1 of 2

One of the most important 20th-century shapers of modern evangelicalism was a man whose name is unknown to most evangelicals today: Harold John Ockenga (AH-ken-gay). During his lifetime Ockenga served as founder and first president of the National Association of Evangelicals; president of the American Board of the World Evangelical Fellowship; president, co—founder, and later Chairman of the Board of Fuller Theological Seminary; Chairman of the Board of CHRISTIANITY TODAY magazine; a member of the board of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association; pastor of historic Park Street Church in Boston for more than three decades; and the founding president of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. His remarkable oratorical skills and visionary speeches made him evangelicalism's most trusted voice for decades. Billy Graham, whose fame has now eclipsed his mentor, claimed that he never made a major decision in his life without first consulting Ockenga. [See America's Hour Has Struck for more about Ockenga.]

—contributed by Garth Rosell

The New Evangelicals were determined to infuse the public square—including the political arena‐with the truths of Christianity. In the midst of the 1952 presidential campaign, a group of Christians led by former Youth for Christ president Torrey Johnson held their own "campaign" on the heels of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in an attempt to spark discussion of spiritual issues. "We feel the time has come when the entire nation should pray for guidance in the coming elections," Johnson said. "We want every politician to know the real hope of America is Jesus Christ." This converted bus with its provocative question was used to promote the campaign.

American evangelicals searching for an intellectually robust faith found a patron saint in the Anglican Oxford don C. S. Lewis. Lewis attracted national attention in the U.S. when the Atlantic Monthly published a profile of him by Chad Walsh in 1946 and Time featured him on their cover in 1947. His works were introduced to American students by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship workers and promoted by Billy Graham. Wheaton College professor Clyde Kilby corresponded with Lewis and did much to popularize him among evangelicals. CHRISTIANITY TODAY's first editor Carl Henry even invited Lewis to contribute to the magazine (Lewis declined). CHRISTIANITY TODAY recently named Lewis's Mere Christianity as one of the top three books that shaped 20th-century evangelicalism.

No, there is no punchline. This is a question many Americans can't answer. "Evangelical" is the more general term, referring to a movement within Protestantism that emerged during the 18th-century revivals that swept across Britain, Ireland, parts of Europe, and America.

According to historian Garth Rosell, for the last 300 years evangelicals have put the cross at the center of their faith and have shared a commitment to the authority of the Bible, the importance of conversion, the atoning work of Christ, and the call to worldwide mission.

In the early 20th century, as Douglas Sweeney explains on page 15, evangelicals who were concerned about defending the "fundamentals" of orthodox Christian doctrine against the onslaught of liberal theology were called "fundamentalists."

But as the decades wore on, some of these evangelical-fundamentalists wanted to distance themselves from the anti- intellectual, militant, culture-shunning traits that had begun to characterize much of fundamentalism. So they recovered the use of the historic term "evangelical," calling themselves the "New Evangelicals."

next page... |  1 of 2

share this page

FREE E-Newsletter Sign up for the ChristianHistory.net e-mail newsletter. Discover more about your Christian heritage with this weekly e-newsletter that features key people, topics, and events from the history of Christianity.      RSS Feed   RSS Help