Fundamentalists: A brief history

Most folks know a "fundamentalist" when they see one; they just have no clue as to why a term that means something seemingly good has become an insult. So before you hurl it again, here's a brief rundown on how "fundamentalist" came to be in the American vernacular.

As the 1800's gave way to the 1900's, intense pressures toward the liberalization of Protestant Christianity began. It began in the universities of Germany and crept across the Atlantic into American scholasticism. "The Bible could not be trusted," they said. "It was nothing more than mythology. Sure Jesus was a great teacher, but deity?!? Come on!"

So attacks focused primarily upon the Bible, the nature of Christ, and the nature of His work. In response, Christian men reasoned from the Bible and history regarding the veracity (truthfulness) of the Bible and regarding the orthodox understanding of Christ and His work.

This response was collected into a series of pamphlets commissioned by Lyman Stewart of Union Oil Company (you've got to love the irony) and edited by R.A. Torrey entitled---are you ready?---"The Fundamentals." In it, Torrey collected what he and others felt was fundamental with regard to being Christian and toward understanding things Christian. Yes, the Bible could be trusted historically, archaeologically, and theologically to be the very word of God. Yes, Jesus Christ claimed to be fully God and fully man and proved that through His miracles, His birth, His life, His death and His resurrection. Yes, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life and NO ONE comes to the Father but by Him (His words, not mine or any fundamentalist's).

In some ways, as George Marsden has pointed out in his writings about fundamentalism's history, The Fundamentals were written in response toward a rising prejudice against the supernatural that was manifesting itself in academia. Sadly, William Jennings Bryan, a decade after The Fundamentals were published, made a monkey of himself during the Scopes' Trial and wrongly caused the divorce of the biblical from any other discipline.

When The Fundamentals were published, its adherents became known as "fundamentalists," not in a mocking fashion but as a point of identification. With Scopes, however, the fundamentalist derision began, and it has never abated.

Next up, who wears that label today and why...