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Fundamentalism
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Secularization’s second impact on Fundamentalism is the abandonment of theological systems for a “mix and match” set of beliefs. Rather than adhering to a unified traditional and historical theology in which the component parts form a web of belief, fundamentalists now seem to be more consumerist in their belief systems. There are two reasons for this shift. First is the loss of theological thinking among the person in the pew, which in turn is a direct result of the lack of theological acumen in the pulpit. Second is the disillusionment with institutions (churches, colleges and universities, fellowships and associations, political entities). Scandals of immorality, ethical violations, perceived departure from orthodoxy, and other causes have fostered distrust of the ability of institutions to provide a complete worldview and unified theology.
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Fundamentalism is a term with differing meanings and definitions some of which are controversial to groups with certain vested interests. The original usage was used to describe a narrowly defined set of beliefs that deveolped into a movement within the US protestant community in the early part of the 20th century. These religious principles were in opposition to the modernist movement within the presbyterian church and espouse the strict adherence and faith in religious [F]undamentals.
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Like all movements Fundamentalism has enjoyed many successes and many failures. The greatest failure has come from allowing the liberal press to define what it means to be a fundamentalist. They have not only defined the term but have been able to identify fundamentalists as radical snake-handling kooks that want to form a Christian government and force their beliefs on the population at large. This is not only far from the truth but is a total misconception about the intentions of fundamentalists. The charge to fundamentalists everywhere has always been to be guardians of the truth of Scripture and defenders of the Christian faith. In that regard they have attempted to provide a great service for humanity.
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Fundamentalism has no official history, because it has always existed and always will exist because it is right. Something can only have history if it falls within the boundaries of time, and since rightness is eternal, there can be no history. However, some history has occured. Around 2000 years ago some character with long hair from Israel claimed that maybe God loves everyone, but true rightness quickly prevailed over him and he was terminated. There are many other histories that are absolutely correct to various people. Most of these are complete bullshit.
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Fundamentalism, as a movement, arose in the United States starting among conservative Presbyterian academics and theologians at Princeton Theological Seminary in the first decade of the Twentieth Century. It spread from there to conservatives among the Baptists and other denominations during and immediately after the First World War. The movement's purpose was to reaffirm orthodox Protestant Christianity and to defend it zealously against the challenges of liberal theology, German higher criticism, Darwinism, and other "-isms" it regarded as harmful to Christianity. Since then, the focus of the movement, the meaning of the term, and the ranks of those who willingly use the term to identify themselves have changed several times. Fundamentalism has so far gone through four phases of expression while maintaining its central commitment to its orthodoxy.
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Fundamentalism strives to change the world through evangelistic promulgation of its belief structure. Therefore social action, beyond the observance of religious orthodoxy, is a regular feature of the behavior of movement members. At times such social action can be the principal activity of the group. Such social action can take many forms ranging from informational efforts, to political participation, to active or passive social resistance, to violent struggle. It is at this point where the actions of fundamentalist religious revival groups blur and begin to resemble the behavior of political activists.
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Fundamentalism