Re: terminology from Re: paleonet YEC&DinoBlood

Just to clarify when I said "these Evangelicals" I was referring
specifically to those individuals that identify themselves as such.  I
believe that there is a multidenominational national organization that
explicitly outlines the beliefs of the common group.  These things range
from antievolution to "New Orleans was sinful and had it coming."  Those
view are consistently conveyed by individuals who label themselves as
Evangelicals.  There may be dissenters but I have not heard anyone in the
media labeled "Evangelical" who did not convey the messages of the common
group consistently.  That includes the "intellectuals" like Dr. James
Kennedy.


-Michael Kishel

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dr. David Campbell" <amblema@bama.ua.edu>
To: <paleonet@nhm.ac.uk>
Sent: Thursday, November 03, 2005 5:31 PM
Subject: terminology from Re: paleonet YEC&DinoBlood


> Quoting Michael Kishel <mike@houseofshred.net>:
>
> >the Catholic position is much different than these Evangelicals.<
>
> Evangelical needs defined, as it has multiple uses.  It is sometimes
> used as a perjorative, similar
> to "fundamentalist", "liberal", "conservative", or other labels for
> people you disagree with.  Etymologically and originally, the term
> referred to Christians with a commitment to the importance of the
> central message of Christianity, the gospel.  As such, it does not
> require any particular views on evolution nor on the age of the earth,
> and many evangelicals accept evolution, though probably the majority
> have been taken in by antievolutionary propaganda.
>
> Most U.S. antievolutionists would probably identify themselves as
> evangelical, though there are representatives of several religions and
> of disparate branches of Christianity that do not necessarily identify
> themselves as evangelical.  However, to the extent that
> antievolutionists claim that opposing evolution is essential to the
> gospel or of similar importance to it, they are technically rejecting
> it, as the New Testament asserts that it is essential that the gospel
> be the only essential.  Antievolutionism can perhaps best be regarded
> as a heretical approach that has unfortunately gained popularity among
> evangelicals, among others.
>
> The practical issue, for those who don't want to try to sort out
> various religious views, is to be careful to distinguish between
> attacking antievolutionism and wholesale dismissal of a particular
> religion.  (Of course, the original post did not claim that all
> evangelicals are antievolutionists; I just thought the use of the term
> should be clarified).
>
> -- 
> Dr. David Campbell
> 425 Scientific Collections Building
> Department of Biological Sciences
> Biodiversity and Systematics
> University of Alabama, Box 870345
> Tuscaloosa AL 35487-0345  USA
>
>