Fundamentalism

Fundamentalism is a term, often used in the pejorative sense, referring to evangelical Christians. The term originated in the middle of the 20th century, when a group of evangelical thinkers promulgated a pamphlet under the name, "The Fundamentals of Christianity," in an effort to define themselves as opposing the liberalization of American social culture during that time period.

Merriam-Webster defines fundamentalism as 'A movement in 20th century Protestantism emphasizing the literally interpreted Bible as fundamental to Christian life and teaching'

The word, over the course of its span, has come to mean any belief that has come to be oppressive or derogatory in nature to those who do not believe, such as the Islamic Fundamentalist of the Middle East, or the Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas that stages anti-homosexuality protests at military funerals.

References

Original Fundamentalism article

Fundamentalism is a theological tendency seeking to follow and preserve what are believed to be the essential fundamentals of a religion or ideology. Followers of fundamentalism often seek to prevent what they perceive to be the liberalization of these fundamentals.

Often the term "fundamentalism" is used in a pejorative way by opponents of Christianity.

References

• Reference.com

Original Fundamentalist article

Fundamentalism is a movement which began within Protestant Christianity in the late 19th century in opposition to the emergence of modernism within several denominations. The term itself was popularized by R.A. Torrey when he published his book The Fundamentals in 1917. Fundamentalism stresses several points:

• The inerrancy of the Bible
• The Virgin Birth of Christ
• The bodily resurrection of Christ
• The substitutionary atonement of Christ on the cross
• The literal nature of the Biblical accounts of Christ's miracles, the Creation account in Genesis, and so on

Fundamentalism held to these points in opposition to such trends as higher criticism and the increasing acceptance of Darwinism, which were popular among modernists. Fundamentalist movements were found in most Protestant denominations by the early 20th century, with the debate between fundamentalists and modernists especially strong in Presbyterian and Baptist churches. The term fundamentalism would later come to be closely associated with dispensationalist beliefs, belief in the impending Second Coming of Christ, and with Evangelical Christianity in general.

Today the term is used by the liberal media to mean any philosophy which stresses strict, and literal adherence to a set of basic principles, and is used as a pejoritive by secularists to describe any religion, not just Christianity. For example the terms "fundamentalist Muslim" and "fundamentalist Hindu" are frequently used. Typically the reference is to religious fundamentalism though can have a secular meaning.