In light of one of the tangents in adult class last Sunday this article is interesting:
http://www.fpcnyc.org/fundamentalism.html
I need to do some more reading, but I seem to recall that eventually there were 20 points, not just 5 (but maybe it was 20 tracts expounding the 5 points).
It is interesting that the 5 points varied somewhat. If they are the first version listed then our class teacher is correct that most Churches of Christ (though not necessarily every member) would be Fundamentalist in that sense. If pre-Mill is included, then most would NOT be.
And if Salvation by Faith Alone (understood a certain way) became included, then again many Fundamentalists would deny CoC inclusion among their numbers.
I'll have to see, but I think that eventually the emphasis of Separation from worldliness became, if not another point, a characterizing style that distinguished them (us?) from the broader Evangelical movement which had already existed for a long time. In fact, the 5 points alone are a fairly good description of "Evangelical", aren't they?
I know that I grew up with the idea that we were fundamentalists, but I wonder if we redefined the term. I know that when I heard the term used as a put down later in university, I was surprised that it could be negative.
ReplyDeleteWe were about the fundamentals. Many churches taught the "fundamentals of the faith" in some manner or other.