Well put Lindsay. I have noticed that 'evangelicals' (EMU type) have a similar problem with me when I call myself 'progressive'. They assume that that means that I am juxtaposing my own position against theirs and therefore they are not progressive in their own theological reflection, a statement I readily accept whilst they hold their literalist view of scripture.
Clearly this is narrowing the meaning of the word 'progressive' to mean something specific within a particular context which is the same thing they are doing in the use of the word 'evangelical' ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lindsay Cullen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Insights List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, December 12, 2003 8:47 AM Subject: Re: Signs along the road > The problem with such 'specialist' meanings is that they are inevitably > blurred psychologically with other meanings. Douglas Hofstadter gives a > great example of this in an essay on sexist language: if an anthropologist > begins a talk with the heading "Man the Hunter", the intention may be to > discuss the differences between earlier agrarian hominids and omniverous > humanity, using 'man' in the 'technical' sense as a species designator. But > inevitably there is a blurring with the more common meaning of 'man' - male. > So when the lecturer says "Man the Hunter", the mental image most people > will have is of a male - not (as is possible from the 'technical' meaning) a > female of the species, thus re-inforcing the idea that it is the male who is > the virile hunter while the female stays meekly at home. > > In the current discussion a similar problem arises. That is, members of EMU > may say that they are using the word 'evangelical' in a particular > specialist way which refers to a certain complex of beliefs centred around > the Bible and its interpretation and certain touchstone theological ideas. > And similarly there would be many UCA members who would want to say that > they are NOT evangelicals according to that specific meaning. > > But inevitably, the meanings become blurred, so in the debate, those who are > not 'evangelicals' in that specific sense, become tarred with the brush that > they are not interested in the Bible, or do not believe or give it > authority, or are not motivated by the gospel - all rubbish of course. Then > by comparison with 'evangelistic', such 'non-evangelical' members are > assumed to be uninterested in communicating the gospel or unbelieving of its > power to change lives - again utter rubbish. > > To put it another way - given the etymological derivation of evangelical > from evangel (gospel), clearly 'evangelical' must be a good thing for > christians to be. Thus those not privy to 'specialist' meanings have no > alternative but to imagine that 'non-evangelical' christians must not be > very good christians. > > This is what I object to in the self-designation of EMU (or anyone else) as > 'evangelical' - the eventual result, by blurring of definitions is the > denigration of other people with different approaches as not being good or > proper christians. Naturally the same analysis may be extended to churches > or groups who describe themselves as 'bible-believing'. > > Thoughtful EMU members may acknowledge that they are using the word > 'evangelical' in a specialist sense, but the movement (which says it is > about plain meanings) will never forgo that specialist word because of the > insidious propaganda value it has. > > Cheers > Linz > > Psssst! Did you hear that Susan & Wesley ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) said this: > > > "We evangelicals use the word in a different way - the one sanctioned by the > > Oxford Church Dictionary (I think that is what it is called). The > > specialist meaning of evangelical deals with belief in the atonement Christ > > made for sin, belief in the Scripture as regulating our faith and obedience > > because it is God's word to us. We are not at liberty to ignore passages at > > random (or for particular purposes). We haven't hijacked the word > > 'evangelical', unless the Oxford Church Dictionary has. It is a recognised > > meaning - a specialist meaning, admittedly. Our name unashamedly claims > > this specialist meaning in our EMU constitution." > > Windows 2000 = Mac 1984! > -- > Rev. Lindsay Cullen > Email : [EMAIL PROTECTED] > An old(!) website... www.lindsaycullen.com > > ------------------------------------------------------ > - You are subscribed to the mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] > - To unsubscribe, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put in the message body 'unsubscribe insights-l' (ell, not one (1)) > See: http://nsw.uca.org.au/insights-l-information.htm > ------------------------------------------------------ > ------------------------------------------------------ - You are subscribed to the mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put in the message body 'unsubscribe insights-l' (ell, not one (1)) See: http://nsw.uca.org.au/insights-l-information.htm ------------------------------------------------------
