An Evangelical is a person who subscribes to the theological position that individuals need a personal experience with God, asserts the religious authority of the Holy Bible, and feels under obligation to share his or her faith with others. Evangelicals, found in both conservative and mainstream Christian denominations, also share the common characteristics of a strong commitment to their faith. They believe that salvation comes through God’s grace, not works, and in Christ’s perfection, in the presence of Satan, and being “born again.” The experience of conversion—being “born again”—is an act of repentance of sin and acceptance of Jesus Christ as savior.
In a doctrinal sense, many Evangelicals are drawn toward the view of dispensational premillennialism—the conviction that biblical prophecies related to Christ’s return have yet to be fulfilled. In this belief system, according to his own time, God will turn away from an Israel that rejects the Messiah, and rescue the church immediately before the Great Tribulation (the “rapture”). The last days then would follow, in which the Antichrist would come, the battle of Armageddon would be fought, the Messiah would return for the Second Coming, and finally God’s kingdom on Earth would appear. Although several prominent Evangelicals, including Billy Graham and Pat Robertson, advocate the doctrine of dispensationalism, it does not necessarily reflect the views of all Evangelicals. Conversely, many adhere to a general postmillennialism, the belief that Christ will return at an unknown date to establish his kingdom on Earth, or amillennialism, the belief that the millennium is a symbolic reference to the current era prefacing the Second Coming and the Last Judgment. The common point to all Evangelicals is the belief that Christ will return to Earth some day.
Evangelicalism encompasses a diverse number of Protestant denominations. The term originates from the Greek euangelion meaning “the good news,” or “gospel.” Modern usage comes from the series of 18th-century and 19th-century revivals that swept through North America. The transition from sect to denomination of both Baptists and Methodists took place during this era, and both grew to be the two largest Protestant groups in the United States. The large influx of non-Protestant immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries diminished the strength of Evangelicals, but Evangelicalism still remains a strong element in American culture
Contemporary Evangelicalism remains a diverse movement. In the 21st century, Evangelicals retain historical doctrines of conversion through belief in and salvation by Christ; active expression of their faith; belief in the authority of scripture; and effort to convince others of their beliefs. But in the post-World War II period, religious leaders Harold John Ockenga and Billy Graham, in reaction against the perceived separatist, anti-intellectual fundamentalist movement of the 1920s and 1930s, shaped these convictions. The founding of the National Association of Evangelicals in 1942 helped bring together some 50 denominations into an organization whose goal is to represent evangelical interests on social, cultural, spiritual, and political issues.
As a group, evangelical Christians eschewed political involvement, focusing more on missions, evangelism, and caring for each other. But the 1976 Democratic presidential candidate James Earl Carter, Jr., who confidently declared his born-again status, encouraged Evangelicals’ involvement in politics—an area they had not been part of en masse since the early 20th-century temperance movement. Even more noticeable politically was the emergence and participation of groups like Concerned Women for America and the Moral Majority. In 1989 the Christian Coalition was organized.
Evangelicals have many reasons for engagement in politics, including concerns over changing societal mores; a desire to effect change within society; and dissatisfaction with popular culture and mass media. Some cite their involvement in politics as a way to lessen the impact of the federal government, whose role has expanded into areas traditionally overseen by family, church, or local government. Yet, no Evangelical consensus exists in this group, which claims liberals and leftists as members as well. Prior to the 1970s, many Evangelicals were Democrats; in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the movement seems to have shifted toward a moderately conservative and predominantly Republican base.
See also eamily liee; morality; religion.
Further reading: Randall Balmer, Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey into the Evangelical Subculture of America, 3d ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000).
—Michele Rutledge
World History
