The video below answers the question… What is Fundamentalism? Who is a Fundamentalist? And how has Fundamentalism changed in meaning from “Held Beliefs” to “How One Holds Their Beliefs” in the last 100 years.

Join me as I explore this history and ask for your insights and experience into this change. If you have questions or insights about the topics covered in this video or have recommendations for future videos let me know in the comments.

My video on the changing meaning of fundamentalism and fundamentalist is above, and my abbreviated video script with citations is below.

Video Script & Citations

What Changed?
(Rick Warren & Gavin Ortlund Clips as Examples of Pointing Out This Change)

  • Rick Warren Clip – (June 2023 – 40:56 Link) Clip is from video where Warren is responding to the outcome of the SBC vote in June of 2023 where the Messengers at the SBC National Convention disfellowshipped from Warren’s church because his church ordained 3 women pastors in May of 2021)
    • “A fundamentalist, the word, the meaning has changed. A hundred years ago I would have called myself a fundamentalist, cause it means you hold to the fundamental doctrines of historic orthodox Christianity. Today a fundamentalist is an attitude [there are muslim, Buddhist, atheist, secular, communist, and Christian Right fundamentalists… a] fundamentalist is someone who stopped listening. That’s the fundamental thing, they’ve stopped listening.”
  • Gavin Ortlund, Truth Unites Clip – (March 2024 – 9:46 Link)
    (Clip is from Sola Scriptura is Medieval video on Wessel Gansfort. – Clip happens during recommendation of Packer book by Crossway)
    • “We live in a world where one of the problems in the midst of our current chaos is that there is a temptation to go to extremes. Fundamentalism on one end and then deconstructing or going liberal on the other. [To let go of theology and orthodoxy altogether or to clamp down too much.] We need more healthy centrist evangelical voices voices like Packer who, rock solid on Scripture, but also a little more ecumenical, and just a good theologian.” (9:46 Link)

Defining Terms

  • The Fundamentals
    (From The Fundamentals Essays – Published between 1910 & 1915)
    1. The Inerrancy of the Bible
    2. The Divinity of Christ
    3. The Virgin Birth of Christ
    4. Christ’s Physical Resurrection
    5. The Literal Truth of Jesus’ Miracles
      (DeYoung Video 24:30)
      (Also, Table of Contents (Central Doctrines) of Machen’s book C&L)
  • Fundamentalist – This video is about the change to this definition (1920s – A person or group who held certain doctrines they believed to be fundamental to historic orthodox Christianity to (now) how one holds their beliefs). Historically their enemies called them that – WTS Podcast, Mohler 7:01.
  • Fundamentalism – Historically, “An interdenominational movement within evangelical Protestantism that dissented from progressive theology within the mainline churches” (p.242, The Baptist Story by Chute, Finn, & Haykin)
  • Modernist (or Modernism) – Seeking to modernize Christianity.
  • Separatist (in ecclesiology, and from culture)
  • Conservative(s) & Liberal(s) – Not Political. Preserving the past & giving liberty/being more loose.(The Liberals wanted to liberate Christianity from the past. And they loved to operate in low visibility – using terms but then defining them contrary to historical definitions (Mohler Video).)
  • Evangelical (1800s origin, term revived by Billy Graham) (Good Books on the Term Evangelical I Know About)
    • Who Is An Evangelical? by Thomas Kidd &
    • The Evangelical Imagination by Karen Swallow Prior
  • Evangelicalism
  • Extra: These terms and issues today. In many ways this modernist or liberal way of thinking still exists as a danger out there today… using many different names. (WTS Podcast, Mohler 36:41)
    • They wanted to liberate Christianity…Subject Christianity to Modern thinking and progress
    • Progressivism (Enlightenment is behind it regardless of the label – Liberals are in the light and conservatives are in the dark)

Historically (Held Beliefs)
(What Fundamentalism/Fundamentalist meant 100 years ago, 1920s)
The Fundamental Essays, Northern Denominations, Machen, Scopes Trial

  • Rick Warren Clip – (June 2023 – 40:56 Link)
    • “A hundred years ago I would have called myself a fundamentalist, cause it means you hold to the fundamental doctrines of historic orthodox Christianity.”
  • The Fundamentals Essays & Key Points of Doctrine
    (DeYoung LBE Episode 145, March 2024 – 1:03:07) Kevin DeYoung reading from page five of the Oxford Handbook of Christian Fundamentalism.
    “Christian Protestant Fundamentalism… can be traced back to the publication of 12 volumes of essays between 1910 & 1915 gathered together under the title, “The Fundamentals.” Written by a wide cross section of evangelicals bankrolled by Californian oil tycoon Lyman Stewart. The Fundamentals collected a variety of themes,… but not all took a conservative line. Five key points of doctrine were identified as under assault by the particular liberal theology of the day:
    1. The Inerrancy of the Bible
    2. The Divinity of Christ
    3. The Virgin Birth of Christ
    4. Christ’s Physical Resurrection
    5. The Literal Truth of Jesus’ Miracles”
    6. Later on some groups have added (additional fundamentals?)… (DeYoung 35:30)
      1. Creationism & Rejection of Evolution
      2. Dispensational Premillennialism
      3. And you might find others…
  • Why were these essays needed?
    • Modernist Theology/Liberal Theology had been creeping into the states since the 1800s from Europe
    • Changing Times: Age of Enlightenment, Modernity, Science, Knowledge, Nature of Truth
    • In the 1920s it came to a head in the US in multiple denominations between the two world wars (The Fundamentalist-Modernist controversy)
      • World War 1 (1914-1918)
      • World War 2 (1939-1945)
  • Northern Denominations: Baptist & Presbyterians
    • Harry Emerson Fosdick (Baptist) – On May 21, 1922, Harry Emerson Fosdick (arguably the best known preacher in America until his retirement in 1946. Also a baptist, and a Union Theological Seminary professor, was filling the pulpit – The Baptist Story p.244) of Old First Presbyterian Church (est. 1716) in Manhattan to deliver his sermon “Shall the Fundamentalists Win?” (DeYoung ClearlyReformed). This sermon did not cause the division, but it cast a strong light on the division that was there.
    • Presbyterians – Death of B. B. Warfield in 1921 brought this to a head for Princeton & the denomination as a whole.
    • J. Gresham Machen (Presbyterian) – Wrote his book Christianity & Liberalism (developed from short talks he gave at the General Assembly to concerned Presbyterians) because he said Christianity & Liberalism were two very different religions/things. Could not be combined, for liberalism was no longer Christian. For Machen, there existed no such thing as Liberal-Christianity, for it denied the central doctrines of Orthodox Christianity. “And while Machen did not consider himself a fundamentalist, he was happy to have allies in defending the basic tenants of the Christian faith” (C&L Podcast Ep.5 Mohler – 2:18).
      • Christianity & Liberalism Table of Contents
        • 1 Introduction
        • 2 Doctrine
        • 3 God and Man
        • 4 The Bible
        • 5 Christ
        • 6 Salvation
        • 7 The Church
    • Northern Baptists – From 1923-1933 (a full decade) Northern Baptist fundamentalists disagreed on the best strategy to counter progressive trends in the NBC. They started some seminaries/schools, unions, and mission boards, Separatist fundamentalists left, some formed other baptist groups (e.g., 1932 GARBC) (The Baptist Story, p.245).
  • Scopes (Monkey) Trial (1925)
    • “The trial [against John Thomas Scopes for teaching Evolution in a State of Tennessee classroom] publicized the fundamentalist–modernist controversy, which set modernists, who said evolution could be consistent with religion, against fundamentalists, who said the word of God as revealed in the Bible took priority over all human knowledge. The case was thus seen both as a theological contest and as a trial on whether evolution should be taught in schools” (Wikipedia).
    • The fundamentalist groups won the trial, but “the trial revealed a growing chasm in American Christianity and two ways of finding truth, one “biblical” and one “evolutionist”” (Wikipedia).

The Shift & Shifting definitions
(What Fundamentalism/Fundamentalist has started to mean now)
Billy Graham, John Stott, & Evangelical Overlap

  • Billy Graham – First crusade was in 1947, two years after the end of World War 2. Used Evangelical as label to unify people.
    • As Evangelicalism grew it really started distancing itself from fundamentalism in the 1940s & 50s and Evangelical figures started distancing themselves from fundamentalism and fundamentalists…
  • John Stott (1921-2011) was an English Anglican priest and theologian who was a notable leader of the worldwide evangelical movement.
    • Stott, identifies 8 characteristics of Fundamentalism which Stott wished to repudiate.
    • (DeYoung LBE 145, 24:10)
      (Range: Liberals – Evangelicals – Fundamentalists). Evangelicals are the good guys in the middle (p.11 of the Handbook being talked about).
      • A suspicion of scholarship
      • A mechanical view of dictation theory
      • A superstitious reverence for the King James
      • Literalistic interpretation
      • Separatist ecclesiology
      • Cultural imprisonment
      • Denial of the social implications of the gospel
      • Premillennial eschatology
  • Still lots of Overlap though – DeYoung 25:00
    (Built on an insight from George Marsden – An American Historian)
    • A Fundamentalist is an Evangelical who is angry about something. And it can be said [equally] an Evangelical is a Fundamentalist with good manners.

Current (How one holds their beliefs)
(What Fundamentalism/Fundamentalist Means Today)
Pope Francis, Dan White Quote, Alistair Begg Sermon Example & Tim Keller’s Six Social Marks of Fundamentalism vs. Evangelicalism

  • No longer just a Christianity thing
    • Pope Francis Mentioned the following in 2019…
    • “We must beware of fundamentalist groups; each (religion) has their own….” He went on to say, “Fundamentalism is a plague and all religions have some fundamentalist first cousin” (ncroline.org).
    • Gavin Ortlund – Clip Already Played, Clamping down.
    • Rick Warren
      • First clip mentioned already. “Today a fundamentalist is an attitude… [there are muslim, Buddhist, atheist, secular, communist, and Christian Right fundamentalists… a] fundamentalist is someone who stopped listening. That’s the fundamental thing, they’ve stopped listening.” (June 2023)
      • Pew Research Interview on Myths of the Modern Megachurch (May, 2005)
        • “Warren predicts that fundamentalism, of all varieties, will be “one of the big enemies of the 21st century. Muslim fundamentalism, Christian fundamentalism, Jewish fundamentalism, secular fundamentalism – they’re all motivated by fear. Fear of each other” (PewResearch).
        • “Now the word “fundamentalist” actually comes from a document in the 1920s called the Five Fundamentals of the Faith. And it is a very legalistic, narrow view of Christianity, and when I say there are very few fundamentalists, I mean in the sense that they are all actually called fundamentalist churches, and those would be quite small. There are no large ones.”
  • It has become an attitude, or an action (how one holds their beliefs)
    • Dan White Twitter Post (DeYoung Video 11:44)
      Dan White Jr. Quote on X
      “Fundamentalism is not what we believe, it’s how we hold our beliefs.
      1. Absolutism in Knowledge
      2. Self-righteous in Spirit
      3. Combative in Dialogue
      4. Us vs Them in Orientation
      5. Demonizing Other Groups
      6. Policing Ideological Borders
      7. Using Shame to Ostracize”
  1. Alistair Begg – A Scottish pastor. He is the senior pastor of Cleveland’s Parkside Church, a position he has held since 1983. Radio show: Truth For Life.
    • Compassion vs. Condemnation sermon on Luke 15. Preached to further clarify for his church Begg’s advice to a grandmother about attending her gay granddaughters wedding and bringing a gift. Advice which set off what he called a “storm in a teacup” when he first talked about giving this advice on a podcast promoting his 2023 book, The Christian Manifesto (A book which unpacks Jesus’ iconic, landmark sermon in Luke 6 known as the Sermon on the Plain).
    • (Sermon from January 2024 – Alistair Begg 23:30)
      • “I have always said I’m a little bit out of sync with the American Evangelical world. For this reason, I am the product of British Evangelicalism… I have never been a product of American Fundamentalism.” Goes on to speak of coming from a world where people grasp that there are nuances to things, and everything is not so categorically clear that if you set on foot outside the box you must be removed from the box forever.
  • Tim Keller (1950-2023) – Evangelicalism Distanced and Distinguished from Fundamentalism.Evangelicalism grew apart from Fundamentalism in the 1940s & 50s. And continued to evolve… then shares… Six Social Marks of Fundamentalism vs. Evangelicalism (Articles to Renew Evangelicalism GospelInLife.com) (Mentioned in DeYoung Video 31:09)
    1. Moralism vs gracious engagement — Strict conformity to behavioral codes. Secondary doctrines made primary with resulting self-righteousness. Everything is either wholly good or evil, leading to withdrawal from society. A spirit of condemnation. Separatism and sectarianism. No ability to engage opposing views with patience, humility, hope, and tolerance.
    2. Individualism vs social reform — Belief that we are wholly the result of our personal choices. Little understanding of how culture forms us, or of systemic or institutional evil forces.
    3. Dualism vs a vision for all of life — A pitting of biblical beliefs against culture. Either we seek a hostile takeover or we seal off Christian beliefs from our work and life in society. No thought for how faith shapes the way we work in the secular spheres and how it can serve society.
    4. Anti-intellectualism vs scholarship — A distrust of experts, a reverse snobbism against education, and of any result of scholarship or research which is not believed as “common sense” to most people. Distrust of scholarship. Skepticism of science. A refusal to show other viewpoints any respect. A shallow “common sense” approach to biblical interpretation that ignores the biblical author’s intended meaning in the original context and the scholarship that helps us discern it.
    5. Anti-institutionalism vs accountability — A distrust of traditional institutions. A use of celebrity-driven, brand-driven platforms and networks which lead to fast growth, but low accountability. A tendency to authoritarianism.
    6. Enculturation vs cultural reflection — A wedding of Christianity to popular, traditional U.S. culture. Two features: (a) Gender exaggeration- due to fundamentalism’s tendency to “baptize” American culture, there is a legalistic tendency toward non-biblical gender stereotypes (especially those of the 1950s), a denigration of women, and cover-up of abuse. (b) Nationalism– A “God and Country” ethos that rejects reflection on the dark sides of U.S. history and society and expresses fear of a multi-ethnic future. (c) Racism- Often overt, but at the very least a racial and cultural insensitivity and cluelessness

Applications & Summary Points: A Label No-one Claims, Yet Everyone Uses!

  • So what are we to make of this shift? A few summary points…
    • Shift to an Attitude/Action – Fundamentalism is for most people now, way more of an attitudinal/action thing than a theological thing. Far less about beliefs, and way more about you hold those beliefs (DeYoung observation 13:00).
    • A Label Consistently Thrown Around and Used of Others – Someone will always be more conservative than you (DeYoung 36:15). And that is often when this label gets used to paint yourself/your tribe as the good guys.
    • For those who own the title: Classifying Kinds – Fundamentalism, as fundamental doctrines (good). Hyper Fundamentalism (bad kind).
    • Fundamentalists, when examined often fade into the mist – When you examine someone you believe to be a fundamentalist you find nuance, and you discover you are studying another evangelical (DeYoung 34:00).
    • A flash term for de-conversion stories, but there are still real situations that hurt people (Authoritarian, harsh, controlling… and those hurt people might be in your churches. Listen to them and discern, don’t just write them off)

Resources Used for Video

#Back2theWord exists to point people to Jesus. Please subscribe for more content like this and I pray that what I have shared will encourage you to read, treasure, and follow the Word.

Published by Joe Collis

My name is Joe! I am a servant of the Lord, a disciple of Jesus, and a messenger of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:14-21). I love Jesus, the Bible, people, pizza, popcorn, frisbee, movies, and books!

Leave a comment