Title Fundamentalism Trends
Contents . the beginning of fundamentalism
2. Fundamentalism in the 1920s
3. Fundamentalism in the 1930s
4. Emergence of New Evangelicalism
5. Fundamentalism since the 1950s
1. The Beginning of Fundamentalism
'Fundamentalism' began in the American church at the end of the 19th century. The Bible Study Group, which started with James Brooks in 1875, developed into a Prophecy Society. From 1883 to 1897, this meeting was held in Niagara every year except for 1884, so it became known as the 'Niagara Society of Prophets'. In addition to James Brooks, among the lecturers were William Erdman, Adoniram Gordon, A. C. Dixon, Hudson Taylor, and A. T. Pearson.
In 1878, under the leadership of Brooks, this Society of Prophets proclaimed a 14-point creed, which was later called the Niagara Creed. its contents
① Bible inspiration,
② The Trinity,
③ Adam’s Fall and Total Corruption,
④ original sin and man's total corruption;
⑤ the absolute necessity of rebirth;
⑥ Redemption through the blood of Jesus Christ,
⑦ complete salvation from the guilt of sin through faith in Jesus Christ,
⑧ The assurance of salvation is the privilege of every believer,
⑨ The center of Christ in the Bible,
⑩ The church is made up of all who are united to Christ;
⑪ The Holy Spirit is our eternal Comforter,
⑫ Live according to the Spirit,
⑬ the post-death state and eventual resurrection of believers and unbelievers;
⑭ The time of judgment was near and the premillennial return of Christ, etc.
(David O. Beale, In Pursuit of Purity: American Fundamentalism since 1850 <1986>, pp. 23-33, 375-379).
Then, in 1910, the General Assembly of the North Presbyterian Church in the United States,
① The inerrancy of the Bible,
② the virgin birth of Christ,
③ The Atonement of Christ,
④ the bodily resurrection of Christ,
⑤ Declared the doctrines of the reality of the miracles of Christ as 'the essential content of the Bible and the Westminster Confession of Faith'. This declaration was reaffirmed twice at the 1916 and 1923 synods.
(A Brief History of the Bible Presbyterian Church and Its Agencies, ed. Margaret G. Harden, p. 15).
This declaration was against liberal theology, which began to have an unbelieving influence on seminaries and churches in the late 19th century.
Liberal theology denied these five doctrines. In 1890, when Charles Briggs entered Germany as a professor at Union Theological Seminary belonging to the Northern Presbyterian Church and publicly claimed errors in the Bible, the General Assembly of the North Presbyterian Church in the United States in 1892 disciplined him.
However, Union Theological Seminary became independent from the General Assembly and continued to employ Briggs. Therefore, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church proclaimed five fundamental doctrines as a warning against these liberal theological ideas.
Also, between 1910 and 1915, about 3 million copies of the 12-volume booklet Fundamental Doctrine: A Witness to the Truth were distributed free of charge.
This was made possible with the donation of about $200,000 by the wealthy California oil capitalist brothers Lehman Stewart and Milton Stewart.
The contents of these books were primarily defenses of the fundamental doctrines of the Bible against evolutionary theory and higher criticism of the Bible (C.T. McIntire, "Fundamentalism," Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, pp. 433).
On July 1, 1920, Curtis Lee Rose first used the term 'fundamentalist' in an editorial for Watchman-Examiner, a weekly Baptist newspaper in New York, USA.
He described those who fought for the fundamental doctrines of Christianity as a 'fundamentalist'.
(Hyung-Ryong Park, "Fundamentalism," Shin Hak-Jin, Vol. 25 No. 1 <1960>, 13).
2. Fundamentalism in the 1920s
In the American church, the 1920s was a period of theological debate between fundamentalism and modernism.
J. Gresham Meichen said in his 1923 book, "The present day, especially in the realm of religion, is an age of contention. The great atoning religion, always known as Christianity, is battling an entirely different form of religious belief. That religious belief is only more destructive to the Christian faith because it uses traditional Christian terminology.
This modern, non-atonemental religion is called 'modernism' or 'liberalism'."
(J. Gresham Machen, Christianity and Liberalism, p. 2).
It declared that the five fundamental doctrines declared and reaffirmed by the General Assembly three times in 1910, 1916, and 1923 were not essential to the Bible and the Westminster Confession of Faith, but merely theories (theories). The Urban Manifesto also asserted that the doctrine of biblical inerrancy is predisposed to biblical worship. As such, there were two opposing positions within the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, and they were opposed and conflicted with each other.
The following year, however, the General Assembly did not take the matter seriously or discipline the signers of the Urban Manifesto. The churches have fallen asleep spiritually, wanting peace over the fight of truth.
In 1924 and 1925, at Princeton Seminary, the last bastion of conservative theology of the North Presbyterian Church in the United States, conflicts and disputes arose over the issue of severing ties with the Central Atlantic Theological Seminary Council, which embraced liberals, and participating in the formation of the conservative Evangelical Student League. . Meichen and many of her students and the governing board took a hard-line conservative stance and welcomed the student council's move, but principal Ross Stevenson was dissatisfied with it, and Stevenson's fellow professors, especially the dean of students, Charles Erdman, and the foundation board favored Stevenson's moderate action. and supported an inclusive position.
At this time, the inclusive general assembly politicians made the liberal forces prevail by unifying the seminary's management board and the foundation board.
In doing so, Princeton Seminary fell into inclusive hands. In 1929, Meichen, along with Robert Dick Wilson, Oswald Alice, and Cornelius Van Til, left Princeton Theological Seminary and, along with others, founded Westminster Theological Seminary (Harden, pp. 14-23).
3. Fundamentalism in the 1930s
The battle between fundamentalism and modernism ended in the defeat of fundamentalism externally. The historic major denominations in the United States have become 'broadened churches' that embrace liberalism without getting rid of it. Under these circumstances, the fundamentalism of the 1930s developed into a movement to separate from the inclusive, liberalized, and apostate denominations. In other words, the fundamentalism of the 1930s had the characteristic of 'separation'.
This separation was driven by religious motives that could not conscientiously tolerate embracing liberalism and fellowship with liberals.
Therefore, many independent churches and small new denominations arose in the United States during this period. Examples include the American Fundamentalist Independent Churches Association (IFCA) organized in 1930, the Regular Baptist Convention (GARBC) in 1932, and the Presbyterian Church of America in 1936.
Let us briefly review the establishment of the Presbyterian Church (USA). In 1932, the North Presbyterian Church in the United States published a report entitled "Rethinking Missions," which was very liberal. The report insisted on a total revision of the missionary methods of the 19th century, and emphasized that missionaries should not criticize the culture or religion of the destination, but respect and compromise.
In 1933 Meichen and his associates demanded that the missionary policy of the General Assembly be Scripturally correct, but were rejected. So they established the Presbyterian Overseas Independent Mission (IBPFM).
4. Emergence of New Evangelicalism
In the 1940s, a trend or movement called 'New Evangelicalism' arose. This trend arose among the fundamentalists who emerged as a minority.
Some of the fundamentalists preferred peace and stability to fighting to the end for the truth.
In addition, they sought fellowship and cooperation that was broader than that between a few faithful conservatives and conservative churches.
They wanted unity and harmony rather than following the biblical doctrine of separation. The term 'New Evangelicalism' was first used by the Dean Harold Ockenga in a lecture at Fuller Theological Seminary in 1948.
As new evangelical institutions, the American Evangelical Association (NAE) was organized in 1942, and Fuller Seminary was established in 1947.
In 1951, evangelical associations from 20 countries came together to form the World Evangelical Council (WEF). Also in 1956, Christianity Today, the spokesperson for New Evangelicalism, was launched.
Fundamentalists who advocated separation from apostasy organized the American Christian Council (ACCC) in 1941, and the International Council of Christian Churches (ICCC) was formed in 1948 around that organization. In its preface to its constitution, the International Council of Christian Churches referred to modern times as a dark age of apostasy, flooded with waves of pagan modernism, and stated that "God's commands to his people to separate them from all unbelief and corruption are clear and positive. After stating ', he adopted a doctrinal declaration with the following gist:
(1) the full inspiration, inerrancy, and final authority of the Bible;
(2) the Trinity of God;
(3) the true and eternal divinity of Jesus Christ, and his true but sinless humanity;
(4) his virgin birth;
(5) his vicarious, expiatory death;
(6) his bodily resurrection;
(7) the glorious return of the same One;
(8) the fall and total corruption of man;
(9) Regeneration through the Holy Spirit and salvation through faith through the grace of God;
(10) The eternal blessing of the saved, the eternal punishment of the lost;
(11) the spiritual unity of all those who are redeemed by His blood;
(12) The necessity of preserving the purity of the Church in doctrine and life according to the Word of God ("Constitution of the International Council of Christian Churches," in Program and General Information: The Ninth World Congress of the International Council of Christian Churches, Nairobi) , Kenya, 16-27 July 1975, p. 39).
5. Fundamentalism since the 1950s
It was relatively easy to understand that believers should separate themselves from the liberal churches, but there were more difficult problems that followed.
It was a matter of fellowship with the New Evangelicals. Stay in a liberal church or be a liberal