Reply #16: Not all evangelicals are fundamentalists! [View All]

[murielm99]

Evangelical does mean that a church derives its teachings from the four Gospels. It means also that faith and grace, not works and sacraments are they keys to salvation.

Many main line churches are evangelical, but not literalists, or fundamentalists. Fundamentalists believe in the literal truth of the Bible, that every word is divine inspiration.

Many evangelical churches use a little more scholarship. They realize that the entire Bible came from many sources, and did not spring up whole as the King James version of the Bible. They understand that it is not a matter of faith if you do not believe that Adam and Eve were real people. You will not go to hell if you think Jonah was not swallowed by a whale. Joseph's twelve brothers are actually the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, and may not have existed literally.

Look at all the mainstream Christian churches that have the word "evangelical" in their names. It refers to the gospels, not to literalism.

(And God help me...I just entered the 700 club...and with THIS post).