An Evangelical?

I usually describe my theological position as "orthodox" rather than evangelical partly because of the political associations the latter now has in the culture. Evangelical was a category of Christian theology, not a political label. Orthodox (lower case "o") to me means being able to honestly and sincerely say the Apostles Creed without crossing my fingers, but, if this were the understanding of evangelical, I am one. From "The Real Difference Between Evangelicals and Liberal Protestants":

Some historians have wrongly suggested that evangelicals should be defined by their political or cultural orientation. Other historians (myself included) have used the Bebbington quadrilateral to define evangelicals. As David Bebbington has argued for the past 35 years, evangelicals are Protestant Christians who believe in the supreme authority of the Bible, salvation through the atoning work of Jesus on the cross, the necessity of a born-again conversion, and a Christian life that is characterized by activism, including evangelism. Those four points have characterized evangelicals in both Britain and America for the past 300 years, Bebbington argues.

I agree with the Bebbington quadrilateral, but I think there may be a simpler way to explain evangelical belief to those who find evangelicalism puzzling.

Here’s my definition: Evangelicals are Protestant Christians who believe that the fundamental human problem is individual sin and the fundamental human need is individual justification or reconciliation with God.

So, the test of whether a Protestant Christian is an evangelical is to ask whether they agree with these two statements:

1. The primary human problem is individual sin.
2. The greatest need that each person has is to be saved from sin through faith in Christ.

If a Protestant Christian agrees with those two statements, they’re probably an evangelical. If they disagree, they may be a mainline or liberal Protestant or some other variety of Christian, but they are not likely to fit into evangelicalism, even if they might use the term “evangelical” to describe themselves. (more, including his definition of liberal Protestantism)

Daniel K. Williams, "The Real Difference Between Evangelicals and Liberal Protestants," The Dispatch, March 15, 2026.