During the 1960s and 70s, Western evangelicals spent much time discussing the relationship between social action and gospel proclamation, with major conferences held in Berlin (1966), Lausanne (1974) and Lausanne 2 in Manila (1989).
Some see such developments as a recovery of a vital element of authentic evangelicalism that was previously lost as an overreaction to the 'social gospel'. Other assessments are more negative, seeing a move away from full-blooded evangelicalism to a more liberal direction.
The question is this: has there been a return to the kind of evangelical social involvement characterised by our forefathers, or has such a theological change occurred that the modern basis of such action would hardly be recognised by the likes of Wilberforce as being evangelical at all?
