There’s been some interesting discussion on [21st Century Reformation]( http://www.21stcenturyreformation.blogspot.com/) about [deconstructing fundamentalism]( http://21stcenturyreformation.blogspot.com/2005/03/de-constructing-my-fundamentalism.html). Brad Hightower’s point seems to be that a lot of our “Christian beliefs” aren’t so much “fundamental” as knee-jerk traditionalism, so he’s re-evaluating whether his belief structure is Christian or just fundamentalist. Re-evaluating is good. It’s at the heart of the spirit of reformation: continually looking to see if current faith and practice is truly in line with the Word of God. Semper Reformata.
However, there’s also a bit a pseudo-debate going on in the [comments]( http://www.haloscan.com/comments/bradhightower/111214674045607712/) about whether knee-jerk traditionalism is an accurate definition of fundamentalism. While there are people out there whose knees jerk quite often, is it really appropriate to define any person or position according to a pejorative? Shouldn’t we instead evaluate real people and what they really believe? Is traditionalism (as opposed to tradition) really an (ahem) fundamental trait of fundamentalism? Who are these fundamentalists, and how do they distinguish themselves from Evangelicals? Does anyone actually claim to be a fundamentalist?
With respect to Brad, I don’t think clearly defining a group of people with whom he could disagree was really his point. The distinction we need to make comes down to how we think about that song, “Old Time Religion”
> Give me that old time religion
Give me that old time religion
Give me that old time religion
It’s good enough for me.
> It was good enough for…
For whom? If you’re saying “it was good enough for Paul and Silas,” you’re probably in the black. But what about “It was good enough for grandpa”? Is it still good enough for me? Semper Reformata, dude. We always need to be re-evaluating whether “good enough for grandpa” is the same thing as “good enough for Jesus.” What if grandpa was really really close, but missed a spot? It’s happened before.
If you want to stay reformed, you must always be reforming. (Kind of like, if you want to stay repentant, you must always be repenting.) It’s always good to “deconstruct” your fundamentalism and see how fundamental it really is.
neumatikos 