The battle of ideas in America

Religion: Evangelical declaration takes aim at slaves to political fashion | Marvin Olasky

Is William Wilberforce your ancestor?

What does it mean to be an evangelical? Decade after decade new declarations and explanations emerge, and some are mouthfuls of mush. But the latest, titled "An Evangelical Manifesto: The Washington Declaration of Evangelical Identity and Public Commitment," scheduled for unveiling on May 7 by a group including Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, and leading lights Rick Warren, Os Guinness, Dallas Willard, Timothy George, and Richard Mouw, is likely to do some good.

Although "manifesto" is an arrogant-sounding word, this one's confessions are credible, its hopes holistic, and its goals generous. The declaration starts with admissions—"the confusions and corruptions surrounding the term Evangelical have grown so deep that the character of what it means has been obscured"—and later, confessions: All too often evangelicals "have become known for commercial, diluted, and feel-good gospels of health, wealth, human potential, and religious happy talk."