Uncommon cause

Why did the NAE rescue the NCC from irrelevance? | R. Albert Mohler

I know what constituted an evangelical in former times," said the seventh Earl Shaftesbury. "I have no clear notion what constitutes one now." The confusion Lord Shaftesbury saw a century ago is now fully apparent. Millions of Americans claim to be evangelicals, but few seem to know what the word means.

That confusion is not likely to be relieved by the decision of the National Association of Evangelicals to drop its by-law prohibiting member denominations from joint membership in the National Council of Churches.

The action came this month as the NAE met in metropolitan Washington, D.C., for its annual convention. It is likely to send shock waves through the evangelical movement, and the decision raises once again the essential issue of evangelical definition.