Fundamentalism

Fundamentalism is a movement that originated in the United States in the early 20th century as a consequence of the Fundamentalist-Modernist controversy and in reaction to the perceived liberal tendencies in Protestant Christianity and American popular culture. In a series of 12 booklets called The Fundamentals, published between 1910 and 1915, a coalition of conservative Evangelicals sought to define Christian belief by its essential elements. As defined by Fundamentalists, these fundamental beliefs of Christianity are (a) the inerrancy of scripture; (b) the deity of Christ (including his birth from a virgin); (c) the substitutionary atonement of Christ's death, meaning that Jesus died on behalf of others, bearing and ultimately paying for their sins by his own death; (d) the literal resurrection of Christ from the dead; and (e) the literal, imminent return of Christ in the Second Advent. For Fundamentalists, those who do not hold these essential beliefs are not authentically Christian. From its original impetus as a theological protest against the Social Gospel, Darwinism, and historical-critical biblical scholarship that were gaining currency among liberal Protestants, Fundamentalism expanded into a social and political movement contesting secularism in the broader society and, thus, plays a role in the formation and maintenance of the religious, social, and political identities of its members.

Although largely absent from The Fundamentals, Fundamentalists also tend to share a set of beliefs about the End Times called dispensational premillennialism. Dispensationalism is the division of human history into epochs called dispensations. Each dispensation is a period of time marked by a particular type of covenant, or binding relationship [Page 299]between God and humanity. When the dispensation ends, God ceases to use that covenant and never returns to it again. Although Fundamentalists differ on what happens to those who cling to the previous covenants of previous dispensations, most would agree that a viable relationship with God is dependent upon knowing the current dispensation and adhering to the appropriate covenant with God. Most dispensational schemes argue that we are near the end of human history and that Jesus’ Second Coming is imminent. Premillennialism is a theology of the End Times that relies heavily upon fairly literal interpretations of the Bible's book of Revelation and other apocalyptic scripture. This theological framework constructs a pessimistic timeline of the end of human history that features a mysterious Rapture, by which believers are instantaneously removed from the earth and tribulations, disease, and death mark human existence until a cataclysmic battle of world forces at Armageddon ends with the ultimate triumph of Christ and his forces, resulting in an era of peace. Although this eschatology is not limited to Fundamentalists, it is characteristic of those in the movement.

George Marsden famously wrote, “A Fundamentalist is an Evangelical who is angry about something” (p. 2). This humorous oversimplification points to the fact that, although Fundamentalists and Evangelicals share some beliefs, Fundamentalists have turned them into militant programs of political and social reform. Fundamentalists are Evangelical Christians, but not all Evangelicals are Fundamentalists. Evangelicals are Protestants who share a set of core beliefs, including the centrality and authority of scripture; the need for each person to have a salvation, or born-again experience, in order to enter into relationship with God; and requirements to live a moral life and to engage in missions or evangelism to spread the message of the Gospel around the world. Fundamentalists differ principally from other Evangelicals in that they tend to be more theologically conservative and argue that the Bible is not only authoritative but inerrant. By calling it inerrant, Fundamentalists are stating that the Bible is without error of any kind.

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