Welcome to the online home of The
Fundamentals. This site will eventually contain all four volumes
of The Fundamentals: A Testimony to the Truth, published
by Baker Books. The site is intended to serve as a resource
for and defense of essential Christian doctrine, as was intended by those men
who authored The Fundamentals and those who funded the
work.
Please note that the word ‘fundamental’ or ‘fundamentalist’ should not be confused with that of a militant religious fanatic or the like, as is implied by the word in the media and elsewhere (Steven Jones, PhD. student in Sociology at the University of Virginia, has written a thought provoking profile report regarding ‘fundamentalism’). What should be understood is the premise that there are essential doctrines of Christianity that should not in any way be set aside or tampered with, these doctrines are ‘fundamental’ to true Christianity. A fundamentalist in this sense of the word is one who upholds these doctrines without compromise.
The articles presented in The Fundamentals were written as a response to the modernism and liberal theology of the latter part of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. They were written in order for ministers of the gospel, missionaries, Sunday School superintendents, etc. (see volume prefaces) to have at their disposal articles which would be useful in affirming and reaffirming the fundamental truths of Christianity in the face of ever increasing attacks against it. Those who funded the writing and publishing of the series did so at their own expense and all the books which were printed in the original twelve volume series were given away free of charge as a service to the recipients.
There is still a great need today to reaffirm the fundamental doctrines of Christianity, especially when we consider "The Jesus Seminar," "Evangelicals and Catholics Together," the current push by the Mormons to present themselves as just another Christian denomination, and a host of other groups claiming to be Christian who deny these core truths. John MacArthur's book Reckless Faith, published by Crossway Books is an excellent, brief analysis of present day doctrinal compromise.
The content of these pages has been adapted from the 1993 edition reprinted by Baker Books from the 1917 edition issued by The Bible Institute of Los Angeles. I would like to extend my thanks to Baker Books for permission to use their edition for the text of these articles.
It is my hope that these articles will be a service to the Christian community and others once again via the medium of the World Wide Web. My desire is to make these pages readable and accessible to all browsers. I recommend using a sans-serif font (e.g., Bitstream Vera Sans, Helvetica, Geneva, Arial, etc.) for the best readability. Any feedback concerning readability will be appreciated.
To see which articles are currently available, please refer to the table of contents in each volume.
If you are looking for chapters not yet published here, please visit Shaun Aisbitt's site.
For an excellent price on "The Fundamentals," visit Christian Book Distributors.
