DONATE ANY AMOUNT TO HELP!
LINK WILL TAKE YOU TO OUR FUNDLY PAGE –IT’S A SAFE LINK..
hEALTHY MINDS-BODIES-SOULS
https://fundly.com/bibles-4-inmates
Christian Hacktivist- This blog is going to take you to the Truth !
-
prophecy
-
internet- both surfCE and dark !
-
organic restructuring of your life
-
Food industry lies reveled
-
how to grow yopur own food
-
storage reserves for post rapture loved ones left behind
-
how to use the deep web , important in the end times for knowledge to spread !
-
Islam- Isreal- USA- the pope- ANTICHRIST AMONG US …AND MORE
Salute critical thought !
In its early form, the concept was adopted by a decentralized online community acting anonymously in a coordinated manner, usually toward a loosely self-agreed goal, and primarily focused on entertainment, or “lulz“. Beginning with 2008’s Project Chanology—a series of protests, pranks, and hacks targeting the Church of Scientology—the Anonymous collective became increasingly associated with collaborative hacktivism on a number of issues internationally. Individuals claiming to align themselves with Anonymous undertook protests and other actions (including direct action) in retaliation against copyright-focused campaigns by motion picture and recording industry trade associations. Later targets of Anonymous hacktivism included government agencies of the U.S., Israel, Tunisia, Uganda, and others; the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant; child pornography sites; copyright protection agencies; the Westboro Baptist Church; and corporations such as PayPal, MasterCard, Visa, and Sony. Anons have publicly supported WikiLeaks and the Occupy movement. Related groups LulzSec and Operation AntiSec carried out cyberattacks on U.S. government agencies, media, video game companies, military contractors, military personnel, and police officers, resulting in the attention of law enforcement to the groups’ activities. Some actions by members of the group have been described as being anti-Zionist. It has threatened to cyber-attack Israel and engaged in the “#OpIsrael” cyber-attacks of Israeli websites on Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) in 2013.[8]
https://fundly.com/bibles-4-inmates
Dozens of people have been arrested for involvement in Anonymous cyberattacks, in countries including the U.S., UK, Australia, the Netherlands, Spain, India and Turkey. Evaluations of the group’s actions and effectiveness vary widely. Supporters have called the group “freedom fighters”[9] and digital Robin Hoods[10] while critics have described them as “a cyber lynch-mob”[11] or “cyber terrorists”.[12] In 2012, Time called Anonymous one of the “100 most influential people” in the world.[13]
Anonymous first became associated with hacktivism[b] in 2008 following a series of actions against the Church of Scientology known as Project Chanology. On January 15, 2008, the gossip blog Gawker posted a video in which celebrity Scientologist Tom Cruise praised the religion;[43] and the Church responded with a cease-and-desist letter for violation of copyright.[44] 4chan users organized a raid against the Church in retaliation, prank-calling its hotline, sending black faxes designed to waste ink cartridges, and launching DDoS attacks against its websites.[45][46]
The DDoS attacks were at first carried out with the Gigaloader and JMeter applications. Within a few days, these were supplanted by the Low Orbit Ion Cannon (LOIC), a network stress-testing application allowing users to flood a server with TCP or UDP packets. The LOIC soon became a signature weapon in the Anonymous arsenal; however, it would also lead to a number of arrests of less experienced Anons who failed to conceal their IP addresses.[47] Some operators in Anonymous IRC channels incorrectly told or lied to new volunteers that using the LOIC carried no legal risk.[48][49]
Protesters outside a Scientology center on February 10, 2008
During the DDoS attacks, a group of Anons uploaded a YouTube video in which a robotic voice speaks on behalf of Anonymous, telling the “leaders of Scientology” that “For the good of your followers, for the good of mankind—for the laughs—we shall expel you from the Internet.”[50][51] Within ten days, the video had attracted hundreds of thousands of views.[51]
On February 10, thousands of Anonymous joined simultaneous protests at Church of Scientology facilities around the world.[52] Many protesters wore the stylized Guy Fawkes masks popularized by the graphic novel and film V for Vendetta, in which an anarchist revolutionary battles a totalitarian government; the masks soon became a popular symbol for Anonymous.[53] In-person protests against the Church continued throughout the year, including “Operation Party Hard” on March 15 and “Operation Reconnect” on April 12.[54][55][56] However, by mid-year, they were drawing far fewer protesters, and many of the organizers in IRC channels had begun to drift away from the project.[57]
Salute critical thought !
https://fundly.com/resist-rise-love
Operation Payback (2010)
By the start of 2009, Scientologists had stopped engaging with protesters and had improved online security, and actions against the group had largely ceased. A period of infighting followed between the politically engaged members (called “moralfags” in the parlance of 4chan) and those seeking to provoke for entertainment (trolls).[58] By September 2010, the group had received little publicity for a year and faced a corresponding drop in member interest; its raids diminished greatly in size and moved largely off of IRC channels, organizing again from the chan boards, particularly /b/.[59]
In September 2010, however, Anons became aware of Aiplex Software, an Indian software company that contracted with film studios to launch DDoS attacks on websites used by copyright infringers, such as The Pirate Bay.[60][59] Coordinating through IRC, Anons launched a DDoS attack on September 17 that shut down Aiplex’s website for a day. Primarily using LOIC, the group then targeted the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), successfully bringing down both sites.[61] On September 19, future LulzSec member Mustafa Al-Bassam (known as “Tflow”) and other Anons hacked the website of Copyright Alliance, an anti-infringement group, and posted the name of the operation: “Payback Is A Bitch”, or “Operation Payback” for short.[62] Anons also issued a press release, stating:
Anonymous is tired of corporate interests controlling the internet and silencing the people’s rights to spread information, but more importantly, the right to SHARE with one another. The RIAA and the MPAA feign to aid the artists and their cause; yet they do no such thing. In their eyes is not hope, only dollar signs. Anonymous will not stand this any longer.[63]
As IRC network operators were beginning to shut down networks involved in DDoS attacks, Anons organized a group of servers to host an independent IRC network, titled AnonOps.[64] Operation Payback’s targets rapidly expanded to include the British law firm ACS:Law,[65] the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft,[66] the British nightclub Ministry of Sound,[67] the Spanish copyright society Sociedad General de Autores y Editores,[68] the U.S. Copyright Office,[69] and the website of Gene Simmons of Kiss.[70] By October 7, 2010, total downtime for all websites attacked during Operation Payback was 537.55 hours.[70]
In November 2010, the organization WikiLeaks began releasing hundreds of thousands of leaked U.S. diplomatic cables. In the face of legal threats against the organization by the U.S. government, Amazon.com booted WikiLeaks from its servers, and PayPal, MasterCard, and Visa cut off service to the organization.[71] Operation Payback then expanded to include “Operation Avenge Assange”, and Anons issued a press release declaring PayPal a target.[72] Launching DDoS attacks with the LOIC, Anons quickly brought down the websites of the PayPal blog; PostFinance, a Swiss financial company denying service to WikiLeaks; EveryDNS, a web-hosting company that had also denied service; and the website of U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman, who had supported the push to cut off services.[73]
On December 8, Anons launched an attack against PayPal’s main site. According to Topiary, who was in the command channel during the attack, the LOIC proved ineffective, and Anons were forced to rely on the botnets of two hackers for the attack, marshaling hijacked computers for a concentrated assault.[74] Security researcher Sean-Paul Correll also reported that the “zombie computers” of involuntary botnets had provided 90% of the attack.[75] Topiary states that he and other Anons then “lied a bit to the press to give it that sense of abundance”, exaggerating the role of the grassroots membership. However, this account was disputed.[76]
The attacks brought down PayPal.com for an hour on December 8 and another brief period on December 9.[77] Anonymous also disrupted the sites for Visa and MasterCard on December 8.[78] Anons had announced an intention to bring down Amazon.com as well, but failed to do so, allegedly because of infighting with the hackers who controlled the botnets.[79] PayPal estimated the damage to have cost the company US$5.5 million. It later provided the IP addresses of 1,000 of its attackers to the FBI, leading to at least 14 arrests.[80] On Thursday, December 5, 2013, 13 of the PayPal 14 pleaded guilty to taking part in the attacks.[81]
2011–2012
A member holding an Anonymous flier at Occupy Wall Street, a protest that the group actively supported, September 17, 2011
In the years following Operation Payback, targets of Anonymous protests, hacks, and DDoS attacks continued to diversify. Beginning in January 2011, Anons took a number of actions known initially as Operation Tunisia in support of Arab Spring movements. Tflow created a script that Tunisians could use to protect their web browsers from government surveillance, while fellow future LulzSec member Hector Xavier Monsegur (alias “Sabu”) and others allegedly hijacked servers from a London web-hosting company to launch a DDoS attack on Tunisian government websites, taking them offline. Sabu also used a Tunisian volunteer’s computer to hack the website of Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi, replacing it with a message from Anonymous.[82] Anons also helped Tunisian dissidents share videos online about the uprising.[83] In Operation Egypt, Anons collaborated with the activist group Telecomix to help dissidents access government-censored websites.[83] Sabu and Topiary went on to participate in attacks on government websites in Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Jordan, and Zimbabwe.[84]
Tflow, Sabu, Topiary, and Ryan Ackroyd (known as “Kayla”) collaborated in February 2011 on a cyber-attack against Aaron Barr, CEO of the computer security firm HBGary Federal, in retaliation for his research on Anonymous and his threat to expose members of the group. Using a SQL injection weakness, the four hacked the HBGary site, used Barr’s captured password to vandalize his Twitter feed with racist messages, and released an enormous cache of HBGary’s e-mails in a torrent file on Pirate Bay.[85] The e-mails stated that Barr and HBGary had proposed to Bank of America a plan to discredit WikiLeaks in retaliation for a planned leak of Bank of America documents,[86] and the leak caused substantial public relations harm to the firm as well as leading one U.S. congressman to call for a congressional investigation.[87] Barr resigned as CEO before the end of the month.[88]
Several attacks by Anons have targeted organizations accused of homophobia. In February 2011, an open letter was published on AnonNews.org threatening the Westboro Baptist Church, an organization based in Kansas in the U.S. known for picketing funerals with signs reading “God Hates Fags”.[89] During a live radio current affairs program in which Topiary debated church member Shirley Phelps-Roper, Anons hacked one of the organization’s websites.[90] After the church announced its intentions in December 2012 to picket the funerals of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims, Anons published the names, phone numbers, and e-mail and home addresses of church members and brought down GodHatesFags.com with a DDoS attack.[91] Hacktivists also circulated petitions to have the church’s tax-exempt status investigated.[92] In August 2012, Anons hacked the site of Ugandan Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi in retaliation for the Parliament of Uganda‘s consideration of an anti-homosexuality law permitting capital punishment.[93]
In April 2011, Anons launched a series of attacks against Sony in retaliation for trying to stop hacks of the PlayStation 3 game console. More than 100 million Sony accounts were compromised, and the Sony services Qriocity and PlayStation Network were taken down for a month apiece by cyberattacks.[94]
Anonymous protestors at the Brussels Stock Exchange, Belgium, January 2012
When the Occupy Wall Street protests began in New York City in September 2011, Anons were early participants and helped spread the movement to other cities such as Boston.[15] In October, some Anons attacked the website of the New York Stock Exchange while other Anons publicly opposed the action via Twitter.[95] Some Anons also helped organize an Occupy protest outside the London Stock Exchange on May 1, 2012.[96]
Anons launched Operation Darknet in October 2011, targeting websites hosting child pornography. In particular, the group hacked a child pornography site called “Lolita City” hosted by Freedom Hosting, releasing 1,589 usernames from the site. Anons also said that they had disabled forty image-swapping pedophile websites that employed the anonymity network Tor.[97] In 2012, Anons leaked the names of users of a suspected child pornography site in OpDarknetV2.[98] Anonymous launched the #OpPedoChat campaign on Twitter in 2012 as a continuation of Operation Darknet. In attempt to eliminate child pornography from the internet, the group posted the emails and IP addresses of suspected pedophiles on the online forum PasteBin.[99][100]
In 2011, the Koch Industries website was attacked following their attack upon union members, resulting in their website being made inaccessible for 15 minutes. In 2013, one member, a 38-year-old truck driver, pleaded guilty when accused of participating in the attack for a period of one minute, and received a sentence of two years federal probation, and ordered to pay $183,000 restitution, the amount Koch stated they paid a consultancy organisation, despite this being only a denial of service attack.[101]
On January 19, 2012, the U.S. Department of Justice shut down the file-sharing site Megaupload on allegations of copyright infringement. Anons responded with a wave of DDoS attacks on U.S. government and copyright organizations, shutting down the sites for the RIAA, MPAA, Broadcast Music, Inc., and the FBI.[102]
In 2012, Anonymous launched Operation Anti-Bully: Operation Hunt Hunter in retaliation to Hunter Moore’s revenge porn site, “Is Anyone Up?” Anonymous crashed Moore’s servers and publicized much of his personal information online, including his social security number. The organization also published the personal information of Andrew Myers, the proprietor of “Is Anyone Back”, a copycat site of Mr. Moore’s “Is Anyone Up?”[103]
In response to Operation Pillar of Defense, a November 2012 Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip, Anons took down hundreds of Israeli websites with DDoS attacks.[104] Anons pledged another “massive cyberassault” against Israel in April 2013 in retaliation for its actions in Gaza, promising to “wipe Israel off the map of the Internet”.[105] However, its DDoS attacks caused only temporary disruptions, leading cyberwarfare experts to suggest that the group had been unable to recruit or hire botnet operators for the attack.[106][107]
2013–present
Million Mask March
Main article: Million Mask March
On 5 November 2013, Anonymous protesters gathered around the world for the Million Mask March. Demonstrations were held in 400 cities around the world to coincide with Guy Fawkes Night.[108]
#OpOk
Operation Oklahoma was a Mutual Aid effort responding to the 2013 flash floods and wind storms in the United States.
Operation Safe Winter
Operation Safe Winter was an effort to raise awareness about homelessness through the collection, collation, and redistribution of resources. This program began on 7 November 2013[109] after an online call to action from Anonymous UK. Three missions using a charity framework were suggested in the original global spawning a variety of direct actions from used clothing drives to pitch in community potlucks feeding events in the UK, US and Turkey.[110]
The #OpSafeWinter call to action quickly spread through the mutual aid communities like Occupy Wall Street[111] and its offshoot groups like the open-source-based OccuWeather.[112] With the addition of the long-term mutual aid communities of New York City and online hacktivists in the US, it took on an additional three suggested missions.[113] Encouraging participation from the general public, this operation has raised questions of privacy and the changing nature of the Anonymous community’s use of monikers. The project to support those living on the streets while causing division in its own online network has been able to partner with many efforts and organizations not traditionally associated with Anonymous or online activists.
Shooting of Michael Brown
In the wake of the fatal police shooting of unarmed African-American Michael Brown, “Operation Ferguson”—a hacktivist organization that claimed to be associated with Anonymous—organized cyberprotests against police, setting up a website and a Twitter account to do so.[114] The group promised that if any protesters were harassed or harmed, they would attack the city’s servers and computers, taking them offline.[114] City officials said that e-mail systems were targeted and phones died, while the Internet crashed at the City Hall.[114][115] Prior to August 15, members of Anonymous corresponding with Mother Jones said that they were working on confirming the identity of the undisclosed police officer who shot Brown and would release his name as soon as they did.[116] On August 14, Anonymous posted on its Twitter feed what it claimed was the name of the officer involved in the shooting.[117][118] However, police said the identity released by Anonymous was incorrect.[119] Twitter subsequently suspended the Anonymous account from its service.[120]
It was reported on 19 November 2014 that Anonymous had declared cyber war on the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) the previous week, after the KKK had made death threats following the Ferguson riots. They hacked the KKK’s Twitter account, attacked servers hosting KKK sites, and started to release the personal details of members.[121]
Shooting of Tamir Rice
On November 24, 2014, Anonymous shut down the Cleveland city website and posted a video after Tamir Rice, a twelve-year-old boy armed only with a BB gun, was shot to death by a police officer in a Cleveland park.[122] Anonymous also used BeenVerified to uncover phone number and address of a policeman involved in the shooting.[123]
Charlie Hebdo shootings
In January 2015, Anonymous released a video and a statement via Twitter condemning the attack on Charlie Hebdo, in which 12 people, including eight journalists, were fatally shot. The video, claiming that it is “a message for al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and other terrorists”, was uploaded to the group’s Belgian account.[124] The announcement stated that “We, Anonymous around the world, have decided to declare war on you, the terrorists” and promises to avenge the killings by “shut[ting] down your accounts on all social networks.”[125] On January 12, they brought down a website that was suspected to belong to one of these groups.[126] Critics of the action warned that taking down extremists’ websites would make them harder to monitor.[127]
Anti-Islamic “Reclaim Australia” rally
Anonymous opposed Anti-Islamic Reclaim Australia rallies and described it as “an extreme right-wing group inciting religious hatred.” It also promised to organize counter-rallies on April 4, 2015.[128]
Operation CyberPrivacy
On June 17, 2015, Anonymous claimed responsibility for a Denial of Service attack against Canadian government websites in protest of the passage of bill C-51—an anti-terror legislation that grants additional powers to Canadian intelligence agencies.[129] The attack temporarily affected the websites of several federal agencies.
Operation KKK
On 28 October 2015, Anonymous announced that it would reveal the names of up to 1,000 members of the Ku Klux Klan and other affiliated groups, stating in a press release, “You are terrorists that hide your identities beneath sheets and infiltrate society on every level. The privacy of the Ku Klux Klan no longer exists in cyberspace.”[130] On November 2, a list of 57 phone numbers and 23 email addresses (that allegedly belong to KKK members) was reportedly published and received media attention.[131] However, a tweet from the “@Operation_KKK” Twitter account the same day denied it had released that information: “#ICYMI #OpKKK was in no way involved with today’s release of information that incorrectly outed several politicians.” [132][133][134] The group stated it plans to reveal the names on November 5.
#OpSaudi
Since 2013, Saudi Arabian hacktivists have been targeting government websites protesting the actions of the regime.[135] These actions have seen attacks supported by the possibly Iranian backed Yemen Cyber Army.[136]
#OpISIS
In 2015, an offshoot of Anonymous self-described as Ghost Security or GhostSec started targeting Islamic State-affiliated websites and social media handles.[137][138][139]
#OpParis
In November 2015, Anonymous announced a major, sustained operation[140] against ISIS following the November 2015 Paris attacks, declaring, “Anonymous from all over the world will hunt you down. You should know that we will find you and we will not let you go.”[141][142] ISIS responded on Telegram by calling them “idiots”, and asking “What they gonna to [sic] hack?”[143][144] By the next day, however, Anonymous claimed to have taken down 3,824 pro-ISIS Twitter accounts, and by the third, more than 5,000,[145] and to have doxxed recruiters.[146] A week later, Anonymous increased their claim to 20,000 accounts and released a list of the accounts.[147][148] The list included the Twitter accounts of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, The New York Times and BBC News. The BBC reported that most of the accounts on the list appeared to be still active.[149] A spokesman for Twitter told The Daily Dot that the company is not using the lists of accounts being reported by Anonymous, as they have been found to be “wildly inaccurate” and include accounts used by academics and journalists.[150]
#OpNASADrones
In 2015, a group that claims affiliation with Anonymous group, calling themselves as AnonSec, claimed to have hacked and gathered almost 276 GB of data from NASA servers including NASA flight and radar logs and videos, and also multiple documents related to ongoing research.[151] AnonSec group also claimed gaining access of a Global Hawk Drone of NASA, and released some video footage purportedly from the drone’s cameras. A part of the data was released by AnonSec on Pastebin service, as an Anon Zine.[152] NASA has denied the hack, asserting that the control of the drones were never compromised, but has acknowledged that the photos released along with the content are real photographs of its employees, but that most of these data are already available in the public domain.[153]
#BoycottThailand: Thailand Jail Hack
The Blink Hacker Group, associating themselves with the Anonymous group, claimed to have hacked the Thailand prison websites and servers.[154] The compromised data has been shared online, with the group claiming that they give the data back to Thailand Justice and the citizens of Thailand as well. The hack was done in response to news from Thailand about the mistreatment of prisoners in Thailand.[155]
2016 US Presidential Election
In March 2016, Anonymous was reported to have declared war on Donald Trump.[156] However, the “Anonymous Official” YouTube channel released a video denouncing #OpTrump as an operation that “goes against everything Anonymous stands for” in reference to censorship and added “we are for everyone letting their voices be heard, even, if the person at hand…is a monster.”[157]
Anonymous was also reported to have declared war on Hillary Clinton.[158] Various outlets claiming to represent Anonymous have released attacks on the Clinton campaign.[159][160]
South African Corruption
A group calling themselves Anonymous Africa launched a number of DDoS attacks on websites associated with the controversial South African Gupta family in mid-June 2016. Gupta-owned companies targeted included the websites of Oakbay Investments, The New Age, and ANN7. The websites of the South African Broadcasting Corporation and a political parties Economic Freedom Fighters and Zimbabwe’s Zanu-PF were also attacked for “nationalist socialist rhetoric and politicising racism.”[161]
Related groups
LulzSec
Main article: LulzSec
In May 2011, the small group of Anons behind the HBGary Federal hack—including Tflow, Topiary, Sabu, and Kayla—formed the hacker group “Lulz Security”, commonly abbreviated “LulzSec”. The group’s first attack was against Fox.com, leaking several passwords, LinkedIn profiles, and the names of 73,000 X Factor contestants. In May 2011, members of Lulz Security gained international attention for hacking into the American Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) website. They stole user data and posted a fake story on the site that claimed that rappers Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls were still alive and living in New Zealand.[162] LulzSec stated that some of its hacks, including its attack on PBS, were motivated by a desire to defend WikiLeaks and its informant Chelsea Manning.[163]
In June 2011, members of the group claimed responsibility for an attack against Sony Pictures that took data that included “names, passwords, e-mail addresses, home addresses and dates of birth for thousands of people.”[164] In early June, LulzSec hacked into and stole user information from the pornography website http://www.pron.com. They obtained and published around 26,000 e-mail addresses and passwords.[165] On June 14, 2011, LulzSec took down four websites by request of fans as part of their “Titanic Take-down Tuesday”. These websites were Minecraft, League of Legends, The Escapist, and IT security company FinFisher.[166] They also attacked the login servers of the multiplayer online game EVE Online, which also disabled the game’s front-facing website, and the League of Legends login servers. Most of the takedowns were performed with DDoS attacks.[167]
LulzSec also hacked a variety of government-affiliated sites, such as chapter sites of InfraGard, a non-profit organization affiliated with the FBI.[168] The group leaked some of InfraGard member e-mails and a database of local users.[169] On June 13, LulzSec released the e-mails and passwords of a number of users of senate.gov, the website of the U.S. Senate.[170] On June 15, LulzSec launched an attack on cia.gov, the public website of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, taking the website offline for several hours with a distributed denial-of-service attack.[171] On December 2, an offshoot of LulzSec calling itself LulzSec Portugal attacked several sites related to the government of Portugal. The websites for the Bank of Portugal, the Assembly of the Republic, and the Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Development all became unavailable for a few hours.[172]
On June 26, 2011, the core LulzSec group announced it had reached the end of its “50 days of lulz” and was ceasing operations.[173] Sabu, however, had already been secretly arrested on June 7 and then released to work as an FBI informant. His cooperation led to the arrests of Ryan Cleary, James Jeffery, and others.[174] Tflow was arrested on July 19, 2011,[175] Topiary was arrested on July 27,[176] and Kayla was arrested on March 6, 2012.[177] Topiary, Kayla, Tflow, and Cleary pleaded guilty in April 2013 and were scheduled to be sentenced in May 2013.[178] In April 2013, Australian police arrested Cody Kretsinger, whom they alleged to be self-described LulzSec leader Aush0k.[179]
AntiSec
Main article: Operation AntiSec
Beginning in June 2011, hackers from Anonymous and LulzSec collaborated on a series of cyber attacks known as “Operation AntiSec”. On June 23, in retaliation for the passage of the immigration enforcement bill Arizona SB 1070, LulzSec released a cache of documents from the Arizona Department of Public Safety, including the personal information and home addresses of many law enforcement officers.[180] On June 22, LulzSecBrazil took down the websites of the Government of Brazil and the President of Brazil.[181][182] Later data dumps included the names, addresses, phone numbers, Internet passwords, and Social Security numbers of police officers in Arizona,[183] Missouri,[184] and Alabama.[185] Antisec members also stole police officer credit card information to make donations to various causes.[186]
On July 18, LulzSec hacked into and vandalized the website of British newspaper The Sun in response to a phone-hacking scandal.[187][188] Other targets of AntiSec actions have included FBI contractor ManTech International,[189] computer security firm Vanguard Defense Industries,[190] and defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, releasing 90,000 military e-mail accounts and their passwords from the latter.[191]
In December 2011, AntiSec member “sup_g” (alleged by the U.S. government to be Jeremy Hammond) and others hacked Stratfor, a U.S.-based intelligence company, vandalizing its web page and publishing 30,000 credit card numbers from its databases.[192] AntiSec later released millions of the group’s e-mails to Wikileaks.[193]
Arrests and trials
Since 2009, dozens of people have been arrested for involvement in Anonymous cyberattacks, in countries including the U.S., UK, Australia, the Netherlands, Spain, and Turkey.[194] Anons generally protest these prosecutions and describe these individuals as martyrs to the movement.[195] The July 2011 arrest of LulzSec member Topiary became a particular rallying point, leading to a widespread “Free Topiary” movement.[196]
The first person to be sent to jail for participation in an Anonymous DDoS attack was Dmitriy Guzner, an American 19-year-old. He pleaded guilty to “unauthorized impairment of a protected computer” in November 2009 and was sentenced to 366 days in U.S. federal prison.[197][198]
On June 13, 2011, officials in Turkey arrested 32 individuals that were allegedly involved in DDoS attacks on Turkish government websites. These members of Anonymous were captured in different cities of Turkey including Istanbul and Ankara. According to PC Magazine, these individuals were arrested after they attacked these websites as a response to the Turkish government demand to ISPs to implement a system of filters that many have perceived as censorship.[199][200]
Chris Doyon (alias “Commander X”), a self-described leader of Anonymous, was arrested in September 2011 for a cyberattack on the website of Santa Cruz County, California.[201][202] He jumped bail in February 2012 and fled across the border into Canada.[202]
On September 2012, journalist and Anonymous associate Barrett Brown, known for speaking to media on behalf of the group, was arrested hours after posting a video that appeared to threaten FBI agents with physical violence. Brown was subsequently charged with 17 offenses, including publishing personal credit card information from the Stratfor hack.[203]
Operation Avenge Assange
Several law enforcement agencies took action after Anonymous’ Operation Avenge Assange.[204] In January 2011, the British police arrested five male suspects between the ages of 15 and 26 with suspicion of participating in Anonymous DDoS attacks.[205] During July 19–20, 2011, as many as 20 or more arrests were made of suspected Anonymous hackers in the US, UK, and Netherlands. According to the statements of U.S. officials, suspects’ homes were raided and suspects were arrested in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Washington DC, Florida, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Mexico, and Ohio. Additionally, a 16-year-old boy was held by the police in south London on suspicion of breaching the Computer Misuse Act 1990, and four were held in the Netherlands.[206][207][208][209]
AnonOps admin Christopher Weatherhead (alias “Nerdo”), a 22-year-old who had reportedly been intimately involved in organising DDoS attacks during “Operation Payback”,[210] was convicted by a UK court on one count of conspiracy to impair the operation of computers in December 2012. He was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment. Ashley Rhodes, Peter Gibson, and another male had already pleaded guilty to the same charge for actions between August 2010 and January 2011.[210][211]
Analysis
Evaluations of Anonymous’ actions and effectiveness vary widely. In a widely shared post, blogger Patrick Gray wrote that private security firms “secretly love” the group for the way in which it publicises cyber security threats.[212] Anonymous is sometimes stated to have changed the nature of protesting,[10][11] and in 2012, Time called it one of the “100 most influential people” in the world.[13]
In 2012, Public Radio International reported that the U.S. National Security Agency considered Anonymous a potential national security threat and had warned the president that it could develop the capability to disable parts of the U.S. power grid.[213] In contrast, CNN reported in the same year that “security industry experts generally don’t consider Anonymous a major player in the world of cybercrime” due the group’s reliance on DDoS attacks that briefly disabled websites rather than the more serious damage possible through hacking. One security consultant compared the group to “a jewelry thief that drives through a window, steal jewels, and rather than keep them, waves them around and tosses them out to a crowd … They’re very noisy, low-grade crimes.”[95] In its 2013 Threats Predictions report, McAfee wrote that the technical sophistication of Anonymous was in decline and that it was losing supporters due to “too many uncoordinated and unclear operations”.[214]
Graham Cluley, a security expert for Sophos, argued that Anonymous’ actions against child porn websites hosted on a darknet could be counterproductive, commenting that while their intentions may be good, the removal of illegal websites and sharing networks should be performed by the authorities, rather than Internet vigilantes.[215] Some commentators also argued that the DDoS attacks by Anonymous following the January 2012 Stop Online Piracy Act protests had proved counterproductive. Molly Wood of CNET wrote that “[i]f the SOPA/PIPA protests were the Web’s moment of inspiring, non-violent, hand-holding civil disobedience, #OpMegaUpload feels like the unsettling wave of car-burning hooligans that sweep in and incite the riot portion of the play.”[216] Dwight Silverman of the Houston Chronicle concurred, stating that “Anonymous’ actions hurt the movement to kill SOPA/PIPA by highlighting online lawlessness.”[217] The Oxford Internet Institute‘s Joss Wright wrote that “In one sense the actions of Anonymous are themselves, anonymously and unaccountably, censoring websites in response to positions with which they disagree.”[218]
Gabriella Coleman has compared the group to the trickster archetype[219] and said that “they dramatize the importance of anonymity and privacy in an era when both are rapidly eroding. Given that vast databases track us, given the vast explosion of surveillance, there’s something enchanting, mesmerizing and at a minimum thought-provoking about Anonymous’ interventions”.[220] When asked what good Anonymous had done for the world, Parmy Olson replied:
In some cases, yes, I think it has in terms of some of the stuff they did in the Middle East supporting the pro-democracy demonstrators. But a lot of bad things too, unnecessarily harassing people – I would class that as a bad thing. DDOSing the CIA website, stealing customer data and posting it online just for shits and giggles is not a good thing.[22]
Quinn Norton of Wired wrote of the group in 2011:
I will confess up front that I love Anonymous, but not because I think they’re the heroes. Like Alan Moore’s character V who inspired Anonymous to adopt the Guy Fawkes mask as an icon and fashion item, you’re never quite sure if Anonymous is the hero or antihero. The trickster is attracted to change and the need for change, and that’s where Anonymous goes. But they are not your personal army – that’s Rule 44 – yes, there are rules. And when they do something, it never goes quite as planned. The internet has no neat endings.[219]
Furthermore, Landers assessed the following in 2008:
Anonymous is the first internet-based super-consciousness. Anonymous is a group, in the sense that a flock of birds is a group. How do you know they’re a group? Because they’re travelling in the same direction. At any given moment, more birds could join, leave, peel off in another direction entirely.[221]
Media portrayal
Sam Esmail, the creator of the USA Network show Mr. Robot, said in an interview with Motherboard that he was inspired by Anonymous when creating the hacktivist drama.[222] Furthermore, Wired calls the “Omegas”, a fictitious hacker group in the show, “a clear reference to the Anonymous offshoot known as LulzSec.”[223] A member of Anonymous called Mr. Robot “the most accurate portrayal of security and hacking culture ever to grace the screen.”[224] In the TV series Elementary an hacktivist collection called “Everyone” plays a recurring role, there are several hints and similarities to Anonymous.
See also
Memetic personaComposition |
Activism Other related articles |
Usage
Martin Luther referred to his followers as evangelisch to distinguish them from Catholics
The word evangelical has its etymological roots in the Greek word for “gospel” or “good news”: εὐαγγέλιον euangelion, from eu “good”, angel– the stem of, among other words, angelos “messenger, angel”, and the neuter suffix –ion. By the English Middle Ages the term had expanded semantically to include not only the message, but also the New Testament which contained the message, as well as more specifically the Gospels which portray the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.[6] The first published use of evangelical in English came in 1531 when William Tyndale wrote “He exhorteth them to proceed constantly in the evangelical truth.” One year later Sir Thomas More produced the earliest recorded use in reference to a theological distinction when he spoke of “Tyndale [and] his evangelical brother Barns”.[7]
During the Reformation, Protestant theologians embraced the label as referring to “gospel truth”. Martin Luther referred to the evangelische Kirche (“evangelical church”) to distinguish Protestants from Catholics in the Roman Catholic Church.[8][9] Into the 21st century, evangelical has continued in use as a synonym for (mainline) Protestant in continental Europe, and elsewhere. This usage is reflected in the names of Protestant denominations such as the Evangelical Church in Germany (a union of Lutheran and Reformed churches) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.[6]
In the English-speaking world, evangelical became a common label used to describe the series of revival movements that occurred in Britain and North America during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.[10] Christian historian David Bebbington writes that, “Although ‘evangelical’, with a lower-case initial, is occasionally used to mean ‘of the gospel’, the term ‘Evangelical’, with a capital letter, is applied to any aspect of the movement beginning in the 1730s.”[11] The term may also occur outside any religious context to characterize a generic missionary, reforming, or redeeming impulse or purpose. For example, the Times Literary Supplement refers to “the rise and fall of evangelical fervor within the Socialist movement”.[12]
Characteristics
Children worshipping at the Harvestime Church of Eau Claire, Wisconsin
One influential definition of Evangelicalism has been proposed by historian David Bebbington.[13] Bebbington notes four distinctive aspects of Evangelical faith: conversionism, biblicism, crucicentrism, and activism, noting, “Together they form a quadrilateral of priorities that is the basis of Evangelicalism.”[14]
Conversionism, or belief in the necessity of being “born again“, has been a constant theme of Evangelicalism since its beginnings. To Evangelicals, the central message of the gospel is justification by faith in Christ and repentance, or turning away, from sin. Conversion differentiates the Christian from the non-Christian, and the change in life it leads to is marked by both a rejection of sin and a corresponding personal holiness of life. A conversion experience can be emotional, including grief and sorrow for sin followed by great relief at receiving forgiveness. The stress on conversion is further differentiated from other forms of Protestantism by the belief that an assurance of salvation will accompany conversion. Among Evangelicals, individuals have testified to both sudden and gradual conversions.[15]
Biblicism is reverence for the Bible and a high regard for biblical authority. All Evangelicals believe in biblical inspiration, though they disagree over how this inspiration should be defined. Many Evangelicals believe in biblical inerrancy, while other Evangelicals believe in biblical infallibility.[16]
Crucicentrism is the attention that Evangelicals give to the Atonement, the saving death and resurrection of Jesus, that offers forgiveness of sins and new life. This is understood most commonly in terms of a substitutionary atonement, in which Christ died as a substitute for sinful humanity by taking on himself the guilt and punishment for sin.[17]
Activism describes the tendency towards active expression and sharing of the gospel in diverse ways that include preaching and social action. This aspect of Evangelicalism continues to be seen today in the proliferation of Evangelical voluntary religious groups and parachurch organizations.[18]
Diversity
| Protestantism |
|---|
 |
| Reformation |
| Great Awakenings |
| History |
| Culture |
| Demographics |
| Persecution
|
| Major branches: |
|
|
| Transdenominational movements: |
|
| Related movements: |
As a trans-denominational movement, Evangelicalism occurs in nearly every Protestant denomination and tradition. The Reformed, Baptist, Wesleyan, and Pentecostal traditions have all had strong influence within modern Evangelicalism.[19] Evangelicals are also represented within the Anabaptist, Anglican and Lutheran traditions.[20]
Demographically speaking, Baptists, Pentecostals, Charismatics, nondenominational Protestants, Churches of Christ, Plymouth Brethren, the Holiness movement and numerous independent evangelical denominations are all deeply and mostly evangelical.[21] Although still in a minority, Evangelicalism is making inroads into all the remaining branches of Protestantism including Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican and other mainline Protestant traditions. Moreover, it affects even some parts of the Roman Catholic Church by influencing the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.
The early 20th century saw the decline of Evangelical influence within mainline Protestantism and the development of Christian fundamentalism as a distinct religious movement. The second half of the century witnessed the development of a new mainstream Evangelical consensus that sought to be more inclusive and more culturally relevant than fundamentalism, while maintaining conservative Protestant teaching. According to professor of world Christianity Brian Stanley, this new postwar consensus is termed “Neo-Evangelicalism”, the “New Evangelicalism”, or simply “Evangelicalism” in the United States, while in the United Kingdom and in other English-speaking countries it is commonly termed conservative Evangelicalism. Over the years, less conservative Evangelicals have challenged this mainstream consensus to varying degrees, and such movements have been described by a variety of labels, such as progressive, open, post-conservative, and post-evangelical.[22]
Fundamentalism
Fundamentalism regards biblical inerrancy, the virgin birth of Jesus, penal substitutionary atonement, the literal resurrection of Christ and the Second Coming of Christ as fundamental Christian doctrines.[23] Fundamentalism arose among Evangelicals in the 1920s to combat modernist or liberal theology in mainline Protestant churches. Failing to reform the mainline churches, fundamentalists separated from them and established their own churches, refusing to participate in ecumenical organizations such as the National Council of Churches. They also made separatism (rigid separation from non-fundamentalist churches and culture) a true test of faith. According to historian George Marsden, most fundamentalists are Baptists and dispensationalist.[24]
Mainstream varieties
Mainstream Evangelicalism is historically divided between two main orientations: confessionalism and revivalism. These two streams have been critical of each other. Confessional Evangelicals have been suspicious of unguarded religious experience, while revivalist Evangelicals have been critical of overly intellectual teaching that (they suspect) stifles vibrant spirituality.[25] In an effort to broaden their appeal, many contemporary Evangelical congregations intentionally avoid identifying with any single form of Evangelicalism. These “generic Evangelicals” are usually theologically and socially conservative, but their churches often present themselves as nondenominational within the broader Evangelical movement.[26]
In the words of Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, confessional Evangelicalism refers to “that movement of Christian believers who seek a constant convictional continuity with the theological formulas of the Protestant Reformation”. While approving of the Evangelical distinctives proposed by Bebbington, confessional Evangelicals believe that authentic Evangelicalism requires more concrete definition in order to protect the movement from theological liberalism and from heresy. This protection, according to confessional Evangelicals, is found in subscription to the ecumenical creeds and to the Reformation-era confessions of faith (such as the confessions of the Reformed churches).[27] Confessional Evangelicals are represented by conservative Presbyterian churches (emphasizing the Westminster Confession), certain Baptist churches that emphasize historic Baptist confessions like the Second London Confession, evangelical Anglicans who emphasize the Thirty-Nine Articles (such as in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney, Australia[28]), and some confessional Lutherans with pietistic convictions.[29][20]
The emphasis on historic Protestant orthodoxy among confessional Evangelicals stands in direct contrast to an anti-creedal outlook that has exerted its own influence on Evangelicalism, particularly among churches heavily influenced by revivalism and by pietism. Revivalist Evangelicals are represented by some quarters of Methodism, the Wesleyan Holiness churches, the Pentecostal/charismatic churches, some Anabaptist churches, and some Baptists and Presbyterians.[20] Revivalist Evangelicals tend to place greater emphasis on religious experience than their confessional counterparts.[25]
Non-conservative varieties
Evangelicals dissatisfied with the movement’s conservative mainstream have been variously described as progressive Evangelicals, post-conservative Evangelicals, Open Evangelicals and Post-evangelicals. Progressive Evangelicals, also known as the Evangelical left, share theological or social views with other progressive Christians, while also identifying with Evangelicalism. Progressive Evangelicals commonly advocate for women’s equality, pacifism and social justice.[30]
As described by Baptist theologian Roger E. Olson, post-conservative Evangelicalism is a theological school of thought that adheres to the four marks of Evangelicalism, while being less rigid and more inclusive of other Christians. According to Olson, post-conservatives believe that doctrine and propositional truth is secondary to spiritual experience shaped by Scripture. Post-conservative Evangelicals seek greater dialogue with other Christian traditions and support the development of a multicultural Evangelical theology that incorporates the voices of women, racial minorities, and Christians in the developing world. Some post-conservative Evangelicals also support open theism and the possibility of near universal salvation.[31]
The term “Open Evangelical” refers to a particular Christian school of thought or churchmanship, primarily in the United Kingdom (especially in the Church of England). Open Evangelicals describe their position as combining a traditional Evangelical emphasis on the nature of scriptural authority, the teaching of the ecumenical creeds and other traditional doctrinal teachings, with an approach towards culture and other theological points-of-view which tends to be more inclusive than that taken by other Evangelicals. Some Open Evangelicals aim to take a middle position between conservative and charismatic Evangelicals, while others would combine conservative theological emphases with more liberal social positions.[32]
British author Dave Tomlinson coined the phrase “post-evangelical” to describe a movement comprising various trends of dissatisfaction among Evangelicals. Others use the term with comparable intent, often to distinguish Evangelicals in the so-called emerging church movement from post-evangelicals and anti-Evangelicals. Tomlinson argues that “linguistically, the distinction [between evangelical and post-evangelical] resembles the one that sociologists make between the modern and postmodern eras”.[33]
History
Background
Count von Zinzendorf was a major influence on John Wesley in founding the Methodist movement.
Evangelicalism did not take recognizable form until the 18th century, first in Britain and its North American colonies. Nevertheless, there were earlier developments within the larger Protestant world that preceded and influenced the later evangelical revivals. According to religion scholar, social activist, and politician Randall Balmer, Evangelicalism resulted “from the confluence of Pietism, Presbyterianism, and the vestiges of Puritanism. Evangelicalism picked up the peculiar characteristics from each strain – warmhearted spirituality from the Pietists (for instance), doctrinal precisionism from the Presbyterians, and individualistic introspection from the Puritans”.[34] Historian Mark Noll adds to this list High Church Anglicanism, which contributed to Evangelicalism a legacy of “rigorous spirituality and innovative organization”.[35]
During the 17th century, Pietism emerged in Europe as a movement for the revival of piety and devotion within the Lutheran church. As a protest against “cold orthodoxy” or an overly formal and rational Christianity, Pietists advocated for an experiential religion that stressed high moral standards for both clergy and lay people. The movement included both Christians who remained in the liturgical, state churches as well as separatist groups who rejected the use of baptismal fonts, altars, pulpits, and confessionals. As Pietism spread, the movement’s ideals and aspirations influenced and were absorbed into early Evangelicalism.[36]
The Presbyterian heritage not only gave Evangelicalism a commitment to Protestant orthodoxy but also contributed a revival tradition that stretched back to the 1620s in Scotland and Northern Ireland.[37] Central to this tradition was the communion season, which normally occurred in the summer months. For Presbyterians, celebrations of Holy Communion were infrequent but popular events preceded by several Sundays of preparatory preaching and accompanied with preaching, singing, and prayers.[38]
Puritanism combined Calvinism with teaching that conversion was a prerequisite for church membership and a stress on the study of Scripture by lay people. It took root in New England, where the Congregational church was an established religion. The Half-Way Covenant of 1662 allowed parents who had not testified to a conversion experience to have their children baptized, while reserving Holy Communion for converted church members alone.[39] By the 18th century, Puritanism was in decline and many ministers were alarmed at the loss of religious piety. This concern over declining religious commitment led many people to support evangelical revival.[40]
High Church Anglicanism also exerted influence on early Evangelicalism. High Churchmen were distinguished by their desire to adhere to primitive Christianity. This desire included imitating the faith and ascetic practices of early Christians as well as regularly partaking of Holy Communion. High Churchmen were also enthusiastic organizers of voluntary religious societies. Two of the most prominent were the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, which distributed Bibles and other literature and built schools, and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, which was created to facilitate missionary work in British colonies. Samuel and Susanna Wesley, the parents of John and Charles Wesley, were both devoted advocates of High Churchmanship.[41]
18th century
See also: First Great Awakening
Jonathan Edwards’ account of the revival in Northampton was published in 1737 as A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God in the Conversion of Many Hundred Souls in Northampton
In the 1730s, Evangelicalism emerged as a distinct phenomenon out of religious revivals that began in Britain and New England. While religious revivals had occurred within Protestant churches in the past, the evangelical revivals that marked the 18th century were more intense and radical.[42] Evangelical revivalism imbued ordinary men and women with a confidence and enthusiasm for sharing the gospel and converting others outside of the control of established churches, a key discontinuity with the Protestantism of the previous era.[43]
It was developments in the doctrine of assurance that differentiated Evangelicalism from what went before. Bebbington says, “The dynamism of the Evangelical movement was possible only because its adherents were assured in their faith.”[44] He goes on:
Whereas the Puritans had held that assurance is rare, late and the fruit of struggle in the experience of believers, the Evangelicals believed it to be general, normally given at conversion and the result of simple acceptance of the gift of God. The consequence of the altered form of the doctrine was a metamorphosis in the nature of popular Protestantism. There was a change in patterns of piety, affecting devotional and practical life in all its departments. The shift, in fact, was responsible for creating in Evangelicalism a new movement and not merely a variation on themes heard since the Reformation.[45]
The first local revival occurred in Northampton, Massachusetts, under the leadership of Congregationalist minister Jonathan Edwards. In the fall of 1734, Edwards preached a sermon series on “Justification By Faith Alone”, and the community’s response was extraordinary. Signs of religious commitment among the laity increased, especially among the town’s young people. The revival ultimately spread to 25 communities in western Massachusetts and central Connecticut until it began to wane by the spring of 1735.[46] Edwards was heavily influenced by Pietism, so much so that one historian has stressed his “American Pietism.”[47] One practice clearly copied from European Pietists was the use of small groups divided by age and gender, which met in private homes to conserve and promote the fruits of revival.[48]
At the same time, students at Yale University (at that time Yale College) in New Haven, Connecticut, were also experiencing revival. Among them was Aaron Burr, Sr., who would become a prominent Presbyterian minister and future president of Princeton University. In New Jersey, Gilbert Tennent, another Presbyterian minister, was preaching the evangelical message and urging the Presbyterian Church to stress the necessity of converted ministers.[49]
The spring of 1735 also marked important events in England and Wales. Howell Harris, a Welsh schoolteacher, had a conversion experience on May 25 during a communion service. He described receiving assurance of God’s grace after a period of fasting, self-examination, and despair over his sins.[50] Sometime later, Daniel Rowland, the Anglican curate of Llangeitho, Wales, experienced conversion as well. Both men began preaching the evangelical message to large audiences, becoming leaders of the Welsh Methodist revival.[51] At about the same time that Harris experienced conversion in Wales, George Whitefield was converted at Oxford University after his own prolonged spiritual crisis. Whitefield later remarked, “About this time God was pleased to enlighten my soul, and bring me into the knowledge of His free grace, and the necessity of being justified in His sight by faith only“.[52]
John Wesley preaching
Whitefield’s fellow Holy Club member and spiritual mentor, Charles Wesley, reported an evangelical conversion in 1738.[51] In the same week, Charles’ brother and future founder of Methodism, John Wesley was also converted after a long period of inward struggle. During this spiritual crisis, John Wesley was directly influenced by Pietism. Two years before his conversion, Wesley had traveled to the newly established colony of Georgia as a missionary for the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. He shared his voyage with a group of Moravian Brethren led by August Gottlieb Spangenberg. The Moravians’ faith and piety deeply impressed Wesley, especially their belief that it was a normal part of Christian life to have an assurance of one’s salvation.[53] Wesley recounted the following exchange with Spangenberg on February 7, 1736:
[Spangenberg] said, “My brother, I must first ask you one or two questions. Have you the witness within yourself? Does the Spirit of God bear witness with your spirit that you are a child of God?” I was surprised, and knew not what to answer. He observed it, and asked, “Do you know Jesus Christ?” I paused, and said, “I know he is the Savior of the world.” “True,” he replied, “but do you know he has saved you?” I answered, “I hope he has died to save me.” He only added, “Do you know yourself?” I said, “I do.” But I fear they were vain words.[54]
Wesley finally received the assurance he had been searching for at a meeting of a religious society in London. While listening to a reading from Martin Luther‘s preface to the Epistle to the Romans, Wesley felt spiritually transformed:
About a quarter before nine, while [the speaker] was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation, and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.[55]
Pietism continued to influence Wesley, who had translated 33 Pietist hymns from German to English. Numerous German Pietist hymns became part of the English Evangelical repertoire.[56] By 1737, Whitefield had become a national celebrity in England where his preaching drew large crowds, especially in London where the Fetter Lane Society had become a center of evangelical activity.[57] Whitfield joined forces with Edwards to “fan the flame of revival” in the Thirteen Colonies in 1739–40. Soon the First Great Awakening stirred Protestants throughout America.[51]
Evangelical preachers emphasized personal salvation and piety more than ritual and tradition. Pamphlets and printed sermons crisscrossed the Atlantic, encouraging the revivalists.[58] The Awakening resulted from powerful preaching that gave listeners a sense of deep personal revelation of their need of salvation by Jesus Christ. Pulling away from ritual and ceremony, the Great Awakening made Christianity intensely personal to the average person by fostering a deep sense of spiritual conviction and redemption, and by encouraging introspection and a commitment to a new standard of personal morality. It reached people who were already church members. It changed their rituals, their piety and their self-awareness. To the evangelical imperatives of Reformation Protestantism, 18th century American Christians added emphases on divine outpourings of the Holy Spirit and conversions that implanted within new believers an intense love for God. Revivals encapsulated those hallmarks and forwarded the newly created Evangelicalism into the early republic.[59]
19th century
The start of the 19th century saw an increase in missionary work and many of the major missionary societies were founded around this time (see Timeline of Christian missions). Both the Evangelical and high church movements sponsored missionaries.
The Second Great Awakening (which actually began in 1790) was primarily an American revivalist movement and resulted in substantial growth of the Methodist and Baptist churches. Charles Grandison Finney was an important preacher of this period.
William Wilberforce, British evangelical abolitionist
In Britain in addition to stressing the traditional Wesleyan combination of “Bible, cross, conversion, and activism,” the revivalist movement sought a universal appeal, hoping to include rich and poor, urban and rural, and men and women. Special efforts were made to attract children and to generate literature to spread the revivalist message.[60]
“Christian conscience” was used by the British Evangelical movement to promote social activism. Evangelicals believed activism in government and the social sphere was an essential method in reaching the goal of eliminating sin in a world drenched in wickedness.[61] The Evangelicals in the Clapham Sect included figures such as William Wilberforce who successfully campaigned for the abolition of slavery.
In the late 19th century, the revivalist Holiness movement, based on the doctrine of “entire sanctification,” took a more extreme form in rural America and Canada, where it ultimately broke away from institutional Methodism. In urban Britain the Holiness message was less exclusive and censorious.[62]
John Nelson Darby was a 19th-century Irish Anglican minister who devised modern dispensationalism, an innovative Protestant theological interpretation of the Bible that was incorporated in the development of modern Evangelicalism. Cyrus Scofield further promoted the influence of dispensationalism through the explanatory notes to his Scofield Reference Bible. According to scholar Mark S. Sweetnam, who takes a cultural studies perspective, dispensationalism can be defined in terms of its Evangelicalism, its insistence on the literal interpretation of Scripture, its recognition of stages in God’s dealings with humanity, its expectation of the imminent return of Christ to rapture His saints, and its focus on both apocalypticism and premillennialism.[63]
Notable figures of the latter half of the 19th century include Charles Spurgeon in London and Dwight L. Moody in Chicago. Their powerful preaching reached very large audiences.[64][65]
An advanced theological perspective came from the Princeton theologians from the 1850s to the 1920s, such as Charles Hodge, Archibald Alexander and B.B. Warfield.[66]
20th century
Services at the Pentecostal Church of God in Lejunior, Kentucky, 1946
Evangelicalism in the early part of the 20th century was dominated by the Fundamentalist movement after 1910; it rejected liberal theology and emphasized the inerrancy of the Scriptures.
Following the Welsh Revival, the Azusa Street Revival in 1906 began the spread of Pentecostalism in North America.
In the post–World War II period, a split developed between Evangelicals, as they disagreed among themselves about how a Christian ought to respond to an unbelieving world. Many Evangelicals urged that Christians must engage the culture directly and constructively,[67][page needed] and they began to express reservations about being known to the world as fundamentalists. As Kenneth Kantzer put it at the time, the name fundamentalist had become “an embarrassment instead of a badge of honor”.[68]
The evangelical revivalist Billy Graham in Duisburg, Germany, 1954
The term neo-evangelicalism was coined by Harold Ockenga in 1947 to identify a distinct movement within self-identified fundamentalist Christianity at the time, especially in the English-speaking world. It described the mood of positivism and non-militancy that characterized that generation. The new generation of Evangelicals set as their goal to abandon a militant Bible stance. Instead, they would pursue dialogue, intellectualism, non-judgmentalism, and appeasement. They further called for an increased application of the gospel to the sociological, political, and economic areas.
The self-identified fundamentalists also cooperated in separating their “neo-Evangelical” opponents from the fundamentalist name, by increasingly seeking to distinguish themselves from the more open group, whom they often characterized derogatorily by Ockenga’s term, “neo-Evangelical” or just Evangelical.
The fundamentalists saw the Evangelicals as often being too concerned about social acceptance and intellectual respectability, and being too accommodating to a perverse generation that needed correction. In addition, they saw the efforts of evangelist Billy Graham, who worked with non-Evangelical denominations, such as the Roman Catholics (which they claimed to be heretical), as a mistake.[citation needed]
The post-war period also saw growth of the ecumenical movement and the founding of the World Council of Churches, which was generally regarded with suspicion by the Evangelical community.[citation needed]
In the United Kingdom, John Stott and Martyn Lloyd-Jones emerged as key leaders in Evangelical Christianity.
The charismatic movement began in the 1960s and resulted in Pentecostal theology and practice being introduced into many mainline denominations. New charismatic groups such as the Association of Vineyard Churches and Newfrontiers trace their roots to this period (see also British New Church Movement).
The closing years of the 20th century saw controversial postmodern influences entering some parts of Evangelicalism, particularly with the emerging church movement.[clarification needed]
Global statistics
Chinese evangelical church in Madrid, Spain
In 2015, the World Evangelical Alliance is “a network of churches in 129 nations that have each formed an evangelical alliance and over 100 international organizations joining together to give a world-wide identity, voice, and platform to more than 600 million evangelical Christians”.[69][70] The Alliance was formed in 1951 by Evangelicals from 21 countries. It has worked to support its members to work together globally.
According to a 2011 Pew Forum study on global Christianity, 285,480,000 or 13.1 percent of all Christians are Evangelicals.[71] These figures do not include the Evangelical movements Pentecostalism and Charismatic movement; 584,080,000. The largest concentration of Evangelicals can be found in the United States, with 28.9% of the U.S. population or 91.76 million,[72] the latter being roughly one third of the world’s Evangelicals.[4] The next most populous is Brazil, with 26.3% or 51.33 million.[73]
The World Christian Database estimates the number of Evangelicals at 300 million, Pentecostals and Charismatics at 600 million and “Great Commission” Christians at 700 million. These groups are not mutually exclusive. Operation World estimates the number of Evangelicals at 550 million.[74]
From 1960 to 2000, the global growth of the number of reported Evangelicals grew three times the world’s population rate, and twice that of Islam.[75]
Africa
In the 21st century, there are Evangelical churches active in Sudan, Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, Ghana, Kenya, Zambia, South Africa, and Nigeria. They have grown especially since independence came in the 1960s,[76] the strongest movements are based on Pentecostal-charismatic[clarification needed] beliefs, and comprise a way of life that has led to upward social mobility[dubious ] and demands for democracy.[citation needed] There is a wide range of theology and organizations, including some sponsored by European missionaries and others that have emerged from African culture[dubious ] such as the Apostolic and Zionist Churches which enlist 40% of black South Africans, and their Aladura counterparts in western Africa.[77][page needed]
In Nigeria the Evangelical Church Winning All (formerly “Evangelical Church of West Africa”) is the largest church organization with five thousand congregations and over three million members. It sponsors two seminaries and eight Bible colleges, and 1600 missionaries who serve in Nigeria and other countries with the Evangelical Missionary Society (EMS). There have been serious confrontations since 1999 between Muslims and Evangelical Christians standing in opposition to the expansion of Sharia law in northern Nigeria. The confrontation has radicalized and politicized the Christians. Violence has been escalating.[78]
In Kenya, mainstream Evangelical denominations have taken the lead[dubious ] in promoting political activism and backers, with the smaller Evangelical sects of less importance. Daniel arap Moi was president 1978 to 2002 and claimed to be an Evangelical; he proved intolerant of dissent or pluralism or decentralization of power.[79]
The Berlin Missionary Society (BMS) was one of four German Protestant mission societies active in South Africa before 1914. It emerged from the German tradition of Pietism after 1815 and sent its first missionaries to South Africa in 1834. There were few positive reports in the early years, but it was especially active 1859–1914. It was especially strong in the Boer republics. The World War cut off contact with Germany, but the missions continued at a reduced pace. After 1945 the missionaries had to deal with decolonisation across Africa and especially with the apartheid government. At all times the BMS emphasized spiritual inwardness, and values such as morality, hard work and self-discipline. It proved unable to speak and act decisively against injustice and racial discrimination and was disbanded in 1972.[80]
Since 1974, young professionals have been the active proselytizers of Evangelicalism in the cities of Malawi.[81]
In Mozambique, Evangelical Protestant Christianity emerged around 1900 from black migrants whose converted previously in South Africa. They were assisted by European missionaries, but, as industrial workers, they paid for their own churches and proselytizing. They prepared southern Mozambique for the spread of Evangelical Protestantism. During its time as a colonial power in Mozambique, the Catholic Portuguese government tried to counter the spread of Evangelical Protestantism.[82]
East African Revival
Main article: East African Revival
The East African Revival was a renewal movement within Evangelical churches in East Africa during the late 1920s and 1930s[83] that began at a Church Missionary Society mission station in the Belgian territory of Ruanda-Urundi in 1929, and spread to: Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya during the 1930s and 1940s contributing to the significant growth of the church in East Africa through the 1970s and had a visible influence on Western missionaries who were observer-participants of the movement.[84][page needed]
Latin America
This template is currently non-functional due to bug 37256.
In modern Latin America, the term “Evangelical” is often simply a synonym for “Protestant“.[85][86][87]
Brazil
Main article: Protestantism in Brazil
Temple of Solomon replica built by the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God in São Paulo
Protestantism in Brazil largely originated with German immigrants and British and American missionaries in the 19th century, following up on efforts that began in the 1820s.[88]
In the late nineteenth century, while the vast majority of Brazilians were nominal Catholics, the nation was underserved by priests, and for large numbers their religion was only nominal. The Catholic Church in Brazil was de-established in 1890, and responded by increasing the number of dioceses and the efficiency of its clergy. Many Protestants came from a large German immigrant community, but they were seldom engaged in proselytism and grew mostly by natural increase.
Methodists were active along with Presbyterians and Baptists. The Scottish missionary Dr. Robert Reid Kalley, with support from the Free Church of Scotland, moved to Brazil in 1855, founding the first Evangelical church among the Portuguese-speaking population there in 1856. It was organized according to the Congregational policy as the Igreja Evangélica Fluminense; it became the mother church of Congregationalism in Brazil.[89] The Seventh-day Adventists arrived in 1894, and the YMCA was organized in 1896. The missionaries promoted schools colleges and seminaries, including a liberal arts college in São Paulo, later known as Mackenzie, and an agricultural school in Lavras. The Presbyterian schools in particular later became the nucleus of the governmental system. In 1887 Protestants in Rio de Janeiro formed a hospital. The missionaries largely reached a working-class audience, as the Brazilian upper-class was wedded either to Catholicism or to secularism. By 1914, Protestant churches founded by American missionaries had 47,000 communicants, served by 282 missionaries. In general, these missionaries were more successful than they had been in Mexico, Argentina or elsewhere in Latin America.[90]
There were 700,000 Protestants by 1930, and increasingly they were in charge of their own affairs. In 1930, the Methodist Church of Brazil became independent of the missionary societies and elected its own bishop. Protestants were largely from a working-class, but their religious networks help speed their upward social mobility.[91][92]
Protestants accounted for fewer than 5% of the population until the 1960s, but grew exponentially by proselytizing and by 2000 made up over 15% of Brazilians affiliated with a church. Pentecostals and charismatic groups account for the vast majority of this expansion.
Pentecostal missionaries arrived early in the 20th century. Pentecostal conversions surged during the 1950s and 1960s, when native Brazilians began founding autonomous churches. The most influential included Brasil Para o Cristo (Brazil for Christ), founded in 1955 by Manoel de Mello. With an emphasis on personal salvation, on God’s healing power, and on strict moral codes these groups have developed broad appeal, particularly among the booming urban migrant communities. In Brazil, since the mid-1990’s, groups committed to uniting black identity, antiracism, and Evangelical theology have rapidly proliferated.[93] Pentecostalism arrived in Brazil with Swedish and American missionaries in 1911. it grew rapidly, but endured numerous schisms and splits. In some areas the Evangelical Assemblies of God churches have taken a leadership role in politics since the 1960s. They claimed major credit for the election of Fernando Collor de Mello as president of Brazil in 1990.[94]
According to the 2000 Census, 15.4% of the Brazilian population was Protestant. A recent research conducted by the Datafolha institute shows that 25% of Brazilians are Protestants, of which 19% are followers of Pentecostal denominations. The 2010 Census found out that 22.2% were Protestant at that date. Protestant denominations saw a rapid growth in their number of followers since the last decades of the 20th century.[95] They are politically and socially conservative, and emphasize that God’s favor translates into business success.[96] The rich and the poor remained traditional Catholics, while most Evangelical Protestants were in the new lower-middle class–known as the “C class” (in a A–E classification system).[97]
Chesnut argues that Pentecostalism has become “one of the principal organizations of the poor,” for these churches provide the sort of social network that teach members the skills they need to thrive in a rapidly developing meritocratic society.[98]
One large Evangelical church is the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (IURD), a neo‐Pentecostal denomination begun in 1977. It now has a presence in many countries, and claims millions of members worldwide.[99]
Guatemala
Main article: Religion in Guatemala
Cash Luna, an Evangelical Protestant televangelist in Guatemala
Protestants remained a small portion of the population until the late-twentieth century, when various Protestant groups experienced a demographic boom that coincided with the increasing violence of the Guatemalan Civil War. Two former Guatemalan heads of state, General Efraín Ríos Montt and Jorge Serrano Elías have been practicing Evangelical Protestants, as is Guatemala’s current President, Jimmy Morales.[100][101] General Montt, an Evangelical from the Pentecostal tradition, came to power through a coup. He escalated the war against leftist guerilla insurgents as a holy war against atheistic forces of evil.[102]
Asia
American pastor Johannes Maas preaching in Andhra Pradesh, India in 1974. Spreading the revival is an essential part of work done by evangelical missionaries.
Korea
Main article: Christianity in Korea
Protestant missionary activity in Asia was most successful in Korea. American Presbyterians and Methodists arrived in the 1880s and were well received. Between 1907 and 1945, when Korea was a Japanese colony, Christianity became in part an expression of nationalism in opposition to Japan’s efforts to promote the Japanese language and the Shinto religion.[103] In 1914, out of 16 million people, there were 86,000 Protestants and 79,000 Catholics; by 1934, the numbers were 168,000 and 147,000. Presbyterian missionaries were especially successful.[104] Since the Korean War (1950–53), many Korean Christians have migrated to the U.S., while those who remained behind have risen sharply in social and economic status. Most Korean Protestant churches in the 21st century emphasize their Evangelical heritage. Korean Protestantism is characterized by theological conservatism[clarification needed] coupled with an emotional revivalistic[clarification needed] style. Most churches sponsor revival meetings once or twice a year. Missionary work is a high priority, with 13,000 men and women serving in missions across the world, putting Korea in second place just behind the US.[105]
Sukman argues that since 1945, Protestantism has been widely seen by Koreans as the religion of the middle class, youth, intellectuals, urbanites, and modernists.[106][107] It has been a powerful force[dubious ] supporting South Korea’s pursuit of modernity and emulation[dubious ] of the United States, and opposition to the old Japanese colonialism and to the authoritarianism of North Korea.[108]
South Korea has been referred as an “evangelical superpower” for being the home to some of the largest and most dynamic Christian churches in the world; South Korea is also second to the U.S. in the number of missionaries sent abroad.[109][110][111]
According to 2015 South Korean census, 9.7 million or 19.7% of the population described themselves as Protestants, many of whom belong to Presbyterian churches shaped by Evangelicalism.[citation needed]
Philippines
Main article: Evangelicalism in the Philippines
|
|
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (June 2016) |
![[icon]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small}
Evangelicalism is a minor Christian denominations in the Philippines. According to the 2000 census, 2.8% of the Filipino Population are Evangelicals.
United Kingdom
Further information: Methodism, Clapham Sect, and Conservative Evangelicalism in Britain
John Wesley (1703–1791) was an Anglican cleric and theologian who, with his brother Charles Wesley (1707–1788) and fellow cleric George Whitefield (1714 – 1770), founded Methodism. After 1791 the movement became independent of the Anglican Church as the “Methodist Connection.” It became a force in its own right, especially among the working class.[112]
The Clapham Sect was a group of Church of England evangelicals and social reformers based in Clapham, London; they were active 1780s–1840s). John Newton (1725–1807) was the founder. They are described by the historian Stephen Tomkins as “a network of friends and families in England, with William Wilberforce as its centre of gravity, who were powerfully bound together by their shared moral and spiritual values, by their religious mission and social activism, by their love for each other, and by marriage”.[113]
Evangelicalism was a major force in the Anglican Church from about 1800 to the 1860s. By 1848 when an evangelical John Bird Sumner became Archbishop of Canterbury, between the fourth and third of all Anglican clergy were linked to the movement, which by then had diversified greatly in its goals and they were no longer considered an organized faction.[114][115][116]
In the 21st century there are an estimated 2 million Evangelicals in the UK.[117] According to research performed by the Evangelical Alliance in 2013, 87% of UK evangelicals attend Sunday morning church services every week and 63% attend weekly or fortnightly small groups.[118] An earlier survey conducted in 2012 found that 92% of evangelicals agree it is a Christian’s duty to help those in poverty and 45% attend a church which has a fund or scheme that helps people in immediate need, and 42% go to a church that supports or runs a foodbank. 63% believe a tithing, and so give around 10% of their income to their church, Christian organisations and various charities[119] 83% of UK evangelicals believe that the Bible has supreme authority in guiding their beliefs, views and behaviour and 52% read or listen to the Bible daily.[120] The Evangelical Alliance, formed in 1846, was the first ecumenical evangelical body in the world and works to unite evangelicals, helping them listen to, and be heard by, the government, media and society.
United States
Main article: Evangelicalism in the United States
Resist, Rise, love 