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Michael Jackson apparently regards himself as an "evangelical" Christian. Who knew? Though I doubt this association was in the mind of John Buckeridge, the editor of Christianity magazine, who uses his to voice exasperation at the popular connotations that now haunt the 'e' word:

I’m tired of being tarred with the identities of men with megaphones who shout ‘hell’, ‘wrath’ and ‘damnation’ at passers-by and fail to say, ‘love’, ‘grace’ or ‘forgiveness’. I’m tired of being tarred with the identities of the ‘anti-everything’ brigade – who angrily list the things they are against and claim to speak for ‘evangelicals’, but actually have a tiny support base. And I’m tired of being tarred with US right wing foreign policy.

Buckeridge says the word 'evangelical', like other words such as 'gay', 'ecstacy', and 'wicked', has changed its meaning. There's no doubt that the term 'evangelical' is often used, particularly in media accounts, as a synonym of 'fundamentalist'. But the term 'evangelical' is a difficult one nothwithstanding the political caricatures it now attracts. There is no clear, undisputed definition of the term, even among self-styled evangelicals. Anyone like to risk a definition?

I well remember the evangelical theologian comment on the distinction between an evangelical and a fundamentalist: an evangelical, he said, is a fundamentalist with table manners.

Then there's the question of which alternative terms would helpfully re-brand contemporary evangelicalism. Some possibilities immediately suggest themselves: "conservative Christians", "biblical Christians", "biblical literalists". But my personal favourite is this one: "paleo-orthodox". Any takers?