Vatican Files no. 19

"The beginning of wisdom is the definition of words" (Socrates). If you define a word in a certain way you make claims about reality. Our postmodern culture has stirred us to come to terms with the fact that words do not have stable meanings but exist in an flux that drives them in one way or another depending on the interests of their users. This is the current situation of the word "Evangelical". 

There was a time in which the word "Evangelical" meant something like this: Biblically, it was defined around the evangel (i.e. the Gospel) as it is truly witnessed in Scripture. Historically it has referred to the sixteenth century Protestant Reformation and the Evangelical Revivals of subsequent centuries. Doctrinally, it has pointed to Christian orthodoxy, focusing on the formal principle of Biblical authority (sola Scriptura) and the material principle of justification by faith alone (sola gratia and sola fide). Experientially, it has underscored the need of personal conversion, resulting in a transformed life. Religiously, it has distinguished itself from (and often opposed) Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Liberalism. From John Wycliffe (doctor evangelicus) to Carl Henry, Martin Luther to John Stott, and Pietism to the Lausanne Movement, there has been a loosely defined, yet shared meaning of the word which was also accepted by non-Evangelicals. It is true that Evangelicals have always discussed the minutiae of what Evangelical really means, of its ins and outs. There are entire bookshelves that are dedicated to these important, at times fierce, debates. Yet the word has retained a rather stable meaning that has fostered common identity and a sense of belonging, well describing a "Christian family" throughout the centuries and in our global world. 

We are now witnessing to a new attempt to get a handle on the word "Evangelical" in order to give it an altogether different meaning. 

The recent book by George Weigel, Evangelical Catholicism (New York: Basic Books, 2013) is a clever attempt to re-engineer the word by overlooking its Biblical focus, by severing its historical roots and replacing them with other roots, by changing its doctrinal outlook, by staffing its experiential ethos differently, and by renegotiating its religious use. In other words, this is a genetic modification of a word. 

The basic thesis of the book is that Evangelical Catholicism (EC) is a qualifier of present-day Roman Catholicism as it stemmed from the magisterium of Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903), was expounded by Vatican II (1962-1965), found its champion in John Paul II (1978-2005), and was again reinforced by Benedict XVI (2005-2013). It is a new account of the word Evangelical. Whereas previous scholarship referred to this time in Catholic history as marked by "ressourcement" (i.e. re-appropriation of sources: Scripture and Tradition) and "aggiornamento" (i.e. update of approach, not of doctrine), Weigel calls it "Evangelical" Catholicism.

According to Weigel, Evangelical is a qualifying adjective, not a noun. The noun which carries "thick" meaning is Catholicism. Curiously, what used to be termed as "Roman Catholicism" is now shortened to "Catholicism" alone. All the Roman elements of Roman Catholicism are nonetheless part of EC: sacraments, Mariology, hierarchy, traditions, papacy, devotions, etc. To this "Catholicism" Weigel adds the adjective "Evangelical," which basically refers to the depth of convictions and the passion to make them known. EC is a full orbed Roman Catholicism practiced with strong impetus and missionary zeal. Catholicism is the doctrinal and institutional hardware, while "Evangelical" is the sociological and psychological software. While doctrine deeply remains Roman Catholic, the spiritual mood is called Evangelical.  

The major genetic modification surrounding the word "Evangelical" is just the tip of the iceberg of a bigger plan. The whole book mirrors the on-going attempt to change the meaning of words that have historically belonged to the Evangelical vocabulary. "Conversion", "evangelization", and "mission" are some examples.

Take conversion for example. It used to be a catchword for Evangelical witness. Evangelicals used it in pointing out the time when they were "not" converted and the time when they "got" converted and believed. According to EC, "conversion" is an on-going process instead of a once-and-for-all experience. We stand in permanent need of being converted and that fits the "sacramental" Roman Catholic view of the Christian life whereby we depend on the sacraments of the Church from beginning to end. EC deconstructs the Evangelical meaning of the word conversion and reconstructs it by saying that it is a life-long process that fully occurs in the sacramental system of the Roman Catholic Church. We use the same word but mean different things.

Evangelicals may think that EC is Evangelical in the historical and theological sense, but it is not. It is Roman Catholicism that takes the sociological and psychological "Evangelical" zeal and absorbs it into the traditional Roman Catholic faith. EC is a brain transplant of the word "Evangelical" and is aimed at radically re-programming it. It implies that the old use could not stand on its own and that it makes sense only if it is attached to Roman Catholicism. Of course, we operate in a free-market world of words and it is perfectly legitimate for pressure groups to try and change the meaning of words. Nobody can claim words to be their property, but everybody should be concerned when such a radically revisionist plan is put in action. 

We started with Socrates and we end with Virgil. In the Aeneid, we are told how the Greeks captured the city of Troy after a long but fruitless siege. The story of the Trojan horse tells us how what seemed to be a victory turned out to be a devastating defeat. EC may appear as an Evangelically friendly project and we may want to welcome it. In actual fact, it is an intellectually courageous attempt to re-define what Evangelical means, maintaining the same spelling but giving it a Roman Catholic meaning. It is a different world altogether. 

Leonardo De Chirico lecturer in theology at IFED (Istituto di Formazione Evangelica e Documentazione) in Padova, Italy, and editor of the theological journal Studi di teologia. After twelve years of church planting and then pastoring a Reformed Baptist church in Ferrara, since 2009 he is involved in a church planting work in central Rome. He has degrees in history (Bologna) and theology (ETCW, Bridgend, UK). His PhD was obtained from King's College, London, and subsequently published as Evangelical Theological Perspectives on post-Vatican II Roman Catholicism (Frankfurt-Oxford: Peter Lang 2003).