The word gospel comes from the Greek and literally means good message. The good message is, from the Christian perspective, the fact that Christ died for our sins and rose again on the third day. Thus, the death and resurrection of Christ is the foundation on which the gospel is based.
In the New Testament there are four official or canonical Gospels, which are John's, Matthew's, Mark's and Luke's, all of them apostles of Christ who in their testimonies tell the life and preaching of Christ. The accounts of the Gospels are the foundation of Christianity, the religious faith that in turn is divided into different doctrines: Catholicism, Protestantism, Orthodox Church, evangelism and other doctrinal currents based on the Gospels.
General issues of evangelism
From a historical point of view, evangelism as a Christian trend appeared in the seventeenth century in southern Europe among those Catholics who questioned some official doctrines, especially the veneration of saints and the use of indulgences to avoid responsibility for sins.
Evangelism advocates recovering primitive Christianity and deviates from the doctrines of the Catholic faith, as well as Lutheranism and Calvinism. For the evangelical faithful, the word of God contained in the gospels and prayer are the axes of their faith.
A genuine feature of this doctrine is the preaching of the word of God, that is, the process of evangelization.
An approach to the evangelical churches
Although it is possible to speak of evangelism in a general sense (also called evangelical Protestantism), there are many churches or evangelical currents: Anabaptism, Pietism, United Evangelical Brothers, Evangelical Pentecostal Churches, Salvation Army, the Church of God in Christ, etc. . Each of them has its own interpretation of the gospels.
Despite the differences, we must remember some common elements of evangelical theology: the belief in one God, the idea of the trinity, the reference to Sacred Scripture, the near end of the world and missionary activity.
Main differences between evangelism and Catholicism
For the evangelical faithful their faith must be inspired by the Bible, while for Catholics the role of the Church is fundamental.
In other words, Catholics interpret the Bible according to the magisterium of the church, but evangelists advocate a free interpretation of Holy Scripture. On the other hand, the evangelists question the divinity of the Virgin Mary and reject the role of the saints.
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