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I began thinking about all of the myths and presuppositions that people have about evangelical Christians. I decided to start a series of posts dealing with the myths about evangelicals. If you have any that you know of, post them in the comments or email them to me. If you have a blog, put them up on your blog, let me know and I will link to them. Anyway, Evangelical Myth #1
Evangelicals came up with the whole "born again thing."
Many people associate evangelical Christians with the phrase "born again." Many on the outside believe that this shows the intolerance of evangelicals because we do not accept someone as a Christian unless they have been "born again." The term has even been increasingly used derogatorily by those who dislike evangelical Christianity.
On behalf of all evangelicals everywhere, I would like to take credit for coming up with this concept, but I cannot. You have to go back about 2,000 years to find the first usage of it. Someone back then said, "...unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God." Of course, that person would be Jesus (John 3:3).
When Jesus, who is not just the founder of our faith, but also the object of our worship as God, says something must be done before one can see the Kingdom of God, Christians everywhere should listen. This is not just an evangelical term, although it is used predominately by evangelicals, this is a Christianity term used by Christ Himself.
Being born again does not just apply to Evangelicals, but to Fundamentalists, Protestants, Catholics, etc. Every person under the Christendom banner must be "born again." That comes from the very lips of Jesus, so in no way can Evangelicals claim to be the originators of the terminology or even the sole proprietors of the doctrine.
Monday, January 17, 2005
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7 comments:
Again, this is a good topic, and one that needs to be looked at.
A few myths on my mind:
-Evangelicals all follow what Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson say.
-We all watch and send our money to televangelists
-We hate Catholics, or think they (or the Orthodox) are going to hell.
-We think Democrats are poor Christians
-We think the US is somehow "more anointed" by God than other countries.
Anyway, those are my initial ideas. Sorry if it seems I'm taking all of the space.
Thanks again,
Justin
We may not believe Democrats are poor Christians, but I think it safe to say that Leftist/Liberals make poor Christians.
For whatever it may be worth, the Scripture does not in John 3:3 actually say "born again," but rather "born from above": γεννηθη ανωθεν is the phrase in Greek, and it means "born from above," not "born again." "Born again" would be αναγεννηθη.
Mind you, this doesn't mean that "born again" is an incorrect idea, but it's a somewhat reduced meaning compared to the one actually in the Scripture.
-- An [[Eastern/Greek]] Orthodox Christian Interloper (with Evangelical Protestant missionary parents)
Perhaps evangelicals didn't invent the words, but they did two things:
- Created the notion that there's a magical phrase, not unlike a spell, that results in instasalvation (lord come into my heart, or words to those effect)
- Marketed the above to the point where the magical invocation formula is, for all intents and purposes, fully identified with evangelicism
Hi
I'm guessing Phil's long gone, but I think American Conservatives may be in the minority in beliving that!
Steve
I would agree that most of these beliefs are wrong. I am sick and tired of churches creating cookie cutter Christians. What our faith comes down to in NOT the actions... but the heart. There is one fact heree I actually do believe though... most Democrats do have beliefs contrary to those of Christ. For instance most are pro-abortion which I believe would have been detestable to Christ. Anyone who says otherwise should simply read the gospel again.
Though many Liberal Democrats identify themselves as Christian, their beliefs are actually very contrary to the Bible and Christian principles. I think Jesus put it best when he said that many would call to Him saying didn't they act in His name in many thngs, etc. (I paraphrase) but He will say that He doesn't know them. I can't see how anyone can call themselves Christian or born again and disagree with Christianity so much. Liberal churches teach heresy (like ordaining homosexual bishops or advocating abortion and homosexual marriage) and it's time real Christians spoke up against this outrage! If Paul walked the earth today, he would have a lot to say about these counterfeit Christians.
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