Routes and Radishes: Should we call ourselves Evangelical?

Yesterday I got involved in a conversation with a pastor about the term “Evangelical.” When this pastor was much younger he self-identified as a Fundamentalist, but over time that label took on quite negative connotations, and he started using the term Evangelical.

Now he was expressing his frustration to me that the term Evangelical had become too broad and now included many things he did not want to be associated with. So he was stuck somewhere between the two and unhappy with both labels.

This ambiguity about what Evangelical means and who defines it is the subject of the recently released Routes and Radishes.

From the synopsis- “Self-identifying as “evangelical” is risky business these days. What is Evangelicalism? Is it a historical artifact? A political philosophy? A set of doctrines? A litmus test for genuine faith? Perhaps more important, what will come to mind when future generations hear something described as “evangelical”?

Routes and Radishes invites you into a conversation about what the evangelical movement has been and what it is going to be.”

If these questions about evangelicalism resonate with you as well, check out these posts on Routes and Radishes by Allen Yeh and Chelle Stearns (both contributing authors to the book), and this review on the Mars Hill Graduate School blog.