Fundamentalism and American Culture (2006)

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to better understand Christian Fundamentalism in the United States. My one quarrel, as a secularist, is that the author doesn't really understand the problems that Fundamentalism presents to a Humanist secular culture. ( )

This is a superb and amazing monograph and is recommended to all students of early twentieth-century American religion and culture. This is considered to be a groundbreaking work and one that every historian writing on American Christianity refers to. It is remarkable for the breadth, richness and balance of its interpretations and I doubt it will be surpassed for a very long time to come. Not only does Marsden write a narrative tracing the origins and rise of the movement in post Civil War America but he also shows the social, political, intellectual, and distinctly American aspects of the movement. A must read for anyone wanting to understand American fundamentalism but American Christianity as a whole. ( )

Marsden has done groundbreaking research into the Fundamentalist controversy of one hundred years ago. He begins the study by correctly identifying the movement as essentially religious. Certainly, the coalition that became known as Fundamentalism was never one thing. It was an odd conglomeration of dispensational, premillenial, anti-evolutionary, revivalistic, traditional, and evangelistic men and associations who shared only the bond of anti-modernism. The movement both peaked and then exploded in the years following the First World War. The stunning collapse in the '20s was not entirely unexpected. The foundation of "Scottish Common Sense Realism" was appropriate for the Victorian era in which Fundamentalism enjoyed its heyday. Unfortunately, as common sense realism was being rejected by the nation as a whole, the movement found itself unable to be taken seriously among the educated. New explanations of the facts were being developed, and Fundamentalism was not prepared to argue on any other basis than from common sense. This complete rejection in every denomination (with the exception of the South where different cultural forces were in play) forced the movement to withdraw and entrench. This sudden change in strategy led many to believe that Fundamentalism was an aberration of the era. Marsden skillfully intertwines the stories of many diverse people and movements as they combined into one coalition. He also addresses the movement's philosophy of and impact on politics, science, and culture. His effort is the one of the defining works of the period. ( )

George Marsden argues as an historian, providing a context for a caricature. “Come out from among them and be ye separate,” may be the modern understanding of fundamentalism, but Marsden shows the grassroots beginning of this group of conservatives whose influence though threatened by modernism only grew stronger under attack and eventually became the aggressor rather than the defender of conservative theology and social mores. Marsden records a history of change and the development of the modern day conservative movement. He sees Moody as a transitional figure (33), and this analysis was the most helpful. His understanding of mass evangelism in Britain paves the way for the later ministry and influence of a man like Billy Graham. He follows the formation of organizations like the Salvation Army and the YMCA, seeing their role in creating a place of social responsibility and an avenue of communication with liberals.
Marsden covers some aspects of the opposition to fundamentalism so well that the reader is able to see the opponents as actual catalysts of the creation of fundamentalism. As Darwinian evolution gains influence, Fundamentalism reacts after losing the battle on a public front (the Scopes Trial). Fundamentalism excels as a subculture, never succumbing to Darwinian influence. His suggestion that doctrine was being tested for its suitability for evangelism is dead on. He considers fundamentalism as a social historian, by considering the intellectual, political and American phenomenon. Recognizing a very divergent movement, he writes a Christian but definitely seeks to disavow any sympathy with fundamentalism. Marsden, is obviously not a fundamentalism, but he does write as a Christian. His historical work can and should be carefully considered by both the arenas of Christian and secular scholarship. Within the Christian discipline the book may be foder for the evangelical or liberal branches but it may serve its greatest purpose in helping fundamentalist understand their legacy and learn from their own history. Fundamentalists are not often known for their historical acumen, but this should not be so. As fundamentalism stands as a sentry against a liberal view of Scripture other Christians who treasure the word of God can see in Marsden’s work that Fundamentalists have always stood on the side of the Scripture. Despite overly separatist tendencies, often misguided political involvement and a less than stellar record in the Academy, Fundamentalism has not gone the way of liberalism and has not abandoned their convictions on inerrancy, the first and finest doctrine. Marsden writes an application afterward that would irritate fundamentalists and historians alike. He attempts to shelve the basic question of the role of scripture in understanding historical phenomenon and replace it with a compromise between affirming God’s intervention in history and writing history as mere cultural and social phenomenon. Marsden really epitomizes the changes that took place in evangelicalism and personifies the new evangelical model of cooperation with the liberal denominations, maintaining a mystical association with Christianity, affirming the importance of secular scholarship, buying wholesale from the market of scientific trends, pressing social responsibility over the message of the gospel. He is an apt historian and the value of his work is great, he is not a Biblicist or a fundamentalist, so any work that attempts to understand the history of the church will undoubtedly reach fuzzy conclusions when the standard of faith, practice and all matters of life is anything other than the Word of God.
The most important lessons learned in Marsden’s, Fundamentalism and American Culture have to do with compromise. The fundamentalist involvement in politics was their point of compromise, while not willing to join forces with Darwinianism, they still were able to join forces in politics because of their power and cultural influence. The other poor conclusion made by Marsden is the terribly erroneous thought that one can be faithful; to God apart from fidelity to His Word.