Who (or What) is an Evangelical? - Part 9

The National Association of Evangelicals likely represents the broadest representations of Evangelicals in the United States.  (They form part of the Worldwide Evangelical Alliance.)  They have a specific webpage in their website where they describe What is an Evangelical?  This is what they say (similar to what I said in Part 6).

"What is an Evangelical?

Evangelicals take the Bible seriously and believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

The term “evangelical” comes from the Greek word euangelion, meaning “the good news” or the “gospel.” Thus, the evangelical faith focuses on the “good news” of salvation brought to sinners by Jesus Christ.

We are a vibrant and diverse group, including believers found in many churches, denominations and nations. Our community brings together Reformed, Holiness, Anabaptist, Pentecostal, Charismatic and other traditions. Our core theological convictions provide unity in the midst of our diversity. The NAE Statement of Faith offers a standard for these evangelical convictions.

Historian David Bebbington also provides a helpful summary of evangelical distinctives, identifying four primary characteristics of evangelicalism:

• Conversionism: the belief that lives need to be transformed through a “born-again” experience and a life long process of following Jesus.
• Activism: the expression and demonstration of the gospel in missionary and social reform efforts
• Biblicism: a high regard for and obedience to the Bible as the ultimate authority

• Crucicentrism: a stress on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross as making possible the redemption of humanity

These distinctives and theological convictions define us, not political, social, or cultural trends. In fact, many evangelicals rarely use the term “evangelical” to describe themselves, focusing simply on the core convictions of the triune God, the Bible, faith, Jesus, salvation, evangelism, and discipleship."

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Over to Who (or What) is a Catholic (or catholic)? - Intro

Who (or What) is a Catholic (or a catholic)? - Part 6

Many tend to assume all Catholics (Roman Catholics) think more or less alike - as though they tend to all believe the same things.  The truth is, and what I have found, there is a great variety in what Catholics think and believe, especially because there are different types of Catholics, which you can easily discover if you ask different Catholics what they think and believe, since you will tend to get many different answers.  That doesn't mean Catholic teaching from the Magisterium - the Catholic teaching office - varies, and here I am not evaluating how the descriptions below line up or not with Magisterium teaching.  There are different ways to classify them (us) as well as different names to assign for the various types of Catholics for this purpose.  So here is one attempt at this type of description.  Let me know if you agree or not - or have a different way to describe this.  The following order does not suggest or imply one group is more important than the others.  Also, I recognize these are not strict categories - since there can be much overlap, and some Catholics may find themselves identifying with one or more of the descriptions below, or you may know some Catholics that fit one or more of the following descriptions.  These descriptions are not necessarily factions within Catholicism.  This is not an absolute list or categorization - there can be other ways to look at this - and I invite comments.

• First, there are Traditional Catholics (sometimes called Conservative Catholics).  This
  
  group tends to accept all (or most of) the creeds (dogmas) of the (Roman) Catholic Church and stress obedience to the Magisterium (the teaching office of the Catholic Church), including the Pope.  They tend to accept the changes brought about by Vatican II (though I have found they often do not understand - or might not have read - all of the Vatican II documents - or understand the full implications, scope and sweep of all the documents it generated).
• Second, there are Liberal Catholics (sometimes called Progressive Catholics).  This

  

  Hans Kung - 2009

  group tends to disagree with one or more of the creeds (dogmas or teachings) of the (Roman) Catholic Church, and thus tend to challenge, or at least question, the authority of the Magisterium (including the Pope).  They tend to relish in the Vatican II documents - though at times they loosely refer to the spirit of Vatican II - which can at times mean whatever they want to promote instead of what was written at Vatican II.  (A small minority within this classification go as far as to promote what they call Liberation Theology, which means they promote Marxist revolution as Catholic theology.)
• Third, there are Ultra-Traditionalist Catholics.
  
  They tend to be critical of Vatican II reforms and tend to defend what they consider "old-time Catholicism," or what they affirm as "classical Catholicism."  They may prefer the mass in Latin (though not always).  They tend to see Catholicism at war with other branches of Christianity - and tend to not like the term ecumenism (though emphasized in Vatican II)  or see it solely in terms of evangelization to bring other Christians into the Catholic Church (or to return home as they call it).
• Fourth, there are Charismatic or Evangelical Catholics.  They tend to emphasize the work of
  
  the Holy Spirit, identify with other Charismatic Christians or Evangelical Christians, personal salvation, a personal relationship with Jesus and salvation based on this.  Sometimes they emphasize the baptism in the Holy Spirit, or at least a renewal (or awakening) in faith.  (Cursillo is considered part of the renewal movement within Catholicism.)
• Fifth, there are New Age Catholics, or those who might identify with
  
  Eastern religions.  While some might want to lump these Catholics in with Liberal Catholics (and while there can be similarities), there is a fundamental difference.  Liberal Catholics tend to rely on reason - while New Age Catholics tend to distrust reason in favor of mysticism or intuition.
• Sixth, there are what might be called Cultural Catholics.  They tend to be Catholic because it is part of their culture and it's expected of them, but it may not have much meaning beyond that - though they tend to feel deeply loyal to the Catholic Church.  They may or may not have concerns about spiritual matters.  They may or may not understand Catholic teachings, or ethics.  If they attend Mass regularly, it is out of obligation to the family or culture.  They usually do not think in terms of having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, though some do.
• Seventh, there are what might be called Folk (or Popular Folk) Catholics.  They tend to blend other religious beliefs with their Catholic beliefs (which tends to reflect a sort of Catholicism often found during the Middle Ages). So in some parts of the world, they might combine voodoo beliefs with Catholic beliefs.  They may tend to go against true Catholic teaching and may cross over into worshiping Mary as a type of goddess.  They may tend to consider the Saints to be a sort of ancient set of semi-gods & goddesses to pray and worship directly to for direct benefits instead of prayer partners to help them bring their prayers before the throne of God.

My point here is not to uphold or dismiss any of theses different types of Catholics (or Catholicism), but instead to point out they do exist, so that it is at times difficult to identify what Catholics actually believe, in contrast to what the Roman Catholic Church actually teaches.

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