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, opposition to gay marriage, and viewing the Bible as the primary authority for the Church. [3] Unlike other evangelicals, 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. [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] 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 fidelity and conservative sexual morals. [12] Sojourners magazine, founded in 1971, has been an important voice of the movement. [13] In 1973, 53 evangelical leaders signed The Chicago Declaration of Evangelical Social Concern, which contributed to the foundation of Evangelicals for Social Action. [14] The evangelical left had influence in electing 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 puts primary emphasis on evangelization. The word evangelic comes from the Greek word for 'good news'. The Gospel story of the salvation from sin is considered "the good news". The process of personal conversion involves complete surrender to Jesus Christ. The conversion process is authoritatively guided by the Bible, the God in Christianity's revelation to humanity. Critics of the conceptualization of evangelicalism argue that it is too broad, too diverse, or too ill-defined to be adequately seen as a movement or a single movement.
The Christian right, otherwise referred to as the religious right, are Christian political factions 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.
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 for interpreting the Bible which maintains that history is divided into multiple ages called "dispensations" in which God interacts with his chosen people in different ways. It is often distinguished from covenant theology. These are two competing frameworks of biblical theology that attempt to explain overall continuity in the Bible. Coining of the term "dispensationalism" has been 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.
Non-denominational 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.
Fuller Theological Seminary is a non-denominational / multi-denominational 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 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 Jr. was an American sociologist, Baptist pastor, author, public speaker, and spiritual advisor to U.S. President Bill Clinton. Campolo was an influential leader in the evangelical left. Campolo was a popular commentator on religious, political, and social issues, and had 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."
Ronald James Sider, was a Canadian-born American theologian and social activist. He was the founder of Evangelicals for Social Action, an evangelical left think tank.
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.
Palmer Theological Seminary is a Baptist seminary in St. Davids, Pennsylvania. It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. It was founded in 1925 as Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Its parent institution is Eastern University.
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.
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 backgrounds, including nondenominational churches, Pentecostal, Baptist, Reformed, Methodist, Mennonite, Plymouth Brethren, and Quaker.
"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.
