WikipediaExtracts:Evangelicalism
Extracted from Wikipedia --
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that puts primary emphasis on evangelization. The word evangelical comes from the Greek word for 'good news' (evangelion). The Gospel story of the salvation from sin is considered "the good news". The process of personal conversion involves complete surrender to Jesus Christ (commonly referred to as being "born again"). The conversion process is authoritatively guided by the Bible. Some 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 theological nature of evangelicalism was first explored during the Protestant Reformation in 16th century Europe. Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 emphasized that scripture and the preaching of the gospel had ultimate authority over the practices of the Church. The origins of modern evangelicalism are usually traced to 1738, with various theological streams contributing to its foundation, including Pietism and Radical Pietism, Puritanism, Quakerism and Moravianism (in particular its bishop Nicolaus Zinzendorf and his community at Herrnhut). Preeminently, John Wesley and other early Methodists were at the root of sparking this new movement during the First Great Awakening. Today, evangelicals are found across many Protestant branches, as well as in various denominations around the world, not subsumed to a specific branch. Among leaders and major figures of the evangelical Protestant movement were Nicolaus Zinzendorf, George Fox, John Wesley, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, Billy Graham, Bill Bright, Harold Ockenga, Gudina Tumsa, John Stott, Francisco Olazábal, William J. Seymour, and Martyn Lloyd-Jones.
Evangelicalism has long had a presence in the Anglosphere before spreading further afield in the 19th, 20th, and early 21st centuries. The movement gained significant momentum during the 18th and 19th centuries with the Great Awakening in the United States, and also in Great Britain's reformations.
As of 2016, there were an estimated 619 million evangelicals in the world, meaning that one in four Christians would be classified as evangelical.American evangelicals are a quarter of the nation's population and its single largest religious group. As a transdenominational praxis, evangelicals may be found in nearly every Protestant denomination and tradition, particularly within the Reformed (Continental Reformed, Presbyterian, Congregational, the worldwide Anglican Communion, Anglican Reformed, Baptist Reformed), Plymouth Brethren, Baptist, Methodist (Wesleyan–Arminian), Lutheran, Moravian, Free Church, Mennonite, Quaker, Pentecostal/charismatic and non-denominational churches.
