Fundamentalist Christianity

:This article concerns the self-labelled Fundamentalist Movement in Protestant Christianity. For other kinds of fundamentalism, please see the main article, Fundamentalism.

Doctrine

The original formulation of American fundamentalist beliefs can be traced to the Niagara Bible Conference (1878-1897) and in 1910, to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church which distilled these into what became known as the "five fundamentals"{{ref|fivefund}}:

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• Inerrancy of the Scriptures
• The virgin birth and the deity of Jesus
• The doctrine of substitutionary atonement through God's grace and human faith
• The bodily resurrection of Jesus
• The authenticity of Christ's miracles (or, alternatively, his premillenial second coming){{ref|option}}

In particular, fundamentalists reject the documentary hypothesis—the theory held by higher biblical criticism that the Pentateuch was composed and shaped by many people over centuries. Fundamentalists continue to assert that Moses was the primary author of the first five books of the Old Testament. Some fundamentalists, on the other hand, may be willing to consider alternative authorship only where the Biblical text does not specify an author, insisting that books in which the author is identified must have been written by that author.

Related Topics:
Documentary hypothesis - Higher biblical criticism - Pentateuch - Moses

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Fundamentalists differ from Pentecostals in their strong insistence upon "correct" doctrine and often advocate separatism (which often also divides fundamentalists from each other) as opposed to the experiential emphasis of Pentecostals.

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Fundamentalists also criticize evangelicals for a lack of concern for doctrinal purity and for a lack of discernment in ecumenical endeavors in working co-operatively with other Christians of differing doctrinal views. Evangelist Billy Graham came from a Fundamentalist background, but many Christian fundamentalists repudiate him today because of his choice, early in his ministry, to co-operate with other Christians. He represents a movement that arose within Fundamentalism, but has increasingly become distinct from it, which fundamentalists refer to, derisively, as Neo-evangelicalism.

Related Topics:
Billy Graham - Neo-evangelicalism

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