An evangelical hypothesis

Here are some theses on evangelical church culture (with a UK focus as that is what I know).

1. Evangelicalism is a Protestant renewal movement

2. Evangelical distinctives (relative to historic Protestantism) are a focus on gospel preaching calling every individual to personal conversion, personal heart-felt relationship with God for every believer, excellent mid-level teaching, and faith into action.

3. When Evangelicalism neglects its Protestant roots, it becomes simplistic and vulnerable to capture by a variety of movements and individuals.

Let me briefly explain each of these.

1. Evangelicalism is a Protestant renewal movement. Historically, English speaking evangelicalism emerges in the 18th century with people like Wesley and Whitfield. It has deep roots via the Puritans back to the reformers of the 16th century and arguably back to Wycliffe in the 13th century. However the evangelical movement of the 18th century emerges in a context of widespread nominal Protestant Christianity. The general teaching of the church, as I understand it, was in line with historical Protestant orthodoxy. But many people had only a nominal faith, and the lower classes were increasingly not connected to church. The evangelical movement could largely assume a protestant systematic theology, and focus on a simplified core: the gospel message being preached, people coming to trust in Jesus and then growing as disciples of Jesus.

2. Evangelicalism historically brought renewal in a Protestant context. Where Protestantism had excellence in the academy and influence in the upper classes, evangelicalism focused on the “take home message”, the core of the gospel, and helping every person to hear the gospel, trust in Jesus, and then grow in the basics of discipleship. They excelled at popular level preaching and mid-level theological training for lay people.

3. When Evangelicalism drifts away from historic Protestant roots, its slogans and catch-phrases become unmoored from the wider system and start to distort the church. Faith alone and grace alone become unmoored from the call to being disciples of Jesus, to cross-shaped living, and to having minds transformed by God’s word. the perseverance of the saints becomes once saved, always saved, leading to a new kind of nominalism. Sola scriptura, appealing to Scripture as the ultimate authority, becomes my personal interpretation of scripture alone, unmoored from the wider community of interpretation. Our church governance gets influenced more by business wisdom or by celebrity culture than historic protestant practices (Anglican, Presbyterian, or Congregational).

If we are to keep evangelical churches healthy, we need to keep a healthy awareness of our Protestant roots, especially those who are in leadership. (And yes, Protestant churches which are not evangelical could usually benefit from some of the evangelical focus on conversion, personal discipleship, and mid-level theological training.) Some helpful tools for this are the Anglican 39 articles and the Westminster, Savoy and 1689 Baptist Confessions. Calvin’s institutes are also surprisingly accessible. Many of the influential British evangelicals of the last two centuries draw on the resources of older Protestantism: Spurgeon, Ryle, Packer and Lloyd Jones to name a few. It is not that all evangelicals have neglected the Protestant dimension of evanglicalism. But enough have that it is worth highlighting the Protestant roots as necessary for a healthy evangelicalism.