Often I have wondered if many Christians really know what the term "Fundamentalist" means and how it came to be in our Christian vocabulary. Frequently, so many Christians will shy away from calling themselves "Fundamentalist Christians" - because we have so often heard the term used with a derogatory connotation.
Mostly that is from non-believers and those of the Liberal Theology persuasion, who also have no idea what it really means. In our secular society and in our secular news media today we so often hear militant world religions, militant political groups, etc., all referred to as "fundamentalists." And who wants to be associated with such groups?
Admittedly over the years we have seen wacko fringe groups claiming to be Christian and yet their actions contradict that name. Examples most of us are familiar with include (1) the Westboro Baptist Church, an unaffiliated Baptist (in name only) church known for its hate speech and was arguably the most obnoxious and rabid hate group in America - and (2) the Snake Handling, Poison Drinking extremist churches, most often found in the southeastern United States and in the Appalachian Mountains. And there are a number of other such cults. But are they Christian?
Such cult groups will most often pick a few Bible verses and build their religion and theology around those verses to the exclusion of the rest of the Bible.
For example, with the Snake Handlers/Poison Drinkers:
"And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover" (Mark 16:17-18).
"Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you" (Luke 10:19).
And with the Westboro Baptist Church:
To the exclusion of the rest of Scripture, they take the verses which address the homosexual lifestyle and build their warped religion upon only these:
The homosexual lifestyle is an abomination (Leviticus 18:22), a detestable act (Leviticus 20:13), a degrading passion (Romans 1:26), an unnatural act (Romans 1:26), an indecent act (Romans 1:27), contrary to sound teaching (1 Timothy 1:10), that it is unrighteous and those who practice it will not inherit the kingdom of God, i.e., will not have eternal life in the presence of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).
They discard: "For God so loved the world (all people) that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). Yes, God loves all people. Yes, He loves homosexuals. But, He hates the homosexual lifestyle as shown in the Scripture verses above. Yes, God loves the sinner, but hates the sin!
You may ask, "Bill, what causes this difference, this tangential movement away from the full truth of Scripture?"
Glad you asked. It all comes down to how one views the Bible, God's Written Word. God has revealed Himself to us in two ways: (1) Through His Son, Jesus Christ, the Living Word, i.e., Logos - who is perfect in all ways. And (2) through His Written Word, His Bible, which is the inspired, inerrant, infallible, and authoritative Written Word of God, the sole authority for our Christian faith and Christian life. The Bible, all 66 books, is God's authoritative written revelation to man.
However, cults will choose a few verses and build their religion and their theology upon those few verses, to the exclusion of the rest of the Bible. Liberal Christians and most non-believers will view the Bible as merely a book, albeit a good book. To them it is a book of myths, fairy tales, symbolism, and metaphors, i.e., a good book and useful to guide Liberal theology believers in their daily Christian walk. But, definitely not the inspired, inerrant, literal Written Word of God.
Conservative Christians (Fundamentalist) believe the Bible is the Holy Spirit inspired, Holy Spirit inerrant, Holy Spirit literal Written Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16).
A close Christian Friend, Bob, and I were talking. He told me of a conversation with one of his almost-Christian friends about the Bible. The friend tells Bob, "Yes, the Bible does contain God's Word." And, Bob told him, "No, the Bible IS God's Word."
So, what is the difference, aren't we just using a play on words. No. To say that the Bible "contains" God's Word is saying that there are parts of the Bible which are not God's Word, not from God, but solely from men.
Bob's response is correct. The Bible IS God's Word. It is His full revelation to man. The Bible is 66 books written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit by 40 men. This transpired across a wide geographical area and over a period of 1600 years. Yet the Bible has one main unified theme: A unified plan of salvation for mankind - and it has one Author, God Himself, i.e., the Bible is “God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16).
Let's take a look at what the word "Fundamentalist" means.
If you google the word "Fundamentalist" - in Dictionary.com you will find: "A conservative movement in theology among nineteenth-century and twentieth-century Christians. Fundamentalists believe that the statements in the Bible are literally true. Note: Fundamentalists often argue against the theory of evolution."
And that is an a pretty good and concise description. But, I would go further and say that all Fundamentalist/Conservative Christians will always argue against the theory of Darwinian evolution.
At Merriam-Webster.com we read: "Fundamentalism is a movement in 20th century Protestantism emphasizing the literally interpreted Bible as fundamental to Christian life and teaching." That, too, is a good and concise definition.
On the other side of the coin, at Merriam-Webster.com we also find: "A movement or attitude stressing strict and literal adherence to a set of basic principles, i.e., Islamic fundamentalism, political fundamentalism, etc." That is a negative aspect of fundamentalism - but, it has nothing to do with true Conservative Christian Fundamentalism.
Once more, on the flip side of the coin, the secular Urban Dictionary gives us this description of Fundamentalist, which aligns well with the accusations of non-believers and atheism. Now this is the kind of hateful and biased description one would expect from a secular society proponent:
A person who takes their religion so literally and to such extremes that they contradict the very basis of their faith. They typically believe in a literal, verbatim interpretation of their scripture. They also have ridiculous, childish defenses to intelligent criticism of their beliefs that border on insanity. The level of hypocrisy and stupidity most of these people exhibit is truly profound.
Prime examples of fundamentalists are the geniuses who call themselves Christians and march around with signs that say "God Hates Fags" - (those who) seriously suggest that the earth is 6,000 years old when an overwhelming amount of scientific evidence proves otherwise - or (those who) tell women that they are filthy when they are menstruating - because it's in the Bible, you know.
Fundamentalists in general give religion a bad name. By (their) definition, it is impossible for any religion or belief structure that is centered on love, compassion, understanding, and forgiveness (most of the major [world] religions are) to be anything but great.
Why are we having this discussion about Fundamentalists, Conservatives, Liberals, and non-believers - and how each views the Bible?
In 2016 I wrote in another blog titled "Conservative - OR - Liberal Secularist. Which Flavor Christian Are YOU?" addressing comments from a Religion Forum adversary, Crusty, and his persistent declaration that Bill Gray is a "Fundamentalist." How did I address that accusation, i.e., secular slam?
In that blog, I shared with my Friend, Crusty:
Well, let me see. I call myself a Conservative Christian and Crusty, you call me a Fundamentalist. Okay, no problem. For the vast majority of Conservative Christians I know do believe what is taught in the 12 volume set published in the early 20th century and distributed by Biola University, titled "The Fundamentals, A Testimony To The Truth."
"The Fundamentals" is a 12-volume series of articles defending the fundamental beliefs of the Christian faith. And, I praise God for putting a full set of these books into my personal library. How He did that is another story which I will share at a later time.
A century ago, Biola University founder Lyman Stewart anonymously funded a hugely influential set of essays known as "The Fundamentals." A Biola historian's research of archived letters and documents sheds light on how Stewart and others helped to shape the face of evangelicalism today. If you truly understand what these volumes teach and why they were written, you will realize that being call a Fundamentalist - is really a great compliment.
This Biola web site tells us more about "The Fundamentals" and why they were written and distributed:
The Untold Story Of The Fundamentals:
By Paul W. Rood II - Biola Magazine
magazine.biola.edu/article/14-summer/the-untold-story-of-the-fundamentals/
A remarkable literary project of the early 20th century, "The Fundamentals: A Testimony to the Truth," is soon approaching the 100th anniversary of its completion. The project was conceived and funded by Biola’s founder, Lyman Stewart, mobilizing a network of conservative evangelical writers into a movement in defense of the inspiration and authority of the Bible and the core doctrines of traditional Christian faith.
The 12-volume series of book-length journals contained 90 essays commissioned from leading theologians and religious leaders broadly representing conservative and evangelical Protestantism. Over 3 million volumes were published, distributed free of charge to several hundred thousand pastors, seminary professors and students, missionaries, and lay church leaders in the English-speaking world. The effect was both immediate and historically significant.
The series was listed among the top 40 books of the 20th century in a special ranking conducted by Christian historians commissioned by World Magazine. Listing it among the works of C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, World Magazine reported, “those who consider ‘fundamentalism’ a synonym for narrow anti-intellectualism have never read these books, which, for the most part, remain strikingly relevant.”
Their Vision: Stem the Tide of Liberalism.
The founders of Biola, along with the other evangelical Christians who came of age in the last half of the 19th century, faced an unprecedented series of scientific, social, and intellectual challenges to their faith. The Darwinist theory of human origins provided a framework for a purely scientific and naturalistic interpretation of humanity and society.
Modern humanistic philosophies and ideologies embraced historical progress. Continental scholars and theologians developed new philological (study of literary texts and written records) and hermeneutical methods for examining the historical narrative of the biblical text in new ways. Known as German “higher criticism,” this method applied a developmental view of the Hebrew biblical texts that undermined their sanctity and authority.
These revolutionizing streams of thought prompted many Protestant intellectuals to construct a “modern” system of religious belief and practice, described as both “liberal” (indicating freedom from tradition) and “modernist” (indicating alignment with modern science and social theory).
By 1880, liberalism and modernism had begun to be taught in a number of leading theological schools in America. And by the turn of the century it merged into a social theology with powerful appeal to the progressive political movements of the day. The wealth of the Gilded Age also seemed to be in liberalism’s corner.
In February of 1908, (Lyman) Stewart and a group of other evangelical Protestants founded the Bible Institute of Los Angeles (BIOLA) to train missionaries, Christian workers, and lay Bible teachers for “the propagation of the old Gospel” and to remain loyal to “the Word of Truth.” The Response: A Movement is Born.
The first volume was mailed out March 19, 1910, with a cover page stating, “Compliments of Two Christian Laymen.” The project’s funders, Stewart and his brother Milton, chose to remain anonymous. It contained a strong set of essays on the fundamental doctrines of inspiration and authority of the Bible, the deity of Christ, and the personality and deity of the Holy Spirit, authored by such luminaries as professors Orr, Warfield, Torrey, and Pierson. The Testimony Prayer League prayed over the mailing lists, the printing presses, and daily distributions to the postal office.
More about Fundamentalism and why I am a Fundamentalist Christian can be found in this document which I have chosen to personally archive for further study:
Church History - Free Sunday School Lessons www.freesundayschoollessons.org/docs/Church-History.doc
Gerald Priest (“History of Fundamentalism” class notes, Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary, spring 2003, p. 2) gives the following definition: “Fundamentalism is a movement committed to belief in and affirmation of the historic biblical doctrines essential to the Christian faith and insistent on separation from all forms of apostasy and ungodliness.”
"At the beginning of the last quarter of the 19th century, Christianity in America was facing daunting enemies: Darwinian materialism, German rationalism and higher criticism of the Bible, Roman Catholic dogmatism, and cultism in the forms of Christian Science, the Jehovah's Witnesses (Millennial Dawn), and Millerism (Seventh Day Adventism).
In such a dark atmosphere, concerned Bible preachers and teachers attempted to offset the inroads of these forms of apostasy ...." (Gerald Priest, "'What's in a Name?' The Legacy of Early Fundamentalism," 2001 Mid-America Conference on Preaching notebook, p. 165).
Gerald Priest ("'What's in a Name?' The Legacy of Early Fundamentalism," 2001 Mid-America Conference on Preaching notebook, p. 170) rightfully dubs this phenomenon "ecclesiastical piracy," as the modernists essentially stole the institutions ~ churches, schools, etc. ~ (which) the fundamentalists had labored for years to build.
While it is true that fundamentalism as a movement is a fairly recent phenomenon in church history, fundamentalism is not. Fundamentalists have appeared throughout church history, right from the very beginning: the apostle Paul (Rom 16:17, 2 Cor 5:11, 6:14-7:1, Eph 5:11, 2 Thess 3:6, and 14-15), the apostle John (2 John 9-11 and Rev 18:4), Jude (Jude 3), et. al. Fundamentalism is as old as Christianity itself.
Harvard professor and theological liberal/modernist, Kirsopp Lake, said in 1925: "But it is a mistake, often made by educated persons who happen to have but little knowledge of historical theology, to suppose that Fundamentalism is a new and strange form of thought. It is nothing of the kind: it is the partial and uneducated survival of a theology which was once universally held by all Christians.
How many were there, for instance, in Christian churches in the eighteenth century who doubted the infallible inspiration of all Scripture? A few, perhaps, but a very few. No, the fundamentalist may be wrong; I think that he is. But it is we who have departed from the tradition, not he, and I am sorry for the fate of anyone who tries to argue with a Fundamentalist on the basis of authority. The Bible and the 'corpus theologicum' [doctrinal body] of the Church is on the Fundamentalist side."
"The Modernist-Fundamentalist Divide" is the story of how the early fundamentalists militantly fought the menace of modernism that invaded American Christianity in the later years of the nineteenth and early years of the twentieth century A.D. via such ideologies as Darwinian evolution, German higher criticism of the Bible, the social gospel, etc.
In the early years of the conflict (until about 1930 AD), the fundamentalists sought to separate the modernists from them (nonconformist fundamentalism). Once this strategy proved unsuccessful, they separated themselves from the modernists in obedience to the command to "Come out from their midst and be separate" (2 Cor 6:17), starting their own churches, educational institutions, missions agencies, publishing houses, etc. (separatist fundamentalism).
Though the fundamentalists ultimately lost the furniture (i.e., control of the mainline denominations fell into the hands of the modernists ), they "kept the faith" (2 Tim 4:7), at, in many cases, enormous personal cost.
So, when my Friend, Crusty, and other non-believers or Liberal theology proponents declare that Bill Gray is a "Fundamentalist" - that is a hat I am proud to wear. For, in doing so, I am in the company of many great Christians, including the founders of Biola University/Talbot Seminary. You will often see me speak of Conservative Christian theology; that could just as easily be called Fundamentalist Christian theology - for, in my heart, the two names are synonymous.
I pray that this has given you a fuller understanding of the Fundamentalist Christian, what we believe, and the great cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1) who stand with us:
Hebrews 12:1-2, "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, . . ."
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
Click on image to enlarge:
No comments:
Post a Comment