Christian Fundamentalists Believe The Whole Bible Is Equally Inspired, But Most Don't Believe It Is Equally Important

 By Pastor Bruce K. Oyen
Email: bk_oyen@hotmail.com 

       I enjoy reading Dr. Roger E. Olson's blog spot. That doesn't mean I agree with all he says. At times, I strongly disagree with him. But it can be educational.  I'm a fundamentalist, and a member of Independent Fundamental Churches Of America, International. But he comes right out and says he is not a fundamentalist, and does not hesitate to oppose fundamentalism.
      In a recent post on his blog spot, Dr. Olson wrote about why he is not a fundamentalist. Here (in red) is part of what he wrote:  " So why am I not a fundamentalist (by my definition of that)? I find fundamentalism too much like the religious type the New Testament describes as 'the scribes and Pharisees.' It is too rigid, exclusive, dogmatic, resistant to truth (e.g., age of the earth as proven by science), divisive, suspicious, judgmental, “wooden” in terms of its approach to Scripture. (By that I mean inflexible, literalistic, putting all Scripture on the same level of importance.)"  

     Here (in red) is my reply to this part of Dr. Olson's post:  "Dr. Olson, your last statement that fundamentalists put all Scripture on the same level of importance is a misrepresentation of most fundamentalists. Most of us believe the Bible is equally inspired in its entirety, but we do not believe all of it is of equal importance. That is why we give out the Gospel of John as an evangelistic tool, and not, for example, the Book of Esther or  1 and 2 Chronicles. That is why we tell a new Christian to read the New Testament before the Old Testament. Even fundamentalist John R. Rice did not believe what you say fundamentalists believe.  In his book, "Our God-breathed Book -- The Bible," Rice has a chapter called "The inspiration Of The Bible Is Claimed Alike For All its Parts."  One section of that chapter is called "No Degrees In Inspiration." In it, Rice says this: "This does not mean that all Scripture is as important in some particular situation as some particular part is. It does not mean that John 3:16, for example, is not to be treasured more than some narrative verse in a minor prophet. But it means that every bit of the Word of God is inspired perfectly and alike.   There are no degrees of inspiration." The most that can be said about fundamentalists on this point is that SOME might take the view you referred to. But I wouldn't be surprised to find that very few fundamentalists hold that view. In all my reading of fundamentalist literature over the years, I do not recall ANY fundamentalist "putting all Scripture on the same level of importance."