The meaning of the term 'Evangelical'

Open line on moody radio Oct 29, 2022 hour 1

Dr Michael Rydelnik:

Tricia, as you drag in the mailbag, I see you are holding a book -

Tricia Mcmillan:

Yes

Dr Michael Rydelnik:

It's our current resource "The fifty most important theological terms". It's a great help. Here's why. I ask you: what is a good word in that book that most people don't understand and you have picked one that is spoken so often but most people don't understand it.

Tricia Mcmillan:

It is. It is the word 'Evangelical'. It is used a lot in christian circles and a lot in the secular world, even the secular world is starting to use it. And so it gets thrown around a lot and I thought we might know what it means or what it used to mean but what does evangelical mean?

Dr Michael Rydelnik:

I was in seminary 43 years ago and I have a professor explain the word to me. I have never understood it before. I thought it meant someone who is an evangelistic person, someone who want to share the gospel, right? That's not what it means. Does it?

Tricia Mcmillan:

No

Dr Michael Rydelnik:

It refers to someone who believes in certain fundamentals of the faith. That is a simple explanation. Fundamentals of the faith like the doctrine of inspiration of the bible, the inerrancy of the bible, the full deity of the Lord Jesus, the tri-unity of God, the need for personal faith decisions in the Lord Christ Jesus, substitutionary atonement and His resurrection. Right, that's what it's talking about, someone who believes that but also someone who, compared to fundamentalists in the past, who were culturally closed to society, evangelicals want to engage society. That was how the term developed ...Now, I think it's when it gets thrown around, and most people use it to mean, just as I understood it to be evangelistic, don't you think?

Tricia Mcmillan:

Yeah. Or even like right wing fundamentalist...

Dr Michael Rydelnik:

Right, their political perspective ...exactly. So, that's a great term and one that we really should understand ...