{"id":38915,"date":"2024-10-17T17:34:24","date_gmt":"2024-10-18T00:34:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=38915"},"modified":"2024-10-18T16:14:11","modified_gmt":"2024-10-18T23:14:11","slug":"whats-in-a-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/whats-in-a-name\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s in a name?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Titles. Labels. Boxes. These categories help us organize thoughts, ideas, things, and even people. \u201cEvangelical\u201d is a name by which one can classify a type of Christianity. I have always considered myself an evangelical, but I have rarely used that word to label myself\u2014that is, until I moved to France to study French. I enjoyed attending a French church and learning about being a Christian in France. I noticed that my Christian friends would distinguish themselves as \u00e9vang\u00e9lique<\/em> instead of identifying as protestant or a specific denomination. This differed from my American church experience, where associating with a particular denomination would be more common. My friends told me that, in general, the French would understand the difference between evangelical and mainstream Christianity.<\/p>\n

In the book Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s, <\/em>David Bebbington explores the history of the evangelical movement from the eighteenth century until the late twentieth century. He looks at different evangelical eras and the shaping of modern-day evangelicalism. Bebbington maintains that while evangelicalism has changed and evolved over time, four foundational aspects have remained consistent and distinguished evangelicals from other branches of Christianity throughout the past several centuries.[1]<\/a> These make up the Bebbington Quadrilateral:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n
      \n
    1. Conversionism: the need for individuals to repent and have a life change.[2]<\/a><\/li>\n
    2. Activism: the desire to see others have their lives changed through the Gospel.[3]<\/a><\/li>\n
    3. Biblicism: respect for the authority of the Bible.[4]<\/a><\/li>\n
    4. Crucicentrism: Christ\u2019s sacrifice and atoning work on the cross.[5]<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      These four principles can also distinguish evangelicalism from other non-Christian religions. I regularly use these principles in my personal ministry to North African Muslims. My Muslim friends often say that Christians and Muslims worship the same God and essentially have the same beliefs with some minor changes. Gospel conversations revolve around these four topics and why these principles separate what I believe, as a follower of Jesus,[6]<\/a> from Islam, Catholicism, or other religious beliefs. As a practical application, I took the principles of the Bebbington Quadrilateral and tied them into some of the key Gospel conversations I have with Muslim friends.<\/p>\n

      Conversionism<\/strong>: Muslims are born Muslims, which is different from (evangelical) Christians. Christians may be born into a Christian family, but repenting of sin and allowing Jesus to change your life is an individual choice.<\/p>\n

      Activism: <\/strong>\u201cWhy would you leave America to come to our country?\u201d In response to this question, I share my personal testimony of how God has changed my life and how I desire to see others experience the same hope and peace I have found. My faith is worth sharing!<\/p>\n

      Biblicism: <\/strong>\u201cYour Bible is corrupted.\u201d I do not often engage with my Muslim friends in this argument. First Peter 1:25 tells us that God\u2019s word remains forever. This good news will change their lives, so I continue to share in love the truth found in the Bible.<\/p>\n

      Crucicentrism: <\/strong>The cross and what it represents is perhaps the most crucial and difficult challenge for a Muslim to understand and accept about Jesus. Islam teaches that Jesus did not die on the cross and that He is not God.[7]<\/a><\/p>\n

      Through these conversations, I can naturally weave the Gospel into the differences between Islam and Evangelicalism. Methods for sharing these principles may change based on the context, but the Biblical message remains the same.<\/p>\n

      Lastly, I took a warning from Jason Clark\u2019s article, Evangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogeneses in the Relationship. <\/em>Clark addresses a deficiency in Bebbington\u2019s writings and explores capitalism’s impact on evangelicalism. He writes, \u201cLeading early evangelical leaders themselves noted that their faith propagated fastest where capitalist markets were developing.\u201d[8]<\/a> This issue is familiar to me. As someone working in humanitarian aid for the sake of the Gospel, I often feel like I must fight against exploiting and \u201cselling\u201d my work to sponsors and donors. On the other hand, those living in poverty see and desire the perceived wealth of the West. They are willing to make claims and sacrifices to receive material goods in the name of conversion. I, too, can get caught up in the desires, needs, and wants money can provide. So, I take heed and ask myself, what is in a name? The name behind evangelicalism is that of Christ Jesus, \u201cwho, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of man. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.\u201d[9]<\/a><\/p>\n

      \n

      \u201cA good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,
      \nand favor is better than silver or gold.\u201d
      \n<\/em>Proverbs 22:1<\/p>\n

      \n

      [1]<\/a> David W. Bebbington, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s<\/em>, E-book ed. (Hoboken: Taylor and Francis, 2003), 2.<\/p>\n

      [2]<\/a> Ibid, 5.<\/p>\n

      [3]<\/a> Ibid, 10.<\/p>\n

      [4]<\/a> Ibid, 12.<\/p>\n

      [5]<\/a> Ibid, 14.<\/p>\n

      [6]<\/a> I use this term with Muslim friends to distinguish between evangelicals and mainstream Christians or Catholics.<\/p>\n

      [7]<\/a> Nabeel Qureshi, Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity<\/em>, Kindle Ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2014), 82.<\/p>\n

      [8]<\/a> Jason Paul Clark, \u201cEvangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogeneses in the Relationship,\u201d Faculty Publications – Portland Seminary<\/em>, no. 132 (2018), https:\/\/digitalcommons.georgefox.edu\/gfes\/132, 54.<\/p>\n

      [9]<\/a> Philippians 2:6-7 ESV<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Titles. Labels. Boxes. These categories help us organize thoughts, ideas, things, and even people. \u201cEvangelical\u201d is a name by which one can classify a type of Christianity. I have always considered myself an evangelical, but I have rarely used that word to label myself\u2014that is, until I moved to France to study French. I enjoyed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":206,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[12,467,2967],"class_list":["post-38915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bebbington","tag-clark","tag-dlgp03","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/206"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38915"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38915\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38949,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38915\/revisions\/38949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}