Historical Fundamentalism: A Personal Word

My personal ecclesiastical heritage stems from what I would call historical fundamentalism. While those two words together may not be the first phrase out of my mouth to describe myself or my church’s history to a guest at my church, it can be a helpful phrase to use if one has the time to give…

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Contending for the Faith: Jude 3-4

Jude’s purpose for his letter his clear: “I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). What is “the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints,” what does it mean to “contend” for it, and why…

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Believing Evangelism – 2022 Annual FBFI Fellowship

We are in Greenville, SC, at Mount Calvary Baptist Church for the annual FBFI Fellowship meeting. We enjoyed a tremendous opening service, with great music and good fellowship. So many good friends from years of ministry are gathered at this meeting, and there are new ones to meet as well. This meeting is a highlight…

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What’s “Fundamental” to “Fundamentalism”?

Any discussion of Fundamentalism should begin with an understanding of the word “fundamental.” There is much confusion in the religious world and especially among Bible-believers as to what constitutes a belief or teaching as being “fundamental.” Many erroneously believe that everything about which they have strong convictions is therefore “fundamental.” Not so! Let’s take a…

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Review: In the Name of God

In the Name of God: The Colliding Lives, Legends, and Legacies of J. Frank Norris and George W. Truett O. S. Hawkins, B & H Academic, Nashville, 2021 O. S. Hawkins gives us a work of much interest to fundamentalist Baptists, In the Name of God: The Colliding Lives, Legends, and Legacies of J. Frank…

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Fundamentalism and the SBC

Still More Reflections of the 2021 SBC Convention [Note: You can find Dr. Straub’s two previous reflections on the 2021 SBC meeting here and here. Ed.] In the aftermath of the Nashville meeting of a few weeks ago, SBC pundits are still musing on the successes and failures of the 2021 convention. On the plus…

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Scope and Turn: Imperatives of Fundamentalism

Applying principles of separation is a tricky task. Hashing that out for my generation must be done, but it is beyond my purpose—or my word count. I would like to bring to light just one Scripture and apply it in such a way as to show how I believe the historic fundamentalist position lends itself…

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The Need for Healthy Fundamentalism

I recently read an article by Roger Olson, American Evangelical Christianity: A Failed Movement? Olson says that he “grew up in the ‘thick’ of American evangelical Christianity.” Olson has written much about evangelical Christianity, and recently wrote this post on patheos.com. Needless to say, that is an intriguing title, and the article is a helpful…

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The Future of Fundamentalist Education: Delivery

Twenty years ago almost no reputable college, university, or seminary offered distance education. In fact, “distance ed” was one of the marks of a diploma mill. Nevertheless, the new computer technologies, and especially the internet, were about to provide platforms that could be used for widespread experimentation in distance education. An early adopter was Northland…

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The Future of Fundamentalist Education: Students

By every indicator, historic, mainstream fundamentalism is a shrinking movement. Churches are shrinking. Fellowships are shrinking. Mission agencies are shrinking. Schools have closed and those that remain are scrambling for students. Furthermore, the churches are producing fewer young people who feel any sense of calling toward vocational ministry. From an educational perspective, not only is…

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