Evangelical Manifesto?

[Jimmy the Greek]

Evangelical Manifesto refers to a document made public this month that seeks to describe who evangelicals are and what they believe. The purpose of the document is described as

"a serious call to reform—an urgent challenge to reaffirm Evangelical identity, to reform Evangelical behavior, to reposition Evangelicals in public life, and so rededicate ourselves to the high calling of being Evangelical followers of Jesus Christ."

See:
The Evangelical Manifesto
Executive Summary of the Manifesto
PDF of the Manifesto

I am still reading through it. Any comments from the PB family would be appreciated.

 

[raekwon]

I've only given it a cursory reading, so I need to do so in more detail. I didn't see anything upon my first reading that I found immediately objectionable.

 

[jfschultz]

I've only given it a cursory reading, so I need to do so in more detail. I didn't see anything upon my first reading that I found immediately objectionable.

I have printed it to read during lunch. From the news reports, it is aimed at the "evangelicals" that put more emphasis on politics and social issues than on the gospel. So don't expect Dobson to sign on.

 

[jfschultz]

There is truth in the news reports. The "evangelical preacher" of a right-wing political and social gospel is targeted by this manifesto. But it is probably a vary rare evangelical that does not get slapped by "We Must Reform Our Own Behavior" on pages 11-14. For example:

"All to often we have set out high, clear statements of the authority of the Bible, but flouted them with lives and lifestyles that are shaped by our own sinful preferences and by modern fashions and convenience."

Two points to keep in mind in reading this:

1) It is expressing evangelical ideals across a number of theological bases. So don't expect to find TULIP and be critical because it isn't there. (Though I think it is shaded a bit on the Calvinistic side.)

2) It advocates equal treatment of all faiths in the public square. But a page or so later says "But we also insist that the principle of "the right to believe anything" does not lead to the conclusion that "anything anyone believes is right."

 

[Jimmy the Greek]

Well, I've read through it. I am generally unimpressed. I think of a manifesto as something bold and concise, clearly specifying an agenda. This document is boreingly long and insistently moderate. I suspect it will accomplish nothing and soon be forgotten.

Then again, maybe we should all meet for a signing party, hold hands, and sing "Do Lord".

 

[Pergamum]

From the very first this is troubling to me because it says:

As an open declaration, An Evangelical Manifesto addresses not only Evangelicals and other Christians but other American citizens and people of all other faiths in America, including those who say they have no faith.

Why all the focus on America? Is evangelicalism only an American thing? Can it not succeed across the globe? Is it is tied into politics and the religious right and moral majority, etc, it cannot....

 

[mvdm]

If Richard Mouw, Jim Wallis and Dallas Willard could sign on to it, that tells you something.

Os Guiness would have been better off just calling evangelical's attention to, and signing onto, the 1996 Cambridge Declaration-- a "manifesto" which called evangelicalism to some true repentance:

Historic Church Documents at Reformed.org

 

[Pilgrim]

Here is one assessment of it: The Narnia 3 Blog: What is an Evangelical? Another "Manifesto" Such as it Is

This "manifesto" contains nothing new, memorible, or honestly even compelling. Fortunately, it has all the hallmarks of a document that will be largely ignored and hopefully soon largely forgotten. It does not perhaps go as far as the complete social liberalism of the new Evangelical Left and as theologically banal as the Emerging Church adherents who have imbibed of their philosophy; but it's not far behind.

 

[Stephen]

Evangelical Manifesto refers to a document made public this month that seeks to describe who evangelicals are and what they believe. The purpose of the document is described as

"a serious call to reform—an urgent challenge to reaffirm Evangelical identity, to reform Evangelical behavior, to reposition Evangelicals in public life, and so rededicate ourselves to the high calling of being Evangelical followers of Jesus Christ."

See:
The Evangelical Manifesto
Executive Summary of the Manifesto
PDF of the Manifesto

I am still reading through it. Any comments from the PB family would be appreciated.

When you click on the second and third link it comes up not found, so you may want to check the link.

 

[Jimmy the Greek]

Thanks, Stephen. I had an error in the URL's. I think I got them fixed.