Evangelical Catholics
Christianity, General January 19th, 2004I hear the labels evangelical and catholic thrown around alot. Some, like myself, even claim to be evangelical catholic. I define this as holding to the catholic faith (the Creeds, the councils, etc.) while having a zeal for mission and evangelism. I think as far as Christianity is concerned, both need each other. Without the catholic faith, Christianity is often an experience in search of a theology. Feeling and experience can be elevated to such a level that ancient and biblical truth can be rejected and replaced with the flavor of the day (whether theologically or morally). Without an evangelical side, the Church, although possessing catholic truth, becomes insular and nevers shares the Gospel with the rest of the world. The Great Commission spells out evangelical catholicism in a nutshell: Go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. This stipulates both evangelism and apostolic teaching.
September 23rd, 2006 at 9:49 am
Perhaps the term you meant to use was ‘evangelistic’ rather than evangelical. They are commonly confused, but an evangelical catholic would be quite different to what you have described.
September 24th, 2006 at 9:09 pm
Steve,
That’s true if you simply define evangelical as the 19th/20th/21st century movements within Protestantism. However, the term just generally means “relating to the Gospel.” Catholics have been using the term for ages (e.g. the religious orders call their vows the “evangelical counsels” b/c they live a gospel life of poverty). Likewise, Lutherans (who would not be “evangelical” by contemporary Evangelical standards) have since their early days used the term to describe their position.
There are problems with using that term today, I agree. But, it isn’t necessarily a contradition.