• Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Alex Chediak

Helping young adults thrive at college and beyond

Header Right

  • About
  • Books
    • Beating the College Debt Trap
      • Why Write Beating the College Debt Trap?
      • Table of Contents
      • Endorsements
      • Preface and Introduction
      • Pre-order Freebie: A Parent-Child Discussion Guide
      • Fox News Article
      • Desiring God Article
      • Promo Video
      • Press Kit/Media Info
      • Reviews & Sample Audio
      • Low Res – Front & Back Cover Art
      • High Res – Front & Back Cover Art
    • Thriving at College
      • Table of Contents
      • Endorsements
      • Read the Foreword
      • Read the Preface
      • Read an Excerpt
      • Reviews/Interviews
      • Leader’s Guide (Tyndale)
      • July 2011 CBA Best-Seller (Young Adult)
      • YouthWorker Journal “Best of Best in 2011”
      • NEW!! – Parent-Child Discussion Guide
      • Testimonials From Schools
      • Educational and Church Discounts
      • Buy on Amazon
      • Buy on WTS
      • Purchase Thriving at College in Chinese!
    • Preparing Your Teens for College
      • Why Write Preparing Your Teens for College?
      • Table of Contents
      • Endorsements
      • Foreword
      • Read an Excerpt (PDF)
      • Video
      • Educational and Church Discounts
      • Front and Back Cover Art
      • Interviews/Reviews/Notable Tweets
      • Order on Amazon
    • With One Voice
      • Endorsements
      • Reviews
      • Buy on Amazon
      • Read a Chapter
    • 5 Paths to the Love of Your Life
      • Endorsements
      • Reviews
      • Buy on Amazon
  • Resources
    • Articles
    • Audio/Video
  • Blog
  • Speaking
  • Contact

My Thoughts on the Evangelical Manifesto

May 8, 2008 by Alex Chediak

Os Guinness.JPGAlong with many others, I have read The Evangelical Manifesto with great interest. For the most part, I believe it reads extremely well. It speaks into a major (though sometimes unspoken) issue in our day: the gap between what it truly means to be a follower of Jesus and what secular society thinks of Christ-followers. The recent fast-selling book unChristian, for example, explains that “Mosaics and Busters (the generations that include late teens to early 30-somethings) believe Christians are judgmental, antihomosexual, hypocritical, too political and sheltered.” Apparently acknowledging the bad rap, the Evangelical Manifesto explains that evangelicals “have become known for commercial, diluted, and feel-good gospels of health, wealth, human potential and religious happy talk.” Again, the Manifesto observes:

“We repeatedly fail to live up to our high calling, and all too often illustrate the truth of our doctrine of sin. We Evangelicals share the same ‘crooked timber of our humanity,’ and the full catalog of our sins, failures, and hypocrisies is no secret either to God or to many who know and watch us. Indeed, with many of our prominent figures recently caught in scandal and hypocrisy, our failures often rise up today and shout their contradiction of all we claim to be and say.”

I think this is healthy, and accurate. We need less swagger and more broken-hearted boldness, so that we can speak humbly and clearly about the evils of our day. I was also very glad for the doctrinal standard it laid out for what it meant to be an evangelical. Namely:
1. The belief that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. He is the only name by which we must be saved.
2. Christ was a penal, substitutionary sacrifice for sinners.
3. Radical God-wrought conversion is necessary for Christian faithfulness. (That is, we cannot work our way to God by our own goodness.)
4. The Bible is inspired by God and the supreme authority for our life and thought.
5. Christians must at-once lay hold of Jesus Christ as both Savior and Lord.
6. The return of Jesus Christ is our “blessed hope.”

I also echoed the concern that evangelicalism be defined theologically and not politically, confessionally and not culturally. And I heartily agree that evangelicals should be known not so much for what we’re against as for what we are for; our message (by definition) is one of good news.
So it was with all this as the backdrop that I read of some evangelical leaders being concerned that the Manifesto itself was political — a veiled, subtle attempt to displace issues like pro-life and the defense of marriage in favor of other matters. I was honored that Dr. Guinness, one of the members of the document’s Drafting Committee, was willing to field a few questions from me on this matter. He permitted me to publish his response, only requesting that I mention these are “hasty responses on a hectic day! Above all we are not out to attack or exclude anyone, but to call for reforms that make us all better followers of Christ. So we hope people will not make knee-jerk reactions, but study, think , and pray.” The following post is my interview with Dr. Os Guinness.
Related: Marvin Olasky, writer for World Magazine and author of the newly re-released The Tragedy of American Compassion, pens a glowing endorsement of The Evangelical Manifesto.
[HT: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite]

0
0
0
0
0

Filed Under: Culture, Practical Ministry

Primary Sidebar

DISCOUNT PRICING!

Thriving at College book cover368 pages. Please allow 7-10 days for delivery.
Sales tax will be added for California purchases, as required by law. For orders to Canada, please contact us. (See also CASE DISCOUNTS below.) No PayPal account required to place order. (Debit or Credit card will work.)

$10.99


DISCOUNT PRICING!

Beating the College Debt Trap book cover224 pages. Please allow 7-10 days for delivery.
Sales tax will be added for California purchases, as required by law. For orders to Canada, please contact us. (See also CASE DISCOUNTS below.) No PayPal account required to place order. (Debit or Credit card will work.)

$4.99


DISCOUNT PRICING!

Preparing Your Teens for College book cover 448 pages. Please allow 7-10 days for delivery. Sales tax will be added for California purchases, as required by law. For orders to Canada, please contact us. (See also CASE DISCOUNTS below.) No PayPal account required to place order. (Debit or Credit card will work.)

$9.99


CASE DISCOUNT PRICING!

Thriving at College book cover1 CASE = 28 COPIES
Please allow 7-10 days for delivery.
Sales tax will be added for California purchases, as required by law. No PayPal account required to place order. (Debit or Credit card will work.) For orders to Canada, please contact us.

$269.99


CASE DISCOUNT PRICING!

Beating the College Debt Trap book cover1 CASE = 44 COPIES
Please allow 7-10 days for delivery.
Sales tax will be added for California purchases, as required by law. No PayPal account required to place order. (Debit or Credit card will work.) For orders to Canada, please contact us.

$189.99


Order Thriving at College!

Amazon Book Bomb for Thriving at College"There is no better guide to college."
--Alex and Brett Harris

"Insightful and useful."
--Randy Alcorn

"Written by an ‘insider’—an excellent gift for high school seniors."--Jerry Bridges

 

COMPARE STORES!

Westminster Bookstore
Christian Book Distributors booksamillion.com : books, music, movies & more
Westminster Bookstore booksamillion.com : books, music, movies & more
Westminster Bookstore

Order Preparing Your Teens for College!

Amazon Book Bomb for Thriving at College

"A sharp tool." Tedd Tripp

"Outstanding book on preparing teens for adulthood." Jerry Bridges

"Highly recommended.” Josh McDowell

 

RESOURCES

 

Also by Alex

With One Voice book cover

With One Voice

Read More Endorsements
Reviews
Read a Chapter
Buy on Amazon

 

Praise for With One Voice

This relatively short book packs a powerful bang for the buck, providing much biblical and practical advice for young men and women seeking to glorify God in relationships.

Alex and Brett Harris
Best-selling authors of Do Hard Things

Alex and Marni Chediak offer sound biblical advice and a clear Christian framework for working through the maze of confusions surrounding modern marriage.

R. Albert Mohler, Jr., President
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Publishers have been cranking out books with all sorts of directions to help Christians navigate the treacherous waters between the buoys of singleness and marriage, and I know of none that is more clear, concise and helpful than With One Voice.

J. Ligon Duncan, III Ph.D.
Senior Minister, First Presbyterian Church

With One Voice is clearly written and God-centered. Our eighteen year-old daughter just read it and restrained herself from underlining nearly the whole thing!

Dr. Bruce A. Ware
Professor of Christian Theology
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Categories

  • Thriving at College
  • With One Voice
  • Culture
  • Personal
  • Theology
  • Practical Ministry

Copyright © 2025 · Genesis Sample on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in