became an influential preacher during the early days of the Reformation, and his speeches admonishing churchgoers for their wrongdoings reworked the understanding of the word evangelize. Emphasis was placed on strict adherence to Bible teachings as opposed to the goodness associated with spreading the news of salvation. Whitefield preached to the same effect in London, though his sermons often focused on the conversion potential of all Christians through belief in Christ’s Atonement. The life-changing experience of conversion was crucial to Whitefield’s teachings, and no true believer could call himself authentic unless he underwent this experience. Whitefield became perhaps the most influential Evangelical preacher in Protestant history, reaching 800,000 to one million people during the late 1730s. Whitefield also published a number of his sermons, making him and the Evangelist cause even more famous.

During the next few centuries, Evangelicalism experienced several transformations resulting from member discord. Church numbers continued to grow despite the unrest, particularly during the Second Great Awakening of the early nineteenth century. Missionary work also increased during this time, particularly in the western United States, which was the least religious area of the country. A new set of revivalists began to spread the Evangelical message. This group included Barton Stone and Charles Grandison Finney. Finney followed in the footsteps of Whitefield, and his preaching influenced the next few generations of evangelists such as Dwight L. Moody, Billy Sunday, and Billy Graham. Evangelicalism found its way into the most prominent Protestant denominations, including Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian churches, and soon became one of the United States’ most observed religions.

Characteristics of Evangelicalism

Evangelicalism consists of four distinct characteristics: conversionism, activism, biblicism, and crucicentrism. Conversionism refers to the transformative experience that marks the beginning of a person’s path to a greater knowledge of God. The event is a one-time occurrence that Evangelicals consider life changing for the converted person. Activism involves belief in Christian involvement all over the world. With activism comes the idea of evangelism, which is the spreading of the scripture through preaching, witnessing, and missionary work. Biblicism means total reliance on the religious authority of the Bible. The Scripture is held above all other authorities. Any belief that does not measure up to the teachings of the Bible is rejected, but beliefs that are considered Biblical must be adhered to. Crucicentrism refers to the significance of Christ’s crucifixion on the cross. Many Christian sects believe that the crucifixion is just a symbol of Jesus’s selflessness, a quality that Christians should model their lives after. Evangelicals believe the cross is not just a symbol and that all events depicted in the Bible literally took place. Evangelicalism holds that Jesus died for humanity’s sins and was physically resurrected from the dead. This event led to the salvation of humans.

According to a 2007 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, 51.3 percent of Americans considered themselves part of a Protestant church, with the highest percentage of that proportion (26.3 percent) identifying with the Evangelical sect. This number exceeded Catholicism percentages, which covered only 23.9 percent of the population. Evangelical churches had the heaviest concentration of members in the Southern states. A large percentage of Evangelicals leaned towards the conservative right politically. Though the United States has a large number of Evangelical Protestants, belief in the four principal characteristics varies by church and region. Most sects believe in one or more of these characteristics, but only a small percentage of modern Evangelicals observe all four principles.

Bibliography

Bebbington, David W. Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s. London: Routledge, 2003. Print. http://books.google.com/books?id=bLOIAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT4&dq=Evangelicalism+in+Modern+Britain:+A+History+from+the+1730s+to+the+1980s&hl=en&sa=X&ei=MaZXVKDtINe1sQSUoYKIDg&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=four&f=false

Hankins, Barry. American Evangelicals: A Contemporary History of a Mainstream Religious Movement. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2009. Print. http://books.google.com/books?id=IyrzvOnd-DcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=evangelicalism+history&hl=en&sa=X&ei=OYlXVI7JHI75yQSKjoKABQ&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=evangelicalism%20history&f=false

Pew Research Center. “U.S. Religious Landscape Survey.” Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project. Pew Research Center. Web. 3 Nov. 2014. http://religions.pewforum.org/reports#

Stevenson, Angus, and Maurice Vaite, eds. “Evangelical.” Concise Oxford English Dictionary. London: Oxford University Press, 2011. Print. http://books.google.com/books?id=sYScAQAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Concise+Oxford+Dictionary&hl=en&sa=X&ei=I4tXVN‗mIcHIsASBtILwCw&ved=0CCwQ6wEwAA#v=onepage&q=evangelicalism&f=false

Swatos, William H. and Peter Kivisto, eds. Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman Altamira, 1998. Print. http://books.google.com/books?id=6TMFoMFe-D8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=encyclopedia+of+religion&hl=en&sa=X&ei=84lXVMuiFs-1sQTtkoEY&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=evangelicalism&f=false