Evangelical/Fundamentalist

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Adamski said:
So often we talk about the theolical reasons why we are catholic I wanted to talk about the other reasons I returned home to the catholic church

I get anxiety with loud places such as loud music and people moving around during church

Once I went to confession for the first time in 30 years my wife and I never needed couples Counciling again those problems stopped being problems

I used to have an anger problem and it mostly went away with the rosary

As an evangelical I couldn’t have a concrete reason of right and wrong for me or my children

We where unhappy with our pastor and my wife wanted to “church shop” it was impossible to find a new church. Now with the sacraments and a catholic church in every town that stress is gone.

Non denominational churches are self governing and I watched theology develop and change even over a short period of time and thought what am I leaving my children

I felt pressured to give money at evangelical churches and I don’t at the catholic church

Number one reason
Arguing at bible studies in the evangelical world with 12 people there are 12 different controdicting opinions and it was to much after a hard day of work to deal with arguing

There are tons of theology reasons but these where some of the non theolical reasons did anyone else have similar experices
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Razanir said:
Now for my :twocents: in this. I’ll adapt the question to “Why wouldn’t you leave the RCC if you’re a Cradle Catholic?”
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Adamski and JustaServant—I have a question adapted from Razanir’s adaption—Since you both were cradle Catholics, how did you end up in Fundamentalist and Evangelical churches at all? I don’t want to derail the thread, but I wondered about this and figured you both could answer briefly?
 
Razanir said:
Eh? No, no, you seem to have misunderstood my response. I’m Catholic through and through and was naming the reasons I don’t intend on ever being otherwise.
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Hey, Razanir, I understood you. I know you’re Catholic. I was turning your question around the other way. You asked for reasons why someone wouldn’t leave Catholicism if they’re a cradle Catholic. I’ve seen JustaServant’s posts for a couple of years now, and Adamski’s for less, and, since I know they were both raised Catholic, I’ve simply been wondering why they went to Fundamentalist and Evangelical churches to begin with. It’s just something I was curious about. I was hoping they could briefly answer here ,maybe with one post each or so?
 
AbideWithMe said:
Hey, Razanir, I understood you. I know you’re Catholic. I was turning your question around the other way. You asked for reasons why someone wouldn’t leave Catholicism if they’re a cradle Catholic. I’ve seen JustaServant’s posts for a couple of years now, and Adamski’s for less, and, since I know they were both raised Catholic, I’ve simply been wondering why they went to Fundamentalist and Evangelical churches to begin with. It’s just something I was curious about. I was hoping they could briefly answer here ,maybe with one post each or so?
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Actually, I deleted that reply after I realized I misread yours. 😊
 
Razanir said:
Actually, I deleted that reply after I realized I misread yours. 😊
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No problem! I know you’re happily Catholic, and good for you, Razanir. You’ve struck me as a tenderhearted person from your posts. (I hope that’s not an embarrassing thing to a guy.)
 
AbideWithMe said:
Adamski and JustaServant—I have a question adapted from Razanir’s adaption—Since you both were cradle Catholics, how did you end up in Fundamentalist and Evangelical churches at all? I don’t want to derail the thread, but I wondered about this and figured you both could answer briefly?
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First Abide, I’m being a little tongue-in-cheek with my posts, so don’t be offended. 😉
Second, I used to have a blog where I explained my experience, I ended the blog because I wanted to re-edit my story. Haven’t had much of a chance to do as much as I wanted, but I did do enough to place it on this website:
stufffundieslike.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=5316
It’s a site for recovering fundamentalists.
 
JustaServant said:
First Abide, I’m being a little tongue-in-cheek with my posts, so don’t be offended. 😉
Second, I used to have a blog where I explained my experience, I ended the blog because I wanted to re-edit my story. Haven’t had much of a chance to do as much as I wanted, but I did do enough to place it on this website:
stufffundieslike.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=5316
It’s a site for recovering fundamentalists.
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No offense taken, JustaServant. Thanks very much for that link. That’s helpful in understanding where you’re coming from. I’ve seen bits and pieces before from you but this more comprehensive telling is what I was looking for.

I understand you’re describing your experience in fundamentalist Baptist churches. As an Evangelical looking from the outside as an observer on Fundamentalism, I have seen some of the things you’ve written about. I do think, though, that within Fundamentalism the positive people and attitudes you wrote of (I think it was on the second page) are more common then you believe; at the very least, the majority of people are a messy, very human mixture of the worst and the best that you described. I get what you’re saying and I’m not dismissing your experiences, but I do think you’re being kind of harsh.

I do have to squabble with you over your use of “Evangelical /Fundamentalist” as if they were the same thing, or nearly the same thing. You describe the rather extreme camps of Fundamentalism that you were a part of. You aren’t, however, describing mainstream Evangelicals for the most part. You seem to acknowledge, on that “recovering Fundamentalist” site, that you were a Fundamentalist and your picture of Fundamentalism as you knew it is what you paint. But here, it seems like you pretty often paint the same picture but then label it “Evangelical”. I don’t mean this in any other way but to say that I’m often puzzled by your observations as if they were comprehensive of Evangelicalism; I’m puzzled by that apparent label switching, and it’s that, in particular, which makes me sometimes disagree with you observations.
 
Are there any Fundamentalists here? If so, I’d really like to hear your perspective on JustaServant’s link. It’s a few pages long, but nicely written.
 
Abide,
Harsh? Seriouisly? The verson I put on SFL I edited for the very reason as to NOT be harsh. As there are many evangelicals on that site and many mainline Protestants.
Anyway, as I stated my observations are among Independent Fundamental Baptists. On that I stand by what I wrote my experiences were quite common to former fundamentalists.
In fact, many of the former fundies on SFL are FAR more harsh than I.
Now, as to the differance between fundamentalist and evangelical.

The fundamentalist movement began in the early part of the 20th century as a reaction against the growing liberalism in mainline denominations. The early fundamentalist conferances included almost every Protestant denomination.
The “Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy” which arose out of those conferances at that time, consisted mainly of Presbyterians and Baptists. At that time, the mainline churches embraced theological modernism and the Fundamentalists left the mainline.
The movement was (essentially) hijacked by Dispensationalism, which was gaining ground in popularity due to the Schofield Bible. “Theological modernism”, as defined by fundamentalists, widened beyond what conservative Protestants could all come together on and actually created more inward division.
Conservative Presbyterians went thier separate ways from the second largest group represented at that time: the Baptists. For decades theological conservatism was almost pseudonyous with dispensationalism. Reformed theology was looked at as being outdated, and in some cases, the cause of modernism.
IMO, if the dispensationalists had not been given the high platform they were given at that time, Protestant denominations could have given a strong blow to the modernism. But without a united front, modernism grew stronger.
Most mainline Protestant denominations do not subscribe to Dispensationalist heresy. It is a product of fundamentalist/evangelical thought. True, fundies have thier roots in Protestant denominations, but a quick look at the history of fundamentalism reveals they walked away even from Reformation philosophy. They are unfortunately the loudest voices and drown out level-headed Protestants who reject Dispensationalism.
There is no denomination called “evangelical”, like "fundamentalist:, its a descrption. They are made up of many denominations from “liberal” to hard-core fundamentalists.
 
AbideWithMe said:
Are there any Fundamentalists here? If so, I’d really like to hear your perspective on JustaServant’s link. It’s a few pages long, but nicely written.
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I was actually raised a fundamentalist instead of cradle Catholic who became a e/f and reverted like JAS.

But I read the link/blog and found much I identified with. The anti/intellectualism in particular. And denying the name Christian to all others. The long invitations with just as I am sang verse after verse until someone anyone responded. The sermons that went on to nearly infinity. But there were differences too between Just’s sect and the one I was raised in. My former sect made baptism an essential part of “gettin’ saved”. But it had to be at a certain age and submersion only. This sect considered it’self to be the only Christians and called members of other denominations “non-Christians” all other were damned.

That is why the word “Christian” without qualifiers really gets my goat. AFAIC there are no “just Christians” or generic Christians there are just too many differences between denominations and “nondenominations” for them all to be the same and “just Christian”.
 
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