Is Fundamentalism Merely a Belief in “The Five Fundamentals"?
David Cloud said:Some have concocted a position that Fundamentalism historically was not separatistic but was merely a belief in “the five fundamentals.” That this is a serious perversion of history is clear from the following facts.
We must note at the outset of these considerations that Fundamentalism has never been a monolithic movement. It has taken many different forms. There have always been those who have worn the Fundamentalist label who have shied away from the heat of the battle, who have refused to obey the Word of God and separate from error. Describing Fundamentalism is a little like the ant describing the elephant. There are many aspects to Fundamentalism and describing the movement depends somewhat upon one’s perspective. Even so, to claim that Fundamentalism was NOT characterized by militancy for truth, to claim that fighting and separating have NOT been a significant aspect of historic Fundamentalism, is to fly in the face of history.
1. THAT HISTORIC FUNDAMENTALISM WAS MORE THAN THE AFFIRMATION OF “THE FIVE FUNDAMENTALS” IS ADMITTED BY ITS HISTORIANS.
George Marsden gives this overview: “By the 1930s, then it became painfully clear that reform from within could not prevent the spread of modernism in major northern denominations, MORE AND MORE FUNDAMENTALISTS BEGAN TO MAKE SEPARATION FROM AMERICA’S MAJOR DENOMINATIONS AN ARTICLE OF FAITH. Although most who supported fundamentalism in the 1920s still remained in their denominations, many Baptist dispensationalists and a few influential Presbyterians were demanding separatism” (Marsden, Reforming Fundamentalism: Fuller Seminary and the New Evangelicalism, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987, p. 7).
George Dollar, one of the few historians of the Fundamentalist movement to write from the standpoint of a genuine Fundamentalist, gives this definition: “Historic fundamentalism is the literal interpretation of all the affirmations and attitudes of the Bible and the militant exposure of all non-biblical affirmations and attitudes” (Dollar, A History of Fundamentalism in America, 1973).
Dollar divides Fundamentalism into three periods. From 1875-1900 conservative leaders raised the banner against Modernism within the denominations. From 1900-1935 these struggles resulted in men leaving their denominations to form separate churches and groups. “They were the architects of ecclesiastical separation.” From 1935-1983 the second generation Fundamentalists continued the battle from outside of the mainline denominations and also contended against the New Evangelical movement. It is plain that this historian, who gave a significant portion of his life to the examination of these matters, identifies historic Fundamentalism with earnest militancy and biblical separation.
David O. Beale, who also has written a history of Fundamentalism from a Fundamentalist perspective, gives this definition: “The essence of Fundamentalism ... is the unqualified acceptance of and obedience to the Scriptures. ... The present study reveals that pre-1930 Fundamentalism was nonconformist, while post-1930 Fundamentalism has been separatist” (Beale, In Pursuit of Purity: American Fundamentalism Since 1850, Bob Jones University Press, 1986, p. 5).
I offer one more illustration of the definition given to Fundamentalism by its historians. John Ashbrook has deep roots in the Fundamentalist movement. His father, William, was brought to trial by the Presbyterian denomination because of his stand against Modernism. After his separation from Presbyterianism, William Ashbrook established an independent Fundamentalist church. He wrote an incisive book on New Evangelicalism entitled Evangelicalism: The New Neutralism. The first edition of this work appeared in 1958. His son, John, after a period of toying with New Evangelicalism as a young man, became a solid Fundamentalist leader in his own right. His book New Neutralism II: Exposing the Gray of Compromise is, in this author’s opinion, one of the best books in print on this subject. In looking back over the Fundamentalist movement since the 1930s, John Ashbrook defines Fundamentalism in this way:
“Fundamentalism is the militant belief and proclamation of the basic doctrines of Christianity leading to a Scriptural separation from those who reject them” (Ashbrook, Axioms of Separation, nd., p. 10).
2. THAT HISTORIC FUNDAMENTALISM WAS MORE THAN THE AFFIRMATION OF “THE FIVE FUNDAMENTALS” IS PROVEN BY THE FACT OF NEW EVANGELICALISM.
If it were true that historical Fundamentalism was merely a stand for “the five fundamentals,” the New Evangelical movement of the 1940s would have made no sense, because New Evangelicalism has always held to “the five fundamentals.” In fact, Harold Ockenga, one of the fathers of New Evangelicalism, said that there at least several dozen fundamentals!
It was not a stand for “the five fundamentals” that New Evangelicals protested. The keynote of New Evangelicalism was the repudiation of the separatism and other militant aspects of old-line Fundamentalism, which proves that old-line Fundamentalism was characterized by these things.
In his history of Fuller Theological Seminary, Reforming Fundamentalism, historian George M. Marsden makes it plain that Fuller’s early leaders were consciously rejecting the negative aspects of old-line Fundamentalism.
It is clear to honest historians that Fundamentalism fifty years ago was characterized by MILITANCY, by a willingness to deal with the NEGATIVES, and by SEPARATION, and it was this fact that produced the New Evangelical reaction against Fundamentalism.
3. THAT HISTORIC FUNDAMENTALISM WAS MORE THAN THE AFFIRMATION OF “THE FIVE FUNDAMENTALS” IS ACKNOWLEDGED BY HISTORIC FUNDAMENTALIST ORGANIZATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS.
Consider The Fundamentalist, published by J. Frank Norris, an influential fundamental Baptist leader of Texas. Independent Baptist historian George Dollar describes Norris’s The Fundamentalist in this way:
“The Fundamentalist alarmed and alerted ... Reading the 1920-1930 back issues of The Fundamentalist, one can almost see the smoke and hear the battle cries of those times” (Dollar, The Fight for Fundamentalism, published by the author, 1983, p. 3).
Norris’s paper is representative of that entire generation of Fundamentalism in that it was a generation noted for its bold militancy for the truth.
Consider the following definition of Fundamentalism that was given by the World Congress of Fundamentalists, meeting in 1976 in Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Scotland:[/url]
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