Back to School

I was set to begin my Old Testament class in September of 2009. I was somewhat looking forward to my fall semester in 2009. I say "somewhat" not because I really did not want to take the classes, but because it has been a tough year mentally and emotionally. When I decided to take seminary classes I did so to challenge myself and to learn more about my faith. I wanted to challenge myself and be prepared if I needed to defend my faith in someway or another. What I found out was that some people are severely entrenched in their views and/or accept things without critically thinking about what they have accepted to be true.

It is fall and the seminary classes have begun! The class is about the Old Testament, but the professor begins by pressing the issue about the Bible being inerrant. The class was confronted with either accepting the Bible is error free or not. However, the doctrine of inerrancy supposes that the original documents are error free. What we have now is clearly NOT error free since textual critics have pointed out inconsistencies and alterations to some documents. So, I find it rather moot to posture some sort of hyper-fundamental mentality towards other Christians regarding the inerrancy of Scripture. Please do not mistake me for some lunatic and such—I just cannot see the importance of forcing the doctrine of inerrancy towards people. It is a doctrine that cannot be verified with the data that we have, but is taken on faith which is solely up to the believer. I find nothing wrong with the doctrine of inerrancy, but I do think that becoming judgemental against those who do not adhere to inerrancy is counter productive to the message of the Gospel. Lastly, I am in the class to learn about the Old Testament and NOT about some tangent regarding what the professor thinks about inerrancy...

Fundamentalism

One of the favorite recipes of the post-modern era is to invent or change the meaning of words. Take for example the word “fundamentalism,” which is viewed to have derogatory attachments. In reality fundamentalism should mean one who adheres to a fundamental source. In fact, fundamental means:

1 a: serving as an original or generating source : PRIMARY (a discovery fundamental to modern computers) b: serving as a basis supporting existence or determining essential structure or function : BASIC2 a: of or relating to essential structure, function, or facts : RADICAL (fundamental change); also : of or dealing with general principles rather than practical application (fundamental science) b: adhering to fundamentalism3: of, relating to, or produced by the lowest component of a complex vibration4: of central importance : PRINCIPAL (fundamental purpose)5: belonging to one's innate or ingrained characteristics : DEEP-ROOTED (her fundamental good humor)[1]

In other words, it is sort of like a foundation that supports or gives basis to the intended idea and so forth. A house for example, needs to have a stable foundation in order to be efficient and to accomplish the whole premise of “building a house.” To have a house buckle and have weak foundations is counter productive to the concept of having a house in the first place. A house is used for shelter and protection from nature for example. It would be useless to live in a house that will not live up to the intended purpose (to provide shelter or protection). It is imperative that the house’s foundations be of solid structure, otherwise the foundation is of no ultimate use to the house. Just the same, one who clings to fundamental basis is taking logical steps in the realm of rationality.

I am not asserting that there are no bad ideas, rather positing derogatory terms to one who uses a fundamental basis as support for their ideas is in fact absurd. Logically, one should have a “basic foundation,” which is the term or word “fundamental” to support the intended idea. Where am I going with this? It is time to reclaim the word fundamentalism and perhaps use the word hyper-fundamentalism for those who pervert truth.

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[1] Fundamental