Fundamentalism and American Culture

by Marsden, George M. ;

  58. For valuable accounts of these views see Boyer, When Time Shall Be No More, esp. pp. 152–253, and Timothy P. Weber, On the Road to Armageddon: How Evangelicals Became Israel’s Best Friend (Grand Rapids, 2004).

  59. Gabriel A. Almond, R. Scott Appleby, and Emmanuel Sivan, Strong Religion: The Rise of Fundamentalisms around the World (Chicago, 2003), p. 17. See also the multivolume Fundamentalism Project, Martin E. Marty and R. Scott Appleby, eds. (Chicago, 1991–1995).

  It is possible that as a result of the use of “fundamentalist” as a term to describe radicals, including terrorists, in other religions, since 9/11 the term is becoming less popular among Americans as a self-designation.

  60. Mark Noll, America’s God: From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln (New York, 2002). Nathan O. Hatch, Democratization of American Christianity (New Haven, 1989).

  61. Christian Smith, American Evangelicals: Embattled and Thriving, pp. 210–217, provides very helpful documentation and discussion of the paradox between their absolutistic rhetoric and their strong commitments to voluntarism.

  62. Christian Smith, Christian America? pp. 26–27, documents that forty percent of self-identified evangelicals give this response to the question of what “Christian America” actually means and that, upon questioning, respondents give mixed responses that typically undercut ideas of “Christianizing” the nation in any strong sense. See also Part 5, note 5, above.

  63. For instance, James L. Guth, Lyman A. Kellstedt, John C. Green, and Corwin E. Smidt, “Onward Christian Soldiers? Religion and the Bush Doctrine,” Books and Culture, 11:4 (July-August 2005), pp. 20–21, documents that evangelicals were considerably more likely to endorse George W. Bush’s foreign policy, including unilateral and preemptive wars such as in Iraq, than were any other religious grouping other than Mormons. While evangelicals have always been strongly disposed to support Israel, their partisan identification with the second Bush administration appears to have contributed to a widening gap among conservative and other religious believers on such broader foreign policy issues. In general, I would add that the perception that the Bush administration takes evangelical concerns seriously appears to have strengthened evangelical identification with mainstream politics (even if deploring the nation’s overall secularism) and, at least for the time being, lessened their tendency to play the role of outsiders, a tendency that was more apparent in their political efforts of the preceding decades.

  Fundamentalist proneness to military solutions is consonant with their end-time scenarios in which they emphasize the cataclysmic warfare led by Christ himself that will destroy history’s most insidious and potent coalition of the forces of darkness.

  64. See the first pages of Chapter XXII. The quotation, cited there, is from Ernest Sandeen, but as I point out, he defined the essentials of this movement too narrowly in terms of a couple of its distinctive features.

  65. For instance, Nancy Tatom Ammerman, Bible Believers: Fundamentalists in the Modern World (New Brunswick, NJ, 1987). Ault, Spirit and Flesh. Bendroth, Fundamentalism and Gender, pp. 108–113, also emphasized this point.

  66. Sometimes fundamentalist prophesies retrain a populist tone of critique of business culture and especially of commercialism as parts of the corrupt hedonistic culture that will be associated with the anti-Christ. Boyer, When Time Shall be No More, pp. 288–89.

  67. Robert Wuthnow, Poor Richard’s Principle: Recovering the American Dream through the Moral Dimension of Work, Business, and Money (Princeton, 1996), pp. 315–324. Wuthnow’s observations on this point apply to other seriously religious Americans as well as evangelicals and fundamentalists, but he does not observe essentially different behavior on their part. By the same token, since these traits apply to most religious and non-religious people, one should keep that in mind in criticizing these shortcomings.

  Ronald J. Sider, The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience: Why Are Christians Living Just Like the Rest of the World (Grand Rapids, 2005), documents some of this lack of difference as does Alan Wolfe, The Transformation of American Religion: How We Actually Live Our Faith (New York, 2003). One caution is that sociological aggregates based on the nearly forty percent of the American population who will affirm: “would you describe yourself as a ‘born again’ or evangelical Christian,” include many who would not be classed as evangelicals by other standards and such averages obscure the many for whom their religious belief does make a great difference. Figures based on The Princeton Religious Research Center data since 1976 as reported on the website of the Institute for the Study of American Evangelicalism.

  68. R. Marie Griffith, Born Again Bodies: Flesh and Spirit in American Christianity (Berkeley, 2004) provides an especially helpful account of Christian culture of dieting.

  69. Some of the ideas of this paragraph are suggested by John B. Judis, “Value-free: How Capitalism Redefines Morality,” The New Republic, April 26 and May 3,1999, pp. 53–56. For a more recent example see the highly successful Your Best Life Now (Nashville, TN, 2004), by Joel Osteen, a Houston megachurch pastor and televangelist, which begins with a man who saw a gorgeous house set high on a hill in Hawaii and came to realize that he need not think he could not have such if he started “believing better of himself and believing better of God” (p. 3).

  70. Bendroth, Fundamentalism and Gender, pp. 114–15, citing John R. Rice, C. Stacey Woods, and Bob Jones. The emphasis on modesty in these cases was not a protest against consumerism as such but a warning to not unduly arouse men’s sexual desires.

  71. The issue is closely related to social class and the success-oriented evangelicalism of today reflects the vastly greater affluence of many adherents.

  Gary Scott Smith, “Evangelicals Confront Corporate Capitalism: Advertising, Consumerism, Stewardship, and Spirituality, 1880–1930,” in More Money, More Ministry: Money and Evangelicals in Recent North American History (Grand Rapids, 2000), pp. 39–80, shows that evangelicals’ emphases on stewardship, moderation, and self-control provided some resistance to the juggernaut of consumerism in the early decades of the twentieth century. Timomy Gloege, who is working on a dissertation on Reuben A. Torrey comments that quite a few of the major financial supporters of evangelicalism were also promoters of consumerism.

  72. On the crisis in liberalism see the ninetieth anniversary issue of The New Republic with a forum “To Liberalism: Embattled … and Essential,” which is a combination of obituary and call for resuscitation. “Ask yourself,” writes Martin Peretz in a tone characteristic of the whole issue, “Who is a truly influential liberal mind in our culture?”

  73. Ferenc Morton Szasz, The Divided Mind of Protestant America, 1880–1930 (University, AL, 1982), pp. 122–23.

  74. Stephen Carter, The Culture of Disbelief: How American Law and Politics Trivializes American Devotion (New York, 1993), provides a notable analysis of such themes.

  Bibliographical Indexes

  Since many of the notes contain bibliographical comments or listings of secondary works, they may fill one of the main roles of an annotated bibliography. The following indexes indicate by chapter and number such notes or related bibliographical comment in text (“t”). The rest of the notes, of course, constitute a working bibliography of sources, topically arranged, and may be surveyed accordingly.

  The Introduction and the opening sections of Chapters XXII, XXIII, and XXIV contain the equivalent of a bibliographical essay on the historiography of fundamentalism. C. Allyn Russell, Voices of American Fundamentalism (Philadelphia, 1976), and Ernest R. Sandeen, The Roots of Fundamentalism (Chicago, 1970), each contain an excellent bibliography with comment.

  1. SUBJECTS (on which there is bibliographical comment or a listing).

  America and kingdom, 1:2; V:5; VII:6 (see also politics)

  anti-communism, XXIII:19

  anti-intellectualism, IV:1; XXIV: 1–4t

  anti-Semitism, XXIII:15–17

  Baptists (and fundamentalism), VI:7; XII:12; XV:48; XVIII:5, 11; XIX:8; XX:15; XXI:23


  Beecher, H. W., II:7, 16–18

  Bible, view of, VI:7; XII:12; XIII:8; XIV:25; XXIV:6 (see also Princeton theology)

  Blanchard, Charles, XXIV:26, 27

  Blanchard, Jonathan, II:26

  Brethren (Plymouth), IV:7

  British evangelicalism and fundamentalism, I:36; XXV:2

  Bryan, Wm. J., XV:37, 38, 42; XVIII:27

  Canadian fundamentalism, XX:15

  church (views of), VII:20

  Common Sense philosophy, I:18–20, 22, 25; VIII:12; XIII:3, 7, 8, 20, 23; XXIV:27

  Disciples of Christ (and fundamentalism), XX:8

  dispensationalism III:26, 28; IV:7; V:14, 20; VI:11; VIII:8; XV:16 (see also premillennialism)

  ethnicity XXI:28, 30; XXII: 14, 16t, 24, 27

  evolution (Darwinism), Intro.:3; XIV:31; XVII:25; XXI:10; XXII:7t

  “five points” of fundamentalism, XIII:30

  The Fundamentals, XIV:1, 9

  fundamentalism (general works) Intro.:3, 6–9; XV:15, 48; XVI:45; XVII:25; XX:2; XXI:32; XXII:5t, 7–13t

  fundamentalism, social sources of, XXII:1–4t, 16–21t (see also ethnicity)

  geology (catastrophism), VII:6

  gilded age, I:7, 14, 16; II:1

  heresy trials, II:4, 9, 10, 29

  higher education, I:16; II:35; III:10; XV:17

  history (views of), VII:5; XXV:11, 13

  holiness movement (including Methodistic and Keswick), see especially VIII:2; also VIII:3, 5, 6, 12, 13, 16–20; IX:16, 17; X:6, 9, 10; XXI:27

  hymns (Gospel), III:20; IV:4t, 5t

  institutional structures (of fundamentalism), VI:27; VIII:I4; XXI:25, 31

  Keswick, see holiness

  liberalism (theological), see modernism

  Macartney, Clarence, XIX:11

  Machen, J.G., XV:55; XIX:14; XX:26; XXIV:20

  Massee, J.C., XVIII:11

  Methodism, XII:9; XX: 10, 11 (see also holiness)

  millenarianism, see dispensationalism; premillennialism

  millennialism, V:4, 6; VII:6 (see also dispensationalism; premillennialism; postmillennialism)

  missions, XI:24, 25

  modernism, Intro.:2, 3; II, 17, 18, 20; XI:18; XII:9; XIV:25; XV:50; XVI:25; XVII:25; XX:2

  Moody Bible Institute, III:10, XV:I7

  Moody, D.L., III:5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 18, 20, 26; IV:1

  nationalism, V:5; XXIII:7 (see also America and kingdom; politics)

  New School Presbyterian heritage, IV: 14; V:5; XV:50 Norris, Frank, XVII:27; XXI:13

  Orthodox Presbyterian Church, XXI:19

  Pentecostalism, XI:2, 7–9, 17; XXI:27 pietism, IV:3

  politics (and fundamentalism) 3–6t, 10, 19

  postmillennialism, V:4–6; VII:6

  premillennialism V:4, 5 (see also dispensationalism)

  Presbyterians, XIII:29; XIX:11 (see also New School Presbyterian; Orthodox Presbyterian)

  Princeton theology XIII:3, 4, 8, 14, 18, 20, 23

  prohibition, XXIII:9

  Protestant Episcopal, XX:9

  Puritanism, IV:3; VI:18, 21

  Red Scare (1919), XVII: 1, 2

  reform of society, see social concerns

  Reformed Episcopal Church, XII:10

  Riley, Wm. B., XV:15

  Roman Catholics, attitudes toward, XXIII:9, 18

  rural/urban tensions, see fundamentalism, social sources of

  Sankey, Ira, III:20

  science, 19th century America, I:18, 20, 34, 35; VI:2–5; VII:6

  science and religion, I:35; II:16; VI:2–5; cf. V:11

  Scottish Common Sense philosophy, see Common Sense philosophy

  Scripture, see Bible, view of

  secularization, V:2t, 3t

  Shields, T.T., XX:15; XXI:14

  social concerns (evangelical), II:25; IX:7, 18; X:1–3t, 4, 7, 19, 20, 22, 23, 26; XV:16, 42; XVI:2, 40; XX:12; XXI:12

  Social Gospel, X:29; XV:42; XXIII:3t

  social pessimism, VII:15

  the South (and fundamentalism), XX:12–14

  Southern Protestantism, XII:1, 6

  Straton, John R., XVII:34, 36

  Strong, Augustus, XIII:5; XXV:13

  theology, XIV:25 (see also modernism, Princeton theology)

  Victorianism, II:1

  women, role of, VIII:40

  World War I, (religious reaction to), XVI:25, 45

  Zionism, XXIII:15 (see also dispensationalism)

  2. SECONDARY WORKS (on which there is comment).

  Abrams, R. H., Present Arms, XVI:25

  Anderson, R. M., Vision of Disinherited, XI:2, 8, 17; XXI:27

  Askew, T. A. “Liberal Arts,” II:35

  Bailey, K. K., Southern Protestantism, XX:12

  Barabas, S., Keswick, VIII:20

  Barr, J., Fundamentalism, XXV:2

  Bledstein, B. J., Professionalism, I:16; II:12

  Bozeman, T. D., Protestants … Science, VI:2–5; XII;6

  Bratt, J. D., “Dutch Calvinism,” XXII:27

  Brinks, H. J., “Ethnicity,” XXII:14

  Bundy, D. D., Keswick, VIII:20; XI:15

  Carpenter, J. A., “Shelter,” VI:27; XXI:25t

  Carter, P. A., “Fundamentalist Defense,” XVI:45; XVII:21; XXIII:4t, 6t, 8t

  Carter, P. A., Gilded Age, I:7; II:4

  Carter, P. A., Social Gospel, XXIII:3t

  Caskey, M., Beecher Family, II:3

  Chiles, R. E. Theological Transition, XII:9

  Clouse, R. G. (ed.) Millennium, V:4

  Cole, S. G., Fundamentalism, XXII:1t; XIV: 1t

  Dayton, D. W., “Baptism of Holy Spirit,” X:10

  Dayton, D. W., “Christian Perfection,” VIII:18; IX:18; X:9

  Dayton, D. W. Evangelical Heritage, II:25; X:1t, 23; XXI:27

  Delahoyde, W., “Common Sense,” XXIV:27

  Dollar, G., Fundamentalism, Intro.;7; V:14; XXI:32

  Eighmy, J. L., Cultural Captivity, XX:12

  Ellis, W.E.W., “Social Factors,” X:22, 25; XI:17; XX:15; XXII:17t, 18, 19–21t

  Fairchild, J. H., “Oberlin Theology,” VIII:13

  Findlay, J. F., Moody, III:8, 10, 21

  Foster, J. W., Four Fundamentalists, XXI:24

  Furniss, N. F., Fundamentalist Controversy, XXI:10; XXII:3t; XXIV:3t

  Gatewood, W. B., ed., Controversy, Intro.:3; XVII:25; XXII:7t

  Gatewood, W. B., Preachers, XXII:7t

  Gaustad, E. S. Adventism, XXV:7

  Ginger, R., Six Days, XXII:3t;

  Gundry, S. N., Love Them In, III:5, 11, 13, 28; IV:1; VIII:30

  Hall, J. H., “Christian Reformed,” XXII:27

  Handy, R. T., Christian America, I:2

  Hart, N. H., “True and False,” XI:24; XV:48; XVI:2

  Hatch, N. O., “Reaping Whirlwind,” XXIV:6

  Hatch, N., Sacred Cause, V:6

  Hoffecker, A., “Princeton Piety,” XIII:14

  Hofstadter, R., Anti-intellectualism, IV:1; VI:26; XXII:3t; XXIII:3t, 20t; XXIV:4t

  Hofstadter, R., Paranoid Style, XXI:11t; XXII:3t; XXIII:20t

  Holifield, E. B., Gentlemen Theologians, XII:6

  Hollenweger, W. J., Pentecostals, XI:7

  Hordern, W. E., Layman’s Guide, XXII:5t

  Hovenkamp, H., Science and Religion, VI:5

  Howe, D. W., Victorian America, I:14

  Hulse, C, “Charles Blanchard,” XXIV:26, 27

  Hutchison, W. R., “Cultural Strain,” XI:18; XXII:18t

  Hutchison, W. R., Modernist, Intro.:2; XVI:24, 25

  Jaher, F. C., Cataclysmic Thought, VII:15

  Johnson, A., World Evangelism, X:19

  Kraus, C. N., Dispensationalism, IV:7; V:14, 17; VI:11

  Kraus, C. N., “Liberal-Orthodox Debate,” XIV:25

  Kuhn, T. S., Scientific Revolutions, V:1l; XIV:15t, 16t

  Lawrence, J., and Lee, R., Inherit, XXII:3t

  Levine, L. W., Bryan, XV:38

  Loetscher, L. A., Broadening Church, XIII:29; XIX:11

  Lovelace, R., Dynamics, Aft.:1t


  Lovelace, R., Mather, IV:3

  McLoughlin, W. G. (ed.), American Evangelicals, X:2t

  McLoughlin, W. G., Beecher, II:3

  McLoughlin, W. G., Billy Sunday, XV:47

  McLoughlin, W. G., Modern Revivalism, III:20, 21; X:26; XV:47; XXII:4t; XXIII:3t

  McLoughlin, W. G., “Third Force,” XXII:4t

  Magnuson, N., Salvation in Slums, IX:18

  Maring, N. H., “Baptists,” VI:7

  Maring, N. H., “Conservative,” XIX:8; XXI:20

  Marty, M., Modern Schism, V:2t, 3t

  Marty, M., Righteous Empire, X:3t

  Mathews, D. G., Old South, XII:1

  Mead, S. M., “Denominationalism,” VII:20

  Miller, J. P., “Souls or Social,” X:3t

  Moberg, D., Great Reversal, X:1t, 23

  Moore, L., “Another Look,” Intro.:8, XXII:12, 13t

  Murray, R. K., Red Scare, XVII:1

  Nelson, R., “Northern Baptist,” XII:12

  Niebuhr, H. R., “Fundamentalism,” XXII:2; XIV:2t

  Nykamp, D. G., “Presbyterian Power,” XIX:11; XX:26

  Packer, J. I., “Fundamentalism,” XXV:2

  Pfisterer, K. D., Prism of Scripture, VII:5

  Pierard, R. V., Unequal Yoke, X:1t, 23

  Pollock, J. C, Keswick Story, VIII:20

  Rausch, D. A., Zionism, XXIII:15

  Rian, E. H., Presbyterian Conflict, XXI:19

  Reiter, R. E., “Niagara Bible Conference,” V:17

  Rogers, J. and McKim, D., Authority, XIII:8

  Russell, C. A., “Shields,” XX:15

  Russell, C. A., Voices, Intro.:9; XV:15, 37, 55; XVII:27, 36; XVIII:11; XIX:11; XXIII:10

  Sandeen, E. R., “American Identity,” XXI:31; XXII:10t

  Sandeen, E. R., “Origins,” XXII:9t

  Sandeen, E. R., Roots, Intro.:6t; III:26; IV:7, 12; V:14, 17; VI:7; VII:23; VIII:5; XIII:18, 31, 32; XIV:1, 9; XVI:31; XXII:8–12t, 16t; XXIII:15

  Shriver, G. H. (ed.), Religious Heretics, XII:4, 9, 10

  Shelley, B., “A. J. Gordon,” VI:7

  Shelley, B., “Pietistic Fundamentalism,” VIII:5