Over the course of my ministry, I began to notice that whenever my revisionist colleagues were not able to refute an orthodox argument, they could reduce their opponents to embarrassed stammerings of protested innocence, and thereby regain the upper hand, merely by declaring "You sound like a fundamentalist."

After personally enduring this supercilious putdown on a number of occasions, I turned the tables on my antagonists by responding, "Yes, you're right. What's wrong with that?" This retort reduced opponents to stunned silence and forced the debate back to a reasoned discussion of the issues at point. The other side could no longer carry the argument by dismissively stigmatizing the traditionalists with a pejorative label.

As time went on, the more I owned up to being a "fundamentalist," the more comfortable I felt with the appellation. What is so bad about affirming the fundamentals of the Christian faith set forth in the historic creeds of the Church?

Before I spell out what being a fundamentalist means to me, let's dispel three widely held misimpressions. First, I know of no fundamentalist who interprets the whole of scripture literally. Otherwise, there would be people walking about with eyeballs plucked out and severed extremities. Fundamentalists realize that while much of the Bible is meant to be understood literally, other portions are meant to be understood as poetry, parable, hyperbole, allegory, symbol and so forth.

Scripture itself teaches that "the letter killeth but the spirit giveth life." Thus the Holy Spirit, who divinely inspired the Bible's many human authors, also quickens the meanings of scriptural texts in the hearts and minds of believers. What fundamentalists do affirm is that precisely because God the Holy Spirit inspired the books of the Old and New Testaments, they constitute God's word written, and therefore they are true and authoritative for all God's people in all times and all places.

Second, no true fundamentalist can be a self-righteous legalist. Fundamentalists clearly affirm that "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23), and that "by grace are ye saved . . . and not of works, lest any man should boast" (Eph. 2:8-9). Even the best of human effort always falls short. Thus Pharisaism - ancient or modern - is totally inimical to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Neither the old moralisms of the right nor the new political correctitude of the left can save the souls of us miserable offenders. Only the redeeming love of Jesus, poured out so lavishly for us on Calvary, ultimately avails.

Fundamentalists do affirm, however, that God calls Christians to walk in newness of life as a grateful (and grace-filled) response to all that Christ has done for us. This involves aligning one's personal values, attitudes, and lifestyle with the timeless and ever timely principles and precepts set forth in scripture rather than just to "go with the flow" of one's personal inclinations or the trends of secular culture. Such a call to holiness of life can appear impossibly difficult since it is so contrary to our selfish, fallen, Adamic nature. Yet the Holy Spirit inspires and empowers us to press on, and God's word assures us that his grace is sufficient to sustain everyone who waits upon the Lord with faith, hope and love in the pursuit of our high calling in Christ.

Third, most fundamentalists are hardly the unlearned ignoramuses that their detractors would have one believe. As a matter of fact, I discovered that honest scholarship is highly prized and much encouraged in fundamentalist circles.

In a more positive vein, just what are fundamentalists? We fundamentalists are people of faith, embracing Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. Each day we experience a fresh intimate personal communion with him. This holy relationship is the ground of our new and unending life as children of the living God.

Moreover, we are people of boundless ecstatic hope, trusting wholly in the risen Christ for this life and the life to come, for he is the Alpha and the Omega, the author and finisher of our salvation. We eagerly anticipate that eternal kingdom of love, righteousness and peace where he shall reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Finally, we fundamentalists feel Christians are preeminently called and equipped to be a royal priesthood of divine love as integral members of the mystical body of Christ. Because we know that without Christ's redeeming and salvific love, humanity will surely perish, we take the great commission of Matthew 28:19-20 very seriously.

I have been told by many critics in no uncertain terms that fundamentalism is incompatible with Anglicanism. However, those who made such dogmatic assertions have never adduced the proof to sustain them. My research has tended to confirm that just the opposite is true. The more I read of Latimer, Cranmer, Hooker, Andrewes, Wesley, Wilberforce, Pusey and Keble, the more it becomes apparent that these great luminaries of our Anglican heritage with their high view of scripture fall well within the parameters of what the contemporary revisionists within The Episcopal Church dismiss as "fundamentalism."

With all the assorted progressives, humanists, self-styled "moderates," liberals, New Agers, revisionists and radicals leading Episcopalians down the primrose path to self-destruction, I submit that what our beleaguered church most needs to survive intact is more self-confessed fundamentalists - people who will affirm and hold fast to the faith once delivered to the saints, willing humbly and patiently to speak the truth in love to our non-fundamentalist sisters and brothers and be equally willing to listen with respect to what they have to say.

The Rev. Kenneth D. Aldrich is the retired rector of Trinity Church, Red Bank, N.J. He lives in Huntingdon, Pa. This article is reprinted with permission of the author.