A term that will take a beating.
Is there a need for a new identification that takes us away from a political affiliation?
Ron Sider does his best to make a case for keeping the term “evangelical.” I’m not sure it’s enough to talk me off my own ledge, but my spirit is in a better place right now.
A key thought:
What it meant to be an evangelical throughout church history is still relevant today. These distinctives remain important to our faith: salvation by grace, not works; the authority of the Bible; personal faith; passion for both evangelism and social justice; and commitment to historic central doctrines. We need a label to refer to this cluster of beliefs and practices. Perhaps biblical Christian would work, or small-o orthodox.
Rather than “reinvent the wheel,” he suggests we can still redeem the word.