Evangelicalism

Evangelicalism, Evangelical Christianity, or Evangelical Protestantism is a worldwide, transdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity maintaining that the essence of the gospel consists in the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ's atonement. Evangelicals believe in the centrality of the conversion or "born again" experience in receiving salvation, in the authority of the Bible as God's revelation to humanity, and spreading the Christian message.

It gained great momentum in the 18th and 19th centuries with the Great Awakenings in the United Kingdom and North America. The origins of Evangelicalism are usually traced back to English Methodism, the Moravian Church (in particular the theology of its bishop Nicolaus Zinzendorf), and German Lutheran Pietism. Today, Evangelicals may be found in many of the Protestant branches, as well as in Protestant denominations not subsumed to a specific branch. Among leaders and major figures of the Evangelical Protestant movement were John Wesley, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, Billy Graham, Harold John Ockenga, John Stott and Martyn Lloyd-Jones.

Paul Washer

Paul David Washer (born 1961) is the founder, director and missions coordinator of HeartCry Missionary Society, which supports indigenous missionary work. Washer's sermons tend to have an evangelistic focus on the gospel and the doctrine of the assurance of salvation and predestination, and he frequently speaks against modern church practices such as the sinner's prayer, and a focus on numerical church growth.

Biography

Washer says he had a born again experience while studying to become an oil and gas lawyer at the University of Texas. Upon graduation, he attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and achieved a Master of Divinity degree. He moved to Peru where he became a missionary proclaiming the gospel for 10 years, after which time he returned to the United States. Washer resides in Radford, VA, where he lives with his wife and three children.

Books