Monday, May 18, 2009

Fundamentalism 101

Slandering fundamentalists is something of an acceptable pastime for evangelicals (not to mention the wider Christian commnunity and culture). But since slander is sin, we're better off showing respect (even when we critique) and seeking to learn what we can.

A couple of good related resources recently went online:

John Piper writes:
I would like to encourage all fundamentalists and former fundamentalists to feel a good breeze from the fevered landscape of controversy. It’s an article by Kevin Bauder (PDF), the president of Central Baptist Theological Seminary, across town from us here in Minneapolis.

If you are a younger fundamentalist and hope to stay one and be a good one, read this.

If you think you are not a fundamentalist and wonder what the best ones are like, read this.

If you read John Piper and think you have to stop being a fundamentalist, read this.

If you are wondering if you can be a Calvinist without an attitude and a fundamentalist, read this.

And Andy Naselli highlights this new interview with historian John Woodbridge: “The ‘Fundamentalist’ Label: An Interview with John Woodbridge.” Trinity Magazine (Spring 2009): 7–9, 23. Andy lists the questions, as well as some further information on Woodbridge's relationship to, and scholarship concerning, fundamentalism in America.