Enjoying God Ministries

With the recent death of Jerry Falwell, much is being written about so-called "Fundamentalism" and Falwell's role as one of its principal leaders.

Several people have asked me why this label is used and what precisely does it mean? What follows is an extremely brief summary of some of the distinctives of American Fundamentalism.

If there is a date for the emergence of Fundamentalism, it would be somewhere around 1910-15, the years during which "The Fundamentals" were published. This was a series of twelve books that identified the so-called doctrinal non-negotiables of a Fundamentalist. They included: (1) the inerrancy of Scripture; (2) the virgin birth of Christ; (3) the substitutionary atonement of Christ; (4) the bodily resurrection of Christ; and (5) the second coming of Christ. Of course, simply believing these truths did not make one a fundamentalist, but one would not have been identified with that family of the Christian faith apart from these five doctrines.

How might one define Fundamentalism? According to Alister McGrath, "Fundamentalism arose as a religious reaction within American culture to the rise of a secular culture." James Davison Hunter described Fundamentalism as "orthodoxy in confrontation with modernity." Martin Marty has said that "Fundamentalism in any context takes form when members of already conservative or traditional movements experience threat."

Following are several characteristic features of that form of Fundamentalism that dominated the American scene prior to World War II, which serve also to distinguish it from the subsequent emergence of so-called Protestant Evangelicalism.

(1) Characterized by a siege mentality; i.e., a defensive attitude toward secular society such that one's primary responsibility toward the latter is evangelistic (i.e., the Christian must seek only to preach to a secular world while limiting one's participation within it).

(2) Culturally isolationist (which often entailed a withdrawal from most social and artistic activities).

(3) Intellectually narrow-minded and resistant to engagement with emerging ideas (this would often manifest itself in a suspicion of state universities and public schools in general).

(4) Ecclesiastically separatistic (when internal reform proves impossible, separate from the denomination and form a new and doctrinally pure church); this inclination toward separatism also manifested itself in personal relations, as Fundamentalists tended not only to separate from Liberals but also from all Conservatives who themselves associated, to whatever degree, with Liberals.

(5) Socially inactive (i.e., issues such as global poverty, racial reconciliation, social justice, world peace, concern for the environment, etc. were viewed as an attempt to salvage a sinking ship; the aim of the Church was to redeem sinners out of society, not transform or renew it).

(6) Relationally angry (I once heard someone describe a Fundamentalist as an Evangelical who's mad at everyone).

(7) "Certain central doctrines . . . [are] treated as barriers, intended as much to alienate secular culture as to give fundamentalists a sense of identity and purpose" (McGrath, 29).

Theologically speaking, most Fundamentalists are also known for a number of other distinctive beliefs, among which I would include:

Six-day creationism and belief in a young earth.

Cessationism and a general hostility toward anything charismatic.

Dispensational, Pre-Tribulational Premillennialism.

More Arminian than Calvinistic on issues of salvation and human freedom.

Please note that I'm not trying to make value judgments on these points, nor am I saying that anyone who believes these particular doctrines is necessarily a Fundamentalist (it is, after all, as much a cultural label as it is theological). On a number of issues of theology I agree with Fundamentalism (while, of course, strongly disagreeing with others). My aim here is simply to identify the tendencies among so-called Fundamentalists.

I should also point out that people such as Jerry Falwell deviated from early American Fundamentalism on some important issues. Falwell was himself profoundly committed to excellence in higher education (his Liberty University being an obvious example) and was not at all hesitant about involvement in the political process, especially when issues of basic biblical morality were at stake (indeed, this elicited considerable criticism from both sides of the political spectrum).

Perhaps the best way to understand Fundamentalism is to study the history and nature of Evangelicalism. Here are a few recommendations:

(1) "Fundamentalism and American Culture: The Shaping of Twentieth-Century Evangelicalism 1870-1925," by George Marsden (Oxford).

(2) "The American Evangelical Story: A History of the Movement," by Douglas Sweeney (Baker).

(3) "The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind," by Mark Noll (Eerdmans).

(4) "Evangelicalism and the Future of Christianity," by Alister McGrath (IVP).

(5) "Evangelicalism: The Coming Generation," by James Davison Hunter (Chicago).

(6) "Who are the Evangelicals? Tracing the Roots of Today's Movement," by Derek Tidball (Harper Collins).

(7) "On the Boundaries of American Evangelicalism: The Postwar Evangelical Coalition," by Jon R. Stone (St. Martin's Press).

(8) "Evangelicalism: The Next Generation," by James M. Penning and Corwin E. Smidt (Baker).

(9) "Evangelicalism Divided: A Record of Crucial Change in the Years 1950-2000," by Iain Murray (Banner of Truth).