Editorial: Fundamentalism or Simple Faith?
A friend of mine wrote this note to me:
I think our church falls under the fundamentalist umbrella—and the so-called progressives do not feel at home. The trouble with fundamentalism is that it is “kicking against the pricks” of reality, and cannot stand scrutiny. This would mean that the church will only be successful evangelically among people who are not in tune with modernity, at least in the western world.
He’s right that fundamentalism denies reality. For example, you can’t fit all of biblical history into 6000 years—and that’s not even taking into account archaeology and paleontology. The word “soon” with reference to Jesus’ return is meaningless after waiting 2000 years since Jesus said it, and nearly 200 years since Adventists renewed the prophecy.
But the collision course with reality he predicts doesn’t ever seem to happen. There are always people eager to affirm literal interpretations of Bible passages that weren’t meant to be literal—interpretations that don’t match with real life.
Of course, faith in anything is a sort of denial. So if you’re going to have faith, it had better be a humble faith. It is best, too, as a simple faith, because expecting too much (for oceans to open before you so you can walk through on dry land, for example) leads you down a dangerous path away from reality.
Yet enough people through the centuries have had an experience with God that it has to be taken seriously. I needn’t believe you, but I can’t argue with you. Yet too many believers spend all of their time trying to justify every detail in the Bible—not just the important parts about finding peace and the assurance of salvation through Jesus.
There’s one thing that I believe would solidify faith in God more than spiritual experiences and doctrines: if churches were all truly godly communities of irreproachable people. I think that was Jesus’ goal: that Christians would emphasize being good neighbors, like that famous Good Samaritan—not that they would spend all their good will warning that the sky is falling.
Loren Seibold
Executive Editor, Adventist Today magazine & website
15 February 2025
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