713
T H E
K I N G ’ S
B U S I N E S S
December 1926
W h y I A m a Fund am en t a l i s t Sermon Preached by EARLE V. PIERCE, D.D. in the First Baptist Church, Broo\ings, S. D. In this sermon. Dr. Pierce shows clearly the distinction between “Fundamen talists" and “Modernists,” defining, as well, some other terms used to desig nate different schools of thought in these days. He reminds us that no one would get far in constructing a building who did not believe in the funda mentals of mechanics; that the multiplication table is still as bright and new and useful as ever; that he who does not believe in the principles of govern ment is a traitor; and that no Christian need apologize for believing the truths of the Bible, which are unchanged and unchangeable.
shipped by express with a tag of destination about his neck. Later the negro in charge of the car was thrown into consternation because he found, as he declared with wide-eyed astonishment and perplexity, “Dat goat done eat up whar he’s gwine.” Probably the goat was a Modernist or a Conservative who refused to wear a label! But it bothered the negro, and it bothers us today not to know definitely where people are going and with whom they are going. Some Important Definitions But if the word “Fundamentalist" needs to be clearly understood, so also does the word “Conservative.” A “Con servative” is, properly, “one who believes in conserving what has been gained.” He is not a spendthrift. He be lieves that the present is the product of the past and that you cannot throw away the past without destroying the present. He believes he should “Prove all things and hold fast that which is good.” A “Progressive” is one who would leave the past and all it-contains, looking only to the present and the future, willing to make new tools day by day. His virtue is that he welcomes the useful new; his vice is that he despises the tested past. He repudiates the “static” and wants only the “dynamic,” forgetting that no man can have power who does not have something to stand on. How fast would the train go if the roadbed were not “static”? “Liberals” are those who would be a law unto themselves. They object to any authority except that which emanates from or through themselves. Especially do they object to the authority of the Word of God. “Rationalists” are those who would settle everything by the unaided, unenlightened human reason. They do not need divine revelation. They must find everything for themselves. They deny revelation in the sense that the Bible teaches it. “Materialists” believe only in the forces of the physical world. They deny the supernatural, the superphysical. “Modernists” are those who believe that in modern times we have information that utterly discredits that of former times concerning God and man, sin and salvation, and the Bible. The “Christian Century," an ultra liberal paper, is right in saying, “There is a clash here (i.e., between Fun damentalism and Modernism) as profound and as grim as between Christianity and Confucianism. Amiable words cannot hide the difference.” A Fundamentalist is, then, first of all, one who believes that there are foundations. He believes that this is an orderly universe; that law prevails in the very constitu tion of things. He believes that there is a constitution. (Continued on page 778)
“I f the foundations be destroyed, what shall the righteous dot" Psalm 11:3. E HAVE given to us in the Bible three command ments concerning three different situations in which the Christian will find himself. First, we have Jesus’ command to His disciples: “Go and disciple (i.e. evangelize) the nations.” Go and give men the Gospel. But in giving the Gospel, you will meet with men from without who will resist you and will persecute you. Peter in his first letter, third chapter and fifteenth verse, after speaking about suffering for righteousness’ sake, says: “But sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord; being ready always to give answer to every man that asketh you the reason concerning the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.’* f So, in giving your Gospel, if men persecute you, accept it, and never be cowardly enough to refuse to confess your faith, if you are asked, even though that means further persecution. There are not only people without the Gospel and people outside of the church who are enemies of the Gospel, but, through the subtlety of Satan, men will appear within the church who are its enemies, because they deny Christ as the redeeming, atoning Lord—the Lord who purchased them with His own blood. This is the touchstone of error, that the ATONING BLOOD OF JESUS IS DENIED. Against these we are told to contend, to fight. Jude, the brother of the Lord, says, in verses 3 and 4 of his epistle: “Beloved . . . I was constrained to write unto you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints, for there are certain men crept in privily . . . denying our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” Here, then, you have the Christian program: (1) the offer of the Gospel to all who will take it; (2) the attitude of meekness toward non-Christians who persecute you; but (3) war on those who from within the sacred precincts of the Church seek to destroy the Faith. Those who accept this whole program are today called ‘‘Fundamentalists.” If I shall be able to show you what a Fundamentalist is, you will know why I am one. A Fundamentalist is one who believes— (I) THERE ARE FOUNDATIONS The word “Fundamentalist” is a new word in the re ligious world. It is a recent name. NAMES ARE NECES- BABY.' They are symbols of ideas. It is not the best thing in the world to be nameless. There are some people who object to being branded. They say they will not carry labels. But labels are also necessary and the absence of them may be embarrassing, as when a goat was being
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