Difference between Fundamentalist and Conservative Christians?

[FlyingLeadChange]

I'm actually new to all the various "types" of Christians included in the various faith groups, and found it interesting to read the "statement of purpose" for many of them.

I assume there will always be some overlap, and not everyone will fall squarely into a single group, but I'm confused as to the differences between fundamentalist and conservative Christians? Reading the provided descriptions, I can't decide which one I better fit in to (not that I'm in any way needing to define myself; this is just curiosity) as they both seem to be about the same thing?

 

[DeaconDean]

I'm actually new to all the various "types" of Christians included in the various faith groups, and found it interesting to read the "statement of purpose" for many of them.

I assume there will always be some overlap, and not everyone will fall squarely into a single group, but I'm confused as to the differences between fundamentalist and conservative Christians? Reading the provided descriptions, I can't decide which one I better fit in to (not that I'm in any way needing to define myself; this is just curiosity) as they both seem to be about the same thing?

If you read the SoF's for both areas, you would notice one item that "Conservative Christians" hold to that Fundamentalists do not:

Some conservative Christians also hold church tradition to be a source of authority.

http://www.christianforums.com/t7395085/

But I must say, "conservative" can and often does meaning something totally different.

But I do not know any Fundamentalist who holds to "tradition" as a source of authority.

God Bless

Till all are one.

 

[Rhamiel]

Fundamentalists are only dogmatic on what they count as the fundamentals of the faith correct?
leaving the rest up to the oppinion of the believer?
or am I mistaken?

I have heard of members of the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Churches and the Main Line Protestant denominations called Conservative Christians but they are not counted as Fundamentalists

 

[DeaconDean]

Fundamentalists are only dogmatic on what they count as the fundamentals of the faith correct?

Yes and no brother.

There are vertain items that you and I and indeed all of "orthodox" Christianity are united in our beliefs in.

The Diety of Christ.
The Triune God.
The virgin birth.
The death, burial, resurrection, and ascention of Christ.

Beyond that is where "dogmatics" set in.

leaving the rest up to the oppinion of the believer?

Not really. As the Catholic faith, and I mean no disrespect brother, places value on the opinions left to them by the early Chruch Fathers, any disagreement by believers with them carries consequences even within the Catholic church.

Woud a Catholic be a Catholic if they went against the teachings of the Pope?

See what I mean?

or am I mistaken?

Have you ever heard of Harry Emerson Fosdick?

In 1922 he wrote a sermon entitled "Shall the Fundamentalists Win?"

His position on the tolerance and acceptance of the Liberal position on "higher criticism" cost him his position.

In essence:

Fosdick became a central figure in the Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy within American Protestantism in the 1920s and 1930s. While at First Presbyterian Church, on May 21, 1922, he delivered his famous sermon “Shall the Fundamentalists Win?”, in which he defended the modernist position. In that sermon, he presented the Bible as a record of the unfolding of God’s will, not as the literal Word of God. He saw the history of Christianity as one of development, progress, and gradual change.

Harry Emerson Fosdick - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A good man by all accounts except in the position of acceptance of Liberalism.

So it boils down to this, while the Vatican may allow liberals to attend and worship, I'm sure that liberals would be excluded if they continually challenged the position and teachings of the Catholic faith.

I have heard of members of the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Churches and the Main Line Protestant denominations called Conservative Christians but they are not counted as Fundamentalists

Which goes back to what I said earlier.

If you read the SoF's for both areas, you would notice one item that "Conservative Christians" hold to that Fundamentalists do not:

Some conservative Christians also hold church tradition to be a source of authority.

I do not know any Fundamentalist who holds to "tradition" as a source of authority.

God Bless

Till all are one.

 

[Rhamiel]

thank you for such a well thought out response
so what is a Fundamentalist then? like how would you define one?

 

[Albion]

Roughly speaking, Conservative Christians are those who are traditional in their beliefs--either Catholic or Protestant. The exact boundaries of that are only loosely defined.

Fundamentalists are thought of as conservative for good reason, but Fundamentalism has a particular set of principles which are given in the forum's SOF. If you agree with all of them, you may be both a Conservative Christian and a Fundamentalist.

 

[a pilgrim]

It could also be simplified as follows:

A conservative conserves the essence of whatever they are, whether religious, political, etc. A conservative politically, would be against policies that spend alot of the tax payers money. He wants less "big government" because he is conserving the values of his philosophy. The liberal, on the other hand, is more embracing of things "outside" of the comfort zone of the conservative.

A fundamentalist is one who adheres to the fundamentals of his faith, regardless to denomination or dogma. It may be Baptist Fundamentalism, or Islamic Fundamentalism. He is one who sees the need to GO BACK to and HOLD ON TO the basic or fundamental building blocks upon which they were built.

Conservative and fundamentalist views are not opposite of each other, but can be counterparts to the description of theirs views. One can be both conservative, and fundamental in their scope. It is apples and oranges.

 

[Albion]

It could also be simplified as follows:

A conservative conserves the essence of whatever they are, whether religious, political, etc. A conservative politically, would be against policies that spend alot of the tax payers money. He wants less "big government" because he is conserving the values of his philosophy. The liberal, on the other hand, is more embracing of things "outside" of the comfort zone of the conservative.

A fundamentalist is one who adheres to the fundamentals of his faith, regardless to denomination or dogma. It may be Baptist Fundamentalism, or Islamic Fundamentalism. He is one who sees the need to GO BACK to and HOLD ON TO the basic or fundamental building blocks upon which they were built.

Conservative and fundamentalist views are not opposite of each other, but can be counterparts to the description of theirs views. One can be both conservative, and fundamental in their scope. It is apples and oranges.

But bearing in mind the reason for the OP, neither of those definitions above is the definition that determines membership in the Conservative Christians or Fundamentalist forums on CF.

 

[DeaconDean]

Fundamentalists are thought of as conservative for good reason, but Fundamentalism has a particular set of principles which are given in the forum's SOF. If you agree with all of them, you may be both a Conservative Christian and a Fundamentalist.

See, here is where I have to disagree with you.

You may be "conservative" as far as "Pro Life", Marriage being one man and one woman for example.

But you cannot be a Fundamentalist if you adhere to "tradition" as a source of authority.

That is not a Fundamentalist belief.

God Bless

Till all are one.

 

[DeaconDean]

But bearing in mind the reason for the OP, neither of those definitions above is the definition that determines membership in the Conservative Christians or Fundamentalist forums on CF.

If you want to speak of how it applies to this forum (ChristianForums.com) then by the description given in the Conservative Christians area would disqualify most from being considered a Fundamentalist.

Conservative Christians - a forum for all Conservative Christians to discuss and fellowship.



A few things to know about us:

1. The Holy Scriptures are the inspired, written Word of God. The revelation of Scripture is completely reliable, inerrant and authoritative. Some conservative Christians also hold church tradition to be a source of authority.
2 Timothy 3:16

http://www.christianforums.com/t7395085/

This runs counter to Fundamentalism:

1. Judges all things by the Bible, and is judged only by the Bible, aka - "Sola Scriptura";

http://www.christianforums.com/t7396152/

God Bless

Till all are one.

 

[Albion]

If you want to speak of how it applies to this forum (ChristianForums.com) then by the description given in the Conservative Christians area would disqualify most from being considered a Fundamentalist.

I doubt that it would disqualify "most" who are members of the CC forum from also being in the Fundamentalist forum (or from being considered a Fundamentalist). But you are right that it does indeed disqualify some--those who are believers in "sacred tradition." Believing in "sacred tradition"' isn't a requirement for being a CC, it's just not a disqualification.

IOW the decision was made to admit Catholics to the CC forum when it was founded; none of them are, by definition, Fundamentalists.

 

[Albion]

See, here is where I have to disagree with you.

You may be "conservative" as far as "Pro Life", Marriage being one man and one woman for example.

But you cannot be a Fundamentalist if you adhere to "tradition" as a source of authority.

That is not a Fundamentalist belief.

I don't see any disagreement between us there, DD. I said that one might qualify for both forums if he accepts all of the Fundfamentalist principles. One of them is Sola Scriptura. If a person is a believer in "church traditions" or "sacred tradition" (both terms are used in the CC rules), he can't be a believer in SS.

 

[DeaconDean]

If a person is a believer in "church traditions" or "sacred tradition" (both terms are used in the CC rules), he can't be a believer in SS.

And therfore, cannot be a Fundamentalist.

That is my point.

Thats all I'm trying to say brother.

Tradition and Sola Scriptura are mutally exclusive.

God Bless

Till all are one.

 

[Albion]

And therfore, cannot be a Fundamentalist.

That is my point.

Thats all I'm trying to say brother.

Tradition and Sola Scriptura are mutally exclusive.

But you also had the impression that I disagreed with you on this matter...and I do not.

 

[Albion]

nt

 

[DeaconDean]

But you also had the impression that I disagreed with you on this matter...and I do not.

If I gave that impression, then please accept my sincerest, humblest, and most heartfelt apologies.

God Bless

Till all are one.

 

[Rhamiel]

And therfore, cannot be a Fundamentalist.

That is my point.

Thats all I'm trying to say brother.

Tradition and Sola Scriptura are mutally exclusive.

God Bless

Till all are one.

oh ok, I did not really understand your first post then, lol thank you

 

[Albion]

If I gave that impression, then please accept my sincerest, humblest, and most heartfelt apologies.

God Bless

Till all are one.

No apologies needed, DD. I just wanted to clarify that we never were in disagreement on this although the wording chosen, etc. might have made it seem so for awhile.

Blessings.

 

[Yahu]

See, here is where I have to disagree with you.

You may be "conservative" as far as "Pro Life", Marriage being one man and one woman for example.

But you cannot be a Fundamentalist if you adhere to "tradition" as a source of authority.

That is not a Fundamentalist belief.

God Bless

Till all are one.

Yet I find that most fundamentalist do adhere to 'tradition'. They worship on Sunday. They celebrate Easter and Christmas which both have pagan roots. They follow many traditions that came out of the RCC that are not based on the Word but on traditions of man. They use modern definitions of terms instead of the original meanings. They don't celebrate the feasts of Yah.

They may not hold that 'tradition' as an authority yet they do still follow it and attack those that don't bow to the same 'traditions of man' just as the Pharisees did to Yeshua.

This is a major problem across the board in Christianity. They attack others that don't hold to the same 'traditions'.

 

[DeaconDean]

Yet I find that most fundamentalist do adhere to 'tradition'. They worship on Sunday. They celebrate Easter and Christmas which both have pagan roots. They follow many traditions that came out of the RCC that are not based on the Word but on traditions of man. They use modern definitions of terms instead of the original meanings. They don't celebrate the feasts of Yah.

As a newbie here, I think that you are wrong in your base assumptions.

There are quite a few of us here who do take the time to study in the original languaes.

Secondly, we (Gentiles) according to all in the New Testament, are not required to keep the feasts or festivals as is a "perpetual statue" to the Hebrews.

And just from the above statement, I ask, are you a Fundamentalist?

They may not hold that 'tradition' as an authority yet they do still follow it and attack those that don't bow to the same 'traditions of man' just as the Pharisees did to Yeshua.

And just what "traditions"? Sundat worship?

We worship on Sunday because it was the day our Savior rose from the dead.

"In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay." -Mt. 28:1-6 (KJV)

As for Easter, why not celebrate the day He arose?

This is a major problem across the board in Christianity. They attack others that don't hold to the same 'traditions'.

So says you. And yet, here you are coming in here condemning us which is basically, the same thing.

God Bless

Till all are one.