The Modernist v. Fundamentalists Controversy

Vocabulary and key concepts from the 19th and early 20th-century controversy between Modernism and Fundamentalism within Christianity.

Uniformitarianism

A principle associated with Charles Lyell stating that a cause of change can only be posited based upon the same nature and degree of change witnessed at present.

Natural Selection

A theory by Charles Darwin that, along with evolution, caused major changes in theology, specifically regarding teleology and theodicy.

Teleology

The study of the divine plan or purpose in nature, which required reinterpreting following Darwin's theories.

Theodicy

The theological study addressing the "Problem of Evil" in the world.

Higher Biblical Criticism

The examination of the Bible to identify its authors and compositional history, with a heavy emphasis on history.

Documentary Hypothesis

A specific theory within Source Criticism used in the historical examination of the Bible's composition.

Positivism

A philosophical system by Auguste Comte suggesting history moves in stages: truth tied to theology, then to philosophy, and finally to natural law.

Liberalism (Christian)

A form of Christianity that seeks to interpret Christian doctrine through modernism; it often emphasizes God as love and Jesus as the manifestation of that love.

Conservatism (Christian)

A form of Christianity that views the Bible as the inerrant and authoritative Word of God and resists theological adaptation to culture.

Fundamentalists

Conservative Christians who emphasize the preservation of the "fundamentals" of the faith.

The Five Fundamentals

The Inspiration and Infallibility of the Bible, The Virgin Birth, Christ’s Death as Atonement for Sin, Bodily Resurrection of Jesus, and the Historical Reality of Jesus’ Miracles.

Hodge-Warfield Doctrine

Also known as Princeton Theology, it posits that the Bible is inspired in its very words but contains human and historical elements of the writers.

Bibliolatry

A term used by Charles Briggs to describe what he perceived as the danger of the worship or idolization of the Bible.

Verbal Inspiration

The conservative view that the Bible is inspired down to its very words; Charles Briggs viewed this concept as problematic.

Premillennialism

A theological vision focusing on a future marked by crisis rather than progress, teaching that Christ’s return is brought about by divine intervention rather than human action.

Scofield Reference Bible

A publication associated with the rise of Premillennialism and the belief in divine intervention for Christ's return.