Can someone explain to me what Evangelical means?

[Iris]

I hear it all the time. I used to think it meant its followers tried to "convert" as many people as possible to Christianity. Now I'm wondering if it just means they pray about everything and "turn everything over to God."
Can someone enlighten me - and not just with sarcastic answers? (Although, I know that's tempting.)

[Dem Agog]

1. Evangelical = Prodding Christians

Evangelicals are those who are in your face Christians, trying to convert everyone, praying for this and that, just downright annoying. They want YOU to have to witness all of their annoying Jesus-babble, but remember if you're gay they don't even want to see you holding hands!

[Sallyrat]

9. Evangalical

ie-------Pat Robertson, TBN, 700 Club, any demoninational church that gets out and spreads the gospel to those around them and to other nations. Baptist, some Methodist, some Presbyterians, Church of God, Pentacostals, Assembly of God.

[4_Legs_Good]

2. It's a bit of both in reality, literally, though it means those trying to

convert others - "evangelize" is the verb.

These days it really means "Christian conservative", and that's kinda self explanitory.

david

[Hello_Kitty]

3. I think it literally means to spread the Christian life.

So your first definition is correct.

[MostlyLurks]

4. I think...

It is most often used to describe that particular strain of Christianity that believes in the "Rapture", as characterized and described in that series of books by LaHay and the other guy.

[2Design]

5. devil workers

[pagerbear]

6. Real meaning or how it's commonly used?

Literally, to evangelize is to spread the word. To "win souls for Christ".

But nowadays it's one of several words thrown around to describe right-wing Christians, including fundamentalist (who believe the Bible is the literal word of God) and Pentecostal (who depend on some ecstatic experience of God as a demonstration of their faith).

[walkon]

7. Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal lord and savior?

May I talk to you about Jesus?

Comin' to get ya!

[Iris]

25. Oh, God, No! n/t

[AngryOldDem]

8. This might help

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evangelicalism

In 25 words or less, envangelicals basically believe that Christ has the answers to everything, and all mankind has to do to obtain happiness, salvation, you name it, is follow Him.

This site gives a pretty thorough definition. More than you probably need (or want) to know.

[Drifter]

10. Easy ...

I think it is a Spanish term for the Latin equivilent of "Religious Nutcase"

Cheers
Drifter

[Native]

11. Weren't they called "Holy Rollers"

before the Evangelical term came to be so popular?

[Silverhair]

15. No.

The term, "Holly Roller" means specifically the Pentacostal Christians, whereas "Evangelical" includes other demoninations.

[Iris]

26. right. Because they rolled around on the ground speaking in tongues

when they "got the spirit", right?

[kskiska]

28. That's what we always called them

way back in the days before Ronald Reagan pried the woodwork off and let them all out into the mainstream. The only time we even saw them was on some obscure TV station when Oral Roberts would "heal" a bunch of them.

Once they emerged, and with the advent of cable TV, we began to see more of them, like Jim and Tammy Bakker of PTL fame.

Of course, I'm speaking as someone raised in the NYC metropolitan area. I'm sure they were not an oddity in the South, even back then.

[Politicub]

12. I think it means gay haters and misogynists

I think anyway.

"By their fruits you will know them"

[jimbot]

13. Evangelical (adj)

relating to or being a Christian church believing in personal conversion and the inerrancy of the Bible especially the 4 Gospels; "evangelical Christianity"; "an ultraconservative evangelical message"

According to a 1976 survey by Gallup (when Carter was elected), evangelical Christians were marked by their emphasis on: (1) being born again (i.e., the experience of assurance of salvation and personal communion with Jesus); (2) biblical inerrancy and a tendency toward literal interpretation of scripture; and (3) witnessing the truth of their religious experience in attempts to bring others to this kind of belief.

The evangelical denominations are generally considered to be:
Southern Baptists, the Assemblies of God, Seventh-Day Adventists, Mormons, and Nazarenes

They are also fairly closely aligned with the "conservative Christian" denominations which also include charismatics, pentecostals, fundamentalists.

Although Methodists are often lumped in with the evangelical denominations, they are considered part of the protestant denominations, which include: Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Episcopalians, and Congregationalists

Hope this helps,
--JT

[The Jacobin]

35. That's good, but add this.

(1) They have a focus on the legal interpretation of the Bible, not a spiritual interpretation. To put it another way, they are interested in the letter of the biblical law, not the spirit of the biblical law.

(2) They have a myopic focus on the unborn in the struggle to protect human life in all its forms.

(3) There is a devotion to the "prosperity gospel" -- the idea that believers in good standing will receive physical rewards such as wealth and power and the converse (that those who are lacking wealth and power do so because they are out of favor with God).

[Bridget Burke]

14. You are correct.

Evangelism is the practice of preaching Christianity. Many denominations--or subsets of those denominations--are Evangelical to a degree.

Fundamentalism is the wish to practice the fundamentals of your religion as you see them. For Christians, this is Bible based; however, they often emphasize certain parts of the Old Testament & ignore much of the New. The Amish & Mennonites are Fundamentalists just as much as the Southern Baptists are--perhaps moreso.

The real enemies of democracy are the Christian Reconstructionists. Mostly Fundamentalist & Evangelist, they go beyond those beliefs. They wish to reshape the laws of this country to suit their narrow interpretations of their faith. There are many sources on the web but a preliminary Google just made me nauseous.

(Charismatic Christianity is more a style of worship than a set of beliefs. There are even Roman Catholic Charismatics & many Fundamentalists regard them with suspicion.)

[yellerpup]

16. It means they never shut up

They preface every sentence with: "I'm a Bible-believing Christian, and...." usually telling you that everthing you say and do is wrong and will get you sent straight to hell. They are the Christian equivalent of the Taliban. When they see your eyes glaze over and that you've lost interest in their pitch, they enjoy visualizing you on the end of a pitchfork with your hair in flames. American Fascists, Misogynists, Racists, Haters, enacters of ritual cannibalism, disgusting, dirty, immoral grunt-breaths who are relishing our human pain.

[Say_What]

17. Moralistic A$$holes who mind everybody's business but their own n/t

:argh:

[jor_mama]

18. And according to the Greek root

evangelion, it literally means "good news."

From a literal sense, then, it means "those of the good news."

uh-huh.

[jimbot]

19. Technically correct

but the translation loses a little information. The "good news" is information pertaining to the arrival of Christ.
Other less literal but more meaningful translations include "the word of God", or--more accurately Gospel (derived from God's spell or God's word).

No, I'm not a biblical scholar, I just happen to have a daughter who's name is derived from Evangelion --don't ask, it is a Greek thing.

--JT

[Festivito]

20. Gospelize following the Great Commission.

To spread the good news (gospel).
The Great Commission from the Bible says to go and teach all nations...

Too many of these people are too busy trying to find place for themselves and they don't realize that they don't know what it is they are trying to spread.

The message is one of inclusive love, and these people have perverted it to become divisive judgementalism, ironically the exact opposite of the original teaching. That original teaching warning against dis fruiting from the knowledge of good and evil represented by and apple on a tree of that name.

[RevCheesehead]

33. I think you have the closest definition of "evangelical"

An evangelical is one who proclaims (preaches).
What do they proclaim? The Gospel (literally: "good news")
Whose Gospel? Jesus, the Messiah
"Christ" is the Greek word for "Messiah", the Hebrew word meaning "deliverer" (as in "one who saves/rescues/delivers")

In its broadest sense, all Christians (followers of the Messiah, the promised one of God), are evangelists. Matthew concludes his gospel with these words: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." (Matthew 28:19)

But too many have mis-interpreted these words to mean "go and compel others to follow your own interpretation of God's word and will, and beat them, demoralize them, and kill those who do not agree with you."

It is one of the most misunderstood mandates of human history, and has been used to justify imprisonment, torture, war, murder, inquisitions, and even the Salem witch trials, McCarthyism, racism, sexism, and homophobia (and xenophobia!).

To those who misuse this mandate to "preach the good news" by interpreting it for their own purposes, Matthew sternly warns his early Judeo-Christian church:
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?' THEN I WILL DECLARE TO THEM, 'I NEVER KNEW YOU; GO AWAY FROM ME, YOU EVILDOERS.' (Matthew 7:21-23)

The above verse is one of my favorite biblical passages, because I try to use it as a measuring stick: Am I doing God's work, or my own?

"I'm Rev Cheesehead, a self-proclaimed "evangelical orthodox*," and I approved of this message."
* "orthodox" means "correct or sound doctrine/teaching"

[Hog lover]

43. Oh, you just described Shrub to a "T" - "used to justify

imprisonment, torture, war, murder, inquisitions, and even the Salem witch trials, McCarthyism, racism, sexism, and homophobia (and xenophobia!)."

[info being]

21. Evangelical = Psychopathic

[Blaq Dem]

22. It's a CULT!

They have no mind of their own. They're only comfortable around those who think, act, and fart like themselves.

[rob-ok-vin]

23. In my neighborhood they

Come to the door (or send young adolescent teen to the door while the parents wait in the driveway) with the simple message that Christ died for me and would I please come to thier church so i can be saved. I live in the middle of two of the afore mentioned groups. I am in Okla City and live down the street from Southern Nazerene University and it's group of Nazerene churches in the hood and all this in the buckle of the Southern Baptist bible belt.

The later seem to believe it important to stand on street corners in groups and take turns yelling scripture at cars stopped at traffic lights while waving thier Bibles in the air.

[Union Thug]

24. Roughly translated, "dark age inquisitor"

[lgardengate]

27. You were correct the first time.Evang=Spread the gospel,but...

Those same people pray about things and then turn them over to God and often look for answers in the scripture.

[pantouflard]

29. I grew up in an evangelical home...

Both my grandfathers were "Evangelists," touring the country preaching and trying to convert people. It is very much like a cult whose philosophy is Black and White, Us and Them. (I never fit in, and now consider myself a pagan.) My own family members are hostile to me at times, and continue to try to convert me.

These people are ORGANIZED. They are all "on message." They revere visciousness (Savage and Limbaugh.) They give lip service to the teachings of Jesus, yet cannot see that they do not live by the same teachings.

Evangelical Christians used to mean accepting Jesus as your "personal savior." It now means something very different. They smell power and money on the wind.

[mistertrickster]

30. An evangelical is a prosletyzer. They're actually not so bad. I had

a Pentacostal friend who was very pacisfistic and open to other cultures etc.

It's the Fundamentalists who are the Jerry Falwells and Pat Robertsons etc. who take a "literal" (i.e., stupid, culture-bound) view of the Bible and make it say what they want it to.

In popular usage the two terms are used interchangably.

[The Flaming Red Head]

31. Hypocritical fucks who sin again and again cause they can be re-born

Kind of like reincarnation over and over again in the same skin. No matter how much they lie, cheat, kill, or steal all they have to do is ask for forgiveness every Sunday.

[sr_pacifica]

32. This part of the wikipedia definition is what applies to present usage:

"The modern Evangelical movement has come to be identified with those groups within churches that place primary emphasis on biblical instruction, i.e. the sermon and activism motivated by preaching and biblical teaching. This is in contrast with a view of Christian ministry focused on the sacraments or liturgy of the Church. Another key characteristic of Evangelical Protestantism is the importance given to a personal belief and relationship with God based on the revelation of the Bible. In most of the English-speaking world, conservative, Trinitarian, Protestant Christians are the group most readily identified as Evangelical and their religious, social and political attitudes are called Evangelicalism."

from www.wikipedia.org

The important points, if I may extract, are 1)the bible as primary source of knowledge and moral direction (and this is always a literalist interpretation), and 2)the importance of a personal relationship to Jesus, or "the Lord." This is the basis of the question "have you accepted Jesus as your personal savior?"

I'd also add that it is an anti-intellectual brand of christianity.

[Divine Discontent]

36. the fundies and the evangelicals

can and should mean different things...

I love evangelicals, and the ones that step over the line are fundamentals.

fundies as we like to call them interpret the bible in their own fundamental way, and spew fire & brimstone on those who they think are not listening...

evangelicals CAN be the most loving missionary types who know Christ is loving & tells us to be nonjudgemental because that's His final job.


I can't wait for heaven, this life can really SUCK.

[sr_pacifica]

37. True---I think the terms are being used interchangeably and they shouldn't

Not all evangelicals are fundies.

[Iris]

34. Wow! I didn't expect to get so much response!

Sorry I haven't been keeping up with a thread I started, but it got kind of hard to keep up with ANY threads for a while.

All very intersting info. and I can see the meaning is evolving a bit as our country becomes more and more "religious".

[myshkinb138]

38. Christian Left

Just to be fair, there is a group called Evangelicals for Social Action which works for the rights of the poor and other progressive causes. I do also believe that Tony Campolo who served as Bill Clinton's spiritual advisor would classify himself as an evangelical. If the Democrats wish to go anywhere in this country, they need to not let the conservatives define every religious issue. There is a religious left, and even an evangelical left in America, but it does not have nearly the money or influence of the religious right.

Check out http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm

People in America are growing more religious; I just hope they can also grow more truly spiritual. It's not just 9-11. The world of post-industrial capitalism--the world Reagan and his ilk helped to create--is a lonely world of isolation and despair. This despair leads people to seek something higher, something metaphysical. Unfortunately, these people have often turned to the very charlatans that helped to put them in their desperate situations to begin with.

Lastly, remember that Jimmy Carter, a great man who continues to do great things, is an extremely strong Christian.

[Liberal Gramma]

39. It means "stupid"

[JFW]

40. yep

..

[Tesibria]

41. the Taliban - for Christianity

Evangelicals are to Christianity what the Taliban is to Islam

Fundamentalist belief in the literal reading of the Bible
--Responsible for the current government-published explanation for the Grand Canyon (Noah's Flood).

Fundamentalist belief in the Revelation (i.e., last book in the Bible)
--We MUST protect Israel -- so that it can be destroyed after the Rapture. (OK, so the Taliban skips the first part -- but the ultimate goal/outcome is the same.)
--We need not protect the environment or conserve - anything, because the Rapture will take us away. Neither nuclear war nor global warming are a real threat, because it's not described in Revelations (or Daniel, the OT book they also interpret to describe the Rapture - and after)
--We MUST seek to convert everyone we can, because the ONLY way to make it to heaven is through adopting our beliefs.

[Digit]

42. delusional?

[Seabiscuit]

44. It means "Major Asshole"