perspectives
Of Manifestos and Retirements
By Geoff Little
CBN.com
– Perhaps you’ve heard this week of an “Evangelical Manifesto” document (to read more about the document and the state of evangelicalism, read "The Evangelical Identity Crisis"). Some—but certainly not all—national Christian religious leaders have culled thoughts together and signed.
It seems this group felt the need to formulate, sign and disperse a document clarifying the term “evangelical” and “evangelist.”
For the record, the earliest record of this word began long ago with the Greeks. They had evangelion, which meant “the good news,” or, more commonly, the “the gospel.” Church father Martin Luther imbued the term with new fervor, calling for the Protestant Church to be an evangelical church.
We know of prominent evangelists, ones who preach the “good news.” Examples from centuries past include: Jonathan Edwards, Charles Finney, and George Whitfield. In more recent times, Pentecostal foremother Aimee Semple McPherson and Billy Graham carried this title. A unique derivative word, “televangelist”, arrived onto the scene in the 1950s with the advent of household television.(1)
Language changes and re-invents itself. Why, as the Manifesto group seems to do, clarify a word and its meaning, “re-embodying” the word with a call to what it really means? Is this energy well-spent? Does it work? Could it be said that some words run out of appropriate usefulness? That they become confusing, and should be retired?
- Ask a 32-year-old what “Republican” means. Compare this to the answer of a 60-year-old. Any difference?
- There are some words so re-understood by culture that they should never again be used. This was demonstrated when in 1999 a Washington D.C. city staffer offhandedly used an arcane word for “stingy” in a speech. The public was shocked. The young worker was swiftly relieved of his job.(2)
- Or the term “Christian”. How do we know what this means anymore? We have Christian minor league baseball fan nights. We have Christian fiction. We have Christian instrumental music. What of the Christian label? What did the term “Christian” mean to Native American, Pocahontas? What did it mean to 18th Century first lady, Abigail Adams? What does it mean to Whitney Houston? Each at one point publicly professed Christ as savior.
Words mean different things at different points in history. When a word continues to be used in some assumed historical context, while it simply has meanings to the public beyond this context, the word is unclear. Is it fair to think the word “evangelical” means the same thing even 20 years ago as it does today? Can we retire it? Can we name our movements, our concerns, titles afresh?
Notes:
1 Special thanks to Wheaton College for a helpful and concise history of evangelicalism and fundamentalism.
2 The word "niggardly" comes from the 13th century and has no identification with race. However, it clearly conjures bad feelings and serious consequences.
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Geoff Little is the son of of CBN President Michael Little. Geoff was knit to CBN at the earliest possible stages. In 1968, his father met his mother (Becky) and Pat Robertson on the same day. Geoff was born years later under CBN-paid medical benefits, for which he remains grateful. A CBN supporter, Geoff works at Vanderbilt University where he lives in Nashville.
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