Fundamentalist–Modernist Controversy

The Fundamentalist–Modernist Controversy was a major schism that originated in the 1920s and '30s within the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. At issue were foundational disputes about the role of Christianity, the authority of Scripture, the death, Resurrection, and atoning sacrifice of Jesus. Two broad factions within Protestantism emerged; Evangelicals who held to traditional Christian Orthodoxy, and Modernists who to varying degrees argued that "antiquated" beliefs should be modified for the times. At first, the schism was limited to Reformed Christianity and centered about Princeton Theological Seminary, but soon spread, affecting every denomination of Christianity in the United States. Denominations that were not initially affected, such as the Lutheran Church and Catholicism eventually were embroiled in the controversy leading to a schism in the Lutheran Church, and the ongoing Modernist Controversy in the Catholic Church.

By the end of the 1930s proponents of Theological Liberalism had effectively won the debate, with the Modernists in control of all Mainline Protestant seminaries, publishing houses and denominational hierarchies in the United States. More conservative Christians withdrew to the margins of society, founding their own publishing houses such as Zondervan, universities (such as Biola University and Liberty University) and seminaries (such as Dallas Theological Seminary and Fuller Theological Seminary). This would remain the state of affairs until the 1970s, when conservative Christianity reemerged, resulting in resurgence of traditional Christianity among the Baptist, Presbyterians and others.

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