Sociology of the movements evangelic

Identity bases

The evangelic churches see like close relations of the Christian first living at the first century of our era under the Roman Empire: persecutions and the opposition of the company are regarded as the normal batch inherent in the “true” Christian, contrary to the consensual churches, installed in a comfortable and secular way on the ground. Their relationship in the world is underlain by an opposition, a discrepancy between those which received the Light and those which did not receive it. Indeed, according to the Writings, humanity fell to the garden from Éden under the authority from the Diable, the human being being the time victim and person in charge of this state where darkness occupies more place than the light.

In It (the Word /Le Verb Logos) was the life, and the life was the light of the men. And the light shone in darkness; and darkness did not include/understand it. the true light was that, which, coming in the world, lights any man. … It came at home; and them his received it but with all those which received it, it gave them the right to be children of God, to know with those which believe on its behalf which were born, not of blood, neither of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of the man, but of God.

These movements thus feel in contradiction with the walk of a world which they consider pledged with the forces of darkness, potentially enemy of the Christian faith. In addition, the membership of God and the mystical body of the Église takes the step on any membership of some human society that it is. Although the followers of these movements behave in the whole as perfect citizens, one is moved away enough, on the bottom, of a Christianity integrated into the company, even in the separate form of the State which one knows today in many democracies.

The dissension does not exist only with the not-Christians, but also with the Christian parts of the world seen like corrupted spiritually and oublieuses of the “celestial” character and the role crowned of the Church on the ground. Cleavage is particularly strong with the large Churches (Catholique, reformed be, orthodoxe S, etc), considered to be embourgeoized and institutional. The Pasteur or teaching it evangelist feels nearer to the disciple or the Apôtre persecuted in Rome that of the contemporary priest considered as a little too related to its bell-tower, its liturgy and its traditions ancestral. It is about a position Fondamentaliste (peaceful) which crystallizes with difficulty in an institution, and when that arrives, at the price of a crisis. This abstract nature makes that there cannot be recognition of the world. The Christian according to the apostle Paul, great figure of evangelic, does not have his place on this ground, but has its middle-class in the skies

As the qualifier expresses it evangelic , these Churches want to be faithful to the Évangile that they consider indéfectible - biblical Inerrance - immutable and incorruptible. Their members cannot recognize themselves in the political and ideological hopes which nourish the Humanisme S of a world where the truth is plural. As from the moment when the Gospel, source and base, is rejected or not recognized like the absolute truth, the followers enter in resistance a “spiritual maquis” into which they find their legitimacy.

Since the only reference is the crowned text and its revealed direction which is taken, one spends much time to study it. In the absence of a person responsible for the theological unit like the bishop (or the Pope) in the episcopal Churches, from this study release themselves from the theological currents somewhat differing from/to each other. One finds interpretations textual plural, often atypical and surprising, sometimes polemical or shocking. There are thus several evangelisms and not unified formal Creed.

Identity by the history

One cannot speak about the Christians evangelic and their relation in the world without referring to the Réforme. Moreover, at the 16th century, the term “evangelic” designated the Reformers or " men évangéliques" , an expression that Luther adopted in the form " die Evangelisehen"

The large spiritual alarm clock that the Reform in Europe represents will crystallize in what is called today the Church reformed in France or Lutheran in Germany and will give the Anglicanism in England. But these new large poles of the faith will appear with the current of like a fold towards the religiosity and a disavowal of the Christian identity while civil peace weakens in Western Europe. At this point in time take place, in particular in England, the large alarm clocks and a return of thousands of people towards a purer Christian faith. The large preachers all of the alarm clock will give a color and a personal note to their theology even if it gets clear a base common to all: the Gospel. Therefore today there exists a plurality of evangelic theologies within an immense movement evangelic. A evangelic church is attached almost systematically to a theological movement.

The report/ratio with the authority

“Bible in hand, any Protestant is a pope…”

Exits of the Reform, these churches are thus interesting, in the reconstitution structural of the Church which was produced by it, in what it calls into question of great principles and in particular the report/ratio to the authority, which it is in an exogenic way, with respect to the civil authorities, but also in an endogenous way, in its own structural and governmental organization. However what could be more characteristic and determining to include/understand a group that his report/ratio with the authority?

On this point of interior operation, it is interesting to observe at the beginning, that as much the Roman Catholic church that its large contradictor, the current of the Reform and all the current evangelic with its continuation, all observed this temporary and located authority which had been that of the apostles during the first century. This authority specific to the original Church, had been recognized by all, had not undergone any revolutions, was covered with wisdom and divine revelation, and had given to the apostles the capacity to slice on the theological litigations (in particular the first council of Jerusalem). Only here: After these days, difficult because of persecution but happy because of the unit, quid of the authority in the Church, once these apostles deceased?

In answer, the Roman Catholic church will place a man, a priest, through the spiritual filiation of the popes, to prolong this apostolic authority in time, while the Reform and the current evangelic with its continuation, substitute a Book for it: New Testament. New Testament with 90% being entirely written by apostles, seems to them to be a reflection more faithful and inspired with their taste that the fragile one and political history of the popes. This authority of New Testament, Old, from the Gospels, in short from the whole Writings all, will give the Protestants and to evangelic capacity to be distinguished in front of any other form from authority and in particular in front of the religious authorities.

Consequently, this reference to the Writing like authority, gives a great part to teaching. the keep silent letter, the Spirit vivifies . It is on this point, of interpretation and of teaching that the divergences are played, in particular on this rather extreme subject - from one evangelic church to another - what even constitutes the question of the authority concerning the Church it. Each one gets along so that, following the baptism of the Church, the Spirit of God given to the Christians is the Driver, That which illuminates the Writings, but in the acts and reality, most of the local liturgy comes to mix with the biblical Text and constitutes a kind of personalized Creed, in order to maintain a line doctrinal ad hoc.

As for teaching, several shapes of governments can exist without resembling each other (collegial or episcopal forms). Authorities of the church or the movement having legitimacy to maintain the right direction spiritual and to guarantee to the members a correct comprehension of the biblical truth.

One would not have however to introduce to the various evangelic churches pentecotists, Baptists, etc as in pure divergence: there are certainly large cleavages, there are points on which there is no either single answer, and in any case, concerning the fundamental ones of Christianity, almost all essence is common, which is logical since in theory the comprehension of the text is revealed by the Saint Spirit, and the Saint Spirit is Unique.

In fact here it is the “pope” of the évangéliques ones: it is the Saint Spirit, and all the hubbub which there can be in this medium which chose God like referent rather than a man, comes owing to the fact that It is certainly placed better to indicate the truth, but It is certainly much more difficult to include/understand it well and to listen to it well.

Strong identity and communities of convictions

What enables us to outline a sociological portrait of this group: Because of this allegiance with God alone, and in spite of a civic excellence of the people, there is all the same business with a social group which does not mix. Since there remains also independent of great ecclesiastical formations, that he preserves this culture of the currents and plurality, and that he does not have either a real representation (there are however evangelic federations), it is also difficult to know its doctrinal corpus even its political position or its opinion on the great subjects of company like the abortion, the euthanasia…

However in spite of this apparent dispersion, there exists beyond the differences, a strong anchoring on a biblical Text and a Faith in the perfectly divided person of Jesus-Christ and whose common denominator to all these movements constitutes in oneself a powerful doctrinal base which could link all the various groups rather evangelic than to divide them in the event of general crisis.

It is true also that, on the one hand, this faith based on the love and the safety of humanity and on the other hand, this determination to keep an integrity as a Christian in a hostile universe, can give the same impression of ambiguity that carry in them of the words like “communautarism” or “fundamentalism”. Because cannot one not speak about “good” communautarism, if it is a question of sharing the same values with several, and of “good” fundamentalism, as for maintaining these values with pugnacity, against winds and tides? A priori these so alarming concepts would be at the beginning rather qualities and nothing less than one collective division of convictions. The slip and finally the level of dangerosity relate more to quality of the preached values and the level of blindness of the interested parties, blindness which according to its force, determines the degree of sectarianism.

However precisely, it is well to judge quality of these values in question here: because the values of Christianity often judged reactionaries go for much to against current of those of the modern society. Attention then, by bad faith or tolerance with respect to them not to stigmatize all this movement by a negative use of these two terms: there is the right in our countries to have values different from the dominant values: with load for those which defend them of not entêter in an aggressive obscurantism or a moralism middle-class and scorning, completely unworthy of Christ.

Peaceful discrepancy in the world

Because of this plural identity and this independence of the churches, it is also extremely imprudent to hold of the general information on the “Christians evangelic”. It however seems that after having distinguished the general from specific, one can characterize these movements like Community and fundamentalist, and this, of very good with very bad according to the obscurantism of the movement, knowing that there will be always a strong probability of clear-cut positions, even opposite, but always nonviolent, with the dominant currents of the companies around them. Let us not forget that these groups are opposed - and it is a strong cleavage - to the `world' around them, but always on a spiritual level and not on a physical level: `the world' they are the men without God, and they are not lost enemies but human beings and being entitled to all the compassion of God and the men. Same manner some of them will separate from their Christian brothers if they consider them also too consensual with “the world”. But once again without any violence.

Attention also with this firm and distinct attitude which could appear extreme: There is no dogma in the New Testament, which calls with violence and never a Christian martyr was not also an assassin . The évangéliques ones are rather in oneself, a factor of order in the company, the axiom is to obey the soldier and the civil servant, because those are placed by God. However without any allegiance: another axiom, and noncontradictory with the first, is that it is necessary to obey rather God than with the men. However if a Christian must disobey, it will be never in the disorder of an anarchistic or revolutionary disobedience, but by a higher idea of the order than initially obedience with God constitutes. It will thus make it always without any violence and always with this model `of peaceful discrepancy in the world' that Christ himself showed in her life and her death.

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