How is an Evangelical Different From a Fundamentalist?

by jakesylvester1 | September 9, 2009 at 01:00 pm

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Presidential and gubernatorial elections are times when eventually the wordfundamentalist is bandied about. Eventually the media report how the Republican Party is ruled by fundamentalist Christians on the extreme right.

Fundamentalist is a loaded word. All fundamentalists supposedly judge who is worthy of their vote by the politician’s stance on abortion and sexuality. Moving out of the political arena, the word creates images of a “Bible thumper” in an outdated three piece suit, wearing the obligatory white shoes in the summer. Or of a husband and wife team ringing the doorbell, wanting to “share” with you. She may carry a King James Bible, but he does all the talking.

But we commit an injustice when we characterize all Christians with such impressions. Christianity is much broader, deeper and richer than fundamentalism.

Look at your hand for a moment. The thumb represents the earliest churches which still exist today—Nestorian, Coptic, etc. The pointer finger represents what the mainline groups evolved into after the conversion of Emperor Constantine of the Roman Empire, A.D. 312, and his later proclamation of Christianity’s legitimacy. Out of this fledgling organization developed the Roman Catholic Church.[i] The middle finger represents the Orthodox Church (Greek, and all its other national manifestations), which separated officially from the Catholic Church in the 1400’s. The ring finger represents the Protestant Reformation, which commenced when Martin Luther published his 95 Theses with the purpose of sincere discussion of what he considered errors and abuses. This action flamed the Protestant Church into existence during the 15th and 16th centuries. Finally, the pinkie finger represents the growth of that new Church, and its development into three distinct groupings, casually known as liberals, evangelicals, and fundamentalists.

All too often, it is the evangelical group which incorrectly gets placed under the same umbrella as fundamentalists. From a post-Reformation movement, which grew as the centuries passed, some theologians, professors and denominations moved away from a central truth of Christianity—that the Bible was the inerrant, authoritative word of God. Flourishing in the early decades of the twentieth century, this movement was considered by its opponents to be dangerously undermining the basic beliefs held by the Church for two millennia. In a reactionary move, these churches gathered officially and unofficially, to stand apart from those who held to liberal viewpoints. They reaffirmed the classic beliefs of the Church, naming them “the Fundamentals of Christianity”. They broke all ties with liberals and isolated themselves.

As a consequence, these Christian groups, divided and reforming into “heretic-free” denominations, were given the nickname of fundamentalists. Besides their core beliefs, what characterised fundamentalists was the social movement they unintentionally created. Generally, they shunned anyone, even Christians, who did not stand apart from what they chose as the evils of society: drinking of alcohol, cigarette smoking, dancing, card-playing and the theatre. Needless to say, the rest of society recognized them more for what they did not involve themselves in, than the good things which they contributed to the world.

But where did evangelicals come from? Within a generation, some within the fundamentalist movement grew disillusioned with the strictness of cultural norms and the anti-intellectual character. Influential in early evangelicalism were Wheaton College (Illinois), Rev. Billy Graham, and the magazine “Christianity Today”.[1]

Concerned with such things as the literalist interpretation of the Bible, the anti-scholasticism and social isolationism of fundamentalists, the group, whose name comes from the Greek word for Good News( evangel) evangelicals, while still adhering to the core beliefs, chose a less isolating lifestyle, a more open means of communicating with liberals and non-Christians, and a non-literal, but biblical form of the interpretation and study of Scripture.

Icons of Fundamentalism include the late Rev. Jerry Fallwell, Rev. James Dobson, founder of “Focus on the Family”, Rev. Pat Robertson, Rev. Chuck Swindoll, Rev. Tim LaHaye, former Washington insider, Chuck Colson and Bob Jones University. It would be erroneous to overlook the contributions these individuals have enriched us with.

Examples of Evangelicals include Rev. Rick Warren, Tony Campolo, Ron Sider, Jim Wallis, Rev. Joel Olsteen, Max Lucado, Philip Yancey and Rev. Bill Hybels. These are just a few of the leaders of the evangelical movement in the U.S.A.

Often, it’s easy to do the easiest thing, but it is not necessarily nor always the correct way. Contemporary Christianity is quite complex. It’s too easy to lump Evangelicals with Fundamentalists, but such oversights do happen. Even when many of those Evangelicals are not right wing at all.[ii]

There are a whole lot of religious people in America, including the majority of Democrats. When we abandon the field of religious discourse -- when we ignore the debate about what it means to be a good Christian or Muslim or Jew; when we discuss religion only in the negative sense of where or how it should not be practiced, rather than in the positive sense of what it tells us about our obligations toward one another; when we shy away from religious venues and religious broadcasts because we assume that we will be unwelcome -- others will fill the vacuum. And those who do are likely to be those with the most insular views of faith, or who cynically use religion to justify partisan ends. President Barack Obama

Christianity, with its doctrine of humility, of forgiveness, of love, is incompatible with the State, with its haughtiness, its violence, its punishment, its wars. Leo Tolstoy

Fundamentalism isn't about religion. It's about power. Salman Rushdie[iii]