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The term "Fundamentalist" derives from a 1909 publication "The Fundamentals: A testimony to the truth" which proposed five required Christian beliefs for those opposed to the Modernist movement.
Originally a technical theological term, it became commonly used after the "Scopes" trial in Tennessee during the mid 1920s. Dayton, Tennessee in 1925. John Scopes, a high school biology teacher was on trial for contravening the state's Butler Act. It forbade the teaching of "any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals." 4,5 Although Scopes was found guilty, it was generally felt that he had won a moral victory.
By the late 1930's Christian Fundamentalists had formed a sub-culture and had largely withdrawn from the rest of society. Following major revisions to Roman Catholic beliefs and practices during the Vatican II conferences in the 1960's, the term "fundamentalist" started to be used to refer to Catholics who rejected the changes, and wished to retain traditional beliefs and practices. Thus it became a commonly used word to describe the most conservative groups within Christianity: Protestant and Catholic.
Back in the 1960's many theologians and historians expected that religions would become less conservative and generally weaker with time. That did not happen. Instead, the fundamentalist wings of major world religions, including Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, have grown and become increasingly dedicated to preserving religious tradition. Karen Armstrong has addressed Fundamentalism in Christianity, Islam and Judaism in her book: "The Battle for God." 1
Focus on the Kingdom, Volume 6 No. 9 June, 2004
My Spiritual Journey
by Diane M.
"When I was young, my parents called themselves fundamentalists. As I grew older, they began to use the term evangelical. (In my experience, the difference between the two is mostly one of tone: the manner of presentation of doctrine rather than the substance of doctrine. The stance of an evangelical toward the world is less confrontational and less wary than the stance of a fundamentalist.)
The theology I was taught, and believed, from adolescence through most of my adult years I call evangelical orthodoxy. Some major doctrines are the Trinity, the dual nature of Christ, salvation by faith evidenced by works, eternal security, the pre-tribulation rapture of the church, the immortality of the human soul with immediate heaven or hell after death, and the everlasting suffering of the damned in hell."
In the U.S., the Fundamentalist-led Moral Majority emerged to challenge social and religious beliefs and practices. Today, Fundamentalists are the most vocal group in opposition to abortion access, equal rights against discrimination and hate crimes for homosexuals, physician assisted suicide, the use of embryonic stem cells for medical research, comprehensive sex-ed classes in public schools, etc.
The Assemblies of God is one Fundamentalist denomination. The Southern Baptist Convention has moved towards fundamentalism in recent years. Bob Jones University [see buttom link on him], the General Association of Regular Baptists, the Moody Bible Institute and other groups are also Fundamentalist. Among the most generally known Fundamentalist Christian leaders are Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and Hal Lindsey.
Most Evangelical Christian do not accept the beliefs of mainline and liberal Christian churches and of the majority of American Christians. In fact, some conservative Christians do not regard mainline and liberal churches to be fully Christian.
Also the majority of Evangelical Protestants views non-Protestant Evangelical/Fundamental faith groups such as Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Catholics, Christian Science ( as well as All New Thought groups) as NOT truely Christian at all and call them ALL as 'cults'. Regardless of this fact, still LDS,JWs, Catholics, ETC., ARE STILL Evangelical/Fundamental in nature, whether Protestants Evangelicals acknowledge them or not or whether they themselves offically embrace of reject the terms, "Evangelical," or "Fundamental."
The Far Fundamental Branch of Protestantism
(e.g. Southern Baptists and Assemblies of God
1. The Bible not only contains the Word of God, it is the Word of God; God inspired the individual authors to prevent them from error.
*2. Salvation is not achieved by doing good works. Only those who have trusted Jesus as Lord and Savior will be "born again," be saved and go to heaven after death.
*3. Hell exists as a place of eternal punishment for the unsaved.
Their is NO hope or second change after death.
*4. The rapture and the return of Christ to earth is imminent. That "True Christias" will be taken to heaven while all others are "Left Behind," and then tossed into hell.
5. Feel a strong obligation to evangelize: to share their religious beliefs with those who are not saved, in order to bring them to a saving knowledge of Jesus.
6. Are strongly opposed to women's equality.
7. They actively oppose and condemn any action to treat gays and lesbians equalto heterosexuals.
9. Conservative faith groups and para-church organizations often recommend that their members vote for political candidates on the basis of their rejection of free abortion access and equal rights for gays and lesbians.
Mainline denominations have gradually become more inclusive. Decades ago, they fought over the issue of equality of women. This was settled by allowing women to be ordained, and to hold positions of power in the denomination. Current conflicts deal mainly with human sexuality -- particularly sexual orientation.
Fundamental Christianity - A "Us vs. Them" Thing
Many people tend to view the Christian world in terms of "us ". e.g. "there is my denomination, and then there are all the other faith groups that consider themselves to be Christian ."(1) For example, a Fundamentalist or other Evangelical Christian might believe that his/her faith group represents true Christianity. She/he might consider non-conservative denominations, grouped together, as non-Christian, heretical Christian, quasi-Christian, false Christian etc.
Reference:
"America’s Christian Commitment Has Remained Relatively Stable for the Past Decade," Barna Research Online, at: http://www.barna.org/cgi-bin/ J. Gordon Melton, Ed, "The Encyclopedia of American Religions: A Comprehensive Study of the Major Religious Groups in the United States and Canada," 3 volume set, Triumph Books, New York, NY, (1989) Borgna Brunner, Editor, "Time Almanac 2002 with Information Please®," Page 436.
1997 to 2003 incl. by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. Last update: 2003-JUN-22 Author: B.A. Robinson
FOOTNOTE:
*JW's,LDS,All Bible Students,Second Adventists & Catholic would agree with all points except: points#7, 8, and #9. LDS and JWs do believe that salvation is achieved by doing good works...going "door-to-door". However LDS believe in reaching the third and highest relm of heaven, while JW's believe in eternal life upon this restored earth.
The Catholic Church offically changed it's view on hell from an eternal punishment to eternal seperation from God, while JW's believe that hell is merely a mistranslation of the Hebrew word SHEOL which translates into Englsih as "grave", or simply to cease to be foreve, as do Second Adventists and all Bible Students groups. JWs, All Bible Students, Second Adventists and Catholics do NOT believe in a 'Rapture', and I do not think LDS does either.
ALL Evangelical groups, both Protestant and Non would agree on all these...except #15. JW's do not believe in voting period , nor do the Christadelphians.
Many people get Pentacostals and Evangelical Protestant confused. Though seperate they often to overlap one another's basic beliefs. Evangelical Fundamental:
*Assemblies of God
Christian Reformed Church
Church of the Nazarene
Churches of Christ Independent Christian Churches (Instrumenal)
Southern Baptist Convention
Contemporary/Interdemoninational/Evangelical Christians:
Calvary Chapel
FourSqaure Gospel
Evangelical Free Church
Vineyard Christian Fellowship
The Contemporary non-Denominational branch of Protestantism has been outstanding is heading the way for Contemporary worship music, and applying the "Seeker-Sensitive" approuch to reaching the un-church society. Where as their conserative mainstream peers have been less progressive in this way, or at the least very slow to accept change.
Destructive Charismatic Churches
April 2002
By a former member of the movement
"I was once involved in a destructive Charismatic church for twelve years. My family and I left because of the behavior within that church, which became increasingly cult-like. For instance, our church was a strongly "prophetic" congregation. And when a "prophecy" came forth, it was considered the "word of the Lord," even if it didn't match up with the Scriptures. That put us in the frightening position of having to obey the prophecy, or consider ourselves as "opposing God."
"Being a committed Christian and having spent nearly all of my Christian life within the Charismatic movement, I now recognize that some leaders within the movement have the propensity to overextend their authority. And as an elder under such authority for five years, I was once bound by fear. It seemed that if I didn't participate in a variety of "prophetic manifestations," which regularly happened within our church, I was somehow missing "God's best." However, when I objectively investigated my church's methods and beliefs, I saw its error and regained my personal freedom. Specifically I began to read the bible without the aid of any church interpretive material.
After more than a year of intensive research, from a variety of independent sources, my family and I were brought to a point of decision, which resulted in our "leaving the fold." The pain of that process was tremendous. After we left, not one person from our church visited us. The fear, which is engendered by the kind of manipulation we experienced, often locks people into a mindset that disregards common logic and even bypasses a simple heartfelt faith in the God of the bible. Instead, those involved will just "go with the flow." When I first looked seriously into my church's doctrines, I found that many of them had parallels with much criticized groups like the Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses."
The extreme teachings practiced by some churches within the Christian Charismatic movement have serious implications. Some of the particulars of these churches should be closely scrutinized. Consider the following:
"Extra-biblical Revelation. Much of our belief system was based upon supposed "words of the Lord," without supporting Scriptures to validate the teaching. Those who believed the "revelations," were in the inner circle. Those who did not, were frowned upon as somehow "spiritually immature." The founder of Mormonism Joseph Smith had his own personal revelation, which had no clear confirmation within the bible. But of course he explained this away, by telling his followers that he brought forth a hidden gospel, an actual addition to supplement the New Testament. This kind of personal revelation seems to be becoming increasingly common within some extreme Charismatic groups."
"Strong resistance to Scriptural authority. Any attempt to correct a leader/teacher involved with this type of extreme Charismatic church, often is met with stonewalling, excuses, or anger. They may say, "How dare you presume to question doctrine coming from the pulpit." Those who do are frequently labeled as in the "outer court" or "immature." For example, in my own experience with churches influenced by the Brownsville Revival and Toronto Blessing camps this actually led to the demonizing those who disagreed. I remember Pastor John Kilpatrick of Brownsville issuing a "prophetic" threat of destruction against Hank Hanegraaff, when he criticized Brownsville."
Esoteric knowledge. Only for those who reach the higher "levels" of understanding. One of my pastors would not openly share his "knowledge" with just anyone. Instead, this was to be shared only with the enlightened, which really meant those who agreed with him.
Unreasoning disregard for contrary evidence. Any evidence brought into the light that contradicted an experience, vision, prophecy, or doctrine, which supposedly came from God, was completely disregarded. People simply refuse to discuss the situation intelligently, react in anger, avoidance and/or fear.
"Fear. People become locked into accepting almost anything, because to question or disagree with the group's doctrine, was tantamount to questioning God. For example, when I left my church I found myself very afraid that God was angry with me and that I would lose His blessing. It was very difficult. One pastor I knew of a destructive Charismatic church told his flock, "If you question anything going on in this church, just watch out!" This fear-inducing admonition was preceded by his recitation of the account within Acts 5 about Ananias and Sapphira, who dropped dead after lying to the Lord. There are many other traits amongst some destructive churches, which mirror those found in cults, but those cited above will suffice for now."
"I have spoken with others who have left extreme Charismatic churches. They too have lost their church friends, support, experienced family conflicts, trauma and have been targeted by gossip. Some have even received death threats that were supposedly "words of the Lord." It is a miracle that any of these Charismatic causalities can still maintain their faith in Jesus Christ after all they have been through. But through my own experience I've learned, wolves clothed as shepherds, cannot invalidate the message or its true messenger.
Please understand that there were many good times as well. This included church potlucks, fishing trips, praying for one another and helping each other through difficult times. But for all the love expressed during those years of faithfulness, it is both a source of pain and concern that our onetime church brethren are now afraid of us and wish no further close contact.
We faithfully supported (our tithes and offerings to one church totaled approximately $25,000.00), promoted, and led others into a group that we now recognize was largely based upon a destructive and often heretical beliefs. The love of Christ, our purchase from sin on the cross by His death and resurrection, was certainly preached. But so many additions and personal interpretations were consistently interwoven within that simple message, the net result was often harmful and chaotic.
There are controversial preachers such as Benny Hinn and Kenneth Copeland, who have certainly caused many faithful Christians to ask this troubling question. And what about movements like the "Toronto Blessing," the "Brownsville Revival" or the "River" movement, which was spawned by both? Are they in some ways cult-like? I have many friends still involved in these movements. And I fear for them. My family is still Pentecostal, but we avoid the maze and torment of aberrational teachings and/or pastoral manipulation. And we know that there are many good people in Pentecostal churches. One thing we have definitely decided upon is this, we will follow no man with unquestioning obedience from now on. If what is being said from the pulpit, or even informally, does not match the biblical record, we will support neither the man nor the message."
Evangelical/Fundamental Non-Protestants
The majority of Evangelical Protestants views non-Protestant Evangelical/Fundamental faith groups such as Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Catholics, Christian Science ( as well as All New Thought groups) as NOT truely Christian at all and consider them ALL as 'cults'. A common practice amoung the vast majority that the Evangelical Protestant Christian group JESUS USA happens to feel very strongly against.
John Trott, a writter and major spokes man for JPUSA's magazine CORNERSTONE explains in the article intitled, Reconceptionalizing The Word 'CULT', that he believes strongly that tagging all non-dangerous faith groups CULT merley on the grounds that they are not Evangelical Protestant or happen to be non-trinitarian is , "Neither kind, Christian, or helpful." instead he expresses that he feels strongly the word Alternative Religious Movements or ARMs should be used.
I happen to agree with this view 100%. Regardless, still LDS,JWs, Catholics, ETC., ARE STILL Evangelical/Fundamental in nature, whether Protestants Evangelicals acknowledge them or not or think they are cults, and whether the ARMs faith groups themselves offically embrace of reject the terms, "Evangelical," or "Fundamental," or not. The Religious Tolerance Network of Canada
Jesus did NOT IMPOSE or try to FORCE his convictions on others. Jesus appealed to the hearts and minds of the people with common sense. Jesus did NOT seek to repress those who dissagreed with him. It was the so-called "orthodox" religious leaaders of his day who to repress HIM. (See John 19:5, 6) How how the fundamentalist Christians LOVE to quote this Scriptures, "Narrow is the gate and cramped is the road leading to everlasting life." They LOVE to quote this Scripture to try and justify their self-rightious additude towards ALL OUTSIDE OF 'THEIR' church group or religious organization. Yet, we should ask, "Precisely 'WHAT' here "cramped narrow,"? The road to life? The path to enligthenment? Or is it the heart and mind? Perhaps to better support the fundamentalists' interpretations the Bible quote be re-written so that maybe after the quote, Cramped and narrow is the road to life-.." Perhaps they could re-word the phrase "And few are those finding it-" To, "And the _______________(fill in your denominational name here) are 'THEE' ONLY ones finding it." If one REALLY has faith in God and the ability of Holy Spirit to work in the hearts of each and every believer, as they 'claim'...then they would not feel the 'need' to try and take controll over the lives of others, try and minipulate them, trick or sweet-talk them, or use scare tacticts of hellfire, or getting "Left Behinf," and/or Armageddon as a tool to win over converts.
All these ridgid man-made rules that extreme fundamental far right religious groups have about insisting that men wear suites and ties and women must wear dresses or demanding so much time around church activities that there is hardly any room for recreation or spending time with family and friends....What did Jesus have to say about such demands? "Don't let others spoil your faith and joy with their wrong ideas and shallow answers built on men's opinions and ideas instead on what the Christ has said. For they teach their man-made laws instead of those from God." And as far as insisting on formal dress codes? "Don't be concerned about beautiful clothes. Be beautiful on the inside, in your hearts." The Bible says as far as clothing styles go to, "Be modest." It said, 'MODEST' NOT that you HAVE to be 'FORMAL'. Jesus continues, "They [ the fundamental religious leaders of his day/the pharisees] load you down with impossible demands that they themselves don't even keep. Everything THEY do is for SHOW." Next Jesus calls such religious leaders hyprocrites and says, "You block the path to the Kingdom, and you yourselves won't get in, and you 'pretend' to be holy, with your long public prayers in the streets. You go such great lenghts to make a convert and then you make him into twice the son of Ghennena ( trash heap) as you yourselves already are." Paul said, "Christ has set you free FROM following the world's ideas on how to get saved- by obeying such these rules. Why do you keep on following these rules anyway? Such rules are mere human teachings. These rules may 'sound' good, for rules of this type are demanding, but they have NO EFFECT when it comes to conquering a person's evil thoughts and desires. Infact, the only serve to make him more proud. " Finally, all these ridgid fundamental Christian faith groups make it sound as if only they own the copy rights to know God personally and and get saved. But what does the Bible say? "That 'ANYONE' who belives in in Christ shall NOT perish but have everlasting life." And that their is neither one gender more superior to another, nor one race superior to another but that ALL become equal through Christ.
Resources: Colossians 2:8; Matthew 15:9; 23:2,4,13,14,15; 1 Peter 3:3,4, and 5; Colossians 2: 20-23; Galtains 3:28; Acts 10:34
Back To Main Topics
Calling The Kettle Black- Examing The Hyprocrisy of Extreme Protestants Tisk-Tasking JW's
Southern Baptists - A History of Controversy
Assembly of God&Pentacostalism
On Calvary Chapel
Bob Jones University Gives Advice to XJWs?! That's Not Even Funny!
