Much has been said about
the importance of religious evangelicals
in the current Presidential nomination process, especially in the Republican three-ring
circus. In their efforts to win these sanctified votes, some candidates have
miraculously changed themselves from politicians trying to get elected into
divinely inspired prophets leading the way to the Promised Land.
Despite pious invocations
of the Almighty by Cruz, Rubio, and Carson, and, until they fell from electoral
grace, by Huckabee, Jindal, Perry, and Santorum, evangelicals surprisingly are giving their
strongest support to Donald Trump, whose ecclesiastical credentials are on the
light side, to say the least. It is has been suggested that it is Trump’s frequent belligerent assaults on political correctness, which evangelicals associate with
anti-Christian liberalism, that attracts them to him.
What, precisely, are
these evangelicals whose votes are so
highly sought?
The word evangelical derives from the Late Latin evangelicus, which came from the Greek evangelikos, both of which mean
“relating to good news,” a reference to the Christian gospel. The Greek roots
are eu-, meaning “good,” and angelos, meaning “messenger” (the same
root as the English word angel).
The modern Christian
evangelical movement traces its origins to the eighteenth century, especially
in the teachings of English Methodists and German Moravians and Lutheran
Pietists. It gained great momentum in the United States in the late eighteenth
and early nineteenth centuries, in the religious revivals known as the “Great
Awakenings.” Today Christians of an evangelical persuasion can be found in all
denominations, though they are largely concentrated in Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian,
and Pentecostal congregations.
According to the National
Association of Evangelicals, the hallmarks of evangelical belief are Conversionism
(the need to be transformed by a “born again” experience), Activism (the spreading
of the gospel by missionary work and social reform efforts), Biblicism (an
acceptance of the Bible as the ultimate authority), and Crucicentrism (a
stress on the sacrificial atonement of Jesus Christ on the cross as the only
means by which human beings are saved).
Many evangelicals are
also Fundamentalists, meaning that it is “fundamental” to their beliefs that
the Bible is literally and unerringly true. Some are also Dispensationalists, who
hold that the Bible teaches that human history is divided into periods (known
as “dispensations”), each of which has a different divine plan. The typical Dispensational
division of history is into seven periods, commencing with the innocence of
Eden and culminating in the millennial reign of Christ.
Evangelicals tend to be
highly conservative in social policy, although there is a branch of progessive
evangelicals whose views are more moderate.
The Bard of Buffalo
Bayou finds these theological concepts very difficult to wrap is little brain
around and prefers to the see the Presidential campaign in a different light.
From
seventeen (or was it more?)
Republicans,
it’s down to four,
Who
still remain (or is it five?)
Hoping
that their chances are alive.
The
Democrats began with five,
Now
only two of them survive.
Though
you may try, you can’t ignore
A
race with candidates galore.
And
after all is said and done
In
nine more months, there’ll just be one.
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