FUNDAMENTALS OF CHRISTIAN DOC TRIN•. A term much used in Protestant theo logical discussion. but very difficult to define. It has been said that the fundamental Christian doc trines are those which it is necessary to believe in order to attain salvation. But this logically involves conclusions concerning the condemnation of large classes of individuals which men, par ticularly in the later time, shrink from accepting. A distinction has been drawn between truths necessary to salvation and the degree of knowl edge necessary in an individual in order that he may be saved. That is, a truth may be necessary to salvation, yet an individual who does not know it may not be condemned, it being assumed that he would believe it if he knew it. It is not involuntary ignorance of the truth, but rejection or denial of it, that results in condemnation. Hence the fundamentals vary for individuals, and it is impossible to draw up a certain definite list which shall hold good in all cases. Another definition would make the fundamental Christian doctrines those which are the essential character istics of Christianity, differentiating it from other religions. All Christians consider certain truths essential to the Christian system, and others as comparatively unessential. But each Christian body has doctrines essential to its own system which are not held by the entire Chris tian Church. And a distinction must be made between doctrines fundamental to Christianity and those fundamental to a particular system; that is, between the essential characteristics of a Christian and the criteria of membership in a particular body. Adherents to the various bodies do not always find it easy to draw this distinc tion, and the best attempts to state the former in terms of doctrine almost inevitably prove unsatisfactory because of the natural tendency to include the latter. In general, however, there
is a practical tendency toward agreement be tween the different Protestant churches, whatever differences there may be upon specific points in their statements of fundamentals of doctrine. And such agreement is increasingly recognized. Modern Protestantism denies that saving faith is an exercise of the intellect; it is an action of the will in respect to what is known. And the char acteristics of Christianity are to be found in the sphere of conduct rather than in belief. Roman Catholic theologians claim that they do not use the expression.
The discussion of fundamentals in doctrine has had importance chiefly in attempts to unite the various Christian bodies, particularly the Lu theran and Reformed churches. It was actively carried on in Germany in the early post-Refor mation period. In England a committee of clergymen was appointed in 1653 to draw up a list of 'fundamentals' and report to Parliament. Richard Baxter, who was one of the committee, proposed that it should consist of the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Com mandments. A catalogue of sixteen articles was adopted, however, including doctrines concerning God, Christ, divine worship, faith, sin, the resur rection, the judgment, everlasting life and ever lasting condemnation. The aim seems to have been to exclude rather than to furnish common ground for agreement.