Knowra Christian fundamentalism Christian fundamentalism Christian fundamentalism is a conservative Protestant movement that defends core Christian doctrines and biblical authority, often opposing modernist theology and secularism.
The Fundamentals : A series of essays published from 1910 to 1915 defending conservative Protestant doctrines against modernist theology. The series gave the movement its name and articulated doctrines its early supporters sought to defend.
Biblical inerrancy : The doctrine that the Bible, in its original writings, is without error in all it affirms. It provides a central account of the authority fundamentalists attribute to Scripture.
John Nelson Darby : An Anglo-Irish theologian and leader of the Plymouth Brethren who developed a major form of dispensationalism. His prophetic system later influenced influential strands of American fundamentalism.
Evangelicalism : A diverse Protestant movement emphasizing conversion, the authority of the Bible, the cross, and evangelism. Evangelicalism overlaps doctrinally with fundamentalism but often favors cooperation across denominations.
Christian right : A political coalition of Christian conservatives seeking to shape public policy and civic life. Fundamentalist networks contributed activists and institutions to this broader coalition.
Princeton Theology : A nineteenth-century Reformed theological tradition associated with Princeton Theological Seminary and the defense of biblical inerrancy. Its account of Scripture strongly shaped early fundamentalist claims about biblical authority.
Biblical literalism : An approach that interprets biblical passages according to their plain or direct sense, while recognizing literary forms. It shapes how many fundamentalists interpret creation, miracles, and other disputed passages.
J. Gresham Machen : An American Presbyterian theologian who defended conservative doctrine and helped found Westminster Theological Seminary. His resistance to theological modernism exemplified fundamentalist-era disputes over church institutions.
Christian modernism : A movement that reinterprets Christian belief in engagement with modern scholarship, science, and culture. Modernist theology was the principal Protestant rival against which fundamentalism defined itself.
Moral Majority : A U.S. political organization founded by Jerry Falwell in 1979 to mobilize religious conservatives. It made conservative Protestant political organizing nationally visible in the late twentieth century.
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