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Sit down with me as we think through some tough topics in a reflective way and examine some of the difficult issues that can trouble followers of Christ. My hope is that you’ll always come away with more to think about… RBC Ministries
Fundamentalism
Posted by Mart De Haan
July 24th, 2008
Filed in Faith and Reason, Ideas to think about
6 Comments »
The spirit of the age is tolerance.
Its counsel is predictable: Keep your options open. Don’t limit yourself. Play the field. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Keep an open mind. Never say never. Don’t lock yourself in. Hedge your bets. Be flexible. Don’t be rigid. Don’t be a fundamentalist.”
Fundamentalism is regarded by many as a dangerous social disease.
Some kinds of fundamentalism, however, are also part of the spirit of the age. Along with AIDS, STDs, and a drug resistant strain of TB, Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, and Christian fundamentalists have become like ancient plagues to a new world order.
Our spiritual enemy is using a multiple strategy. The spirit of anti-Christ is split between: (a) secular confessions of tolerance and (b) religious strategies of control, intimidation and coercion. On one hand are the secular forces that want to purge the name of Christ from public life. On the other are the Muslim, Jewish, Hindu and Christian fundamentalists who are attempting to impose their conclusions of faith on an unbelieving society.
Fundamentalism itself is not wrong. Jesus was a fundamentalist. He wasn’t a cultural fundamentalist (Matt. 15:1-9). He was a fundamentalist in the most reasonable sense of the word. No one was more radically conservative when it came to the foundational basics of truth and love. He taught the necessity of forgiveness, the authority of the Scriptures, and the certainty that the world would experience unparalleled trouble, at the end of the age, before his final return (Matt 24:1-31).
Christ also stood for a fundamentalism of nonviolence. He used a show of force only in clearing the money-changers from His Father’s house. He could have armed His men, and captured the surrounding culture. He could have overthrown Herod (the Jewish king) and Caesar (the self-professed Roman god-emperor by whose permission Herod reigned). But He didn’t. Someday He will overthrow all other lords and gods. But not yet.
His example is our light. It is an honor to be rejected for Christ-like fundamentalism (Matt 5:10). If we must be hated for reasoning against the kind of tolerance that makes open-mindedness the ultimate virtue, so be it. If we must be resented for loving our enemies, and for declaring that no one but Christ has ever died in our place to pay for our sin, let it be. But let us never be hated for the kind of fundamentalism that uses physical threats, guns, or votes to coerce unbelievers into accepting our conclusions of faith. That’s not the way of the cross (2 Tim. 2:24-26).
The mission of Christ is not to help the world by exercising our democratic rights. Our mission is to pay whatever price is necessary to courageously and lovingly invite people of all nations to Christ, and to urge those who do so to reconsider and depart from their dangerous, and self-destructive forms of tolerance (2 Tim. 2:19).
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That’s a very interesting view of Fundamentalism, Mart. I now know that an open heart for Christ is far better than the open-mindedness of my youth. My young mind was so open there were all manner of things in it and conflicts became choices de jour rather than irrational thinking. I felt the dangers of the religious right as being too narrow and a threat to our nation by putting forth an aggressive and overpowering form of Christianity that was hardly Christ-like. Just as dangerous as those other fundamentalist movements you mentioned. These days I don’t think our spiritual enemy likes me very much since he no longer has such a stronghold on me as before.
Fundamanentalism is probably one of the most controversial and misunderstood terms there is. As you said, Mart, fundamentalism isn’t wrong in itself. In fact, looking at RBC’s own statement of faith, I would say that RBC is “fundamental”. And in that view, I am glad to call myself a “fundamentalist”.
The term “fundamentalism” came into existence at the Niagara Falls Bible Conference which was convened in an effort to define those things that were fundamental to belief. The term was also used to describe “The Fundamentals,” a collection of twelve books on five subjects published in 1910 by Milton and Lyman Steward. These two brothers were concerned with the moral and spiritual decline they believed was infecting Protestantism, and sought to restore the historic faith by stating the five fundamentals of the faith: (1) Literal inerrancy of the scriptures;(2) The virgin birth and deity of Christ; (3) the substitutionary view of the atonement; (4) the bodily resurrection of Christ; (5) The imminent return of Christ.
I believe that this helped define biblical Christianity in a day where the Bible was being undermined.
I guess the problem comes when the term fundamentalist is applied to anyone who would use any means to persuade others of these views and to those of non-christian faiths who are extremists and who seek to destroy those not of that faith.
“Jesus was a fundamentalist… in the most reasonable sense of the word”.
Jesus used a sword of a different kind- ‘The Word’ to combat the advances of His enemy and to overcome the evil one. Therefore, as His followers we are fundamentalists too!
Having been forgiven of our sins we ‘go and sin no more’ (Rev 18:4). We love God and shun evil, we go into the world to preach and teach His pure unadulterated word (Acts 20:27) but do not thrust it down people’s throats, we constantly judge ourselves in the light of His word but are not called to judge others, we live in this world but do not get conformed to its ways and wisdom, we love the people in this world but we do not love the world, we love our enemies but hate our ‘enemy’, we love our fellow sinners but do not compromise with sin, we socialize with unbelievers but do not get unequally yoked with them.
We are indeed a peculiar people but we are not long-faced crazy Christians, we are zealous of good works but we are not religious zealots, we obey His Word to the letter but we are not Bible-thumpers, we are religious in visiting the fatherless and widows but we are not religious nuts, we hate all forms of ungodliness but we are not hate-mongers. We fully believe in the radical ways of Christ and to tolerate anything that is not from God in order to be “part of the spirit of the age” is sheer hypocrisy.
I like your words here, Mart.
Fundamentalism has become to many what a church or people are against, and too often framed in a worldview that is not true to Scripture, I believe. An example of that is a dualism which practically denies the good in God’s world and in culture, even though fallen.
There are so many issues that trouble me about Christian fundamentalism, I have to admit. Some of that is unresolved for me. Part of my fundamentalism is to emphatically declare my unity with all churches and people who are in Christ, as well as the oneness I have with all- as a sinner saved by the grace of God in Christ.
Mart, I understand where you are coming from and those who have left comments. It had been my belief that being fundamental also meant the extreme of the religion. Whether it is the true faith of being a Christian or it is Islamic etc.
I went to a fundemental Bible Believing Church and I can tell you that I don’t want that experience again. They took the scriptures and used them to mean what they wanted. The word of God was used to beat you down not lift you up.
Maybe you need to also add this type of fundamental church in your definition.
Well, it seem satan has suceeded again in twisting this word “Fundementalism” just as he is done with the word “Faith” to mean something different in our world today. And the unfortunate is that some of our Christian leaders have allowed themselves to be used by him to achieved this.
Our job now is to reverse this by proclaiming what the word says. We can all (christians) learn how to say “it is written” just as our Lord did.