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the Governors (Joshua to the Kings), the Wisdom Writers, the Prophets, Peter, Paul and Jesus in
that order. Listening to these voices will be equivalent to listening to God speak since the
Scriptures are the Word of God and when the Scriptures speak, God speaks.
My perspective of the writer is colored by Calvinism, fundamentalism, dispensationalism,
and Americanism. Although my theological commitment is to evangelicalism, my heart
commitment is to the Holy Scriptures under the sovereignty of our Lord Jesus Christ. Biblical
passages will be interpreted using hermeneutic principles which I consider to be sourced in the
Scriptures. Arguably, evaluating evangelicalism is a difficult task since evangelicalism clothes
itself in Biblical language, fervor, and theology. My expectation is that since evangelicalism is
Biblical, evangelicals will listen to what the Bible says about each of the five parts of a definition
of evangelicalism forming the body of this paper. With this in mind, let us listen to God as He
speaks through the Scriptures and evaluate evangelicalism.
I. PERSONAL CONVERSION
"An evangelical is one who emphasizes the possibility and necessity of a personal
relationship to God through Jesus Christ as essential to the Christian experience."
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Old Testament believers had a personal relationship to God. There is even evidence that a
messianic hope characterized the Old Testament revelation. Moses was described as one who
knew God "face to face"
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and he spoke of Abraham who was the "friend of God."
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The great king
David knew God at a personal level as is witnessed by his incredible Psalms. He said, "The Lord
is my Shepherd."
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Many of these Psalms are messianic as well.
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One could understand Job as
possessing a very personal relationship with God when shouted "I know that my redeemer
lives."
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We can speak of Isaiah who "saw the Lord"
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and the other prophets who by their call