Conservative and Fundamentalist

[Rhamiel]

also there are Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox who are counted as conservative christians

 

[heymikey80]

also there are Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox who are counted as conservative christians

Yep. It may be good to check on the fundamentalist discussion and ask there.

Generally, fundamentalism defines the scope of Christianity by adherence to the points described. Conservative Christians generally hold to the reality and historicity of Christ Jesus -- that what the New Testament says, people did and taught, and they were accurate and truthful.

So there's a lot of overlap. But there's something of a distinction.

Fundamentalists sometimes adopted a judgmental approach in opposing groups that held to something other than the fundamentals as constituting Christianity, too. They "garnered" that judgmental label, but the viewpoint doesn't really require it. Most views that hold to the fundamentals have moved on to embrace a less pejorative label: but technically they still embrace the fundamentals.

 

[Notamonkey]

I think the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution is a prime example of conservative, Christian virtue. That our liberty and rights come from God and not men or the government and they cannot rightly be taken away.

Living your life and holding a world view based on Biblical truths is my definition of a Conservative Christian.

On any issue, I turn to God's Word to guide me.

 

[Rhamiel]

I think the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution is a prime example of conservative, Christian virtue. That our liberty and rights come from God and not men or the government and they cannot rightly be taken away.

Living your life and holding a world view based on Biblical truths is my definition of a Conservative Christian.

On any issue, I turn to God's Word to guide me.

constitution is political
in this forum what matters is if you are conservative religiously

 

[Rhamiel]

Yep. It may be good to check on the fundamentalist discussion and ask there.

Generally, fundamentalism defines the scope of Christianity by adherence to the points described. Conservative Christians generally hold to the reality and historicity of Christ Jesus -- that what the New Testament says, people did and taught, and they were accurate and truthful.

So there's a lot of overlap. But there's something of a distinction.

Fundamentalists sometimes adopted a judgmental approach in opposing groups that held to something other than the fundamentals as constituting Christianity, too. They "garnered" that judgmental label, but the viewpoint doesn't really require it. Most views that hold to the fundamentals have moved on to embrace a less pejorative label: but technically they still embrace the fundamentals.

true not all fundamentalists believe that Catholics and Orthodox are christians too

 

[EricFM1983]

Can someone tell me the difference between a conservative Christian and a fundamentalist Christian?

For what I can see, a conservative Christian is a person that does not allow a behavior that is considered "sinful" and has been adopted by the world as something modern, normal, right, understandable and reasonable. Examples: homosexuality, premarital sex, competition (competition between people in business for example leads to problems between employers as they are jealous, envious, or insecure about the other), and other similar things.

A fundamentalist Christian generally means a Christian that does not negotiate what he has learned due to pure dogma and human interpretations on Christian matters. Generally does not seem to reason over simple arguments, for example, such as why would God allow a Buddhist who lived a good life and led others to peace but never hear the gospel and thus will burn in horrible hell along with murderers and rapists. Fundamentalist Christianity is generally conservative but to the point of getting into an arrogant and stubborn point of view and this, does not do any good to Christianity. This is my personal opinion on the difference between the two.

 

[ezekielle]

Fundamental Christianity believes the Bible is true, inspired and unerring. It holds the Word of God to be the final authority and the basic truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ (God is one God, His name is YHVH, or Jehovah in English. His son Jesus Christ was born of a virgin and is our means of salvation). For a fundamentalist, the final word on any issue or topic is scripture. Some people call them, "Bible Believing Christians."

A Conservative Christian is simply one who does not separate his/her belief in God and His Word from their political stance. They vote their faith, in other words.

Example: a Bible believing Christian could never vote for a candidate that was pro-gay marriage or pro-abortion because those things are in direct contradiction to the Word of God.

A person who truly believes that the Bible is the literal unerring Word of God is constrained by his/her faith to hold to godly values in their private and public life -- including their politics. Therefore a fundamentalist Christian is a Conservative Christian, because liberal politics in the US today are in direct contradiction to the Word of God.

 

[desmalia]

Fundamental Christianity believes the Bible is true, inspired and unerring. It holds the Word of God to be the final authority and the basic truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ (God is one God, His name is YHVH, or Jehovah in English. His son Jesus Christ was born of a virgin and is our means of salvation). For a fundamentalist, the final word on any issue or topic is scripture. Some people call them, "Bible Believing Christians."

Thank you for that. Well said. Sola Scriptura is indeed the key. Some conservatives agree with it, some don't. But all fundamentalists do.

What bothers me about threads like this (and there have been many here in the past) is that they too often turn into nothing more than an opportunity to bash fundamentalists, and apply all sorts of ridiculous stereotypes.

 

[ezekielle]

T
What bothers me about threads like this (and there have been many here in the past) is that they too often turn into nothing more than an opportunity to bash fundamentalists, and apply all sorts of ridiculous stereotypes.

Yes, I noticed that theme. It was shocking at first but then I realized that this forum is a microcosm of what is going on in the world right now with false teachers and corruption in and out of the church, scoffers, haters of God, lovers of self... everything that was prophesied is coming to pass, even right here on this little internet forum.
Satan is a roaring lion pacing back and forth (even here) seeking whom he may devour...

God bless and keep you! And thank you for your encouragement!

 

[Sketcher]

A Conservative Christian is simply one who does not separate his/her belief in God and His Word from their political stance. They vote their faith, in other words.

Example: a Bible believing Christian could never vote for a candidate that was pro-gay marriage or pro-abortion because those things are in direct contradiction to the Word of God.

A person who truly believes that the Bible is the literal unerring Word of God is constrained by his/her faith to hold to godly values in their private and public life -- including their politics. Therefore a fundamentalist Christian is a Conservative Christian, because liberal politics in the US today are in direct contradiction to the Word of God.

I'm conservative in my faith, conservative socially, and conservative economically - but I really wish that more people would investigate the issues rather than merely vote their conscience. If abortion and the gay agenda were put to death as issues tomorrow, would you still vote against the Democrats? I would, because I took the time to educate myself on the other issues. If I were not Christian, I would still vote the way I do. Also, there are Christians who are conservative in their doctrine who are more liberal politically. They have their reasons for voting the way they do. They're wrong of course, for Biblical and for other reasons, but that doesn't make them heretics.

 

[ezekielle]

I agree, Sketcher.

 

[GraceSeeker]

Fundamental Christianity believes the Bible is true, inspired and unerring. It holds the Word of God to be the final authority and the basic truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ (God is one God, His name is YHVH, or Jehovah in English. His son Jesus Christ was born of a virgin and is our means of salvation). For a fundamentalist, the final word on any issue or topic is scripture. Some people call them, "Bible Believing Christians."

ezekielle, your definition of fundamentalist works when we are talking about Christian fundamentalists (a fair assumption given the forum in which the question was asked), but one must be careful, as you were, to specify that. There are in fact fundamentalists in other religions as well. What might be interesting is to examine the things that all fundamentalists have in common that lead to the use of the term "fundamentalist" to describe them.

 

[1watchman]

So, it still isn't clear to me about the difference. I have heard it said that Fundamentalists are strict about Scripture and Conservatives are more moderate or liberal about the Scripture. Is that it?

- 1Watchman

 

[desmalia]

So, it still isn't clear to me about the difference. I have heard it said that Fundamentalists are strict about Scripture and Conservatives are more moderate or liberal about the Scripture. Is that it?

- 1Watchman

I'm sorry, it's just not that clear cut. Fundamentalist can be easier to define. Conservative means a wide range of things. But liberalism is really not a factor. That's a whole different issue.

 

[Rhamiel]

So, it still isn't clear to me about the difference. I have heard it said that Fundamentalists are strict about Scripture and Conservatives are more moderate or liberal about the Scripture. Is that it?

- 1Watchman

Fundamentalist is a fairly strict definition, it is for Evangelicals and or Baptists, not saying every Evangelical is a Fundamentalist but I would say every Fundamentalist is Evangelical or Baptist
also they tend to have literalist view of the Bible

Conservatives can be Evangelical, Lutheran, Anglican, Methodist, or even Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox
I would not say that we are less strict on Scropture, we believe that it is without error, but it does not mean that we interpret it the same way

 

[GraceSeeker]

So, it still isn't clear to me about the difference. I have heard it said that Fundamentalists are strict about Scripture and Conservatives are more moderate or liberal about the Scripture. Is that it?

- 1Watchman

One of the problems I suspect we are all running into is that one cannot make universal and categorical statements that encompass every particular individual or issue. But in general, I suspect you will find that "all" fundamentalists are conservative, but not all conservatives are fundamentalists. This leads some to try to draw a continuim from liberal on one end through moderates to conservatives and eventually fundamentalists at the other end opposite liberals. But the reality is that this continuim only exists for a few issues and would break down quickly on others. Or at the very least, lots of people who would wear a conservative label for one item would were fundamentalist or even liberal for the next. Add to that the way some people use the term "evangelical" as a synonym for conservative and others for fundamentalist, and yet many so-called liberals are equally comfortable using it to describe themselves, then there is also the classical meaning of evangelical that equates with reformation theology which is vastly different from the usage that it often has today in terms of politics. Soon, everyone is an Evangelical. So, the labels just don't work the way most people want them to. Yet, our general tendancy is to still try and use those labels which results in the confusion that you are presently having.

I think you might find this PBS special helpful: God in America (in the second half of session 4, "A New Light"). Pay particular attention to the portion that traces the origins and development of present day fundamentalism.

There have always been people who were of the attitude emobied in the bumperstikcer, "God said it. I believe it. That settles it." Such an attitude,in and of itself, is NOT fundamentalism. It is conservative, but it isn't fundamentalism. In fact, fundamentalism could not exist until there was a group that said something different than the bumpersticker. That occured in this country (and in the world) in the late 1800s. There came a time when a liberal movement and way of interpretting the scriptures that had taken hold in Europe, specially Germany, broke forth in America. Suddenly, not only did you have things like the Scopes "Monkey" Trial (a result not a cause), but clergy telling their congregations that the Word of God was just the word of man about God. It was this new dynamic that then produced (like a new things do) a backlash. That backlash is the origin of fundamentalism, so named because of the title of a series of essays that came out about 1910, The Fundamentals. Just like C.S. Lewis would one day write "Mere Christianity" with the belief that there were things held in common by all Christians, so the authors of "The Fundamentals: A Testimony to Truth" thought "there are essential doctrines of Christianity that should not in any way be set aside or tampered with, these doctrines are ‘fundamental’ to true Christianity."





So, the origins of term as now used, is meant to imply that to be a Christian it is necessary to hold to a particular fundamental set of beliefs:

1. the inspiration of the Bible by the Holy Spirit and the consequent inerrancy of scripture as a result of the same
2. the virgin birth of Jesus
3. that Christ's death provides atonement for sin
4. the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ
5. the historical reality of Jesus' miracles

A fundamentalist, therefore, is one who upholds these doctrines without compromise and further acceptance of each and everyone of these beliefs is generally understood as necessary for salvation. And many fundamentalists will even expand that above list to include particular things that they conclude must be true based on their own personal reading of the scriptures. And because, based on #1, the Bible is inerrant in teaching those items, then those items are also required beliefs for others to be accepted as genuine Christians. The problem this has caused is that some fundamentalists differ from others because they agree that the Bible is inerrant, and then (not surprisingly) apply the ability to rightly interpret it more to their own particular understanding than to others who may differ from them.

Most conservatives will also hold to the same list of fundamentals as found above, but they won't automatically reject as not being Christian a person who questions some of the above points. Some conservative will even themselves redefine inerrancy to mean that the Bible is inerrant with regard only to matters of faith, not necessarily history or science which may reflect more the worldview of its human authors than God who spoke through them, but did not dictate to them. In response to that view, most other (but not all) conservatives would join with fundamentalists in saying that such a laxness is sufficient to be classified as a liberal, but except them as still Christian so long as there was still confession of Christ as Lord and Savior.

 

[1sojourner]

It seems to me to be all about semantics. There are conservative and liberal Fundamentalists; also, there are fundamental and liberal Consernatives???? Maybe the Forum should just merge them and let people post as a liberal or conservative like they do in politics.

- 1sojourner

 

[savedandthankful]

A fundamentalist might be very liberal on some issues that are not mentioned in the bible, or that are considered disputable matters. Most conservative Christians I know are conservative even on issues that are not mentioned in the bible. That is abosolutely fine because they have Christian liberty to live out their faith that way.

I get the impression that conservative Christianity embraces conservative politics too. Again, this is fine, but it doesn't work for everyone. I am a fundamentalist who is an immigrant and believes in free health care so I probably don't qualify as a conervative.

 

[Notamonkey]

A fundamentalist might be very liberal on some issues that are not mentioned in the bible, or that are considered disputable matters. Most conservative Christians I know are conservative even on issues that are not mentioned in the bible. That is abosolutely fine because they have Christian liberty to live out their faith that way.

I get the impression that conservative Christianity embraces conservative politics too. Again, this is fine, but it doesn't work for everyone. I am a fundamentalist who is an immigrant and believes in free health care so I probably don't qualify as a conervative.

"If you think health care is exspensive, wait until it's free." The only thing that is free is the gift of salvation.
Well, written, and I would agree that would put you on the liberal side in at least that aspect.

 

[WannaWitness]

What bothers me about threads like this (and there have been many here in the past) is that they too often turn into nothing more than an opportunity to bash fundamentalists, and apply all sorts of ridiculous stereotypes.

Sometimes stereotypes bother me, too. And it is the legalists (and I mean true legalists) who make it bad on those such as a lot of us here (including myself), merely because we strive to have some sort of standards in our lives.