Historic Evangelical Christianity

Again, I interrupt my "Why I Am a Presbyterian" series, this time to explain why I am an Evangelical Christian and what that means historically. I suppose the impulse leading to this post is to be clear that there are certainly some things more important the Presbyterian doctrines. I am very much a believer in sharing the gospel with others and having a personal relationship with God through Christ, both emphases of Evangelicals historically.

Christian. I am a Christian by God's grace alone. Historically, the term "Christians" were given to Christ-followers in Antioch (present-day Syria) in Acts . That is fairly well-known. But Evangelical? Linguistically, the term comes from the Latin word evangel, which is derived from the Greek euangelion. Both mean "good news" or "gospel". So, to be an evangelical means to be one who is committed learning about and sharing with others the gospel.

Historically, the Evangelical movement came out of the emphases of evangelism and having a personal relationship with God. This movement was led by John and Charles Wesley and George Whitefield, among others. A close synonym to "evangelical" during this time was enthusiasm. This is what John Newton, the great Anglican preacher and hymn-writer of the late 18th century, was often accused of. It was a term of condescension from those who practiced a more dry, ritualistic, cultural and comfortable Christianity. Newton, a former slave ship captain, understood himself a wretch, saved by grace from beginning to end; he could not help but exhibit enthusiasm for Christ. But he was, nevertheless, accused of enthusiasm, which was frowned upon. This is the reason William Wilberforce sought his counsel so secretly and the counsel he received (for Wilberforce to remain in Parliament and fight the slave trade instead of become a minister) quickened the abolition of the slave trade in Great Britain.

So many of my heroes have displayed this enthusiasm and written clearly against those who denounced enthusiasm in their time. This is basically the subject of 18th-century New England Theologian and Pastor Jonathan Edwards' Religious Affections. William Wilberforce often concerned himself in his writings with the "bulk" of society who cared little for learning or living out the gospel in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Dietrich Bonhoeffer (though some would debate him as an evangelical, he was strongly influenced by German Pietism, a parallel movement to English Evangelicalism) was constantly challenging Christians in the Third Reich to follow Christ even to death (which he did) in The Cost of Discipleship. Today, men like John Piper and David Platt still challenge nominal Christians out of their complacency by the gospel.

It is on the shoulders of these great men that I stand, firmly believing that the good news of the gospel should be shared with others and that Christ has secured for his people a personal relationship with God.