Fundamentalism & Evangelicalism

stufffundieslike ends 8 year run

That is the first time I have ever heard of an ETS member openly supporting gay marriage in a presentation. Second, after the presentations, the moderator said that the papers represented a good range of “evangelical” opinion on the subject of marriage. Apparently, he even included Gushee’s presentation within the pale of evangelical possibilities.

Several centuries from now I can imagine a church historian excavating the fossils of church bulletins and seeing the words “Baby Dedication” in an order of service. “What is that?!” the historian will exclaim. “Ah,” a colleague will knowingly nod. “That’s a late-twentieth century specimen called Paedo-Dedicatius.

Liberals treat first-order doctrines as if they were merely third-order in importance, and doctrinal ambiguity is the inevitable result. Fundamentalism, on the other hand, tends toward the opposite error. The misjudgment of true fundamentalism is the belief that all disagreements concern first-order doctrines.

“The NAE/LifeWay Research definition includes four statements to which respondents would strongly agree in order to be categorized as evangelical:
• The Bible is the highest authority for what I believe.
• It is very important for me personally to encourage non-Christians to trust Jesus Christ as their Savior.
• Jesus Christ’s death on the cross is the only sacrifice that could remove the penalty of my sin.

“Over the last century, many distributaries have branched off of the channel of Baptist separatism. The Midwest Congress of Baptist Fundamentalists, gathering Oct. 26 and 27 in Wisconsin Dells, provided an opportunity for representatives from some of those streams to be reminded of their common heritage and shared principles.”

The 5 Distinguishing Marks Of Evangelicalism