Originally posted by John of Japan:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Rhetorician:
There also seems to be (in my way of seeing things) a pararllel (sp?) with the "fundamentalist's" movement and other movements. The first generation of leaders die and the "movements" seem to harden into a level of institutionalism after that.
Just some observations that I think may be appropo for our discussions here.
sdg!
rd
Hi, Rhetorician.
I have my ears on, but I'm not sure what you mean. Will you please explain your idea of Fundamentalism as an institution a little more?
</font>[/QUOTE]Hi, Rhetorician.
I got your PM in my regular e-mail, but for some reason it did not show up in my account page on the BB. Thanks anyway.
I believe I understand your idea of Fundamentalism as an institution now. I'm afraid I don't know enough of the civil rights scene, etc., in America nowadays to say if the comparision is valid. For that matter, I don't know a whole lot about Fundamentalist leaders in America nowadays, other than the pastors I met on our recent furlough. Not much help, am I?
Here is my summary, though.
(1) I'm not sure IFBs were ever the monolithic group that many seem to think. Even in the 1950s there was the GARB, the BBF, the WBF, the FBG and the churches that made up the SBF (don't know when that was formed). All of them listened to some degree to Rice, Jones and others. But then the BBF guys would get offended when Rice preached against storehouse tithing--you know what I mean?!
(2) My position, already stated, is that the IFB movement, after great growth of churches through the 1970's, is now in a more mature phase wherein the IFB institutions are participating in world-wide missions. Thus, IFBs don't look to individual leaders but to the harvest fields for inspiration Just since I came to the field in 1981, there have been many new mission boards (Jack Schaap of Hammond even recently started one which already has about 60 couples), ministries which help missionaries (Bearing Precious Seed and Fellowship Tract League are prime examples), schools majoring on missions (Bud Calvert's school in Fairfax, VA, for example), older Bible colleges with good missions degrees, and 1000s of new missionaries.
(3) In short, who are the IFB leaders of today? No one in general, and many in particular.