Customer Reviews

Fundamentals

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

By the turn of the 20th century, new "modern" and liberal teachings (such as Evolution, Higher Criticism, rejection of the reliability of the Bible and rejection of the deity of Christ) had begun to have a serious influence on American churches, provoking debate across the country. In 1909, two Christian laymen, oil magnates Lyman and Milton Stewart, set aside money for the publication of a group of articles, written by well-known orthodox Protestant scholars, spelling out the fundamentals (or essential doctrines for salvation) of the Christian faith. From 1910 to 1915 the scholars published ninety articles, which were eventually compiled into twelve books. These ninety articles defend each of the essential doctrines then perceived to be under attack, and cover such things as the inspiration of Scripture, the virgin birth, deity and substitutionary atonement of Christ, and a host of others.

Though, by the turn of the 21st century, the term "Fundamentalist" has undergone a great deal of change, these Fundamentals harken back to those original Fundamentalists. If you have heard the term "Fundamentalist" used as a pejorative against Christians, and wish to understand what the term really means, then I would highly recommend that you get this book. Being written by scholars, as a scholarly defense, it is somewhat dry in its reading, plus by now some of the issues may seem out of date. But, that said, this is a fascinating and highly informative work of basic theology that I recommend to all believers. I am very glad that I read these Fundamentals, and think that you will be too.

I have no comment on the contents of the various documents collected in the Fundamentals--other than to say these pillories against modern biblical scholarship (indeed, against all post-enlightenment thought!) are unlikely to convince anyone (like any works of apology) who doesn't already think modern scholarship is a defiled and unholy enterprise--but I would like to point out that this nice looking version of the Fundamentals is *not* the original 1910-1915 publication of the documents, nor is it even the 1917 reprint; rather, it is a an "updated," abridged version, with each of the original articles being revised or edited in some way by Charles L. Feinberg et al. The original documents have been published online, and if one wants to access them in full, one should look elsewhere.

The two-star rating here is somewhat unfair, then, because I am critiquing the fact that this product is not quite what it might seem to be on the cover; this version is not quite "the classic sourcebook" of foundational biblical truths, it's an updated, abridged version of that "classic sourcebook," and since I am interested in the Fundamentals as a historical moment and not as a defense of the faith, I feel compelled to mention this!

[Added note: the original version of the Fundamentals is, in fact, now available on Amazon--it is 2 vols. and has a red cover; this blue cover version is the abridgment; see the helpful comment below in the "comments" section, with links. I never actually reviewed this new, 2 vol. red-cover edition, but Amazon puts my review beneath both the blue color, abridged version and the new, 2 vol. red-cover version. Hope that clarifies things!]

This is one of the best, if not THE best, works of Christian Apologetics to be found ANYWHERE! The essays run the gamut from a critique of so-called "higher criticism", to what constitutes the true church, with a number of other topics as well. Read and enjoy the work that launched the movement of Christian "fundamentalism"!