The Evangelical left is a Christian left movement in Evangelical Christianity that affirms conservative evangelical theology and are politically progressive. It is mainly based in the US, but is also found in Latin America. [1] [2]
The movement affirms conservative evangelical theology, such as the doctrines of the incarnation, atonement, and resurrection, traditional view on marriage and see the Bible as the primary authority for the Church. [3] Unlike other evangelicals, however, those on the evangelical left often support and utilize modern biblical exegesis. They often support a more progressive political platform and are concerned about issues of social justice. [4] [5] Many, for example, are opposed to capital punishment and are supportive of gun control, welfare programs and welcoming foreigners. [6] In many cases, they are also pacifists.
The origins of the movement are located in the 16th century in the Anabaptist movement which fought against The Establishment and campaigned for democracy and the participation of every human. [7] Other movements were significant, such as Abolitionism in the United Kingdom of the 18th century and Abolitionism in the United States of the 19th century. Some evangelicals have campaigned for women's rights, such as pastoral ordination and right to vote. [8] [9]
Due to the fundamentalist controversy of the early 20th century, the movement and social activism lost momentum. [10] However, in the late 1940s, evangelical theologians from Fuller Theological Seminary founded in Pasadena, California, in 1947, championed the Christian importance of social activism. It experienced a new impetus in the 1960s with the foundation of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, led by Baptist pastor Martin Luther King Jr. [11]
During the 1960s and 1970s, the evangelical left stood for antiwar, civil rights, and anti-consumption principles while supporting doctrinal and sexual fidelity. [12] The Sojourners magazine founded in 1971, has been an important voice of the movement. [13] In 1973, 53 evangelical leaders had signed The Chicago Declaration of Evangelical Social Concern thus contributing to the foundation of Evangelicals for Social Action. [14] The evangelical left helped the broader evangelical movement by helping to elect the first born-again U.S. president, Jimmy Carter in 1976. [15]
In 2007, the organization Red-Letter Christians was founded by Tony Campolo and Shane Claiborne with the aim of bringing together evangelicals who believe in the importance of insisting on issues of social justice mentioned by Jesus (in red in some translations of the Bible). [16]
The election of Donald Trump in 2016 led to a resurgence of the evangelical left against some of his policies. [17] [18] [19] Some evangelical Christians see the phrase as political and have since changed how they name themselves. [20] [21]
Evangelicalism, also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that emphasizes the centrality of sharing the "good news" of Christianity, being "born again" in which an individual experiences personal conversion, as authoritatively guided by the Bible, God's revelation to humanity. The word evangelical comes from the Greek word for 'good news'.
The Christian right, otherwise referred to as the Religious right, are Christian political factions which are characterized by their strong support of socially conservative and traditionalist policies. Christian conservatives seek to influence politics and public policy with their interpretation of the teachings of Christianity. In the United States, they oppose any interpretation of the Establishment Clause of the Constitution that implies a "separation of church and state", as they seek to use politics and the law to impose their conservative Christian beliefs on American society.
Christian fundamentalism, also known as fundamental Christianity or fundamentalist Christianity, is a religious movement emphasizing biblical literalism. In its modern form, it began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries among British and American Protestants as a reaction to theological liberalism and cultural modernism. Fundamentalists argued that 19th-century modernist theologians had misunderstood or rejected certain doctrines, especially biblical inerrancy, which they considered the fundamentals of the Christian faith.
Dispensationalism is a theological framework of interpreting the Bible which maintains that history is divided into multiple ages or "dispensations" in which God acts with his chosen people in different ways. It is often distinguished from covenant theology. The term "dispensationalism" is attributed to Philip Mauro, a critic of the system's teachings in his 1928 book The Gospel of the Kingdom.
The Christian left is a range of Christian political and social movements that largely embrace social justice principles and uphold a social doctrine or social gospel based on their interpretation of the teachings of Christianity. Given the inherent diversity in international political thought, the term Christian left can have different meanings and applications in different countries. While there is much overlap, the Christian left is distinct from liberal Christianity, meaning not all Christian leftists are liberal Christians and vice versa.
Nondenominational Christianity consists of churches, and individual Christians, which typically distance themselves from the confessionalism or creedalism of other Christian communities by not formally aligning with a specific Christian denomination. According to Arizona Christian University's Cultural Research Center, nondenominational faith leaders typically maintain a biblical worldview at higher percentages than those of other Christian groups.
Fuller Theological Seminary is an interdenominational Evangelical Christian seminary in Pasadena, California, with regional campuses in the western United States. It is egalitarian in nature.
The mainline Protestant churches are a group of Protestant denominations in the United States and in some cases in Canada largely of the theologically liberal or theologically progressive persuasion that contrast in history and practice with the largely theologically conservative Evangelical, Fundamentalist, Charismatic, Confessional, Confessing Movement, historically Black church, and Global South Protestant denominations and congregations. Some make a distinction between "mainline" and "oldline", with the former referring only to denominational ties and the latter referring to church lineage, prestige and influence. However, this distinction has largely been lost to history and the terms are now nearly synonymous.
Anthony Campolo is an American sociologist, Baptist pastor, author, public speaker and former spiritual advisor to U.S. President Bill Clinton. Campolo is known as one of the most influential leaders in the evangelical left and has been a major proponent of progressive thought and reform within the evangelical community. He has also become a leader of the Red-Letter Christian movement, which aims to put emphasis on the teachings of Jesus. Campolo is a popular commentator on religious, political, and social issues, and has been a guest on programs such as The Colbert Report, The Charlie Rose Show, Larry King Live, Nightline, Crossfire, Politically Incorrect and The Hour.
Progressive Christianity represents a postmodern theological approach, which developed out of the liberal Christianity of the modern era, itself rooted in the Enlightenment's thinking. Progressive Christianity is a postliberal theological movement within Christianity that, in the words of Reverend Roger Wolsey, "seeks to reform the faith via the insights of post-modernism and a reclaiming of the truth beyond the verifiable historicity and factuality of the passages in the Bible by affirming the truths within the stories that may not have actually happened."
Social conservatism in Canada represents conservative positions on issues of family, sexuality and morality. In the European and North American context, social conservatives believe in natural law as well as traditional family values and policies. In Canada's modern context, social conservatism also includes pro-life values on abortion and euthanasia.
Conservative Christianity, also known as conservative theology, theological conservatism, traditional Christianity, or biblical orthodoxy is a grouping of overlapping and denominationally diverse theological movements within Christianity that seeks to retain the orthodox and long-standing traditions and beliefs of Christianity. It is contrasted with Liberal Christianity and Progressive Christianity, which are seen as heretical heterodoxies by theological conservatives. Conservative Christianity should not be mistaken as being necessarily synonymous with the political philosophy of conservatism, nor the Christian right.
Red-Letter Christians is a non-denominational movement within Evangelical Christianity. "Red-Letter" refers to New Testament verses and parts of verses printed in red ink, to indicate the words attributed to Jesus without the use of quotation marks.
Rosedale Bible College (RBC) is a private evangelical Anabaptist junior Bible college in Rosedale, Ohio. RBC offers an Associate in Biblical Studies accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of the Association for Biblical Higher Education. The college is owned by the Rosedale Network of Churches, a coalition of roughly 120 widely scattered churches within the Mennonite family of faith, and united by a evangelical-Anabaptist theology.
The Sojourners Community is an intentional community that was started in the early 1970s by a group of students at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. The founders had the desire to further explore the relationship between their orthodox Protestant faith and the social crisis that surrounded them, particularly around the Vietnam War. In the fall of 1971, they began publishing the Post American, a newspaper that expressed the group's commitment to the faith and ideas about social change. The Sojourners Community is most widely known for Sojourners magazine and for the writing and speaking of its founding member Jim Wallis.
The Christian World Liberation Front (CWLF) was an evangelical Christian campus ministry at the University of California, Berkeley from April 1969 to June 1975. It sought to appeal to disillusioned young people by adopting the mode of dress, methods, and language of the counterculture of the 1960s. It was considered one of the most prominent Jesus People ministries, partly due to the influence of its underground newspaper Right On.
In the United States, evangelicalism is a movement among Protestant Christians who believe in the necessity of being born again, emphasize the importance of evangelism, and affirm traditional Protestant teachings on the authority as well as the historicity of the Bible. Comprising nearly a quarter of the U.S. population, evangelicals are a diverse group drawn from a variety of denominational backgrounds, including Baptist, Mennonite, Methodist, Pentecostal, Plymouth Brethren, Quaker, Reformed and nondenominational churches.
Social conservatism in the United States is a political ideology focused on the preservation of traditional values and beliefs. It focuses on a concern with moral and social values which proponents of the ideology see as degraded in modern society by liberalism. In the United States, one of the largest forces of social conservatism is the Christian right.
The Chicago Declaration of Evangelical Social Concern is a document drafted in 1973 by several evangelical faith leaders, and signed by 53 signatories. Concerned with what they saw as a diversion between Christian faith and a commitment to social justice, the Chicago Declaration was written as a call to reject racism, economic materialism, economic inequality, militarism, and sexism. Under the leadership of Ron Sider, The Chicago Declaration became the founding document for Evangelicals for Social Action, a think-tank which seeks to develop biblical solutions to social and economic problems through incubating programs that operate at the intersection of faith and social justice.
Moderate Christianity is a theological movement in Christianity that seeks to make decisions based on spiritual wisdom.
