CBF: Understanding urged in facing fundamentalism_72803

Posted: 7/25/03

CBF: Understanding urged in facing fundamentalism

By John Pierce

Baptists Today

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The rift between fundamentalist and moderate Baptists has been so painful that another generation likely will have to do most of the fence mending, predicted Philip Wise, pastor of Second Baptist Church of Lubbock.

Wise co-led a breakout session on understanding and responding to fundamentalism during the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship general assembly. His co-leader was Fisher Humphreys, a theology professor at Samford University's Beeson Divinity school.

Moderate Baptists need to consider now how they will respond to those who often malign them, Wise said, because “fundamentalists are not going away, and we need to develop a philosophy about how we can best relate to them.”

“We think it is regrettable, even if it is sometimes understandable, that many people in America today feel contempt for fundamentalists,” Humphreys said.

Dehumanizing fundamentalists by suggesting they are not true Christians is tempting, but wrong, added Wise. Treating them as fellow believers and showing kindness are better responses, he suggested.

“Kindness is not a characteristic for which fundamentalists have become known,” Wise said. “I hope it is characteristic of moderate Baptists. … We should treat fundamentalists with kindness because that is the way many fundamentalists become ex-fundamentalists.”

Fundamentalism arose in America in the late 19th century when evangelicals began pulling together across denominational lines to counter what they saw as threats to the Christian faith, Humphreys said. He identified biblical criticism, biological evolution and liberal theology as factors driving the reaction.

Unlike European theologians like Albert Schweitzer and Karl Barth, who challenged liberalism through scholarly writings, fundamentalists organized their opposition, Humphreys explained.

He described the wide distribution of “The Fundamentals,” a series of 12 pamphlets published between 1910 and 1925, and use of the word “Fundamentalists” by Northern Baptist newspaper editor Curtis Lee Laws in 1920 as giving the movement its name.

The “five fundamentals” first articulated in 1910 were belief in the inerrancy of Scripture, the virgin birth of Christ, the substitutionary atonement of Christ, Christ's bodily resurrection and the authenticity of biblical miracles. The latter sometimes was replaced in the lineup with a premillenial view of the end times.

“Although fundamentalists affirm these five beliefs for good reasons, in the process they seem to forget what is truly fundamental,” Wise said. He argued that these fundamentals are “not fundamental enough” and are actually supplementary rather than fundamentals of the Christian faith.

“Each of these beliefs, if properly nuanced, can be affirmed,” he added. “However, moderate Baptists have been reluctant to affirm this list, or even individual items, without careful qualifying.”

Such qualification, he explained, is usually seen by fundamentalists as wavering in belief and therefore a sign of theological liberalism.

Wise addressed each of the five fundamentals, describing why the list would not be considered “foundational” theology by many moderate or traditional Baptists.

For example, he said moderate Baptists overwhelmingly embrace the virgin birth of Christ. But the original intent of the doctrine is to affirm the humanity of Christ as well as his divinity.

Since Scripture does not teach that one must hold this belief in order to become a Christian, it could not rightly be called foundational, Wise asserted.

Wise told of being asked by his ordination council in south Alabama if he believed in the virgin birth. Then 21 years old, Wise said, he truthfully and innocently replied: “Yes, but it is not necessary for salvation.”

When asked to defend his position, Wise noted none of the conversion stories in the New Testament mention affirmation of the virgin birth as part of becoming a disciple of Christ.

After excusing Wise while they discussed the matter further, the young minister was invited back in and told by the council: “We agree that it is not necessary to believe in the virgin birth in order to become a Christian, but we don't think you ought to teach this.”

Many observers wrongly assume that fundamentalism was originally a rural, Southern anti-intellectual movement, Humphreys said. In reality, he said, the movement first impacted Baptists and Presbyterians in northern cities.

Fundamentalism has appeared widely within Christian groups as well as other faith traditions in more recent years, he noted. Using the “family traits” of fundamentalism, as defined by Martin Marty and Scott Appleby, Humphreys said fundamentalism is identifiable in various religious settings, including the Southern Baptist Convention.

Humphreys presented reasons for considering the new SBC agenda to be a version of fundamentalism. The “family resemblance,” he said, can be seen in several ways.

Among them are resistance to aspects of modernity–such as the role of women in society and church–and reactions to what they perceive as liberalism. He also pointed to the recent firing of missionaries for not affirming a narrow faith statement as evidence of creating “unequivocal boundaries,” another mark of fundamentalism.

However, Humphreys warned against underestimating the role of theological concerns in the SBC controversy that began in 1979.

“One of the most serious moderate misunderstandings of the controversy was that it was about power only, not about theology,” he said. “The dichotomy was misleading. It was about power, but it also was about theology.”

The new SBC leaders hold deep religious and theological convictions, he said. “They felt these were threatened, and they acted to protect them.”

Fundamentalism is marked not only by its theological positions, the two theologians asserted, but also by its attitudes.

Suspicion, fear, anger and separatism are common attitudes among fundamentalists, Wise said. Suspicion, he added, seems to be a “continuing state of mind” with fundamentalists.

“Because fundamentalism is predicated on the theory that liberals are trying to subvert the church, fundamentalists must constantly be checking the theology of others to ensure that they are not liberals,” Wise explained. “This causes fundamentalists to be suspicious of those outside their community as well as those within it.”

Exaggerated fear and anger also are present in fundamentalism, Wise said, due to the perceived threats of modernity and liberalism to their understanding of faith.

Fundamentalists feel a need to separate from these threats–including separation from fellow Christians who do not share their concerns and beliefs, he added.

“This separatism causes fundamentalists to label others as being 'with us' or 'against us.' This means that even those within the fundamentalist family are suspect, since they may choose the wrong path or weaken in the faith at any point in time.”

Fundamentalists consider accepting people who hold differing views to be the same as condoning heresy, Wise explained. Therefore, church splits and efforts to “purge liberals” result.

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