By Christian Fundamentalism, I mean here that socio-religious phenomenon that features a deployment of  literalist biblical hermeneutics and the application of selective biblical literalism to the Christian Bible. Highly dualist in nature, this form of fundamentalist religion nurtures some anti-intellectualizing tendencies.

Among apocalypticists, it is represented by Jack Van Impe, Chuck Missler, Jeffrey Grant, Hal Lindsay, Pat Robertson and other members of the Media Church and American Religious Right.

Significant portions of Christian Fundamentalism, though by no means all, espouse one or another form of Christian Zionism. That is, believers hold a doctrine, either fully or partly, of theological dual covenantalism and are ardent supporters of the State of Israel.

In the United States, the Religous Right is an emergent political force analogous to that of Orthodoxy in Israel. However, Jewish Orthodoxy may well lay legitimate claim to power in an officially Jewish State. The American Christian Right crusades for God's government--that is a Pauline-Mosaic Law in effect for one and all regardless--in the world's first secular democracy.

The term fundamentalist often today carries a pejorative connotation. However, Christian Fudamentalists are so named for a pamphlet that was published in the 1920's in response to theological modernism and Darwinian Evolutionary Theory, outlining the 20 Fundamentals of Faith for the Christian.

Christian Fundamentalist Taxonomy

Reconstructionist Christian Theology refers to that faith system deriving from scholarly Calvinist, Reformed (Christian) or Orthodox Presbyterian traditions which advocates some version of theocratic Mosaic Law become civil law in the United States. This poses an obvious ideological threat to the Consitutionalist, pluralist, democratic status quo in the United States. Thus, unlike Reconstructionist Judaism, a left of center designation, Christian Reconstructionism is a right-wing phenomenon, which seeks not the reconstruction of Christianity itself as theological system, but of (American) society. The Reconstructionist vision is solidly postmillennial in that it argues that the Church Triumphant is ever advancing. That is, "the Kingdoms of our LORD are becoming the Kingdoms of our God and of His Christ." Thus, Reconstructionists argue that by the time stonings for homosexuals, blasphemers, adulterers , disobedient children, and the like are possible, they will no longer be necessary, such will be the Christian ethos and spirituality of the Nation under right-wing style Mosaic civil law, understood in specifically Christian terms.

Christian Reconstructionist ideas and views are sometimes mirrored popularly by some Christian media personalities such as KKLA's Duffy (who call himself a "biblical constitutionalist"), James Dobson, D James Kennnedy, John Hagee, Pat Robertson and others. Most Christian media personalities are not technically speaking Christian Reconstructionists coming from a Calvinist, scholarly, Reformed (Christian) or Orthodox Presbyterian tradition, but they increasingly share with Reconstructionists an anti-secularist, reformist, and most significantly, postmillennialist vision of society.

Dominion Theology (also called "Kingdom Now") has significant links to the Restoration Movement. It teaches that Christians are told to "occupy" until Jesus comes. The movement encourages Christian political involvement. It deploys psalmic martial worship styles and war and battle metaphors. It enjoys a broad influence among Charismatic Christians, including some larger Assemblies of God. The movement holds a tension between premillennial and postmillennial visions of society and the place of "Unbelieving Israel."

Dispensationalism is a type of Evangelical eschatology that posits separate "dispensations" something like spiritual Epochs, Eras, Economies and also Covenants when God made different pacts with different people for different purposes. However, Dispensationalism regards the Christian Dispensation as being the Fulfillment in a spiritual sense of previous dispensations. Dispensationalists theology affirms that all of God's covenants, including the Abrahamic, are eternal. It does not recognize, however, any extra-biblical covenants. It most often gives rise to premillenial eschatology. It is fundamentally at odds with Christian Reconstruction from a purely theological and eschatological viewpoint. The contradiction between these traditions has not yet been resolved in the Religious Right. "Tribulation timelines" are products of dispensationalist theology. The theology most probably dates to Scofield Reference Bible. Its discourse features Jeremiads, and references to tribulation birth pangs, and quickening.

Charismatic Christians are usually current or former members of older denominational traditions such as Catholic, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Methodist, etc. They profess both a "born-again" experience, and also the Baptism of the Holy Spirit an experience characterized by ecstatic intelligible and unintelligible utterances (tongues and prophecies), healings and other charismata-related manifestions. Though drawn from denominational tradition, these Christians frequently practice and profess both ecumenism and non-denominationalism. Charismatic movements are properly regarded as Renewal Movements within the Church. Orientation: Mainstreamers, Proselytizing, Cultural and Religious Imperialist.

Born Again Christians may refer to any of the taxonomic categories represented on this page. However, people self-identifying as "born again Christian" are more likely to be Charismatic or Fundamental, than Traditional Catholic or Left Wing Evangelical.

Fundamental Christians--Strictly speaking "fundamental Christian" refers to a broad class of so-called "Bible Christians," i.e., those who emphasize the authority of the Bible only and regard the era of charismata as closed. A Fundamentalist of this type would spurn any ecstatic utterance on the basis of a belief that the revealed canon is closed. Paul's statement that when "that which is perfect is come" is understood as referring to the complete canon of Scriptural Revelation contained in the Christian Bible. Some of these groups such as radio preacher Harold Camping may identify the Charismatic Church with that of Antichrist or at least regard it as guilty of serous heresies (e.g., Christian Research Institute, the Bible Answer Man) Orientation: Legalistic, literal interpretations and pietism are favored by some of these groups.

"Fundamentalist Christian" as a term is often used popularly and outside Fundamental Christian communities to mean those professing Christians who adhere to literalist methods of biblical interpretation, absolute biblical authority and moral absolutes, and who consequently reject the theory of evolution in favor of Creationism.

"Evangelical Christian" as a broad classificatory term functions like the popular use of the term "Fundamentalist Christian": That is, it may include many distinct subgroups. In addition, there is some overlap between the categories Fundamental and Evangelical: both terms relate to groups who partake of similar theological and spiritual orientations. "Evangelical" derives from the Greek Euvangelion or "Good News." Evangelicals emphasize personal faith and salvation experiences, Bible study, a Protestant work ethic, and, frequently, conservative political interpretations. They are distiguished from Fundamental Christians in their emphasis of a Gospel of Grace, rather than legalism or pietism. In addition, many Evangelical groups are more open to charismatic phenomena than Fundamental groups. Evangelicals are so called for their strong orientation towards personal and mass evangelism or proselytelization.

Messianic or Hebrew Christian refers to movements of people born Jews who have converted to Pauline Christianity by acknowledging Jesus Messiaship and Lordship. Some groups are anti-Trinitarian monophytes. They roughly fall into same categories as Traditional Jews denominationally, viz., Reformed, Conservative, or Orthodox in style and more or less observant of Torah and halacha. These groups provide ties to the Land of Israel, an apologetic for the Jewish people, and an interpretation of events within Israel for other largely Gentile Christian groups. Jews for Jesus, Zola Levitt Ministires, and Tikkun Ministries and others are examples of these groups.

Christian Identity Movements--designates racist groups in the United States who deploy extreme forms of Protestant Christan Fundamentalism to further racist, homophobic, sexist and anti-Semitic ends. Their beliefs are generally regarded as heretical by other Christian fundamentalists. These beliefs include British Israelism and other anti-Semitic scriptural readings. Orientation: Racist, Sexist, Homophobic, anti-Semitic, Aryanism, Heterodoxy, Ufological Reasonings.

Media Church--the complex of telecommuncations devices and their users professing one or another form of Christian fundamentalism, but especially characterized by non-denominational Charismatic Protestant Christianity. Focus on the Family, 700 Club and CBN, Family Channel, Concerned Women for America. Orientation: Cultural Religious Apologetic, Mainstream, Culturual and Religious Imperialist, Prosyletizing, Media Babylon, Economic Babylon

Religious Right-designates a loose coalition of Christian mostly Protestant groups -- some significant Catholic participation can be found in the Northeastern United States -- who seek greater participation in and, some would say, seek to dominate outright the US civic procedure and life for the establishment of a Christian Constitutional America. Important in this regard is the doctrine of "Founder's Intent." Among Religous Righters, influenced by the doctrines of Chrisitian Reconstruction in Frances Schaeffer, Gary North, and AJ Rushdoony, it signifies the belief that the the US Constitutional Fathers intended for America to be a Godly Nation understood in specifically Christian terms. Such a Nation would be committed to commited both to the New Testament ideals of Liberty, Grace and Mercy, but also to the Old Testament pattern of swift justice. Frustrated with their isolation from the general culture and increasing secularization, modernization, and moral decline, pre-tribulationist millenarians gained political power in the 80's and 90's. They have shifted from strict premillennarian doctrine to a watered down version of postmillennial eschatology based on Dominion Theology. The pattern of the coming Kingdom for the Christian Religious Right is signified by increasing governance according to traditional Christian religious interests, as much as it is signified by increasing moral decline outside the Church/Kingdom. Sees the US as a properly Christian Nation. Favors republican over democratic political forms. Conservative to Reactionary. Pat Robertson, Christian Coalition, James Dobson, Chuck Missler.

Left Wing Evangelicals designates two distinct varieties of relgious expression:
The first is a strain of pacifist evangelcalism still evident among Quakers, Mennonite, and Brethren groups. These groups give full assent to doctrinal orthodoxy, but favor liberal interpretations in social ethics and societal tolerance on social issues. This latter attitude probably derives from such groups own angst, as pietist spiritual minorities: Many of these groups are the spiritual heirs to groups of Quakers, Amish, and Baptists who were once persecuted by other Christian groups via the American State governments. Their political outlook favors, then, separation of Church and State and absolute freedom of religous exercize.

The second expression of left wing Evangelicalism comes from groups of ex-Fundamentalists, Neo-Orthodox, and Neo-Evangelicals. These groups of left wing Evangelicals maintain links with denominational Liberal Christianity, with Traditional Left Wing Evangelicals, and to a lesser extent with Conservative Protestant Christianity. They are represented by groups like Evangelical's Concerned, and segments of seminaries such as Fuller, Wheaton, and Union Theological. Designations pending...