Fundamentalism and Evangelicism
Fundamentalism and Evangelicism
More on fundamentalism, Teaching evolution to fundamentalists, Fundamentalist education, The evangelical mind, Characteristics of fundmetalists
From Reinder Bruinsma, "Adventist and Protestant Fundamentalism", Spectrum 30, 24-35 (2002)
This article discusses conflicts between theological extremes within the Seventh Day Adventist church.
Essential differences between fundamentalist and evangelical Christians:
1- Fundamentalists are suspicious of scholarly activities and often display distinct anti-intellectualism. In contrast, evangelicals are much more open to the results of scholarly research.
2- Fundamentalists believe that the bible was verbally inspired and have little or no appreciation for its human dimensions and cultural context. However, evangelicals recognize those elements and pay more attention to context when interpreting scripture.
3- Fundamentalists usually prefer a traditional bible translation, such as the King James Version. Evangelicals are more likely to use a modern version, for instance, the Revised Standard Version, the New International Version, or the Living Bible.
4- Fundamentalists emphasize the need to interpret the Bible literally, whereas evangelicals devote more attention to context and show more awareness for the Bible's different literary genres.
5- Generally speaking, fundamentalists have little or no interest in ecumenical activities, whereas evangelicals tend to be open to dialogue with other Christians and usually establish ecumenical contacts.
6- Fundamentalists often follow current opinions of the majority, rather uncritically, with regard to such social issues as race relations and economic policy, Evangelicals are not immune to the influence of culture that surrounds them, but are usually more critical and more inclined to construct a biblical world view as the basis for their views and actions.
7- Fundamentalists tend to be further right than evangelicals on the political spectrum.
8- Almost all fundamentalists are premillenial in their theology. Evangelicals hold widely divergent views on the Second Coming and other end-time events.
Taken from David L. Edwards and John Stott, Essentials: a Liberal-Evangelical Dialogue (London, Hodder and Stoughton, 1988).
(Fundamentalism) is now often used in a negative sense to indicate a particular mind set. A fundamentalist is a strident bigot advocating adherence to outmoded ideas. He is a separatist, suspicious of others. (William G. Johnsson, Adventist Review, Jan 8, 1981).
The term "fundamentalism" has gradually acquired the connotation of group-think, fear of knowledge, and hostility to innovation. (Charles Scriven, Spectrum 26, 3, 1997).
Fundamentalists are people who demand simple answers to complex questions, who thrive on suspicion and eagerly believe all kinds of conspiracy theories (Kenneth Wood, Review and Herald, Dec 26, 1963)