{"id":399,"date":"2017-09-22T14:58:15","date_gmt":"2017-09-22T14:58:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/divergence.blog\/?p=399"},"modified":"2017-09-22T14:58:15","modified_gmt":"2017-09-22T14:58:15","slug":"funda-gelicalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2017\/09\/22\/funda-gelicalism\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cFunda-gelicalism\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Why do I call it \u201cfunda-gelicalism?\u201d\u00a0 Good question.\u00a0 It\u2019s not original to me\u2014I read it somewhere.\u00a0 I know it probably bothers some Christians who identify as evangelicals but do not want to be associated with fundamentalism.\u00a0 I think they feel like the part of the family tree that sort of made it over the wall, went to college, obtained a good paying job, and like having a glass of wine every now and then.\u00a0 I get that.<\/p>\n

Likewise, I\u2019m sure there are fundamentalists who don\u2019t like being thrown in with evangelicals.\u00a0 In their minds, evangelicals are closet liberals, just one miss-step away from plunging into hell\u2019s gaping jaws.\u00a0 So, both attitudes would represent sort of the self-conscious aspects of each.\u00a0 In each\u2019s mind, they are substantially different than the \u201cother.\u201d\u00a0 I\u2019m not so sure about that.<\/p>\n

And I am aware of the academic and historical discussion regarding the differences and similarities between fundamentalists and evangelicals.\u00a0 George Mardsen\u2019s book on the subject is still one of the best (See here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

I\u2019m tempted to take the old joke about Baptists and Methodists and apply it here: Evangelicals are just fundamentalists who can read.\u00a0 Funny, yes, but we all know evangelicals and fundamentalists who are very educated and intelligent.\u00a0 Is the stereotype accurate then?\u00a0 I will leave that to the reader.\u00a0 My own personal experience growing up in that world, anecdotally, is that it was too often rather accurate.<\/p>\n

Fundamentalist Jerry Falwell once put it this way: \u201cA fundamentalist is an evangelical who is angry about something.\u201d<\/p>\n

As much as I disagree with Jerry Falwell about most things, here I think he is very accurate.\u00a0 One reason I run the two together is because it is not so much a difference theologically, as it is one of sensibility, focus, and temperament.\u00a0 If we were to ask a fundamentalist and an evangelical what they believed about the Bible, Jesus, salvation, baptism, communion, evangelism, eschatology, same-sex marriage, etc., I think we would hear very similar language and a very similar understanding of those areas.<\/p>\n

Where I see differences becoming evident is when it comes to questions of relating.\u00a0 How each relates these common understandings to their world, each other, and other faiths, is where fault lines seem to appear.\u00a0 Fundamentalists seem to relate in a more closed, uncompromising, and angry manner.\u00a0 Evangelicals seem to relate in a more open, flexible, and friendly manner.<\/p>\n

I think many evangelicals are really fundamentalists, they just don\u2019t know it, or deep down they know it, but are embarrassed by it.\u00a0 Rarely are fundamentalists really evangelicals because they wouldn\u2019t last that long before being found out and expelled from the fundamentalist group\u2014they are \u201couted\u201d rather quickly.\u00a0 Fundamentalists love \u201couting\u201d liberals and heretics.\u00a0 It\u2019s what they do.<\/p>\n

Thus, I link the two as a way to get some evangelicals to consider who they might really be.\u00a0 I have found fundamentalism to be toxic in so many ways.\u00a0 However, that same toxicity is also present in much of evangelicalism, it is just overlooked or rationalized away because it comes with a friendlier face (Side note: Yes, I am aware there is some toxicity within all faith traditions\u2014there is no Eden\u2014I get that).<\/p>\n

I link the two traditions for this reason: Which is more dangerous, the racist neighbor who is loud and proud, or the friendly, quieter neighbor who secretly harbors the same sentiments and beliefs?<\/p>\n

Just a thought.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why do I call it \u201cfunda-gelicalism?\u201d\u00a0 Good question.\u00a0 It\u2019s not original to me\u2014I read it somewhere.\u00a0 I know it probably bothers some Christians who identify as evangelicals but do not want to be associated with fundamentalism.\u00a0 I think they feel like the part of the family tree that sort of made it over the wall, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3524,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[143,161],"class_list":["post-399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-evangelicalism","tag-fundamentalism"],"yoast_head":"\n\u201cFunda-gelicalism\u201d<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Why do I call it \u201cfunda-gelicalism?\u201d\u00a0 Good question.\u00a0 It\u2019s not original to me\u2014I read it somewhere.\u00a0 I know it probably bothers some Christians who\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2017\/09\/22\/funda-gelicalism\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u201cFunda-gelicalism\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Why do I call it \u201cfunda-gelicalism?\u201d\u00a0 Good question.\u00a0 It\u2019s not original to me\u2014I read it somewhere.\u00a0 I know it probably bothers some Christians who\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2017\/09\/22\/funda-gelicalism\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Divergence\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-09-22T14:58:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Darrell Lackey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@darrelllackey1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Darrell Lackey\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2017\/09\/22\/funda-gelicalism\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2017\/09\/22\/funda-gelicalism\/\",\"name\":\"\u201cFunda-gelicalism\u201d\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-09-22T14:58:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-09-22T14:58:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/#\/schema\/person\/d88a32b8d4b5f40fbd6ccbfce4e0f813\"},\"description\":\"Why do I call it \u201cfunda-gelicalism?\u201d\u00a0 Good question.\u00a0 It\u2019s not original to me\u2014I read it somewhere.\u00a0 I know it probably bothers some Christians who\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2017\/09\/22\/funda-gelicalism\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2017\/09\/22\/funda-gelicalism\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2017\/09\/22\/funda-gelicalism\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u201cFunda-gelicalism\u201d\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/\",\"name\":\"Divergence\",\"description\":\"Commentary Regarding Fundamentalism - 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