evangelical
    adj 1: relating to or being a Christian church believing in
           personal conversion and the inerrancy of the Bible
           especially the 4 Gospels; "evangelical Christianity"; "an
           ultraconservative evangelical message"
    2: of or pertaining to or in keeping with the Christian gospel
       especially as in the first 4 books of the New Testament
    3: marked by ardent or zealous enthusiasm for a cause [syn:
       evangelical, evangelistic]

Evangelical \E`van*gel"ic*al\, a.
   1. Contained in, or relating to, the four Gospels; as, the
      evangelical history.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Belonging to, agreeable or consonant to, or contained in,
      the gospel, or the truth taught in the New Testament; as,
      evangelical religion.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Earnest for the truth taught in the gospel; strict in
      interpreting Christian doctrine; pre["e]minently orthodox;
      -- technically applied to that party in the Church of
      England, and in the Protestant Episcopal Church, which
      holds the doctrine of "Justification by Faith alone;" the
      Low Church party. The term is also applied to other
      religious bodies not regarded as orthodox.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. Having or characterized by a zealous, crusading enthusiasm
      for a cause.
      [PJC]

   5. Adhering to a form of Christianity characterized by a
      conservative interpretation of the bible, but disavowing
      the label 'bdfundamentalist`'b8.
      [PJC]

   Evangelical Alliance, an alliance for mutual strengthening
      and common work, comprising Christians of different
      denominations and countries, organized in Liverpool,
      England, in 1845.

   Evangelical Church.
      (a) The Protestant Church in Germany.
      (b) A church founded by a fusion of Lutherans and
          Calvinists in Germany in 1817.

   Evangelical Union, a religious sect founded in Scotland in
      1843 by the Rev. James Morison; -- called also
      Morisonians.
      [1913 Webster]

Evangelical \E`van*gel"ic*al\, n.
   One of evangelical principles.
   [1913 Webster]