The Leaven in is Fundamentalism!
Or
Why I no longer call myself a Fundamentalist!
by: Evangelist Ted Alexander
The creation of the Fundamentalist Movement has played a major role in destroying our knowledge of Baptist history. This fact has been a tough pill to swallow for some, but is absolutely imperative to understand if we are going to restore our testimony to its rightful place. Consider the following:
Baptists must concur that there were 1900 years of Baptist history written before Fundamentalism was created. Baptists were ecclesiastically separated from all non-Baptist groups. Baptists throughout the ages held to certain distinctives that caused them to hold to a rigid separation from error, at any cost.
In the early 1900s the Evangelical Alliance was fighting the battle of German rationalism in their schools. These non-Baptist, Protestant schools were threatened to the point of total apostasy through this heresy.
When the Evangelical Alliance finally took a stand on certain basic Christian doctrines, many Baptists in their day applauded them.
What happened next was an event that would hurt Baptists in many ways.
What the Evangelical Alliance did, in short order, would produce the Fundamentalist Movement. Everyone who rejected German rationalism and adhered to certain basic Bible doctrines was welcome in the club. Sadly, some Baptists inadvertently turned their backs on ecclesiastical separation and 1900 years of glorious history, and unwisely joined the ranks of Fundamentalism. Remember that these fundamentalist churches were the daughters of Rome, having as their origin and alleged authority, the Protestant Reformation.
The great mistake was for men who already stood for the whole Bible, to join a club that only required you to stand for certain select “fundamentals” of the Bible.
Realize that whenever you emphasize certain truths, you inevitably must de-emphasize others. If some are fundamental, then others are not. If we will separate over some truth, then some truth is not important enough to separate over.
The problem is that doctrinally, the Baptists were already to the right of every Protestant group. Their origins were more pure, and their heritage more rich. All that could happen in an unscriptural union such as this is that the pure would become unpure. When some Baptists embraced this ecumenical, doctrinally weak, fundamentalism, the Baptist faith was hurt in several ways.
*What did Fundamentalism do to our Baptist Heritage?
*Aside from all of the doctrinal & separation issues, which are very important, but not pertinent to this particular article, Fundamentalism effectively severed us from our testimony. Sadly, Baptists turned their backs on 1900 years of Baptist history and inadvertently accepted the relatively short history of Protestantism as their own. This is one of the greatest victories the Devil has ever won.
1. Our doctrine has been polluted with a broader, more inclusive, ecumenical twist. False baptisms (both in mode and authority), a corrupted Lord’s table, false church governments, hyper-Calvinism, false Bibles, and other heresies polluted our churches.
2. Our heroes of the faith have been almost exclusively Protestants. We have venerated Moody, Sunday, Torrey, Brainerd, and others while at the same time ignoring John Leland, Obadiah Holmes, Daniel Marshall, Isaac McCoy,
and Shubal Stearns, to name a few. The men that replaced our forefathers, although not wicked men, embraced the typical, doctrinal errors of their Protestant peers.
*The need of our generation is to understand what happened to us and to never let it happen again. We have a responsibility to God and our children. We must give our children back their heritage!
P.S. I just returned from a Baptist history tour with the BHPS (President-Jeffrey Faggart). We unveiled a huge print of Dr. John Clarke in the State House in Providence Rhode Island. John Clarke Petitioned the English Crown for twelve years of his life for this charter which would in many ways pave the way for the religious liberty you and I enjoy today. At the unveiling I turned to see my pastor, Dr. James Beller, (author-America in Crimson Red) weeping! When I asked him what was wrong, all he could say was-“Twelve years of his life for me”. At that moment I wondered how many mock their Baptist roots and teach their children to do the same. How many Fundamentalists mock those who simply want to strengthen the ancient landmarks which our fathers have set. If this is you, you might just as well spit on a Veteran's grave! I’m sure this article will not be appreciated by all, and mocked by others, but hear me and hear me well; America is great today both politically, and Spiritually because of the Baptists, not the fundamentalists.(Methodists, Presbyterians, and others)
THINK, BRETHREN, THINK!!
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