Evangelicalism

==Diversity==
[[File: Auto de Páscoa - IgrejaDaCidade (crop).jpg |thumb|right| Show on the life of Jesus at [[Igreja da Cidade]], affiliated to the [[Brazilian Baptist Convention]], in [[São José dos Campos]], Brazil, 2017.]]
{{Redirect|Conservative evangelicalism|the political movement|Christian right}}{{Further|Conservative Christianity|Liberal Christianity|Moderate Christianity}}{{Further|List of Christian denominations}}
[[File:Panel Discussion 2.jpg|thumb|[[Together for the Gospel]], an evangelical pastors' conference held biennially. A panel discussion with (from left to right) [[Albert Mohler]], [[Ligon Duncan]], [[C. J. Mahaney]], and [[Mark Dever]].]]

The [[Calvinism|Reformed]], [[Baptists|Baptist]], [[Methodist]], [[Pentecostal]], [[Churches of Christ]], [[Plymouth Brethren]], [[Charismatic movement|charismatic Protestant]], and [[Nondenominational Christianity|nondenominational Protestant]] traditions have all had strong influence within contemporary evangelicalism.{{sfn|Mohler|2011|pp=106–108}}<ref name="Brian Stiller 2015, pp. 28, 90"/> Some Anabaptist denominations (such as the [[The Brethren Church|Brethren Church]])<ref name="NAEdenom">{{Cite web |url=https://www.nae.net/denominations/ |title=Denominations |website=www.nae.net |publisher=National Association of Evangelicals |access-date=November 27, 2017 |archive-date=December 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201043933/http://www.nae.net/denominations/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> are evangelical, and some [[Lutheranism|Lutherans]] self-identify as evangelicals. There are also [[evangelical Anglicanism|evangelical Anglicans]] and [[Evangelical Friends Church International|Quakers]].<ref name=Coulter/><ref name="Hope1997">{{cite book |title=Christian Scholar's Review, Volume 27 |date=1997 |publisher=[[Hope College]] |page=205 |language=English |quote=This was especially true of proto-evangelical movements like the Quakers, organized as the Religious Society of Friends by George Fox in 1668 as a group of Christians who rejected clerical authority and taught that the Holy Spirit guided}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Quaker History, Volumes 94–95 |date=2005 |publisher=Friends Historical Association |page=46 |language=English |quote=Emma Malone, active in the evangelical Quaker community in Cleveland, co-founded (with her husband) the Christian Workers Training School. This school helped to train the leadership of evangelical Quakers}}</ref>

In the early 20th century, evangelical influence declined within [[mainline Protestantism]] and [[Christian fundamentalism]] developed as a distinct religious movement. Between 1950 and 2000 a mainstream evangelical consensus developed that sought to be more inclusive and more culturally relevant than fundamentalism while maintaining [[Conservative Christianity|theologically conservative Protestant]] teaching. According to [[Brian Stanley (historian)|Brian Stanley]], professor of [[world Christianity]], this new postwar consensus is termed ''neoevangelicalism'', the ''new evangelicalism'', or simply ''evangelicalism'' in the United States, while in Great Britain and in other English-speaking countries, it is commonly termed ''[[conservative evangelicalism in the United Kingdom|conservative evangelicalism]]''. Over the years, less conservative evangelicals have challenged this mainstream consensus to varying degrees. Such movements have been classified by a variety of labels, such as ''progressive'', ''open'', ''postconservative'', and ''postevangelical''.{{sfn|Stanley|2013|pp=27–28}}

Evangelical leaders like [[Tony Perkins (politician)|Tony Perkins]] of the [[Family Research Council]] have called attention to the problem of equating the term ''[[Christian right]]'' with [[Conservative Christianity|theological conservatism]] and Evangelicalism. Although evangelicals constitute the core constituency of the Christian right within the United States, not all evangelicals fit that political description (and not all of the Christian right are evangelicals).<ref name="Deckman2004" /> The problem of describing the Christian right which in most cases is conflated with theological conservatism in secular media, is further complicated by the fact that the label ''religious conservative'' or ''conservative Christian'' applies to other religious groups who are theologically, socially, and culturally conservative but do not have overtly political organizations associated with some of these [[Christian denominations]], which are usually uninvolved, uninterested, apathetic, or indifferent towards politics.<ref name="Deckman2004">{{cite book |last=Deckman |first=Melissa Marie |url=https://archive.org/details/schoolboardbattl0000deck |title=School Board Battles: The Christian Right in Local Politics |publisher=[[Georgetown University Press]] |author-link=Melissa Deckman |year=2004 |isbn=9781589010017 |location=[[Washington, D.C.]] |page=[https://archive.org/details/schoolboardbattl0000deck/page/48 48] |quote=More than half of all Christian right candidates attend evangelical Protestant churches, which are more theologically liberal. A relatively large number of Christian Right candidates (24 percent) are Catholics; however, when asked to describe themselves as either "progressive/liberal" or "traditional/conservative" Catholics, 88 percent of these Christian right candidates place themselves in the traditional category. |url-access=registration |access-date=April 10, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author-last=Joireman |author-first=Sandra F. |title=Church, State, and Citizen: Christian Approaches to Political Engagement |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-19-537845-0 |editor-last=Joireman |editor-first=Sandra F. |location=[[Oxford]] and [[New York City|New York]] |pages=73–91 |chapter=Anabaptism and the State: An Uneasy Coexistence |lccn=2008038533 |access-date=February 26, 2022 |chapter-url=https://scholarship.richmond.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1090&context=polisci-faculty-publications |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125145905/https://scholarship.richmond.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1090&context=polisci-faculty-publications |archive-date=November 25, 2020 |url-status=live |s2cid=153268965}}</ref> [[Tim Keller (pastor)|Tim Keller]], an Evangelical theologian and [[Presbyterian Church in America]] pastor, shows that [[Conservative Christianity]] (theology) predates the Christian right (politics), and that being a theological conservative did not necessitate being a political conservative, that some [[Progressivism|political progressive]] views around economics, helping the poor, the [[redistribution of wealth]], and racial diversity are compatible with theologically conservative Christianity.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dr. Timothy Keller at the March 2013 Faith Angle Forum |url=https://eppc.org/publication/dr-timothy-keller-at-the-march-2013-faith-angle-forum/ |access-date=2023-01-19 |website=Ethics & Public Policy Center |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Doctrine and Race: African American Evangelicals and Fundamentalism between the Wars |url=https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/review/doctrine-and-race-african-american-evangelicals-and-fundamentalism-between-the-wars/ |access-date=2023-01-20 |website=The Gospel Coalition |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Rod Dreher]], a senior editor for ''[[The American Conservative]]'', a secular conservative magazine, also argues the same differences, even claiming that a "traditional Christian" a theological conservative, can simultaneously be [[Economic progressivism|left on economics (economic progressive)]] and even a [[Socialism|socialist]] at that while maintaining traditional Christian beliefs.<ref name="Dreher">{{Cite web |last=Dreher |first=Rod |date=2014-07-24 |title=What Is 'Traditional Christianity,' Anyway? |url=https://www.theamericanconservative.com/what-is-traditional-christianity-anyway/ |access-date=2023-01-19 |website=The American Conservative |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="osguinness.com"/>

Outside of self-consciously evangelical denominations, there is a broader "evangelical streak" in mainline Protestantism.<ref name="religion.info"/> Mainline Protestant churches predominantly have a [[Liberal Christianity|liberal theology]] while evangelical churches predominantly have a [[Christian fundamentalism|fundamentalist]] or [[Moderate Christianity|moderate]] [[conservative]] theology.<ref>Roger E. Olson, ''The Westminster Handbook to Evangelical Theology'', Westminster John Knox Press, USA, 2004, p. 172</ref><ref>Peter Beyer, ''Religion in the Process of Globalization'', Ergon, Germany, 2001, p. 261</ref><ref>Eric C. Miller, [https://religionandpolitics.org/2015/10/27/the-political-legacy-of-progressive-evangelicals/ The Political Legacy of Progressive Evangelicals] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411002227/https://religionandpolitics.org/2015/10/27/the-political-legacy-of-progressive-evangelicals/ |date=April 11, 2021 }}, religionandpolitics.org, USA, October 27, 2015 : "In relative terms, these characteristics and their usual adherence to traditionally orthodox doctrines do make evangelicals more theologically conservative than liberal Protestants".</ref><ref>Frederick Casadesus, [https://www.reforme.net/theologie/2005/10/20/journal-10192005-reforme-3147-opinions-disputatio-evangeliques-sont-protestants-0/ Les évangéliques sont-ils tous protestants ?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411003940/https://www.reforme.net/theologie/2005/10/20/journal-10192005-reforme-3147-opinions-disputatio-evangeliques-sont-protestants-0/ |date=April 11, 2021 }}, reforme.net, France, October 20, 2005</ref>

Some commentators have complained that Evangelicalism as a movement is too broad and its definition too vague to be of any practical value. Theologian Donald Dayton has called for a "moratorium" on use of the term.{{sfn|Dayton|1991|p=251}} Historian [[D. G. Hart]] has also argued that "evangelicalism needs to be relinquished as a religious identity because it does not exist".{{sfn|Sweeney|2005|p=23}}

===Christian fundamentalism===
{{main|Christian fundamentalism}}
Christian fundamentalism has been called a subset<ref name="waldman-2004">{{cite web |last1=waldman |first1=steve |title=Evangelicals v. Fundamentalists |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jesus/evangelicals/vs.html#:~:text=Evangelicals%20have%20a%20somewhat%20broader,dispensational%20view%20of%20the%20Bible. |website=Frontline |access-date=9 December 2023 |date=29 April 2004}}</ref> or "subspecies"<ref name="Marsden-Svelmoe"/> of Evangelicalism. Fundamentalism<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harris |first=Harriet A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LXkSDAAAQBAJ |title=Fundamentalism and Evangelicals |publisher=Clarendon Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-19-826960-1 |location=Oxford |pages=58–59 |quote=The overriding implication of Fundamentalism is that conservative evangelicals are in fact fundamentalist but that they reject the term because of its pejorative connotations: 'By what term would "fundamentalists" prefer to be called? The term favored at present, at least in Great Britain, is "conservative evangelical"'. |access-date=October 24, 2017}}</ref> regards biblical inerrancy, the [[virgin birth of Jesus]], [[penal substitution]]ary atonement, the literal [[resurrection of Christ]], and the [[Second Coming of Christ]] as fundamental Christian doctrines.{{sfn|Bauder|2011|pp=30–32}} 
Fundamentalism arose among evangelicals in the 1920s—primarily as an American phenomenon, but with counterparts in Britain and British Empire<ref name="Marsden-Svelmoe">{{cite web |last1=Marsden |first1=George M. |last2=Svelmoe |first2=William L. |title=EVANGELICAL AND FUNDAMENTAL CHRISTIANITY |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/evangelical-and-fundamental-christianity |website=Encyclopedia.com |access-date=9 December 2023 |origyear=1987|year=2005}}</ref>—to combat modernist or [[Liberal Christianity|liberal theology]] in mainline Protestant churches. Failing to reform the mainline churches, fundamentalists separated from them and established their own churches, refusing to participate in [[Ecumenism|ecumenical]] organizations (such as the [[National Council of Churches]], founded in 1950), and making [[Ecclesiastical separatism|separatism]] (rigid separation from nonfundamentalist churches and their [[culture]]) a true test of faith. Most fundamentalists are Baptists and [[dispensationalist]] {{sfn|Marsden|1991|pp=3–4}} or [[Pentecostals]] and [[Charismatic Christianity|Charismatics]].<ref>Steve Brouwer, Paul Gifford, Susan D. Rose, ''Exporting the American Gospel: Global Christian Fundamentalism'', Routledge, Abingdon-on-Thames, 2013, p. 25, 27, 29, 31</ref>

Great emphasis is placed on the [[literal interpretation]] of the Bible as the primary method of Bible study as well as the [[biblical inerrancy]] and the [[Infallibility of the Church|infallibility]] of their [[Biblical hermeneutics|interpretation]].<ref>W. Glenn Jonas Jr., ''The Baptist River: Essays on Many Tributaries of a Diverse Tradition'', Mercer University Press, USA, 2008, p. 125: "Independents assert that the Bible is a unified document containing consistent propositional truths. They accept the supernatural elements of the Bible, affirm that it is infallible in every area of reality, and contend that it is to be interpreted literally in the vast majority of cases. Ultimately, they hold not merely to the inerrancy of Scripture, but to the infallibility of their interpretation of Scripture. The doctrine of premillennialism serves as a case in point. Early on in the movement, Independents embraced premillennialism as the only acceptable eschatological view. The BBU made the doctrine a test of fellowship. When Norris formed his Premillennial Missionary Baptist Fellowship (1933), he made premillennialism a requirement for membership. He held this doctrine to be the only acceptable biblical position, charging conventionism with being postmillennial in orientation."</ref> Adherence to [[Christian fundamentalism and conspiracy theories|conspiracy theories]] is particularly important.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Beaty |first=Katelyn |date=August 17, 2020|title=QAnon: The alternative religion that's coming to your church |url=https://religionnews.com/2020/08/17/qanon-the-alternative-religion-thats-coming-to-your-church/ |access-date=August 17, 2023|website= [[Religion News Service]]}}</ref>

===Mainstream varieties===
[[File:Book of Common Prayer 1760.jpg|thumb|upright|The Prayer Book of 1662 included the [[Thirty-Nine Articles]] emphasized by [[evangelical Anglican]]s.]]
Mainstream evangelicalism is historically divided between two main orientations: [[Confessionalism (religion)|confessionalism]] and [[Christian revival|revival]]ism. These two streams have been critical of each other. Confessional evangelicals have been suspicious of unguarded [[religious experience]], while revivalist evangelicals have been critical of overly intellectual teaching that (they suspect) stifles vibrant [[spirituality]].{{sfn|Olson|2011|pp=241–242}} In an effort to broaden their appeal, many contemporary evangelical congregations intentionally avoid identifying with any single form of evangelicalism. These "generic evangelicals" are usually theologically and socially conservative, but their churches often present themselves as nondenominational (or, if a denominational member, strongly deemphasize its ties to such, such as a church name which excludes the denominational name) within the broader evangelical movement.{{sfn|Reimer|2003|p=29}}

In the words of [[Albert Mohler]], president of the [[Southern Baptist Theological Seminary]], confessional evangelicalism refers to "that movement of Christian believers who seek a constant convictional continuity with the theological formulas of the Protestant Reformation". While approving of the evangelical distinctions proposed by Bebbington, confessional evangelicals believe that authentic evangelicalism requires more concrete definition in order to protect the movement from theological liberalism and from [[heresy in Christianity|heresy]]. According to confessional evangelicals, [[Confessional subscription|subscription]] to the [[ecumenical creeds]] and to the Reformation-era confessions of faith (such as the [[Reformed confessions of faith|confessions of the Reformed churches]]) provides such protection.{{sfn|Mohler|2011|pp=103–104}} Confessional evangelicals are represented by conservative [[Presbyterian]] churches (emphasizing the [[Westminster Confession]]), certain Baptist churches that emphasize historic Baptist confessions such as the [[1689 Baptist Confession of Faith|Second London Confession]], evangelical Anglicans who emphasize the [[Thirty-Nine Articles]] (such as in the [[Anglican Diocese of Sydney]], Australia{{sfn|Stanley|2013|p=58}}), [[Methodist]] churches that adhere to the [[Articles of Religion (Methodist)|Articles of Religion]], and some [[confessional Lutherans]] with pietistic convictions.{{sfn|Ellingsen|1991|pp=222, 238}}<ref name="Coulter">Dale M. Coulter, [http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2013/11/the-two-wings-of-evangelicalism/ "The Two Wings of Evangelicalism"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809125200/https://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2013/11/the-two-wings-of-evangelicalism/ |date=August 9, 2020 }}, ''First Things'' (November 5, 2013). Retrieved December 17, 2014.</ref>

The emphasis on historic Protestant orthodoxy among confessional evangelicals stands in direct contrast to an anticreedal outlook that has exerted its own influence on evangelicalism, particularly among churches strongly affected by revivalism and by [[pietism]]. Revivalist evangelicals are represented by some quarters of [[Methodism]], the [[Holiness Movement|Wesleyan Holiness]] churches, the Pentecostal and [[Charismatic Christianity|charismatic]] churches, some Anabaptist churches, and some Baptists and Presbyterians.<ref name=Coulter/> Revivalist evangelicals tend to place greater emphasis on religious experience than their confessional counterparts.{{sfn|Olson|2011|pp=241–242}}

===Moderate evangelicals===
[[Moderate evangelical theology|Moderate]] [[evangelical Christianity]] emerged in the 1940s in the United States in response to the [[Christian fundamentalism|Fundamentalist]] movement of the 1910s.<ref>Robert H. Krapohl, Charles H. Lippy, ''The Evangelicals: A Historical, Thematic, and Biographical Guide'', Greenwood Publishing Group, USA, 1999, p. 197</ref> In the late 1940s, evangelical theologians from [[Fuller Theological Seminary]] founded in [[Pasadena]], California, in 1947, championed the Christian importance of social [[activism]].<ref>David R. Swartz, ''Moral Minority: The Evangelical Left in an Age of Conservatism'', University of Pennsylvania Press, USA, 2012, p. 18</ref><ref>George Thomas Kurian, Mark A. Lamport, ''Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States, Volume 5'', Rowman & Littlefield, USA, 2016, p. 929</ref> In this movement called neo-evangelicalism, new organizations, social agencies, media and [[Bible colleges]] were established in the 1950s.<ref>J. Gordon Melton, Martin Baumann, ''Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices'', ABC-CLIO, USA, 2010, p. 1081-1082</ref><ref>Axel R. Schäfer, ''Countercultural Conservatives: American Evangelicalism from the Postwar Revival to the New Christian Right'', University of Wisconsin Press, USA, 2011, p. 50-51</ref>

===Progressive evangelicals===
Evangelicals dissatisfied with the movement's fundamentalism mainstream have been variously described as progressive evangelicals, postconservative evangelicals, [[open evangelical]]s and [[post-evangelicalism|postevangelicals]]. Progressive evangelicals, also known as the [[evangelical left]], share theological or social views with other [[Progressive Christianity|progressive Christians]] while also identifying with evangelicalism. Progressive evangelicals commonly advocate for women's equality, [[pacifism]] and [[social justice]].{{sfn|Marsden|1991|p=75}}

As described by Baptist theologian [[Roger E. Olson]], postconservative evangelicalism is a theological school of thought that adheres to the four marks of evangelicalism, while being less rigid and more inclusive of other Christians.<ref name="OlsonCentury">Roger E. Olson, [http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=85 "Postconservative Evangelicals Greet the Postmodern Age"] {{Webarchive| url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160101003723/http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=85 |date= January 1, 2016 }}, ''The Christian Century'' (May 3, 1995), pp. 480–483. Retrieved December 16, 2014.</ref> According to Olson, postconservatives believe that doctrinal truth is secondary to spiritual experience shaped by [[Scripture]]. Postconservative evangelicals seek greater dialogue with other Christian traditions and support the development of a multicultural evangelical theology that incorporates the voices of women, racial minorities, and Christians in the developing world. Some postconservative evangelicals also support [[open theism]] and the possibility of near [[universal salvation]].

The term "open evangelical" refers to a particular Christian school of thought or [[churchmanship]], primarily in Great Britain (especially in the [[Church of England]]).{{sfn|Randall|2005|p=52}} Open evangelicals describe their position as combining a traditional evangelical emphasis on the nature of scriptural authority, the teaching of the ecumenical creeds and other traditional doctrinal teachings, with an approach towards culture and other [[theology|theological]] points-of-view which tends to be more inclusive than that taken by other evangelicals. Some open evangelicals aim to take a middle position between conservative and charismatic evangelicals, while others would combine conservative theological emphases with more liberal social positions.

British author Dave Tomlinson coined the phrase ''postevangelical'' to describe a movement comprising various trends of dissatisfaction among evangelicals. Others use the term with comparable intent, often to distinguish evangelicals in the [[emerging church movement]] from postevangelicals and antievangelicals. Tomlinson argues that "linguistically, the distinction ''[between evangelical and postevangelical]'' resembles the one that sociologists make between the [[modernism|modern]] and [[postmodernism|postmodern]] eras".{{sfn|Tomlinson|2007|p=28}}