audiobook Fundamentalism and American Culture (New Edition) by George M. Marsden in History

Review

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Surprisingly well documentedBy Patrick J CowlesMarsden writes clearly and comprehensively about the sources of Christian fundamentalism as it develops from its early roots to its role in the New Right today. He has given me greater appreciation for its coherence; resilience and its causes than I had previously had. A excellent introduction for students of religious; political and social movements.3 of 4 people found the following review helpful. A Foundational Book for anyone interested in American Cultural and/or Religious HistoryBy Lindsey MOver the course of the twentieth century; fundamentalism has existed as a counterpoint to the excesses of modernity in the United States. After five decades of growth; fundamentalism reached its zenith during the 1925 Scopes trial in Dayton; TN. The Scopes trial served to highlight the inherent flaws in fundamentalist ideology; and as a result the fundamentalist cause became synonymous with rural backwardness. It is this fifty-year period prior to the infamous Scopes trial that George Marsden examines in his book; Fundamentalism and American Culture. Marsden’s book not only gives readers an insight into the roots and influences of fundamentalism; but also expands the historical view of American culture in general.Marsden’s analysis of the intellectual roots of fundamentalist ideology builds on previous historians’ attempts to explain the phenomenon. While the Scopes trial portrayed fundamentalism as a belief system built on anti-intellectualism and anti-scientific backwardness; Marsden argues that the ideological roots of fundamentalism stem from “an intellectual tradition that had the highest regard for one understanding of true scientific method and proper rationality.” In this sense; Marsden is building on the works of Ernst Sandeen; George W. Dollar; and C. Allyn Russell; who rejected social explanations of fundamentalism in favor of examining the movement as an important element of American religious and cultural history. While Marsden agrees with Sandeen’s conclusions that dispensational premillennialism and conservative Princeton theology were the precursors to fundamentalist ideology; he also emphasizes the influence of nineteenth-century revivalism; the holiness movement; “Scottish Common Sense Realism;” Calvinism; and the ideas of the seventeenth century philosopher; Francis Bacon. His analysis of these early influences led Marsden to define the fundamentalism which emerged after World War I as “militantly anti-modernist Protestant evangelicalism.”By examining the lives and works of many individuals within the early fundamentalist movement; Marsden seamlessly weaves this intellectual history of fundamentalism with a social history of American culture. Marsden underscores the contributions of Henry Ward Beecher; Charles Blanchard; Dwight L. Moody; Arthur T. Pierson; and Nathaniel West; among others; in order to personalize the various intellectual influences of the movement. This methodology works well for Marsden’s book; for it allows his overall argument to flow so smoothly that even readers with no academic background would be able to digest the complex theological and intellectual characteristics of the fundamentalist movement. Marsden’s analysis of the role of fundamentalism in American culture not only distinguishes this book from previous scholarly attempts to define and historicize the movement; but it also reveals the periodization of the book. As Marsden explains; this particular Protestant response to modernity is almost uniquely American. Although Marsden points to social; intellectual; and religious-cultural explanations; he holds to the contention that fundamentalism should be understood as a “sub-species of American revivalism.” This may be a flaw of the book; since it limits the scope and influence of the fundamentalist movement to America. However; this is likely due to the timing of the publication. Marsden’s book was first published in 1980; at the beginning of resurgence in American fundamentalism. Since then; similar religious movements (in particular; the rise and spread of Pentecostalism; which Marsden acknowledges as a close cousin of fundamentalism) have risen in other parts of the world which now merit scholarly attention. In particular; the militant; anti-modern aspect of fundamentalism remains to be fully evaluated in the light of 21st century events. Marsden’s analysis nonetheless provides the foundation for future research in the study of fundamentalism in other contexts.By placing fundamentalism within a broader American historical context; Marsden is able to illuminate the background of contemporary American evangelicals “whose common identity is substantially grounded in the fundamentalist experience of an earlier era.” Not only has Marsden rectified the relative lack of scholarship on an aspect of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century American religious movement; he has also illuminated the cultural; intellectual; and theological roots of contemporary fundamentalism within American culture.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Excellent study on FundamentalismBy Joseph T. CochranMarsden masterfully recounts the development of fundamentalism; convincingly arguing that this anti-intellectual movement found its beginnings in tandem with dispensationalism's growth. Marsden reminds us that fundamentalism was a militant movement meant to control and champion Christian culture in the public square. A helpful correction for Christians is to find a way to be prophetic publicly while being convictionally civil and charitable as well.