Evangelicals

In America, the term evangelical refers to a Christian who takes a conservative view of the Bible and Christian morality. Like fundamentalists (see 333), evangelicals believe in the overall historical reliability of the Bible, accepting Jesus’ resurrection, miracles, etc.

Like fundamentalists, they try to base a lifestyle on the New Testament’s moral teachings, and both groups emphasize the need to be “born again.” One can, in fact, be both an evangelical and a fundamentalist.

But beginning in the 1950s, some Christians began to call themselves “evangelicals,” represented by magazines such as Christianity Today and the Billy Graham Association—conservative in teaching, but also intellectually respectable and socially concerned.

Because of the candidacy of Jimmy Carter, Time magazine called 1976 the “year of the evangelical.”

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

The Gift of Himself

David Jeremiah

Long ago, there ruled a wise and good king in Persia who loved his people and often dressed in the clothes of a working man or a beggar so he could visit the poor and learn about their hardships.

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

Healing Time

J. Stephen Lang

1868: On this date a political leader who grew up poor, had no formal education and was illiterate until his wife taught him to read and write, issued Proclamation 179 “granting full pardon and amnesty for the offense of treason against the United States during the late Civil War.”

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

A Personal Promise

Charles Stanley

Jesus came to earth with the view of offering you salvation. He wanted you to have a restored relationship with the Father, a relationship that was so close, so intimate, that you would have your special place in the Father’s house (John 14:1–4).

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

The Unexpected Savior

John MacArthur

Scripture records that when John the Baptist began his ministry, “The people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not” (Luke 3:15).

DAILY DEVOTIONAL

Reflections on the Incarnation and Freedom of God

Philip Yancey

Think of the condescension involved: the incarnation, which sliced history into two parts had more animal than human witnesses. Think, too, of the risk. In the incarnation, God spanned the vast chasm of fear that had distanced him from his human creation.