Vor kurzem stieß ich auf diesen interessanten Auszug aus dem rechtsstehenden Buch: “Evangelical Affirmations”.
- Hier der Text als pdf: evangelical-affirmations
Ein Auszug aus dem Auszug (Seite 29-30):
Evangelical faith has deep roots in the history of mainstream churches. It did not suddenly rise from eighteenth- and nineteenth-century revivals. It can be traced back through the Reformation and the ancient church to find its base in New Testament Christianity.
Recently, however, some have declared that several evangelical doctrines are theologically innovative and do not represent the central traditions of the Christian church. Other observers have asked if the evangelical movement has become so fragmented theologically that it no longer has a coherent self-identity. In another vein, the moral failure of a number of prominent evangelicals has been all too apparent. We are shamed by our inconsistencies in living out the ethical values we profess, and we recognize the need to confess our sins before God.
In the last decade of the twentieth century, a number of these troubling issues have come into sharper focus. We realize that our own house is not entirely in order. Many of our worst problems we have brought on ourselves. Not only on the outside, but even within our own ranks, some confusion exists as to exactly who evangelicals are.
Evangelical Affirmations seeks to clarify the character of the evangelical movement and to affirm certain truths critical to the advancement of the church of Christ. As we do so, we sadly confess that our own sinful failures have often discredited our proclamation of those great biblical truths. For our sinful lapses into sexual misconduct, neglect of the poor, lack of accountability on the part of our leaders, and self-seeking divisiveness, we repent before God and our neighbors.
The following affirmations do not constitute a complete doctrinal statement or a comprehensive confession of faith. Rather, they represent evangelical truths that specially need to be asserted and clarified in our day. We address these affirmations primarily to our fellow evangelicals who, though confessing their personal commitment to these doctrines, have sometimes raised questions as to their importance and as to how essential they are to an authentic evangelical faith. Only secondarily have we addressed these affirmations to non-evangelicals. In this latter case we are concerned to clarify differences between evangelicals and non-evangelicals within the Christian churches. We also wish to remove some of the caricatures of evangelicalism the general public often holds and to state what evangelicals really believe on issues growing out of the interaction of evangelicals with modern culture.
Dann folgen die Titel:
- Jesus Christus und das Evangelium
- Schöpfung und Sündefall
- Gott als Quelle und Grund aller Wahrheit
- Heilige Schrift
- Die Kirche
- Lehre und Praxis
- Menschenrechte und Gerechtigkeit
- Relifiöse Freiheit
- zweite Kommen und Gericht
- Zusammenfassung: evangelikale Identität
- Quelle: http://www.ccel.us/EV.toc.html
- daraus Kap. 1: http://www.ccel.us/EV.ch1.html