Such movements have been classified by a variety of labels, such as progressive, open, post-conservative, and post-evangelical.
Fundamentalism arose among evangelicals in the 1920s to combat modernist or liberal theology in mainline Protestant churches.
Among evangelicals, individuals have testified to both sudden and gradual conversions.
Preeminently, John Wesley and other early Methodists were at the root of sparking this new movement during the First Great Awakening.
Today, evangelicals are found across many Protestant branches, as well as in various denominations not subsumed to a specific branch.
In the English-speaking world, evangelical was commonly applied to describe the series of revival movements that occurred in Britain and North America during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
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." The term may also be used outside any religious context to characterize a generic missionary, reforming, or redeeming impulse or purpose.
Into the 21st century, evangelical has continued in use as a synonym for (mainline) Protestant in continental Europe, and elsewhere.