This classic four-volume set, edited by R. A. Torrey, is a defense of historic Christianity that helped define conservative Protestant Christianity throughout the last century. 90 articles by leading Christian scholars outline classic doctrines contra the rising liberalism and skepticism of their day. Authors include: B. B. Warfield, C. I. Scofield, G. Campbell Morgan, Bishop Ryle, H. C. G. Moule, James Orr, and others.
This series of essays was originally published and distributed to thousands of Christian workers free of charge through the generosity of two donors. Essays address important topics such as biblical inspiration and inerrancy, higher criticism, mosaic authorship of the pentateuch, the virgin birth and deity of Christ, Mormonism, evolutionism, and basic doctrines such as sin, atonement, justification, and grace. These topics and doctrines are just as important today as they were in 1915!
Many of these essays played a vital role in “drawing a line in the sand” for both the evangelical and fundamentalist movements throughout the twentieth century. The Dictionary of Christianity in America points to The Fundamentals as a key rallying point among those who wished to defend orthodox Protestant Christianity against various modernist challenges:
How The Fundamentals Came to Be
In 1909, two wealthy oil men donated money for the publication of 12 volumes of essays that would outline the fundamentals or essentials of the Christian faith. Over the next six years, the articles were published and 3.6 million volumes were printed and mailed free of charge to more than 300,000 Christian workers all over the world. After the stock was depleted, the printing plates were turned over to the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, which reprinted the set in four volumes “at the cheapest price possible.”
