What is the generally accepted definition of "Evangelical?"

[Matt Black]

All Christians may evangelise ie: preach the Good News; not all are evangelical, which is an adherence to a set of theological precepts - see the link to the Evangelical Alliance in my first post on this thread.

 

[KellyWhite]

Originally posted by Gold Dragon:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by KellyWhite:
For some reason I'm not getting the answer I was looking for.

For example, Catholics are well known for their missionaries in every corner of the world. Catholicism is spreading like wild fire in Africa.

Would I be wrong to think Catholics are Evangelistic?

Yes Catholic missionaries are evangelistic. And of course Mormons are very evangelistic considering the level of encouragement young men (and some women) are given to pursuing this two-year (18 months for women) "rite of passage" in the Mormon faith.

But they are not classified under the modern definition of evangelical which demographically implies a doctrinal position which includes an emphasis on evangelism. Catholics and Mormons have the emphasis on evangelism, but not the doctrinal position. </font>[/QUOTE]To the best of my knowledge, the Catholic church has a very strong doctrinal position toward evangelism. It's clearly stated in the Bible.

 

[Matt Black]

Yes, but you're confusing 'evangelism' with 'evangelical' - see my last post.

 

[Gold Dragon]

Originally posted by KellyWhite:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Gold Dragon:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by KellyWhite:
For some reason I'm not getting the answer I was looking for.

For example, Catholics are well known for their missionaries in every corner of the world. Catholicism is spreading like wild fire in Africa.

Would I be wrong to think Catholics are Evangelistic?

Yes Catholic missionaries are evangelistic. And of course Mormons are very evangelistic considering the level of encouragement young men (and some women) are given to pursuing this two-year (18 months for women) "rite of passage" in the Mormon faith.

But they are not classified under the modern definition of evangelical which demographically implies a doctrinal position which includes an emphasis on evangelism. Catholics and Mormons have the emphasis on evangelism, but not the doctrinal position. </font>[/QUOTE]To the best of my knowledge, the Catholic church has a very strong doctrinal position toward evangelism. It's clearly stated in the Bible. </font>[/QUOTE]I agree. That is why I said the Catholic church has an emphasis on evangelism that is important to the evangelical classification.

However, what the Catholic Church doesn't have is a doctrinal position that is also important to the modern evangelical classification. That position is one that holds to several key conservative protestant doctrines including:

A) Faith Alone
B) Scripture Alone
C) Priesthood of all believers

in addition to fundamentalist doctrines like

1) Inerrancy of the Scriptures
2) Literal virgin birth and diety of Christ
3) Doctrine of substitutionary atonement
4) Bodily ressurection of Christ
5) Authenticity of Christ's miracles

There are very many evangelistic groups that do not hold to these theologies.

Catholics do not hold to A,B,C
Some liberal Christians do not hold to one or some of 1-5.
Fundamentalists hold to all of them but also hold an extreme position of separation from those who do not believe in A-C or 1-5 that evangelicals are not as extreme about.
Mormons don't hold to the Trinity which all of the above groups do subscribe to.