I recently came across a word that is slowly working its way into our culture: “Exvangelical”. In its most basic meaning, refers to the repudiation of evangelicalism and an affirmation of all that evangelicalism condemns. In case you have already encountered this in social media (or may in the future), I want to offer biblical responses to the various reasons given by many of the younger generation who have departed evangelical churches and now claim the moniker “exvangelical”. I may feature this topic in my blog for the next month or so.

First, it’s important to acknowledge that many young people have indeed suffered from churches and organizations that bear the evangelical label. Whether they were made to feel disproportionate shame, threatened with God’s judgment, or (even worse) abused psychologically and/or sexually by evangelical leaders, their scars are real and deep. Unfortunately, from what I have seen and read, the “exvangelical” movement makes no distinction between evangelicalism as a theology and evangelicalism’s flawed leaders.

Let’s begin with a definition of “evangelical” because I am one, and we need a clear understanding of what it is these “exvangelicals” are leaving. D.A. Carson provides an excellent definition:

An evangelical, at his best, is a person who believes the good news found in the New Testament, that God has sent his Son to die on the cross and rise from the dead, ascend to glory, seated at the right hand of God, coming at the end of the age to redeem his image-bearers from their sin, their condemnation, pouring upon them his Spirit to justify them, sanctify them, and one day glorify them in perfection. It’s all the good news of what God has done, and this demands a response of obedience, repentance, faith.

“Exvangelicals” usually reject this entire definition, which means those in this movement have departed the faith “once for all delivered to the saints.” (Jude 1:3) In order to better understand the movement, we need to look at some of their major objections against evangelicalism and determine if they’re legitimate in light of biblical Christianity.

In today's blog, I'll focus on the “exvangelical” notion that the Bible, including the New Testament, cannot be taken literally. They approach Holy Scripture in a subjective manner that permits them to interpret it any way they choose, and usually with a meaning that accommodates an unbiblical lifestyle. Evangelicals generally interpret the Bible from a literal, historical, and grammatical viewpoint in order to ascertain the author’s intent.

Over the centuries there have been major errors in biblical interpretation. Biblical interpretation in the early church, up to about 600 AD, took an allegorical approach. So, if allegory was not the author’s intent, the true meaning of the text was not understood and consequently misapplied. It took the Reformation to restore the true sense and authority of the Scriptures. Luther himself called the allegorizing method of interpretation “twaddle” and a desecration of the sacred writings.

Today, the major error in biblical interpretation is an anti-supernatural bias that has its roots in the Enlightenment. Increasingly, people today reject the scriptural accounts of miracles. This inevitably leads to doubting the historical reliability of the Bible. In this approach to God’s Word you can almost hear the hiss of the serpent in his question to Eve, “Did God really say that?”

What we need to understand is that reading the Bible literally doesn’t mean we take everything in it literally. Some parts are meant to be understood symbolically or anthropomorphically. Revelation contains much apocalyptic language that should not be taken literally. Jesus often spoke in parables where the meaning had to be explained to his disciples.

Evangelicals, like myself, confess our conviction that the Bible communicates literal truth but sometimes not in a literal way. Therefore, we interpret God’s Word in the plain sense of the meaning of the text and in accordance with what the author intended to say. "Exvangelicals" reject the literal interpretation of the Bible in order to be autonomous and live as they choose