![\"image\"](\"http:\/\/media.tumblr.com\/02d5dba9e4b879a0099cdd8c7e7b1f7d\/tumblr_inline_miy711iBIf1qz4rgp.jpg\")
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D.W. Bebbington, in his book Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730\u2019s to the 1980s<\/u> explains that the four marks of Evangelical Religion are: \u201c1. Conversionism \u2013 the idea that lives need to be changed, 2. Activism \u2013 the expression of the gospel in effort, 3. Biblicism \u2013 a particular regard for the bible, and 4. Crucicentrism \u2013 a stress on the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.\u201d (pp. 2-3)\u00a0 In this writing I will focus on the first mark \u2013 conversionism.\u00a0 There were a variety of doctrines associated with conversion including \u201cjustification by faith\u201d \u2013 the concept that one cannot do enough in order to receive salvation, that faith alone merits salvation, and \u00a0\u201cassurance\u201d \u2013 the concept that the individual is assured of his\/her conversion. \u00a0People looked for signs that an individual was converted.\u00a0 Evangelicalists like Jonathan Edwards insisted on the reality of hell as the place for the unconverted.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cBacksliders,” those individuals who left the faith, were on the slippery slope to Lucifer\u2019s lair.\u00a0 Conversions helped mark a clear line between the Christian and the pagan.\u00a0 Preachers used fear of hell as well as the forgiveness and love of God as stimulants for conversions. One man claimed he had been converted while he was preaching when he \u201cfelt light and joy come into his soul.\u201d (p. 6)\u00a0 Also, the ideas of whether conversion is “gradual” or “sudden” was discussed.\u00a0 Some believed that it was a momentous passing through type of experience that one could not deny.\u00a0 Others believed it could be gradual and unconscious. (p. 8)\u00a0 Other important factors related to conversion including the Holy Spirit doing the conversion work in the individual, having a \u201cwill\u201d to be saved, and the radical idea of \u201cself-conversion\u201d which caused nine students to be expelled from the Glasgow Congregational Theological Academy in 1844.\u00a0 The rite of baptism and its role in the conversion process became an issue when looking at infant baptism.\u00a0 When was a person \u201cborn again?\u201d With the holiness movement the conversion process involved more than a \u201csinner\u2019s prayer.\u201d\u00a0 Sometimes it involved acts of assurance such as repentance, baptism, and speaking in tongues; as well as an adopted lifestyle change which included specific types of dress and adornment.<\/p>\n
There are a variety of versions of conversions.\u00a0 What say you?<\/p>\n
What are the signs of a \u201ctrue conversion?\u201d<\/p>\n
When does an individual become \u201cborn again?\u201d<\/p>\n
Is it sudden or gradual?<\/p>\n
What does your conversion look like?<\/p>\n
Bebbington, D.W. Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730\u2019s to the 1980\u2019s. New edition ed. N.p.: Routledge, 1989<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" D.W. Bebbington, in his book Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730\u2019s to the 1980s explains that the four marks of Evangelical Religion are: \u201c1. Conversionism \u2013 the idea that lives need to be changed, 2. Activism \u2013 the expression of the gospel in effort, 3. Biblicism \u2013 a particular regard for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","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":[12,2],"class_list":["post-941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bebbington","tag-dminlgp","cohort-lgp3"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/941","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\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/941\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}