Contending
for the Faith
by
Fred Moritz
What is Fundamentalism?
Fundamentalist
Descriptions of Fundamentalism
Fundamentalists
have also spent extensive time analyzing their own movement.
Their descriptions of Fundamentalism are strikingly similar
to the Liberal and New Evangelical descriptions.
William
Ward Ayer
Speaking
to the National Association of Evangelicals in 1956, William
Ward Ayer put the term into historical perspective:
Fundamentalism
represents a resurgence of ancient practices, which
began not with Martin Luther but at Pentecost. Fundamentalism
is apostolic, and the doctrine of justification goes
back to Paul. That branch from which the fundamentalist
movement sprang lived obscurely through the ages and
had never been completely silenced even in the Dark
Ages. . . . What fundamentalism did was to awaken the
slumbering apostolicism from lethargy. The theme of
the Reformation, like the cry of the fundamentalists
today, was "back to the Bible and the Apostles,"
with no mediator between men and God except Christ.
Fundamentalists are in the direct line of succession
to those preaching this same message.17
This
statement deserves serious consideration and will be the
point of departure for this book. Ayer is right! Certain
distinctives have marked Fundamentalists because those distinctives
come from the Word of God.
David
Beale
In his
definitive history of Fundamentalism, David Beale states,
Ideally,
a Christian Fundamentalist is one who desires to reach
out in love and compassion to people, believes and defends
the whole Bible as the absolute, inerrant, and authoritative
Word of God, and stands committed to the doctrine and
practice of holiness. . . . Fundamentalism is not a
philosophy of Christianity, nor is it essentially an
interpretation of the Scriptures. It is not even a mere
literal exposition of the Bible. The essence of Fundamentalism
goes much deeper than that—it is the unqualified
acceptance of and obedience to the Scriptures [emphasis
Beale's].18
David
Cummins
David
Cummins, Baptist pastor, author, and now deputation director
for Baptist World Mission, defines Fundamentalism in similar
fashion:
A
fundamentalist is one who believes in the literal interpretation
of the Scriptures leading to a pre-millennial eschatology.
This distinctive causes him, like Jude, to earnestly
contend for the faith, to preach and teach with certitude
the full counsel of the Word of God, to promote evangelism
and practice worldwide missions. Simultaneously, such
a one is impelled like Paul to ecclesiastical separatism
and a militancy in opposing false teaching, evangelistic
compromise, and the apostasy. In like manner, a fundamentalist
practices personal separation from worldliness in all
of its various expressions and a personal commitment
to a life of holiness.19
Robert
Delnay
Robert
Delnay is a Baptist church historian. He has served as a
professor in several institutions, most recently at Clearwater
Christian College. His research on the Baptist Bible Union
yielded an extensive analysis of the Fundamentalist movement.
Delnay identifies the following distinctives of the movement:
- Biblicism—inerrancy
and biblical authority
- Separatism
- Premillennialism
- Conviction,
militancy
- Spirituality—"Biblical,
spiritual contact with the unseen God"
- Evangelism
- Confidence
in the power of preaching
- Distrust
of secular education
- Interdenominationalism20
Bob
Jones Jr.
"Dr.
Bob," as he was affectionately known, was probably
Fundamentalism's leading spokesman in recent years. He captured
the essence of the movement's commitment to Scripture and
its militancy with these words:
A
Fundamentalist is a person who is soundly converted
and born again through faith in the blood of Christ,
who believes the Bible is God's Word, who is willing
to defend the Scripture with his life's blood, who preaches
and proclaims the Word, and who seeks to obey it.21
Larry
Pettegrew
Pettegrew,
then acting dean of Central Seminary, commented on Fundamentalism's
beginnings, as we have noted. He went on to list several
of its distinguishing marks. First, he identified it as
a movement with "a distinct name, a distinct theology,
distinct churches, distinct leaders, distinct literature,
and distinct educational institutions."22
He also identified Fundamentalism's affirmation of the previously
noted five fundamentals of the faith. He then identified
Fundamentalism's militancy, and finally, he described the
movement's emphasis on separatism, saying,
What
does all this tell us about the modern fundamentalist
movement? Without question, ecclesiastical separation
has rightly become a more important aspect of
the fundamentalist movement in recent years. Some would
even say that it has become the distinctive [emphasis
Pettegrew's].23
Contending for the Faith. ByFred Moritz. ©2000. BJU Press. Reproduction
prohibited. This work is available for purchase at the Bob Jones University
Campus Store (phone: 1-800-252-1927; web address:
www.bju.edu/store.) Permission must be obtained from www.itib.org
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