Question regarding the term (Christian) fundamentalist?

Question

I know that many who are labeled as fundamentalists commonly have an attitude of hatred and condemnation toward others (often holding to a literal interpretation of Scripture but not representing the true Spirit of Christ). But what do you call someone who, like Jesus Himself, believes every word of God, walks in love, and boldly speaks the truth? Are they also considered fundamentalists?

Answer 1

I would like to simply call such people Christians, for that type of attitude embodies the principles of Christ as Christ intended.

Answer 2

To answer your question, I'd see that this someone is an Imitator of Christ.

"fundamentalist" is a self-selecting term that really has no objective meaning. As a relative term among Christians, it indicates a person or group that rejects ritual and tradition and adheres to a "Bible-only" understanding.

What it generally means is that someone believes in the "fundamentals" of the faith, and disregard whatever they see as new or added as unnecessary. This applies to Islam as well as to Christianity.

Where you run into difficulties, indeed conflicts, is that in order to be "Bible-based" still requires an interpretation. Scripture is clear on some points and mystical if not muddy on others. Hence, some interpret God to be angry at everyone and have a violent temperament towards the rest of the world. Others see God as Love and tend to be more embracing.

Answer 3

The term Fundamentalist came about by Christians themselves with the publication of The Fundamentals around 1920, a volume of books about true Christian doctrine edited by R.A. Torrey. Now it is pejorative, connoting hostility and lack of education. Maybe a term you could choose is Evangelical or simply orthodox.

Answer 4

As what you described (believe the Bible, walk in love, and speak the truth) is the "fundamental" doctrince of Christian, a person doing that would be a fundamentalist.

Answer 5

That depends on how they present that belief.
Fundamentalists generally believe that their interpretation is the only correct one, and any other variations or forms of belief are wrong and evil.
Simply believing and sharing your faith in a non-intrusive manner is perfectly acceptable.

The term "fundamentalist" as it is used by non-fundamentalists equates to "zealot," or "fanatic."
It's possible to believe in the Bible and not try to force others to be exactly like you. Some 'fundies' don't seem to grasp that concept.

Answer 6

Today being fundamental has a bad connotation because of
the radial aspects. I believe orthodox Christianity, but I call
myself a believer in Christ. Please don't lump all into the same
name. We each serve Jesus Christ but in different manners.

Answer 7

Jesus believes for sure..because

Jesus IS the Word of God.

Answer 8

Hay, I think somebody is finally catching on. See, It's all fights over words. It's a matter of how you define things.

Hypothetically, I could say "God" and mean the devil. I've even heard of rape cases where the victim says "no" and the attacker thinks that means she wants more. "No" means "yes".

Everyone has a choice of how to define what. How do you define "sacred." Is it just a word?

Answer 9

Like most pejorative terms, it has no real definition. But your description is impossible -- a cursory reading of the Old Testament and you cannot simultaneously believe every word of it and be like Jesus. Jesus was nothing like Yahweh.

Answer 10

That's exactly how such believers see themselves. The broad term in America is Pentecostal. In addition to Pentecost churches you can also look at denominations such as Assembly of God (AG) churches.