An Evangelical Manifesto

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AN EVANGELICAL MANIFESTO
A Declaration of Evangelical Identity
and Public Commitment
May 7, 2008; Washington, D.C.
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Keenly aware of the hour of history in which we live, and of the momentous challenges that face our fellow humans on the earth and our fellow Christians around the world, we who sign this declaration do so as American leaders and members of one of the world’s largest and fastest growing movements of the Christian faith: the Evangelicals.i
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Evangelicals have no supreme leader or official spokesperson, so no one speaks for all Evangelicals, least of all those who claim to. We speak for ourselves, but as a representative group of Evangelicals in America. We gratefully appreciate that our spiritual and historical roots lie outside this country, that the great majority of our fellow-Evangelicals are in the Global South rather than the North, and that we have recently had a fresh infusion of Evangelicals from Latin America, Africa, and Asia. We are therefore a small part of a far greater worldwide movement that is both forward looking and outward reaching. Together with them, we are committed to being true to our faith and thoughtful about our calling in today’s world.
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The two-fold purpose of this declaration is first to address the confusions and corruptions that attend the term Evangelical in the United States and much of the Western world today, and second to clarify where we stand on issues that have caused consternation over Evangelicals in public life.
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As followers of “the narrow way,” our concern is not for approval and popular esteem. Nor do we regard it as accurate or faithful to pose as victims, or to protest at discrimination. We certainly do not face persecution like our fellow-believers elsewhere in the world. Too many of the problems we face as Evangelicals in the United States are those of our own making. If we protest, our protest has to begin with ourselves.
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Rather, we are troubled by the fact that the confusions and corruptions surrounding the term Evangelical have grown so deep that the character of what it means has been obscured and its importance lost. Many people outside the movement now doubt
that Evangelical is ever positive, and many inside now wonder whether the term any longer serves a useful purpose.
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In contrast to such doubts, we boldly declare that, if we make clear what we mean by the term, we are unashamed to be Evangelical and Evangelicals. We believe that the term is important because the truth it conveys is all-important. A proper understanding of Evangelical and the Evangelicals has its own contribution to make, not only to the church but to the wider world; and especially to the plight of many who are poor, vulnerable, or without a voice in their communities.
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I’m interested in what you think of this. I’ll be reading it through myself.
 
From pages 5 & 6
As Evangelicals have pursued this vision over the centuries, they have prized above all certain beliefs that we consider to be at the heart of the message of Jesus and therefore foundational for us — the following seven above all:
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First, we believe that Jesus Christ is fully God become fully human, the unique, sure, and sufficient revelation of the very being, character, and purposes of God, beside whom there is no other god, and beside whom there is no other name by which we must be saved.
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Second, we believe that the only ground for our acceptance by God is what Jesus Christ did on the cross and what he is now doing through his risen life, whereby he exposed and reversed the course of human sin and violence, bore the penalty for our sins, credited us with his righteousness, redeemed us from the power of evil, reconciled us to God, and empowers us with his life ―from above.‖ We therefore bring nothing to our salvation. Credited with the righteousness of Christ, we receive his redemption solely by grace through faith.
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Third, we believe that new life, given supernaturally through spiritual regeneration, is a necessity as well as a gift; and that the lifelong conversion that results is the only pathway to a radically changed character and way of life. Thus for us, the only sufficient power for a life of Christian faithfulness and moral integrity in this world is that of Christ’s resurrection and the power of the Holy Spirit.
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Fourth, we believe that Jesus’ own teaching and his attitude toward the total truthfulness and supreme authority of the Bible, God’s inspired Word, make the Scriptures our final rule for faith and practice.
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Fifth, we believe that being disciples of Jesus means serving him as Lord in every sphere of our lives, secular as well as spiritual, public as well as private, in deeds as well as words, and in every moment of our days on earth, always reaching out as he did to those who are lost as well as to the poor, the sick, the hungry, the oppressed, the socially despised, and being faithful stewards of creation and our fellow-creatures.
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Sixth, we believe that the blessed hope of the personal return of Jesus provides both strength and substance to what we are doing, just as what we are doing becomes a sign of the hope of where we are going; both together leading to a consummation of history and the fulfillment of an undying kingdom that comes only by the power of God.
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Seventh, we believe all followers of Christ are called to know and love Christ through worship, love Christ’s family through fellowship, grow like Christ through discipleship, serve Christ by ministering to the needs of others in his name, and share Christ with those who do not yet know him, inviting people to the ends of the earth and to the end of time to join us as his disciples and followers of his way. At the same time, we readily acknowledge that we repeatedly fail to live up to our high calling, and all too often illustrate the truth of our own doctrine of sin. We Evangelicals share the same ―crooked timber of our humanity, and the full catalogue of our sins, failures, and hypocrisies. This is no secret either to God or to those who know and watch us.
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Do you agree with this? Why or why not?
 
Church_Militant said:
[Do you agree with this? Why or why not?
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Hi

I don’t agree with the Evenglical/s mainly for two main reasons:

First:

Jesus was Son of Mary and he himself declared that he was Son of Adam/Man; so morally they are not entitled to reject his testimony so blatantly and make him God or Son of God.

Second:

Jesus never died a cursed death on Cross, though he was put on Cross and nailed down there but he was delivered neardead but nevertheless alive. Since he never died so there is no question of his resurrection and becoming God as the Evenglical/s believe; he cannot atone their sins. Only GodAllahYHWH can forgive sins after repentance by the sinners and showing resolve that they would refrain from sins.

Thanks
[/quote]
 
one of the world’s largest and fastest growing movements of the Christian faith: the Evangelicals. - it sounds like “Our fast growing company is looking for enthusiastic and self-motivated…”

I have no time to read the whole manifesto, I’ve read just the beginning of it that you pasted.
The manifesto is weird (just like almost everything that protestants do), its language is completely different from the language of papal encyclicas. Typical protestant bla bla bla how great we are.
What does “the Evangelicals” mean? How many denominations are “the Evangelicals”? What are the differences between them?
And in spite of those differences all of them prefer “narrow way”. I wonder how they understand “narrow way”…
As for me they are trying to justify the existence of their denominations, especially after the visit of B16 in the US.
No matter what they do there will be more divisions between them and they will follow “this world” with its “modern” ideas. It unavoidable as there’s no leader like the pope.
 
Church_Militant said:
From pages 5 & 6
Do you agree with this? Why or why not?
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Hi,

I only read the 2 you posted but I agree 100% The word evangelical really simply means someone who goes out and preaches/teaches the Gospel message.

I would say this is exactly what ALL people who proclaim to be christians should be doing.😃 👍
The second post is what all christians should be doing as well–wherever they worship on Sunday.👍
 
angelusm said:
The manifesto is weird (just like almost everything that protestants do), its language is completely different from the language of papal encyclicas.
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Weirdness is in the eye of the beholder, if anything is. The language of papal encyclicals is pretty weird until you get used to it. That doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with it.

Any substantive objections to the document? Or just sneers?

Edwin
 
Although I do have to admit that there’s something both funny and disturbing about a document called the “Evangelical Manifesto” which, when you look for the church body it purports to represent, turns out to have been issued by the “Evangelical Manifesto Steering Committee.” In other words, we have a statement of faith floating in the ether supported only by a group of people gathered for the express purpose of issuing it!

That being said, I have skimmed the document and (unless I missed something) can give it my entire support. I think it’s a great and much-needed document at this moment in evangelical history, and I’d think that Catholics on the whole should welcome it.

Edwin
 
Contarini said:
Weirdness is in the eye of the beholder, if anything is. The language of papal encyclicals is pretty weird until you get used to it. That doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with it.

Any substantive objections to the document? Or just sneers?

Edwin
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From angelsum? Don’t get your hopes up. Remember, to him we are just weird people doing weird things all day long.
 
Contarini said:
Although I do have to admit that there’s something both funny and disturbing about a document called the “Evangelical Manifesto” which, when you look for the church body it purports to represent, turns out to have been issued by the “Evangelical Manifesto Steering Committee.” In other words, we have a statement of faith floating in the ether supported only by a group of people gathered for the express purpose of issuing it!

That being said, I have skimmed the document and (unless I missed something) can give it my entire support. I think it’s a great and much-needed document at this moment in evangelical history, and I’d think that Catholics on the whole should welcome it.

Edwin
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Edwin, does that mean they need a magisterium of some kind? 😃 They even note that they don’t have any kind of central authority to speak for them.

Ultimately, that makes me wonder what to think when some “Evangelical” denies one or more of those listed tenets?

I agree that it’s a welcome document and disagree with the comments that the language is weird or something. I feel that it is important that we dialog based on substantive issues and not fall off into rhetorical polemics, which offer nothing but discord. I think the following is something important that Catholics should recognize and welcome as a beginning point for dialog.
This manifesto is a public declaration, addressed both to our fellow-believers and to the wider world. To affirm who we are and where we stand in public is important because we Evangelicals in America, along with people of all faiths and ideologies, represent one of the greatest challenges of the global era: living with our deepest differences. This challenge is especially sharp when religious and ideological differences are ultimate and irreducible, and when the differences are not just between personal worldviews but between entire ways of life co-existing in the same society.
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Could this also be a reference directed to Islam as well, especially taking note of that last sentence?
 
As a Catholic, I kind of like it when another group tries to define who and what they are. I think all denominations should unify and clarify what it is to be a “baptist” or an “Evangelical.”

That said, I am afraid it will hit the wall soon enough.
Evangelicals have no supreme leader or official spokesperson, so no one speaks for all Evangelicals, least of all those who claim to. We speak for ourselves, but as a representative group of Evangelicals in America.
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There is the problem. Someone will agree with it all but say that they cannot speak for him.
 
ralphinal said:
As a Catholic, I kind of like it when another group tries to define who and what they are. I think all denominations should unify and clarify what it is to be a “baptist” or an “Evangelical.”

That said, I am afraid it will hit the wall soon enough.

There is the problem. Someone will agree with it all but say that they cannot speak for him.
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Are you thinking, (as I am) that this can become a circular point?
 
Contarini said:
That being said, I have skimmed the document and (unless I missed something) can give it my entire support. I think it’s a great and much-needed document at this moment in evangelical history, and I’d think that Catholics on the whole should welcome it.
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I agree.

Plus, i find it much easier to understand than Catholic documents.
 
Church_Militant said:
From pages 5 & 6:

"Second, we believe that the only ground for our acceptance by God is what Jesus Christ did on the cross and what he is now doing through his risen life, whereby he exposed and reversed the course of human sin and violence, bore the penalty for our sins, credited us with his righteousness, redeemed us from the power of evil, reconciled us to God, and empowers us with his life ―from above.‖ We therefore bring nothing to our salvation. Credited with the righteousness of Christ, we receive his redemption solely by grace through faith.

Third, we believe that new life, given supernaturally through spiritual regeneration, is a necessity as well as a gift; and that the lifelong conversion that results is the only pathway to a radically changed character and way of life. Thus for us, the only sufficient power for a life of Christian faithfulness and moral integrity in this world is that of Christ’s resurrection and the power of the Holy Spirit. "
Do you agree with this? Why or why not?
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I’m struck by the two phrases I bolded above…I have not often heard non-Catholics use language that emphasizes the ongoing process of salvation (versus a one-time event).

Not that I’m a grammar star, but I don’t think the writing is very good for something that’s going to be published.
 
Jesus never died a cursed death on Cross,

**Yes, He did.

By denying His death on the cross, you think you are spared having to deal with His resurrection from the dead and ascent into heaven.

A dead man only needs to be buried. A man who rises from the dead in a position to make non-negotiable demands.

It doesn’t matter what the Coran says, because it’s corrupted. Mahomet was deceived by an inferior demon pretending to be Gabriel.

BTW–did you know that your version of Islam (Ahmadi) is considered heretical in Indonesia and other places?

I confess there is NO GOD but Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and Jesus is God Incarnate risen from the dead.**
 
AgnosTheist said:
but still those 7 points are what almost all evangelicals believe. thats what matters.
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True, but the issue always seems to come up that they are independant bodies and do not have a central voice. Even if they all agree on everything, they tend not to speak as a unified front. Even some of the Protestant groups with “unity” do not bind the doctrine or decisions on all members, such as the Southern Baptists. I am telling you that American Protestants as a rule resist any kind of authority or something that looks like a central authority in the group.
 
AgnosTheist said:
whats wrong with that? almost every religion does not speak as a unified front. not even islam. nor judaism.
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But one issues that they all agree on? What about on issues that they are all against?

How about this example. Let us assume that there is a God. Now let us also assume that this God is the CHristian God that we all know and love. Are there issues that this God sees as sin, no matter what? Are there issues that this God expects everyone to accept and beleive? Yes. This God does expect us to see some things as sin at all times and He expects us to accept some things as doctrine at all times. Why should we not speak from a position of unity on these things?

The fact that not all faiths are unified within themselves points to two issues: either they are full of humans or they are not true reflections of God. Judaism is the former…
 
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