Evangelical Manifesto

The Manifesto has arrived and is available at

http://www.anevangelicalmanifesto.com/docs/Evangelical_Manifesto.pdf

It is a lengthy (admittedly sometimes overly wordy) but quite thorough and thoughtful attempt to regain the full meaning of Evangelical---a term primarily theological, not political. There are many worthwhile passages, but in keeping with the nature of this blog, I have selected the following confessional piece:

All too often we have attacked the evils and injustices of others, such as
the killing of the unborn, as well as the heresies and apostasies of theological
liberals whose views have developed into another gospel, while we have
condoned our own sins, turned a blind eye to our own vices, and lived captive to
forces such as materialism and consumerism in ways that contradict our faith.

All too often we have concentrated on great truths of the Bible, such as
the cross of Jesus, but have failed to apply them to other biblical truths, such
as creation. In the process we have impoverished ourselves, and supported a
culture broadly careless about the stewardship of the earth and negligent of the
arts and the creative centers of society.

All too often we have been seduced by the shaping power of the modern
world, exchanging a costly grace for convenience, switching from genuine
community to an embrace of individualism, softening theological authority down
to personal preference, and giving up a clear grasp of truth and an exclusive
allegiance to Jesus for a mess of mix-and-match attitudes that are syncretism by
another name.

(That Os Guinness does use some 50 cent words, but syncretism is worth looking up if you are like me and do not instinctively know what it means.)

Sidenote: Obviously I am thrilled to see the references to creation and attacks on the silent sin of materialism. I'm also happy to see references to the unborn and marraige. The Good News of Jesus is broad and extends to all humanity and all creation, but I am thankful that the steering committee did not (quite literally) throw the baby out with the bathwater of political narrowism. Reclaiming the term Evangelical does not mean abandoning the unborn or the institution of marraige. Rather, it is a recognition that the Gospel's impact is far greater than just that, but we should not negate the things that the so-called Religious Right has actually gotten, well, right.

The Manifesto is a welcome addition to the public dialogue and I commend it to you.