Definition of Evangelicalism

I was reading Millard Erikson's address to the Evangelical Theological Society titled "Evangelical Scholarship in the Twenty-First Century", you can read it here. Keeping in tune with what I said about Edward's being an evangelical, Erikson gives some guidelines on what an evangelical is, first of all saying that an evangelical can be a conservative biblical Christian. Next, he gives the following explanation of an evagelical:

four elements contributed to early twentieth-century American evangelicalism: orthodoxy, pietism, Puritanism,and revivalism.

Evangelicalism has several components. It has a doctrinal component, a web of convictions that constitute the context within which the life of the believer functions. It has a spiritual element, a form of piety that begins with an experience of regeneration and involves a continuing personal relationship with God. It has an ethical element, a commitment to a life of purity in accordance with God’s revealed will, and ultimately, of conformity to his very character. It has an evangelistic element, the fulfillment of Christ’s commission to tell others the good news of salvation and to win them to a decision to accept the savior. My point is this: evangelicalism, historically, has involved all four of these elements. If any of these elements is missing, a church may call itself evangelical, but it really is not, at least not in the sense that term has borne historically. While various streams of evangelicalism may emphasize more strongly one or two of these than does another stream, they are still members of the family, just as various members of a human family vary in certain respects, but have certain resemblances. It is these different blends of these elements that give evangelicalism its great variety.

It seems that evangelical is thrown around as a catch phrase. I like Erikson's explanation of what evagelical's are, and it makes me more likely and willing to identify myself as one.