Evangelical with a Capital "E"

The newly released "Evangelical Manifesto" is not exactly opening to rave reviews. After reading it myself, I am inclined to agree with Tony Perkins' assessment. The document is heavy on the theoretical but light on the practical.

"Unfortunately, this takes on [the] kind of a perspective of Christians who live in an ivory tower -- that they never are touched with the realities that we live in a world in which we have to come outside the walls of the church and influence society. It's kind of like [saying] 'I want to rid the world of evil; I just don't want to get involved in the issues,'" Perkins explains.

Drafters of the Manifesto, according to Perkins, made little effort to create Christian unity. "We each have our role to play in the kingdom, and I feel we should take the direction of [the Apostle] Paul," he suggests. "We shouldn't beat up on our own body and give ourselves a black eye. We ought to realize that we have different roles to play. And I encourage the theologians to continue to come up with ideas and speak to those issues, but they should be respectful to the other members of the body of Christ," Perkins contends.

What is most difficult to accept about the "Manifesto" is its consistent use of the term "Evangelical" as opposed to the more broadly appealing "evangelical." A footnote at the end of the text makes it clear that the signers have been very intentional in this regard.

The terms Evangelical and Evangelicals should be spelled with an upper case as are the terms Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant, or Christian, Jew, and Muslim.

This kind of deliberate sectarianism underscores Perkins' concern that the drafters "made little effort to create Christian unity." There are many Christians from many denominations who will rally around the term "evangelical" as descriptive of the nature and vitality of their faith. "Evangelicals" with a capital "E" are a small, generally harmless bunch whose perspective does, indeed, sound like that of the ivory tower.