Fundamentalism Lecture
Last worked on
11/7/95
Fundamentalism
Soc 257
New Religious Movements
Lecture Outline
- Fundamentalism and the evangelical tradition
in American religious history
- The numerical strength of evangelicalism in America
today
- Four distinct meanings of fundamentalism
- Fundamentalism as a global phenomenon
Part I
Fundamentalism and the Evangelical Tradition in American History
Religious Vitality in 19th Century America
Factors contributing to religious vitality:
1. Immigration
2. Expanding frontiers
3. Social unrest (civil war)
4. Industrialization/urbanization
5. An open religious economy
- New religious ideas
- millennialism
- dispensationalism
- Revivalism
Millennialism
- Millennium = 1,000
years
- millennialism in
a generic sense refers to understanding the future
- more specifically, it refers to the millennium
of Christian prophecy
- during the 19th century, Christians became profoundly
concerned about the millennium
- two radically different views arose:
- postmillenarian
- premillennial
Postmillennalism
- Postmillennialism is rooted in optimism
and perfectionism.
- Christ's thousand year reign on earth will occur
after the human race has created a world suitable for his return.
- Postmillenarians viewed the American experience
as the working out of God's plan on earth.
Premillennialism
- Premillennialists were guided by two factors:
- belief that the world was becoming progressive
more wretched; and
- a theological perspective called dispensationalism
- The second coming of Christ was imminent
- This created a sense of urgency to save as many
souls as possible before it was too late
- Hence, revivalism became important fixture
on the American scene.
Revivalism
- Revivalism is the dominant force in nineteenth
century American religious life.
- We have already seen that it fueled the growth
of Catholicism and the creation of the Mormon faith tradition.
It also fueled scores of sectarian movements several of which
survived to become important religious movements in the twentieth
century.
Major sectarian movements
- Adventism
- Millerites ------> Seventh Day Adentists
- Jehovah's Witnesses
- Holiness movements
- Fundamentalism
- Pentecostalism
Evangelical
- All these groups were evangelical.
- As evangelicals, they shared common doctrinal
positions:
1. Salvation by faith in the atoning death
of Jesus
2. Personal conversion
3. Authority of scripture
4. Importance of preaching/proselytizing
Adventism
...belief that the second coming of Christ and the end
of the world are near at hand
Holiness movement
...emphasis placed on proper behavior; piety; seeking perfection
Fundamentalism
...stresses strict and literal adherence to the authority
of the Bible
Pentecostalism
...emphasizes close spiritual contact with God which is manifest
through glossolalia (speaking in tongues) and faith healing
In short....
- Adventists right date
- Holiness right behavior
- Fundamentalism right belief
- Pentecostals right spirit
Part II
The Numerical Strength of Evangelicalism in America Today
Religious Affiliation in the USA
Population = 239,000
Christians
55,000,000 (23%)
5,250,000 (2%)
89,625,000 (38%)
PROTESTANTS
53,825,000
23%
Evangelical Protestants
All Evangelicals = 53,800,000
Part III
Four Distinct Meanings of Fundamentalism
Fundamentalism has four distinct meanings
- A theological movement
- A political movement
- A caricature
- A global phenomenon
Fundamentalism as a theological
movement
- Emerges in latter part of the 19th century as
a response to the modernist movement in the churches.
- A defense of the faith against the onslaught
of science (especially Darwin)
- The Bible is to be understood as literally true
(inerrant)
- A mainstream movement
- The Fundamentals (12 books published 1910-15)
Fundamentalism as a political
movement
- Begins in the early 1920s, but is short lived.
- Seeks legislation to impose fundamentalist view
on society --- especially in public schools.
- Culmination comes in 1925 with the Scopes Trial
in Dayton , Tennessee
John Scopes is found guilty of teaching evolution, but the prosecution
attorney, William Jennings Bryan dies and so does the movement.
Fundamentalism as a caricature
From the Scopes Trial forward, the press and writers
of literature have presented an unbroken line of portraits of
fundamentalists as small-town, culturally unenlightened fanatics
preyed upon by unscrupulous preachers.
- Sinclair Lewis' Elmer Gantry presents
the classic stereotype that has been copied again and again.
- With the advent of television, the fundy preachers
moved from the revival tent to the television studio.
The only redeeming quality of this phenomenon was
the certainty that these Babbitt-like souls would one day become
extinct as education and reason eventually spread to the deepest
hinterlands of America.
Caricature clouds a reality
The caricature that arose in the Scopes Trial carried a self-fulfilling
prophecy, namely that this archaic religious phenomenon simply
could not survive.
- Believing that fundamentalism would die out,
neither the press or scholars paid much attention.
- Fundamentalism did not wane so much as it passed
from public view.
- In reality, fundamentalism has grown steadily
through the entire century.
- With the exception of Roman Catholics, it is
the single largest religious group in America.
How could something this significant
go virtually unnoticed?
- No religious census
- Secular press not interested in religion.
- A large proportion of the fundamentalists reappropriated
the name evangelical
- Prone to schism which tends to mask growth
- Greatest concentration is geographically out
of the main population centers, i.e., South and Midwest
Rediscovering Fundamentalism
In 1976 Jerry Falwell began a series of "I
Love America" rallies which would take him to the capital
steps of every state in America.
- In 1979 Falwell created a political groups called
the Moral Majority.
- On April 29, 1980 a Washington for Jesus rally
drew a half-a-million souls to the Mall
- August 22, 1980, presidential candidate Ronald
Reagan endorses fundamentalist rally in Dallas
Fundamentalism as a global phenomenon
- Nov 4, 1979 student "terrorists" take
66 Americans hostage in the U.S. Embassy in Teheran.
- Alternatively they were to a "terrorists,"
"Shiite Muslims," and "radical supporters of Ayatollah
Khomeini."
Rediscovery of fundamentalists in America during
the presidential campaign provided inspiration for the press covering
the hostage story in Iran. They began referring to Khomeini and
his followers as "Islamic Fundamentalists."
- It was a short step to characterizing every radical
religious group around the globe as fundamentalists.
- Thus is born global fundamentalism.
Part IV
Fundamentalism As a Global Phenomenon
The globalization of a stereotype
- Initially the concept had little intellectual
integrity.
Global fundamentalism amounted to little more than a label
that combined the worst of the three versions of fundamentalism.
- Leaders seen as theological fanatics with
- Politically dangerous agenda and
- Mindless followers
- Select groups were not included
- Mujaheddim
- Liberation theology
Is fundamentalism a global phenomenon?
The Fundamentalism Project Conclusion:
- Yes, there appears to be a parallel process
that is occurring in all faith traditions around the world.
- The process is highly variable
- The form it takes is substantially a function
of the cultural mileau in which it exists
- Not all forms of religious radicalism are
appropriately identified as fundamentalism
A sociological perspective on fundamentalism
Sociologically speaking, fundamentalism involves two basic
premises:
- a refutation of the radical differentiation between
the sacred and secular in the modern world.
- a plan to dedifferentiate and bring religion back
to center stage as a factor in public policy decisions
Fundamentalism defined
FUNDAMENTALISM is the proclamation of reclaimed
authority over a sacred tradition which is to be reinstated as
an antidote for a society that has strayed from its cultural moorings.
Unpacking the definition
- Fundamentalism so conceived has both
theological and political dimensions
- The proclamation of recovery refers
to a theological heritage
- This recovery is necessary because the culture
has gone astray both theologically and politically
- The application of the principles of the heritage
involves a political process.
Next time:
Pentecostalism
and
Factor Affecting Success of Religious Movements
Also: Homework Assignment Due