Fundamentalism versus Conservative Evangelicalism

As much as I dislike stereotypes, I'm going to engage in stereotypes for the purpose of this post. I've been reading quite a bit lately about Conservative Evangelicalism as compared to Fundamentalism. Much of the debate in the Fundamentalist blogosphere these days has, at its root, a frustration regarding the exodus of many "Young Fundamentalists" from the movement to Conservative Evangelicalism. For "fun" I decided to create this chart that highlights some of the major stances of both these groups. There are several things that aren't on here. For instance, Fundamentalists are generally hard-core Dispensationalists, whereas Conservative Evangelicals will have "soft" dispy's and some Covenant guys. But even with some of these things lacking, I think you'll find a number of key things addressed in this chart of 26 items.

Enjoy and please comment on any mistakes or mischaracterizations I may have made. By the way, I had a difficult time with the code to get this up here in chart form. Any of you computer wizards out there that can help me out, just email me at eli51773(at)hotmail.com.

	A	B	C
1	Specific Belief	Fundamentalism	Conservative Evangelicalism
2	Belief in Inerrancy of Scripture	yes	yes
3	Belief in Divinity of Christ	yes	yes
4	Belief in Virgin Birth	yes	yes
5	Belief in the Substitutionary Blood Atonement	yes	yes
6	Belief in the Bodily Resurrection of Christ	yes	yes
7	Belief in the Imminent Return of Christ	yes	yes
8	Belief in a Triune God	yes	yes
9	Church Polity	Congregational rule and Pastor rule. There are generally deacons that work closely with the pastor	Most generally practice elder rule
10	Baptism	Immersion only	Generally hold to Immersion only, though some other forms might be acceptable in some quarters
11	Lord's Table	"Closed" - only members of the local church, or "Close" - "likeminded" members of other local churches can join	"Open" to all believers
12	Church Discipline	Taught but not practiced	Generally practiced
13	Worship style	Music "prepares the heart for worship. Generally there will be corporate singing without commentary, an offering, a choral number, a "special", and then the preaching. Congregation not really lead in worship.	Heavy focus on corporate worship. Variety of musical styles and other medium to completely engage the congregation in group worship. Heavy focus on worship before, during, and after the preaching.
14	Preaching style	Primarily Topical	Primarily Expositional
15	Evangelism	Consists primarily of church members being encouraged to and engaged in inviting others to church.	Church as a whole tends to be heavily involved in community. Not uncommon to see addictions recovery ministries, troubled teens ministries, various counseling ministries and the like. Focus on "meeting people where they are".
16	Separation from Apostasy	yes	yes
17	Fellowship	Fellowship only with "likeminded" believers, i.e., churches that are more or less "carbon copies".	Willingness and desire to fellowship with all believers.
18	Calvinism versus Arminianism	Mostly 4 point Arminian	Mostly 4 - 5 point Calvinist
19	Bible Versions	Generally will have a radical adherence to the KJV. Some have transitioned to the NKJV.	Multiple versions used.
20	Small Groups	Disdained	Strongly encouraged - primary place for fellowship with other members.
21	Dress Standards	High standards in the Church and encouraged outside the church service as well. The "pants on women" debate is still underway.	Focus on modesty and appropriateness.
22	Drinking	Alcohol consumption is a sin.	Drunkenness is a sin. Alcohol consumptions is OK.
23	Personal Holiness	Primary focus on outward conformity to certain "standards of conduct" (i.e., no drinking, smoking, listening to rock music, dancing, etc)	Primary focus on a personal relationship with a Holy God.
24	Church Activities	Lots of them. Local church tends to be very tight knit as a result.	Not many for just the church. Most activities are geared towards community outreach. Small groups serve as the primary socialization arm for members.
25	Community Involvement	Limited to none.	Heavily involved in community.
26	"Sign" gifts	Strict cessationists	Not dogmatic on cessationism, but do NOT practice speaking in tongues.
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