What Is An Evangelical?

There has been some confusion in the past over the term Evangelical. The fact is that there are two Evangelical movements. One began long ago during the First and Second Great Awakenings. Some of its great leaders include Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, Charles Finney, and others. It was further propogated by the Third Great Awakening. Its emphases were being "born again," repentant, and devoted to God. Some other characteristics were their zeal for the things of God and their literal interpretations of the Scripture. This movement, however, did not create new churches and denominations, but worked within them. Even today, they continue, and there are many Presbyterian churches (usually not PCUSA) that claim the title of Evangelical. In the context of that movement, they are indeed Evangelicals.

The second Evangelical rose out of the murky depths of what some people term the Fourth Great Awakening. It was, in essence, a casual and unintentional split from the Protestant community. To this, the Baptist and Pentecostal churches committed universally. Their empases match those of the first group but they also have their own special points of emphasis: engaging the culture, uniting Christians everywhere, and bringing the world to Christ. Unfortunately, developing an intellectual heritage has never been a primary goal. Currently, this group is part of the self-titled Fundamentalist movement. So when we refer to Evangelicals, this is the group we refer to.

The following denominations/groups are considered to be part of the second Evangelical group:

• Baptists (excluding Reformed and Landmarkist)
• Assemblies of God
• Christian & Missionary Alliance
• Pentecostals
• Charismatics (of all denominations)
• Most Non- or Inter-denominational churches