Evangelism

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Evangelism (from the Greek ευαγγελος, "evangelos", "good message") is the act of proselytizing a position on some "truth value," usually, but not always, a religion (the term is also used for the promotion of various philosophies in politics and technical fields, particularly computers, and is now marketing jargon). The word springs from its use in the spreading of the Christian gospel (ευαγγελιον, "evangelion").

Evangelism, being a form of public relations, tends to focus on the positives of the message it is trying to spread, sometimes even misrepresenting the message to make it more palatable to newcomers.[1] Not all religions actively engage in it; while most Christian and Islamic denominations, for example, are by and large insistent on trying to bring in new members (sometimes even with the threat of violence), Judaism often actually discourages conversions and Shinto, which is based more around geography than dogma, generally lacks the concept of "conversion" altogether.

[edit] See also

[edit] Footnotes

  1. In particular, Scientology refers to this technique as "gradient," while the Mormon Church uses the somewhat less technical "milk before meat." Both concepts implicitly note the difficulties that outsiders often have accepting their doctrines.
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