‘Evangelical’ is often used as a term for an adherent Christian, more adherent to the faith than typical. Yet this term itself is poorly defined as within this group individuals’ beliefs may vary. Additionally, other terms frequently are used to describe Christians of diverse beliefs.
Teleios Research typically uses three terms by which Christians may identify themselves: evangelical (i.e., saved by grace with their sins forgiven through faith in Christ); social (i.e., identifies mostly with Christian culture and not overly religious); and seeker (i.e., desiring to know about Christianity).
Teleios recently analyzed surveys conducted from 2015-2019 on two Christian-based Instagram accounts, Godsholyscriptures and Instapray. The database includes 14,422 respondents of whom: 62% were female, 49% were between the ages of 18-35; and 78% identified themselves as evangelical. A Bonferroni correction was used to adjust the P-value to declare significance to P<0.01 because of the multiple questions asked and the large sample size.
The results found that evangelicals were more likely to attend church, study scripture and pray as well as indicate they were saved by grace than social or seeker Christians (P<0.001). Despite the statistical differences, however, the actual percent divergence between the groups was <5% for each question.
In contrast, after a Bonferroni correction, no differences were observed between types of Christians in teaching others the Bible, sharing the gospel, fellowship with other believers or security of salvation (P>0.001). Further, personal wellbeing did not differ between the three groups (P=0.033).
Prior research from Teleios has noted improvement in wellbeing with self-identified evangelicals compared to social and seeker Christians as well as non-Christians (P<0.0001). Evangelicals who also believe in being saved by grace and practice the elements of the faith (e.g., prayer, praise, fellowship, outreach and study the Bible) demonstrated better personal wellbeing then those who did not.
Dr. William C. Stewart, cofounder of Teleios, stated “Self-identifying as a Christian enhances wellbeing and especially for those who are adherent to the practices and beliefs of the faith! However, differentiating personal wellbeing among self-identified Christian groups such as evangelical, social Christians and seekers, based on a single religious practice, is difficult. Further research is needed to better describe Christians of different levels of beliefs and faith practices so the effects of biblical adherence on their lives can be better documented.”
This study showed the term, ‘evangelical’, although often used as a convenient term to describe more adherent Christians, poorly differentiates groups, that are assumed to be either seeking information on the faith or only social Christians, regarding their basic beliefs and practice of the faith.
WC Stewart, A Brogan, JA Stewart, LA Nelson
About Teleios – Teleios teaches the Bible and the gospel, giving confidence to its truth. Teleios is a non-profit foundation that seeks to demonstrate the truth of scripture and the Christian faith through scientific methods by providing evidence for the positive results of a biblically-based lifestyle and produces practical tools for scriptural understanding and confidence.