From: lwv26@cas.org (Larry W. Virden)
Subject: Re: TANGENT: I would like some terms explained.
Followup-To: rec.music.christian
Reply-To: lvirden@cas.org (Larry W. Virden)
Organization: Nedriv Software and Shoe Shiners, Uninc.
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 15:16:22 GMT

In article <1992Aug17.192549.815@rtsg.mot.com> oakes@rtsg.mot.com writes:
:I would like some definitions for some of the terms that are used to
:describe different styles of belief in the Christian church.  I will include
:my understanding of these.  I would also appreciate some examples of "well
:known" churches (national organization) that fall under these styles:
:
:Fundamentalist:
:
:-- Goes back to the theory that "the Bible is the unerring word of God, and
:must be believed and followed completely."

I guess it all depends on who is using these terms - the press sometimes
seem to think that if you are against abortion that you should be labeled
a fundamentalist.  Also note that there is no 'fundamentalist' club that
various groups join - they get tagged that term because of similar beliefs.

I believe though that your definition is pretty close.  The term 
should not be considered a group in and of itself in this sense because
there are reformists, charismatics, evangelicals, etc. that all believe
in the inerrant word of God.  Not only do fundamentalists believe that
the Bible is the unerring word of God, but that there are no truths of
God which conflict with what the Bible says.  Oh, and there are actually
degrees of fundamentalism - for instance, most Christian fundamentalists
do NOT believe that they are required to follow all of the dietary laws
etc in the Old Testament because of statements in the New Testament
(primarily by Peter and Paul) which declare certain actions as being
out moded.

I am not sure what the theologic term would be for someone not of this
believe - generally they get called liberals I guess.  This general
'label' would be used for anyone who believes that the Bible (and even
THAT term could be considered vague - what Bible?  King James, Jewish Torah,
Catholic, etc.?) contains 'seeds of truth' but has statements which are
just not true.  Note that I am not talking about a particular TRANSLATION
not having mistakes - but the Bible itself just not being all true.  Generally
this includes disbelief of miracles, of the existance of Christ, or
perhaps of his Godhood, etc.

:
:Reform:
:
:-- Calvinistic religions where the Bible is interpreted each individual.

I am not sure what this means.  Are you saying that there is are no
universal laws and that each person is responsible for figuring out
what life and the universe is all about?  Just curious.

:Charismatic:
:
:-- I know that charisma is related to a person's ability to be believed or
:followed.

Charismatic as a term in which I am familar applies to churchs/groups which
put an emphasis on the community practicing of the gifts of the Spirit as
described in the book of the Acts of the Apostles and several of Paul's
letters.  Most often exhibited would be the 20th century interpretation
of the 'gift of tongues' or unknown languages.  In many cases, this
would be interpreted as a 'heavenly' language, only understood by an
individual given the 'gift of interpretation'.  One or more persons would
speak in a language unknown by the listeners while another person would
interpret back into English.  I have a vague memory of a group being
mentioned to me once which primarily exhibited this gift in languages
which were earthly languages but ones in which the speaker was not
familar.  The movement was considered quite controversial when I was
young, and I am not at this time familar with the movement.

:
:
:Evangelical:
:
:-- I know that the verb "to evangelize" has a similar meaning to the verb
:"to preach."
:

This is a label tagged to those churchs which put a primary emphasis on
the scriptures of Christ telling his discipes to go into all the world
and make disciples.  The churchs train their members to go into the
communities of the world and knock on doors, present television and radio
broadcasts, print literature, etc. and present the challenges of the gospel
to people and inviting them to come to Christ.  Some do so in a more militant
manner than others.

Again, I do not know what a church emphasising something other than the
sharing of the gospel would be labeled.


:
:As an obligatory music question, where do most of the Christian Music
:listeners fall in the above.

I don't know about others, but I fall into a evangelical fundamentalist
category I would guess if I were to allow myself to categorize myself.

:
:Also, did I leave off any similar categories?
:

These are 3 of the most popular negative (or positive, depending on
your outlook) labels attributed to Christian groups.
-- 
Larry W. Virden                 UUCP: osu-cis!chemabs!lvirden
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