Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement
which began in Great Britain in the 1730s.[1] Most adher-
ents consider its key characteristics to be: a belief in the
need for personal conversion (or being "born again");
some expression of the gospel in effort; a high regard for
Biblical authority; and an emphasis on the death and re-
surrection of Jesus.[2] David Bebbington has termed
these four distinctive aspects conversionism, activism, bib-
licism, and crucicentrism, saying, "Together they form a
quadrilateral of priorities that is the basis of Evangelical-
ism."[3]
Note that the term "Evangelical" does not equal Fun-
damentalist Christianity, although the latter is some-
times regarded simply as the most theologically conser-
vative subset of the former. The major differences
largely hinge upon views of how to regard and approach
scripture ("Theology of Scripture"), as well as construing
its broader worldview implications. While most conser-
vative Evangelicals believe the label has broadened too
much beyond its more limiting traditional distinctives,
this trend is nonetheless strong enough to create signi-
ficant ambiguity in the term.[4] As a result, the dicho-
tomy between "evangelical" vs. "mainline" denomina-
tions is increasingly complex (particularly with such in-
novations as the "Emergent Church" movement).
Usage
Alternative usage
The term evangelical (with a lower case "e") can refer to
the personal belief that Jesus is the Messiah. The word
comes from the Greek word for "Gospel" or "good
news:" ευαγγελιον evangelion, from eu- "good" and angeli-
on "message." In that sense, to be evangelical would mean
to be a believer in the gospel, that is the message of Jesus
Christ as revealed in the New Testament.
Beginning with the Reformation, evangelical was
used in a broad sense to refer to either Protestants or
Christians in general. Martin Luther referred to the
evangelische Kirche or evangelical church to distinguish
Protestants from Catholics in the Roman Catholic
Church.[5][6] In Ger