What Is Evangelicalism?

Evangelicalism as a word is very similar to the word evangelism, which refers to the act or process of bringing the "gospel" to others, whether they have or have not previously encountered it.  Since evangelism is something encouraged by the Bible to at least some extent for all Christians, some people think that the linguistic similarities between "evangelism" and "evangelicalism" suggest a conceptual overlap, but this is far from the case.  Yes, evangelicals do generally support regular evangelism, although they almost invariably are motivated by emotionalistic allegiance to Christianity instead of rationalism and commitment based on evidence instead of outright belief in the unproven.  It is just that there is far more than an affinity for evangelism that defines this ideology, not that evangelicals are even competent at evangelism due to usually sidestepping apologetics and broader philosophy or handling them terribly.

Aside from their incompetence with evangelism, what they mean by Christianity is a horrendous distortion of actual Biblical doctrines that almost always involves fitheism, ironic appeals to subjective conscience in the name of objective morality, an emotional attachment to church traditions for the sake of tradition, sexual prudery, sexism against men and women, broad legalism, a fixation on personal salvation over more important matters like morality, and so many other subtle or obvious philosophical errors that lead them to twist or ignore major parts of the Bible--and the concepts that underpin the Bible.  I could go on and on: there is almost no part of philosophy or Christian theology that evangelicalism does not misrepresent.  Evangelicalism as a collection of theological stances is about far more than just evangelism no matter what its proponents say.

To even be an evangelical, a person must assent to more than just the position that evangelism is a part of Christianity; he or she must embrace at least some of these other unbiblical, irrational ideas or else evangelicalism is not their worldview.  To the extent that a person does not intellectually adhere to the aforementioned concepts or several others that go right alongside them well, they are not an evangelical.  This distinction does not mean that rationalistic refutation of the false aspects of evangelicalism is a rejection of Christianity, or that a rejection of evangelicalism (as it does not match the Bible it supposedly is derived from and, more importantly, it contains inherent contradictions that render entire parts of it untrue by default as a philosophical system) is a rejection of evangelism.

Evangelicalism is not Christianity; it is a largely conservative (but sometimes liberal) set of social constructs within the church that have been amassed together by at least mostly unthinking participants who would not recognize many things about reason, science, and the Bible even if they were explained in great detail by the handful of other people who actually understand them as they are.  It is the most misleading popular misrepresentation of Christianity that has any cultural prominence and sway over individuals.  No other distortion of Christianity has the same level of societal influence over people inside the church and the same general recognition by non-Christians as evangelicalism.

When it comes to epistemology, evangelicalism is about appeals to tradition, assumptions, and shrugging off contradictions or non sequiturs in the name of "mystery."  When it comes to morality, evangelicalism is about denying what the Bible clearly says people are obligated to do (including execute people for a number of capital offenses beyond murder) in favor of vague appeals to New Testament "love," as if the Biblical descriptions of justice and love contradict.  When it comes to relationships, evangelicalism is about treating gender stereotypes as if they are valid and Biblical obligations, as well as acting like almost all interactions between people are sexual in nature or will easily become sexual.  This is evangelicalism.  What each of these and other aspects of this unbiblical theological system have in common is that they contradict logic, meaning they cannot be true, and contradict the Bible, meaning they deviate from the book they are allegedly found in.