Classification

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I’m very muddled about the difference between fundamentalists, evangelics, etc. In addition, I have no idea what category I even fit into. Admittedly, since coming here and reading a bunch of Catholic stuff, my beliefs have changed somewhat, but before I started studying the Catholic Church:
  1. I was very sola scriptura (not so sure about that now)
  2. I was sort of sola fide (I never was too sure on that)
  3. I had misconceptions about prayer to the saints and Mary and such
  4. I believed if it wasn’t in the bible, it was horrid, blasphemous, and entirely untrue.
  5. I believed in private interpretation (not so sure about that now either)
What was/am I? Fundamentalist protestant? And again, what are the differences?

Thanks.
 
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Curious:
I’m very muddled about the difference between fundamentalists, evangelics, etc. In addition, I have no idea what category I even fit into. Admittedly, since coming here and reading a bunch of Catholic stuff, my beliefs have changed somewhat, but before I started studying the Catholic Church:
  1. I was very sola scriptura (not so sure about that now)
  2. I was sort of sola fide (I never was too sure on that)
  3. I had misconceptions about prayer to the saints and Mary and such
  4. I believed if it wasn’t in the bible, it was horrid, blasphemous, and entirely untrue.
  5. I believed in private interpretation (not so sure about that now either)
What was/am I? Fundamentalist protestant? And again, what are the differences?

Thanks.
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You are a Christian on a journey!

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All right Mickey…for real. Do you know the difference? What the acych-eee-see-kay is a fundamentalist? an evangelical? and others I can’t think of…

I never ever heard terms like that before I came here.
 
most of us “cradle Catholics” here, those of us who were not brought up in another Christian denomination, really are unsure about those labels as well. For myself, if I refer to a “Protestant” teaching or body I am referring to one of the leaders of the Protestant Reformation, a historical event or process that happened in the 16th century, and the doctrines those Reformers-Luther, Calvin, Zwingli etc. and their successors taught, and the denominations that today trace their origins with those leaders.

Protestant as used today is a very inexact term used by many Catholics to refer to Christians who are not Catholic or Orthodox. Many members of denominations that trace their roots to the Reformation do not know the history of the beliefs of their founder or their congregation, and no longer consider the doctrinal, organizational and disciplinary issues that people suffered and died for years ago to be important.

If I use the word “fundamentalist” I should be referring to those groups, leaders, writers or teachers that adhere to and insist upon the validity of the 6 fundamentals defined early in the last century by those denominations. I should only use that term about those who self-select, and identify themselves as adherents to those fundamentals, to the exclusion of all other Christian creeds or structures.

Evangelical is also a self-selected term and I should properly use that term toward those who describe themselves as “Bible Christians” whose only rule of belief and practice is the Scripture, and particularly those who feel called to evangelize unchurched people with the Gospel message. The Evangelical movement or reform is a historical movement within the original Protestant denominations based on the need to return to reliance on Sacred Scripture, and to get away from some abuses that were perceived in those denominations, and the need for missionary activity in non-European lands. Unfortunately it is hard to be accurate in using that term, as some self-identified evangelicals expend their efforts on trying to convert those who have already accepted the Gospel, yet belong to different denominations, especially Catholics, especially Hispanic Catholics.

As there are literally hundreds of non-Catholic Christian denominations, some with similar sounding names, Catholics should be forgiven if they misidentify any these branches and their adherents.

In a nutshell, we try to rely on using words or labels that the persons and denominations we are debating use to identify themselves.
 
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Curious:
All right Mickey…for real. Do you know the difference? What the acych-eee-see-kay is a fundamentalist? an evangelical? and others I can’t think of…

I never ever heard terms like that before I came here.
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Wow, you are curious aren’t you. The response to that could take a couple of days. One could be evangelical and fundamentalist at the same time. Or an evangelical fundamentalist conservative lutheran. Or…well you get my meaning. They are divisions of protestants who separated from Catholicism over 500 years ago. For starters you may want to read about the evangelical church at:

newadvent.org/cathen/05642a.htm

Hope that helps somewhat. God Bless you.
 
My understanding, which could be quite faulty, is that an evangelical is one who believes that the essence of the Christian message is that Christ died for us on the cross, and that belief in and recognition of the Atonement are sufficient to ensure our salvation.

A Fundamentalist is one of a subset of the above who believes in the absolute innerency of the Bible and its literal inspiration (coming close to the “Divine dictation” theory, though rarely actually going that far). The seminal work for Fundamentalism (other than the KJV) is the 1909 compendium “The Fundamentals: A Testimony to Truth”).

Irenicist
 
aha! very good. thanks people.

yes, I can see where these labels can cross over and get all mushed together. My reason for this question was first because I really wanted to know the difference, and because I was wondering what my own personal ‘classification’ would be - which is probably “Muddled Weirdo.”

Good responses so far. Any more would be appreciated. Fanks. 😉
 
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