A discussion of evangelization in light of the recent integration, within the Roman Catholic Church, of several elements of the (Protestant) evangelical tradition.

1. TELLING THE
STORY
SHARING THE GOOD NEWS OF
JESUS
The Bible as Story # 5
January 25, 2018
St. Luke’s

2. A few questions…
1. What is the “new evangelization”?
2. What do the terms “gospel”, “evangelization”, “evangelism”,
“evangelical”, etc. mean?
3. What has been my experience, as a Catholic convert, with
evangelization?
4. Why evangelization?
5. What’s the message?
6. How do we share the gospel?

3. “new” evangelization
■ 1960’s – 1980’s = a time to dream
■ Vatican II (1962-65).
■ Catholic Charismatic Renewal (1967).
■ National Evangelical Anglican Congress (1967).
■ Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization (1974).
■ Pope St. John Paul II “canonized” the
phrase “new evangelization” at Port-au-
Prince, Haiti, March 9, 1983.
– an invitation to an evangelization that is “new in its
ardor, in its methods, in its expression” (Ecclesia in
America n. 66).

4. Québec: « La révolution tranquille »
■ Nationalism: Québec’s “coming of age” and self-
assertion over against the influence of both
English Canada and the Catholic Church.
■ 1960: election of Jean Lesage as Premier of
Québec. State control of social institutions and
programs. Creation of Ministries of Health Care
and Education.
■ 1976: Election of René Lévesque as Premier of
Québec.
■ Sovereignty referendums (1980; 1995).
■ 2000: deconfessionalization of schools.

5. Have you heard the good news?
(terms)
■“GOSPEL” = “good
news”
–Greek:
euangelion
–Latin:
evangelium

6. Defining the terms
■ “GOSPEL” = “good news” (Greek: euangelion; Latin: evangelium)
– A book containing good news: “the GOSPEL according to St. Mark”
– News about an upcoming event:
■ “…Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘…the
kingdom of God has come near…’” (Mark 1.14-15).
– News about a past event:
■ Paul: “…I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I
proclaimed to you …in which also you stand, through which also you are being
saved if you hold firmly to the message that… Christ died for our sins in
accordance with the scriptures, and …he was buried, and …he was raised on
the third day in accordance with the scriptures” (1 Cor. 15.1-4).

7. Defining the terms
■ “GOSPEL” = “good news” (Greek: euangelion; Latin: evangelium).
■ “EVANGELICAL”
– A. Having to do with the Gospel (s); ex: “evangelical counsels”
(chastity, poverty, obedience).
– B. A movement within Protestantism which began around the
18th century in England and America and has become very
prominent in the U.S.A. (ex: the “American evangelical right”)
and around the world.

8. Defining the terms
■ (PROTESTANT) “EVANGELICALISM”
– Concerned with the true
« gospel ».
■ “Bebbington quadrilateral”
– biblicism
– crucicentrism
– conversionism
– activism

9. MY STORY
■ Protestant evangelicalism.
■ Bible “fell from heaven”.
■ “…no one can see the kingdom of God without
being born again” (John 3.3).
■ Evangelization, street preaching, etc.
■ The “gospel” had no connection to the
“Church”. The Church had no part to play in
salvation. Once you got “saved”, the choice of
a church was up to you.

10. The “gospel”
according to Bill Bright (1921 - 2003)
The “4-step” gospel
1. God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life.
2. Man is sinful and separated from God. Therefore, he cannot
know and experience God's love and plan for his life.
3. Jesus Christ is God's only provision for man's sin. Through
Him you can know and experience God's love and plan for
your life.
4. We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and
Lord; then we can know and experience God's love and plan
for our lives.

11. The « sinner’s prayer »
“Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the
cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and
receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for
forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take
control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of
person You want me to be.”

12. …MY STORY■ Many years of questioning and
reflection…
– What/where is the Church?
■ Discovery of
www.wordonfire.org
■ Clandestine mass
attendance…
■ October 2013: I begin RCIA.
■ April 19th, 2014: I become a
Roman Catholic!

13. MY STORY

14. The encounter…■ Pope Benedict XVI (September 2008)
■ Christianity "is not a new philosophy
or a new form of morality. We are
only Christians if we encounter Christ,
even if He does not reveal Himself to
us as clearly and irresistibly as he did
to Paul in making him the Apostle of
the Gentiles. We can also encounter
Christ in reading Holy Scripture, in
prayer, and in the liturgical life of the
Church … it is only in this personal
relationship with Christ, in this
meeting with the Risen One, that we
are truly Christian."

15. Why a “new” evangelization?

16. How the West
was won
■ The early Church began in Jerusalem.
■ Largely through the efforts of St. Paul,
Christianity expanded westward into Europe
(Greece, Rome).
■ St. Andrew is credited with having
evangelized what is now Ukraine, Romania,
Russia.
■ Edict of Thessalonica (380).
■ Missionaries were sent to Britain in the 5th
Century AD.
■ From the beginning, Christianity was a
missionary movement. The gospel was
good news for the whole world.
■ 8th century: expansion of Islam and the loss
of the Christian Middle East/Africa (Antioch,
Alexandria, Jerusalem).

17. How the West was lost
■ “Christendom”: state of affairs
in the Western world (Europe)
where Christianity was
supported by political, social
and cultural structures (4th-18th
centuries).
■ Colonialism: starting in the
16th century, European powers
colonized most of the rest of
the world.
■ Christianity was spread along
with European culture. Europe
was assumed to be “Christian”
and Europeans believed
themselves to be responsible
for the evangelization of the
“heathen”.

18. How the West was lost
■ The breakdown of “Christendom”: from the
15th – 18th centuries, Europe went through
a series of religious, cultural and political
upheavals.
– 15th-c. “Renaissance”
– 16th-c. Protestant “Reformation”
■ 1648: Peace of Westphalia
– 18th-c. “Enlightenment”
■ 1789: French Revolution
■ The Catholic Church went from being the
primary cultural, social and political force
to being a marginalized institution whose
place was believed to be in the “private
sphere”.

19. How the West
was lost
■ In the western world, since the
Enlightenment (Modernity), religion has
been considered to be (and often
compelled to be) a private concern,
having no bearing on public life.
■ The Enlightenment was a protest against
all forms of « divinely sanctioned »
authority (monarchs, the Church, etc.).
Human reason was upheld as the final
arbiter of truth, and the most appopriate
vehicle for the rule of reason was
believed to be liberal, pluralistic
democracies.
– Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992): “At the
heart of liberty is the right to define one’s
own concept of existence, of meaning, of the
universe, and of the mystery of human life”.

20. Where’s the West?■ Two-thirds world: Even as Christianity was
being politically, culturally and intellectually
discredited in Europe, the faith was thriving in
those lands that had been colonized by
Western powers (Americas, Africa, Asia).
■ Weigel: “the European share of the world
Christian population has shrunk from 66
percent in 1900 to 23 percent [in 2015].”
■ Weigel: “The most extraordinary Christian
growth over the past century has come in
Africa: home to 8.7 million Christians in 1900,
542 million [in 2015], and perhaps 1.2 billion
by 2050, when there will be as many African
Christians as Latin American and European
Christians combined.”
■ Weigel: “only 14 percent of non-Christians
know a Christian—this speaks to both the
isolation of religious groups from each other
and the failures of evangelization.”
■ annual “Status of Global Christianity” survey published by the
International Bulletin of Missionary Research.
https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2015/02/world-
christianity-by-the-numbers

21. Some concerns about
the “evangelical” gospel
■ Individualism
– It’s all about me
– What about the Church, sacraments, etc.?
■ Pentecost: “What should we do [to be saved]?” (Ac. 2.37-38)
– What is the meaning of “salvation”?
– What about the rest of creation?
■ Privatization of the faith (Jesus is “my Lord”)

22. Some concerns about
the “evangelical” gospel
■ The “personalization” of the cross
– becomes a necessary “transaction” which allows for my sins to be forgiven; however, the
NT claims that Jesus’ death actually changed the world.
– The NT gospel is news about something that happened, as a result of which the world is a
different place.
– “personal experience” or public truth?
■ The relativization of the faith
– Is Christianity just one more religion?
– The claims of the NT concerning the uniqueness of Jesus
– The uniqueness of the trinitarian God