Evangelical Christianity is a subset of Protestantism that stresses the gospel of Jesus as Christ. The word “evangelism” is derived from Greek and Latin words for “good news,” and the religion stresses the importance of sharing the “good news” and converting others to the same faith. A scripture-based religion, Evangelical Christianity centers around the Bible as an authoritative and literal text and emphasizes the theological importance of Jesus’s death on the cross as a sacrifice for humankind. The term “born again” is important to the belief system and indicates a transformational experience of salvation.

Evangelical Christianity plays a prominent role in the history of the United States and first emerged from a fundamentalist controversy in the early 20th century. Fundamentalism was a reaction against theological modernism, which attempted to incorporate contemporary scientific developments such as Darwin’s theory of evolution into Christian beliefs. The fundamentalists split into two general groups: the separatists, who left the old denominations; and the conservatives, who remained. The latter group dubbed themselves Neo Evangelicals. Billy Graham, the charismatic Baptist evangelist, became an important face of the Evangelical movement. In the late 20th century, Evangelical Christianity became increasingly connected to political conservativism and the “Religious Right” as a reaction against issues like abortion and LGBTQ+ rights.