British scholar David Bebbington serviceably defined evangelicalism with four key elements: biblicism (the inspiration and authority of the Bible), crucicentrism (the centrality of the atoning work of Christ), conversionism (the importance of being born again) and activism (the value of missionary and evangelistic work broadly conceived).
Bebbington’s standard definition recognizes clearly that throughout much of the history of both British and American evangelicalism these movements have been decidedly activist. In other words, evangelicalism in its best sense has embraced both personal and social action. In the words of Charles Finney, hailing from the nineteenth century, “Everywhere there is revival there must also be reform.”
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