Fundamentalist

[jesussaves]

Did you guys know that fundamentalism is one of the key places of attack by the secular world against Christians?

Years ago, ( I won't go into exact detail because that would take pages) the church was put on trial in Tennessee because a science teacher did not want to teach evolution theory. The trial is famously known as the Monkey Trial or Scopes trial. This trial is now among things taught in schools. Fundamentalism is the key by word.

It has been said of teachers, "I will now play devils advocate..." And every negitive thing that teacher knows concerning Christianity will surface "so students can now decide for themselves" if they want to believe or not.

Today, in colleges and educational institutions all across America, fundamentalism is still on trial. Many Christian students have to sit through classes that force them to listen to arguments against Christianity based on the outcome of that trial. Ofcourse we who know the Lord all know the scoffers are blind to spiritual things of God...but still, they are so cunning at times that it causes people to begin to question the things of God.

If you or your children are ever faced with having to defend your faith, especially to those of higher education background, be prepared for fundamentalism to come up. And...remember, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal...learn Ephesians 6:10-18 well and put it into daily practice as you lean on and depend on the Holy Ghost to give you the power to live as a witness to the Truth.

[kari21]

but I have found no where in the bible that says you MUST believe Jesus to be God to be saved.

It is implied by the fact only God can save you from your sins. Only a sinless saviour can redeem. The only sinless being is God. Also, only God can forgive sins, and Jesus forgave sins. Thomas called him God, as did Paul, and the Father also called him God. Jesus called himself "I AM" which we all know was one of God's names in the OT.

So, I think you have to believe what those Holy Spirit inspired writers of Scripture, the Father, and Jesus himself said about who he is to fully accept him as the unique God/man saviour who takes away the sins of the world.

And so, I believe you have to accept him AS God to claim a salvation that can only come THROUGH God.

[sweetycakes]

Did you guys know that fundamentalism is one of the key places of attack by the secular world against Christians?

Years ago, ( I won't go into exact detail because that would take pages) the church was put on trial in Tennessee because a science teacher did not want to teach evolution theory. The trial is famously known as the Monkey Trial or Scopes trial. This trial is now among things taught in schools. Fundamentalism is the key by word.

It has been said of teachers, "I will now play devils advocate..." And every negitive thing that teacher knows concerning Christianity will surface "so students can now decide for themselves" if they want to believe or not.

Today, in colleges and educational institutions all across America, fundamentalism is still on trial. Many Christian students have to sit through classes that force them to listen to arguments against Christianity based on the outcome of that trial. Ofcourse we who know the Lord all know the scoffers are blind to spiritual things of God...but still, they are so cunning at times that it causes people to begin to question the things of God.

If you or your children are ever faced with having to defend your faith, especially to those of higher education background, be prepared for fundamentalism to come up. And...remember, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal...learn Ephesians 6:10-18 well and put it into daily practice as you lean on and depend on the Holy Ghost to give you the power to live as a witness to the Truth.

You got that right

Christian fundamentalist beliefs are increasingly being marginalized and sidelined as 'exclusive' or 'non-inclusive'.

Seems that any old philosophy goes these days, as long as it is 'inclusive' of any and every other belief system....... as long as it is not Christianity (which is viewed as exclusive)..........and quite rightly so, in my opinion....on some levels.

Only Christianity truly preaches absolute good and evil.....things rejected by the world, since everything these days is 'relative'.

I am often bewildered and astonished by today's so called 'free-thinkers'......people who support every alternative lifestyle, whether it be homosexuality, paganism, all roads lead to God, etc....

But what freedom is there without Christ? Who truly wants a Christ-free existence, if they know the implications of it?

I would rather be a slave to Christ, than be free to have and to own all the world.

To recap:....anything goes...as long as it is not Christ and His claim upon our lives.

We need to keep those around us informed about the insidious ways of this world, which doesn't have their interests at heart at all, but which seeks to drag them off to doom and destruction.

Thank God for Jesus!

[Smalcald]

So Roman Catholics are 'Fundamentalists."

I'll bet most 'Fundamentalists would be surprised to learn THAT!

That article is about what a Christian is supposed to believe. It is not about all of the requirements for salvation.

Repentance of sin is also required for salvation. If a catholic really repents of everything the New Testament considers a sin and believes those fundamentals of the Christian faith then he will be saved.

Repent means to be trying to not sin. If you do sin, ask God in prayer to forgive you and continue trying to not sin.

Idol worship is a sin.

You may not worship a piece of bread, or Mary, or any of the saints, or Angels. You must worship God alone.

You may not be a practicing homosexual; so over 50% of the catholic clergy are not really saved.

You may not be a drunkard. You may not take God's name in vain. [You may not use the words Jesus, Lord or God in a worthless way.]

You may not worship the antichrist. Don't worship any pope, or any other man pretending to be a substitute for God on Earth.

You must realize that you are saved by Christ's atoning death on the cross. You cannot earn salvation by doing good works. If you think that you earned salvation by doing sacraments or any other good works, then you won't be saved. Therefore you must realize that all forms of penance are worthless.

Confess your sins to God in prayer, as instructed in the "Our Father" prayer in the New Testament. If you confess sins to a priest they will not be forgiven. Jesus is the only mediator in the New Testament. The priest is not a medieator and cannot forgive sins.

If a catholic can repent of those false doctrines that contradict the bible and also believes those fundamentals of the Christian faith, then he can call himself a Christian fundamentalist. [Without repentance a person is not a christian at all.]

Certainly they have some doctrinal problems, but your assumptions about what Catholics believe is not really correct at all. What do fundamentalists believe? The problem is we don't know because there is no such thing; there is no one church as a "fundamentalist" church it is simply a label which is attached or not attached at will, to a wide variety of different beliefs depending on the mood of the pastor, and this is the problem. The fact is there is quite a bit of non-scriptural garbage which is being preached in so called fundamentalist churches. I see a general move in some of these churches to reject the Trinity, the very basis of who God is, I see moves to reject the Sacraments as defined in scripture, and I see crazy non-scriptural use of the gifts of the Spirit and on and on. Divorce seems to be common at least in the so called fundamentalist churches on TV. and the ordination of women occurs. So we all have doctrinal error, Catholics and fundamentalists.

I think we would do well to stick with the literal reading of the Creeds, and a belief in the inerrancy of Holy Scripture; in this case that would mean that many Catholics and many Protestants are fundamentalists. But the key is that we confess with our mouth and believe with our hearts and we will be saved.

[OneLight]

But the key is that we confess with our mouth and believe with our hearts and we will be saved.

[EricH]

A fundamentalist believes:

The inerrancy, infallibility and literal truth of the bible.

The virgin birth and complete deity of Jesus Christ.

The physical ressurection of Christ and all dead.

The atoning sacrifice for the sins of the World, by Jesus' death on the cross.

The second coming of Christ in bodilly form.

The way I look at it, the real believers are the fundamentalists.

If these are the fundamentals of the Christian faith, then this is what Christians are supposed to believe.

Where did you get this definition?

[Redefine_Me]

but I have found no where in the bible that says you MUST believe Jesus to be God to be saved.

And so, I believe you have to accept him AS God to claim a salvation that can only come THROUGH God.

The bible does not say that,like I said I believe Jesus to be God in the flesh.

But you can not go around putting words in Gods mouth that he did not say,You can not tell him who,why,or how he is to justify someone.

I used to believe that we must confess Jesus as God to be saved,and I searched the scriptures to find proof of this,I could not find it.Therefore I will not tell God who,how or why he should justify some one.

Any thing that the bible does not say should not be taught as absolute truth.

But Jesus does say:

"I am the way the truth and the life; NO MAN cometh unto the Father BUT BY ME."

-- Jesus Christ, John 14:6

So, I can't see how to have one (God the Father) without believing in the other (Jesus).

And:

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

Maybe I am missing something in the intent of the post. I apologize if I am jumping in out of context.

[Smalcald]

There are two issues.

The first is what it really means to be a Christian. To be a Christian one must believe in the Trinity, those who do not are not Christian in any sense of how that word has been understood for the past 2000 years. A sign of all false cults such as Mormons and JW's is that they do not accept that Christ was and is God. However what does believing in the Trinity mean? It is a complex thing, but we see in scripture that Jesus was equal to God, He was there at the creation, scripture says that all things were created through Him, He claimed to forgive sins, He was crucified for blaspheme for calling Himself equal to God, a HUGE offense to the Jewish people then and now, unless it is true. We are not polytheists, we believe in only one God, thus the paradox and mystery of the Trinity. But nothing in Scripture allows us to have "lesser" God's or more than one entity we should worship as God, thus to worship Christ as God in the flesh is needed to even began to know who Jesus is, if you don't know who Jesus is who are you praying to, who are you worshipping, not the God of the bible, but some other false God. Does God even hear prayers to other God's? You see it is critical and a critical element of our shared faith to know who God is, and who God is is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The second issue is how to share this belief? I think the starting point is simply scripture; we can go over some of that if people would like. But we are way off target now. Do fundamentalists as defined in the OP believe in the Trinity? But particularly when talking to those who practice Judaism to point out that we do not believe in multiple God's, but that Christ was God in the flesh and also was a man. They love each other they are separate and yet the same, a true mystery. But Paul said this very fact of Christ's divinity of His Lordship would be a stumbling block for the Jewish Nation, then and now.

[Mutzrein]

Mutzrein, to your question inpost #14,

How do you figure that? Are you God that you know the heart of man?

Matt 10: 32-33. I'll let you read it Mutz, I don't like typing much.

It's all about confessing or denying the deity of Jesus.

cheers.

Matthew 10:32-33 (KJV) Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

I'm rather surprised at that Eric. This had nothing to do with 'confessing' the deity of Christ. I confess Christ as the only begotten son OF God, without whom I would never have known God's wondrous grace. He is the perfect lamb OF God slain that I might have life. It is impossible for me to deny Christ for I am born of the same Spirit that raised him from the dead. And as God's son I am a co-heir WITH Christ of our Father's kingdom.

[Redefine_Me]

There are two issues.

The first is what it really means to be a Christian. To be a Christian one must believe in the Trinity, those who do not are not Christian in any sense of how that word has been understood for the past 2000 years. A sign of all false cults such as Mormons and JW's is that they do not accept that Christ was and is God. However what does believing in the Trinity mean? It is a complex thing, but we see in scripture that Jesus was equal to God, He was there at the creation, scripture says that all things were created through Him, He claimed to forgive sins, He was crucified for blaspheme for calling Himself equal to God, a HUGE offense to the Jewish people then and now, unless it is true. We are not polytheists, we believe in only one God, thus the paradox and mystery of the Trinity. But nothing in Scripture allows us to have "lesser" God's or more than one entity we should worship as God, thus to worship Christ as God in the flesh is needed to even began to know who Jesus is, if you don't know who Jesus is who are you praying to, who are you worshipping, not the God of the bible, but some other false God. Does God even hear prayers to other God's? You see it is critical and a critical element of our shared faith to know who God is, and who God is is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The second issue is how to share this belief? I think the starting point is simply scripture; we can go over some of that if people would like. But we are way off target now. Do fundamentalists as defined in the OP believe in the Trinity? But particularly when talking to those who practice Judaism to point out that we do not believe in multiple God's, but that Christ was God in the flesh and also was a man. They love each other they are separate and yet the same, a true mystery. But Paul said this very fact of Christ's divinity of His Lordship would be a stumbling block for the Jewish Nation, then and now.

Smalcald - I am always blessed by your posts. Thank you