Confused about evangelical beliefs

[Rampant.A.I.]

And I'm hoping there are folks on here with some experience.

Individuals aside, I had come to believe that evangelical Christians were Fundamentalists with a bee in their bonnets: they just can't wait to get the word out.

But, having worked with some extremely intelligent, insightful Evangelical Christians, I have to say my beliefs were misguided.

Yes, they seem to hold some odd beliefs about the roles of men and women. Yet an evangelical friend of mine recently made a comment about how all men and women have varying degrees of the masculine and feminine influence within them.

I had to stifle a guffaw -- That's the last thing I would expect to hear from an evangelical. I had to reassure him that I wasn't laughing at the idea, so much as the completely unexpected source of the idea.

The same friend takes part in a Men's retreat that I've considered attending experimentally, just for the sheer hell of it, and his church group also sponsors a women's retreat.


I have a vague idea what both groups will be about, but nothing concrete.

Any past or present members of the evangelical movement care to chime in?

[Cato]

The same friend takes part in a Men's retreat that I've considered attending experimentally, just for the sheer hell of it....

I'm glad you take this view of it, because an evangelical Christian stag party would be a fair description of hell.

[vorlon13]

Unless it went gay.

Are the tickets inexpensive ??

---

[vorlon13]

Also, I don't know that Evangelicals would be less likely to cherry pick scriptures to keep, and scriptures to ignore than the rest of the Christers.

So, from congregation to congregation there would be differences in what they are mindful of, and their public pronouncements would have some variation.

So us outsiders would be given to some confusion as to Evangelical beliefs, as the Evangelicals themselves would be confused about what their beliefs are from day to day too. I'm not thinking a single one of them would be on board with very many of the 600+ laws in Leviticus if comporting with them would be in any way inconvenient.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Not to worry - even Evangelicals are confused about evangelical beliefs.

Boru

[Jenny A]

Evangelicalism is a word everyone is confused about because the meaning seems to be changing. It used to just mean Christianity with the emphasis on salvation through belief (rather than works) and atonement; a heavy reliance on the bible as authority; and an emphasis on preaching as opposed to ritual (less candles and communions more sermons). Think Methodists.

Now, it's looking more and more like fundamentalism which is all of the above plus a strict, literal, interpretation of the bible. It's that last bit that causes abominations like creationism. Think Southern Baptist.

---- The reason they don't all agree with each other is that the Bible isn't the clearest instruction book there ever was.