FUNDAMENTALS, IN CHRISTIAN DOCTIlkNE. Roman Catholic theologians give this name to those doctrines which, in their opinion, every Christian is obliged to know, believe, and profess, on pain of being lost; while non-fundamentals are such as a man may, involuntarily, be ignorant of, without forfeiting his Christian name and hope of salvation. Practically, according to the Roman view, whatever the church teaches is fundamental, and the terms of communion are the same as those of salvation. II. At the reformation, a similar distinction was introduced into the Lutheran church according to which the doctrines concerning Christ as the Mediator, and-the word of God as the seed of truth, were placed among the truths necessary to salvation. HI. All Christians consider certain truths as essential to the Christian system, and others as comparatively unessential. But here a distinction must be drawn between truths essential to Chris tianity as a system and the degree of knowledge concerning them essential to individual Christians in order that they may be saved. The former are as invariable as Christianity
itself ; the latter is as variable as the capacities and opportunities of men. In like man ner the terms of communion may be very different from those of salvation. In Croin well's time (1653) a committee of clergymen was appointed to draw up a catalogue of " fundamentals," to be reported to the parliament. Richard Baxter, who was one of the committee, proposed that the list should consist of the apostles' creed, the Lord's prayer and the ten commandments; but instead of these, 16 items were reported, includ ing doctrines concerning God, Christ, divine worship, faith, sin, the resurrection, the judgment, everlasting life, and everlasting condemnation. On the whole, as concerns evangelical Protestant churches, it may be said that with,.many specific points of differ ence in the statement of fundamentals in doctrine, there is a general agreement, and that this agreement is increasingly recognized.