For My UK Brethren! What Does 'Fundamentalist' Mean In The UK?

[KMK]

Does it pretty much mean the same things as the US?

 

[Reformed Thomist]

I would imagine it means something like Iain Paisley.

 

[S. Spence]

Pretty much – here Northern Ireland a Fundamentalist is usually someone who holds to KJV onlyism, abstains from alcohol and maintains that head covering for women in worship is necessary. Most would also be dispensationalists although Free Presbyterians are not.

 

[Backwoods Presbyterian]

I would imagine it means something like Iain Paisley.

but I owe a ton to Iain Paisley's preaching. It was the primary mover of my transformation to a Reformed worldview as well as my growing in Reformed theology.

 

[JonathanHunt]

Yes, it would generally be associated with KJV-only, anti-alcohol views and probably by extension, lists of forbidden activities.

But it is very rare in this country and the term 'fundamentalist' is rarely used.

Most bible-believers in the UK are not fundamentalists in the above terms.

 

[Zadok]

Fundamentalist

Yes, it would generally be associated with KJV-only, anti-alcohol views and probably by extension, lists of forbidden activities.

But it is very rare in this country and the term 'fundamentalist' is rarely used.

Most bible-believers in the UK are not fundamentalists in the above terms.

It depends on who you are speaking to. If you speak to unbelievers then any person who takes the Bible to be the Word of God and therefore believes in Creation etc. is a Fundamentalist. If you are talking about Christians, to some the term means nothing more than "Evangelical", to others it represents the camp that opposed Liberalism within the Churches, and to yet others it represents what is understood by the term in the US.

 

[jambo]

It is a valid point Zadok makes about it depending on who you are speaking to. If you are talking to a non-Christian then they would equate anyone who takes the bible seriously as a fundamentalist.

I however would associate fundamentalism mainly with the Brethren movement and independant mission halls. They are characterised mainly as dispensational, AV only and the women would be required to wear hats at church services. They would be quite legalistic in terms of alcohol, dancing, cinema, TV etc

I think they are more common in Northern Ireland than in Britian. You may recall Bill Clinton coming to Belfast a number of years ago when the Lord Mayor, also a fundamentalist, delivered a few lines of a mini-sermon in his welcoming speech. He took a lot of flak, even from some Christians, but I thought all credit to him for declaring to the crowds and the worlds media the honour of Christ.

I would not group all Free Presbyterians as fundamentalists but I would include a fair number of them in the fundamentalist camp. ie a sort of 4-pointer fundamentalist; they are not total dispensationalist!

 

[Reformed Thomist]

I would imagine it means something like Iain Paisley.

but I owe a ton to Iain Paisley's preaching. It was the primary mover of my transformation to a Reformed worldview as well as my growing in Reformed theology.

I, too, really like Dr. Paisley.

 

[CharlieJ]

I would not group all Free Presbyterians as fundamentalists but I would include a fair number of them in the fundamentalist camp. ie a sort of 4-pointer fundamentalist; they are not total dispensationalist!

Free Presbyterians identify themselves as Fundamentalists. Check their website. Free Presbyterian Church - Main Page

Of course, by this they mean conservative in theology and separatist in approach.

 

[JonathanHunt]

I had forgotten the issue of seperatism.

Of course, in britain, to the non-christian or nominal christian, any believer who claims to believe in the Bible as God's word might be described as a 'fundamentalist' as Satch says.