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Roger Olson’s Definition of Evangelical
February 20, 2008 |
Posted by michaelp · Filed Under Evangelicalism, Books
I am reading How to Be Evangelical Without Being Conservative by Roger Olson. Great book so far. I read everything of his I can get. Don’t agree with everything, I just like his style.
Anyway, when discussing what it means to be Evangelical vis a vis Fundamentalist he says that to boil it down a rather unacademic way to tell if you are Evangelical is whether or not you like Billy Graham. I thought that this was great. A respect and belief in what Billy Graham has done is a hallmark of Evangelicalism. Billy Graham is not thought of too well in fundamentalistic circles since he is, according to some, too open in his ecumenical approach to sharing the Gospel. In other words, he will cooperate with Roman Catholics in his crusades.
What do you think of this definition of Evangelical?
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3 Comments so far
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I like the definition, Michael, and I like Billy Graham. It’s been years, though, since I read anything by him or heard him speak. It’s possible that I would not agree with ALL that he believes, but I know we line up on the core Christian beliefs. I didn’t know that he was cooperating “…with Roman Catholics in his crusades.” All the better!
Joanie D.
Hi Michael,
Now THAT, is not bad at all .. if you have only about 5 seconds to get your definition across. “Liking Billy Graham” is probably a necessary condition for being an Evangelical. But I don’t think it is sufficient. Ie. It will eliminate the fundamentalists as you say, and will also eliminate those that hate religion of any type, but really, doesn’t almost EVERYONE likes Billy Graham?
So, it is a good place to start, but like all things complex, the definition of Evangelicalism is difficult to put simply. I think John Stackhouse does a great job of this – I blogged on his definition in my post “What is an Evangelical? Am I one? Why do I choose to wear the Label?” at http://evanevodialogue.blogspot.com/2007/11/what-is-evangelical-am-i-one-why-do-i.html
What was the definition of an evangelical prior to Billy Graham?
Graham = plate full of Christ
Fundamentalist = small scoop of Christ; Large helping of Caiphas!
Some people brighten a room by leaving it!