top of page

Glossary

Glossary

The Evangelical Awaking - a movement that began under the ministry of Charles Finney in the 1800s, and was later developed by evangelists such as D L Moody.

Modernism - a movement toward modifying traditional beliefs in accordance with modern ideas, especially evolution, psychology and humanism.

Liberalism - a movement that began in the late 1800s that believes that the Bible is not inerrant, but only "contains" the word of God. Increasingly liberal Christians accept practices, such as homosexuality, as acceptable to God, and reject traditional conservative interpretations of the Bible.

Pentecostalism - a movement that began in the early 1900s that emphasized speaking in tongues and other manifestations of the Holy Spirit.

Ecumenism - the tendency to treat all religions as equally valid, as "all roads lead to God". The World Council of Churches is the main organization promoting ecumenism.

Charismatic Renewal - A largely middle class resurgence of Pentecostalism that began around 1960, which again emphasized the "gifts of the Spirit", including modern-day prophecy. Many large churches in both the UK and America are broadly "Charismatic".

Money Preachers - a group of ministries which promote a "prosperity gospel" and make millions out of gullible Christians, who believe their "God wants you to be rich" doctrine.

Seeker-sensitive Services - a late twentieth century phenomena where some preachers try to make their meetings attractive to non-believers by using entertainment techniques and contemporary music.

The Toronto "Blessing" - a movement that began in the late 1980s in Toronto, Canada, which was typified by bizarre behavior, such as falling down, barking like dogs, and uncontrollable laughter.  

Feminism - "Christian" feminism began to affect the Evangelical church from the 1980s onwards, with women demanding a greater role in church leadership, and the production of "gender neutral" Bibles, such as the NIV and NLT.

Increased "Christian" divorces - The divorce rate amongst Christians has increased over the last 50 years until now it is greater that among non-Christians.

Postmodern Theology - postmodernism promotes the idea that there is no absolute truth, and that ideas and morals are relative to a person's point of view. Increasingly, modern theologians are taking this view in their writings.

Gay Christian Movement - until recently, this movement was largely confined to liberal denominations, but increasingly the LGBTQ agenda is finding traction even in Evangelical churches.

Biblical Illiteracy - with the decline of expository preaching and bible study, the rise of inaccurate modern versions of the Bible, and lower reading levels, many Christians have only the most rudimentary understanding of the Bible.

Immorality Tolerated - since the 1960s that has been a precipitous decline in morality in Western society. The church initially resisted this tendency, but over the last twenty years, especially in the 18-30 age bracket, standards of morality in the church have become little different from society at large. Even older Christians, who in their youth would have deplored such morals, now shrug their shoulders and say "What can you do?"

General Apostasy - in biblical terms, apostasy is a falling away from a fixed standard. The Bible sets that standard, and those who accept the authority should abide by its standards. However, increasingly, the church is abandoning biblical standards, as is prophesied in the New Testament in several places.

False Religion - any kind of religion that denies the authority of the Bible as the final arbiter on standards of morality and doctrine. All religious systems where man tries to please God by his own efforts and good works. Any religion that denies that Jesus is fully God and fully Man, that He died as a holy sacrifice in our place to satisfy God's wrath on sin, that He rose physically from the dead, and is coming back.

False
Apostacy
Immorality
Illiteracy
Gay
Postmodern
Divorces
Feminism
Toronto
Seeker
Money
Renewal
Ecumenism
Liberalism
Penetcostalism
Modernism
Awakening

© 2024 Compass Education

bottom of page