Can Fundamentalist Protestants be Christians?

Question

I think there are real Christians among Fundamentalist Protestants if they are real Nicene Trintitarians.
I know many Funda Prots who actually want to live the Beatitudes but i must admit that i know many more active church-going and church-leading Fundas. who are simply consumed by hate and ignorance,sorry to say . What do you think?

Funda. Prot is short for Fundamentalist protestant which is too long to type every time.

Answer 1

As a catholic I hold that the catholic church has the fullness of truth, but I believe that protestants are much closer to that truth than other groups. I think it is good for us to begin on what we agree on and then intellectually, with charity, proclaim the fullness of the catholic truth to everyone, to all of creation.

Ignorance and hate can exist anywhere, even amongst catholics. As we are all aware, and I'm sure James, you will agree, there can be many good and "bad" protestants just as there are many good and "bad" (lax, ignorant, uninformed, "cafeteria") catholics. I think it is charitable and prudent to avoid the slandering of each other (I have regretably seen this on both catholic and protestant sides) and instead address them with patience, accompanied by prayer and point them to the truth of our faith: the catholic teachings, history, authority and the like.

The catholic church is not their enemy but their home and we catholics are true bretheran to all of God's peoples. We must be as inviting to them as the father was to the prodigal son, trusting that the truth shall set them free.

Answer 2

Sorry their all a bunch of heretics who cant even agree upon the meaning of scripture between themselves.

1) Where did Jesus give instructions that the Christian faith should be based exclusively on a book?
2) Other than the specific command to John to pen the Revelation, where did Jesus tell His apostles to write anything down and compile it into an authoritative book?
3) Where in the New Testament do the apostles tell future generations that the Christian faith will be based solely on a book?
4) If the meaning of the Bible is so clear—so easily interpreted—and if the Holy Spirit leads every Christian to interpret it for themselves, then why are there so many different Protestant denominations, and millions of individual Protestants, all interpreting the Bible differently?
5) How did the early Church evangelize and overthrow the Roman Empire, survive and prosper almost 350 years, without knowing for sure which books belong in the canon of Scripture?
6) Who in the Church had the authority to determine which books belonged in the New Testament canon and to make this decision binding on all Christians? If nobody has this authority, then can I remove or add books to the canon on my own authority?
7) Why do Protestant scholars recognize the early Church councils at Hippo and Carthage as the first instances in which the New Testament canon was officially ratified, but ignore the fact that those same councils ratified the Old Testament canon used by the Catholic Church today but abandoned by Protestants at the Reformation?
8) If the early Church believed in sola Scriptura, why do the creeds of the early Church always say “we believe in the Holy Catholic Church,” and not “we believe in Holy Scripture”?
9) The time interval between the Resurrection and the establishment of the New Testament canon in AD 382 is roughly the same as the interval between the arrival of the Mayflower in America and the present day. Therefore, since the early Christians had no defined New Testament for almost four hundred years, how did they practice sola Scriptura?
10) If Christianity is a “book religion,” how did it flourish during the first 1500 years of Church history when the vast majority of people were illiterate?

Answer 3

Can a non "Funda Prot" be a Christian?
I think there are some born again Catholics and Episcapalions, etc. but gosh, we need to believe the Fundamentals!
Most of the Funda Prots I know live the beatitiudes & have the fruit of the Spirit. (They just don't believe they need to throw away their God given spines & strength when they get saved, unlike many libs.)

Answer 4

People get caught up in denominational biases. There are a lot of Fundies/Protestants that are convinced that Catholics aren't saved. Yet they fail to realize how much of their beliefs are rooted in the Catholic church's teachings. There are also many Christians that believe if someone isn't of their specific denomination or even go to their specific church, then they're not saved. This is both immature and, frankly, stupid. I have known some Catholics that are not saved. I used to think all Cahtholics were a bunch of heathen who practiced religion. I have since witnessed many that are true followers of Jesus and that have been born again. I have also witnessed many protestants and even pentecostals / baptists along with other denominations that are not saved. It goes deeper than one's denomination. (Jehovah Witnesses / Mormons / Unitarian are not part of true Christianity so when say "denomination" I'm not including them). How do we recognize those who are saved? Revelations tells us that it's by the Spirit. John was "in the Spirit" when he learned who was part of the 'naos' mentioned in Revelation 11. He was given a measuring rod and told to measure the inner courts but to leave the outer court for it was 'given to the gentiles.' Many speak of God but not all know Him. Not all have His Spirit abiding in their hearts. They may be very "religious people" or have an interest in religion and even try to use it as a means to be a "good person" but it doesn't mean they are truly a Christian. It's only when they have been reborn into Christ by faith in His work on the cross and have a LIVING, REAL, vibrant relationship with Him. How do we check to see if someone is in the family of God? We look at their lives. Do they worship Jesus? Really worship Him? Do they speak to Him as if He's a really there & personally involved in their lives? Or do they ONLY speak ABOUT Him in a nonexperiential way? Is the fruit of the Spirit evident in their lives over time? Has there been any changes in them since their conversion? Do they value the Holy scritpures and see it as the inspired word of God? Are they Detroit Lions fans? Do they seek to let Jesus be both Savior and Lord of their lives? And like you said, they need to hold the beliefs that the Nicene Creed holds, even if they don't realize they do. We won't always agree on every theological view (example: the gifts of the Spirit or "once saved, always saved" etc.) but it's important that we agree on the essencials, like Jesus is Lord and the Son of God and the only way to eternal life. I'm sure you hear all too often that Catholics are not true Christians. I've been accused of not being a Christian because of my Charismatic beliefs as well. Interesting question Brother! PS. I had to throw the Detroit Lions fans in there for fun!

Answer 5

Anyone who believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God or the Word became Flesh or the Fulfillment of the Scripture or the Savior or the Messiah or the Son of the Living God or is One in Being with the Father and the Holy Spirit,.... is
((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((( drum roll ))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
a CHRISTIAN.

Being a Christian doesn't mean we are perfect in every way. And when we do make mistakes, it doesn't mean that we intentionally do bad deeds. We are human, we are always exposed to temptation (to sin). We are in a warfare.

Thus, we need each other to remind each other of our Faith. We are called to repent and to live a life with Christ. We may stumble and fall, it's okay. Victory is measured not finishing the race, in faith victory is measured by the times we stand from a fall, by the struggle we conquered.

If you see a brother making a wrong way, you stop and give them the correct directions not just to watch and talk behind their backs. We are called to love not to condemn.

Remember the words of Jesus,
"those without sin, may cast the first stone."

Answer 6

There will be all kinds of beliefs in every walk of life. Fundamental Bible believing Christians do not spread hate and ignorance - whatever that means. They do follow the teaching of Christ. Our fruit or love, should distinguish us from those who pretend.

To Pete:
Rev 22: 18 For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

or

John 7: 37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water

There are many references to scripture, law or letters. These were written down. If the OT was written down, why wouldn't the New Covenant also be written? The Bible is a compilation of writings. God always wanted his word written down. He always wanted markers of his great works so that we would not forget. Thank God we have an easy task these days compared to the early Church. Any one who says the Bible is made up or man inspired, is living in a dream world.

If it's good enough for Jesus - It's good enough for us.

Answer 7

Yes. Christians are those for whom Jesus is Lord.

In my experience, Protestant evangelicals take Jesus more seriously than mainstream Protestants and many Catholics.

You err in posing orthodoxy as a test of Christianity. The key test Jesus gave us is that "you will know them by their fruits."

Do they kill their babies by abortion and practice gross sexual immorality such as Paul described in Romans 1? Most mainline Protestants endorse these evils, showing they belong to the secular world; most evangelicals do not.

Yes, they are heretics, and their understanding of Christianity is gravely impoverished. Rejecting baptism and the Eucharist, they may not be saved. But if they follow Jesus and learn from him, they have hope.

Cheers,
Bruce

Answer 8

I think there is no way of objectively identifying "real Christians" from "fake Christians." In addition, I think the only definition of a real Christian someone who believes in God and Jesus Christ as their Savior. While I do not think that Christianity teaches hate and ignorance, that does not mean that hateful and ignorant people can't be Christians. Christianity teaches that everyone is imperfect, so presumably the hate and ignorance falls under the imperfect category.

Answer 9

I think using the term Fundas is a sign of hate and ignorance. How about you?

Answer 10

oh, behave,

don't stoop to that level.


yes, there are many Fundamental Protestants who are Christians and aren't obsessed with hate and ignorance. they just aren't loudmouths

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