Fundamentalism and American Culture: The Shaping of Twentieth-Century Evangelicalism, 1870-1925

Fundamentalism is the movement arising among Christians in the early 20th century who fervently defended the fundamental doctrines of Christianity while opposing modernist liberalism. In his Fundamentalism and American Culture, George M. Marsden investigates the historical context and ideological roots of what came to be American fundamentalist Christianity, recognizing complex influences from nineteenth-century traditions like revivalism, holiness, and patriotism. Marsden says, "Fundamentalists were evangelical Christians, close to the traditions of the dominant American revivalist establishment of the nineteenth century, who in the twentieth century militantly opposed both modernism in theology and the cultural changes that modernism endorsed" (4). His interpretation of the phenomenon of fundamentalism treads a middle ground between those who reduce it to a purely social reaction to the emerging trend of modernist thought, and someone like Ernest Sandeen who views fundamentalism as essentially theological (201). Some evaluations from observers of the height of the fundamentalist frenzy saw it as hollow and brief; the Christian Century said in 1926, "it is henceforth to be a disappearing quanitity in American religious life, while our churches go on to larger issues..." (192). Marsden does not relegate fundamentalism to the position of a short-lived radical sect, but sees it as a significant movement with deep roots and continued relevance to today's American evangelicalism. As a result, he devotes about half of his book to in depth account of late 19th and early 20th century currents of Christian thought. Marsden focuses on three major themes. First, he highlights a tension within fundamentalism--the tendency at times to preserve the perceived identity of American culture (viewing America as Israel), and at other times to take on the identity of a separatist minority sect (viewing America as Babylon). Second, he studies the prominent movements of Christian thought in American evangelicalism before the emergence of fundamentalism. He sees deep roots in America's revivalism, pietism, the popularity of holiness, and middle-class Victorian values. Third, Marsden observes a wavering stance among fundamentalists regarding science and the intellect. On one hand, the scientific "common sense" type of principles of 17th century philosopher Francis Bacon allowed the average person clearly to see the plain facts of God evident in Scripture. On the other hand, this same scientific approach allowed proponents of Darwinian evolution to discard the unrealistic, supernatural, miraculous accounts found in the Bible. Naturalism and evolution were powerful enemies of Christians who wanted to maintain the fundamental supernatural tenets of the faith. Increasingly over the years, anti-evolution became a more unifying passion than even adherence to Christian orthodoxy. Marsden comments, "Many people with little or no interest in fundamentalism's doctrinal concerns

George Marsden's biography of Jonathan Edwards was so well written that I decided to read more of his stuff. This book on fundamentalism is a classic. Many scholars of Christian fundamentalism paint with too broad a brush, often lumping evangelicals into the fundy camp. Marsden avoids this mistake. He also acknowledges what many do not, that the fundamentalism of the post WWI era took on a much harsher and more separatistic tone. Marsden does a nice of discussing some of the towering figures of the movement: D.L Moody, R.A Torrey, Arno Gaebelein, J, Gresham Machen, Jonathan Blanchard and Charles Blanchard (the President of Wheaton College). He shows how early fundamentalists like R.A Torrey and W.H Griffith Thomas thought that evangelical zeal should be coupled with social concern. Marsden also highlights the fundamentalist disdain over the more liberal Social Gospel, which jettisoned evangelism completely. We also get to see the fundamentalists like Billy Sunday and William Jennings Bryan, who were concerned about people coming to know Christ, but not quite as concerned about people coming to know more about the doctrinal content of Christianity. This was a major concern of the evangelical Princeton theologians (BB Warfield, Charles Hodge, and J. Gresham Machen). There is also a newer chapter in this edition that traces the development of fundamentalism from 1980 to the present day. In this chaoter, Marsden also takes himself to task for not discussing how the relaxed mores of the "Roaring Twenties" alarmed the fundamentalist community, nor did her mention the role of women in the fundamentalist movement of 1871-1925. But these criticisms duly noted, I still like the book very much and commend it to those interested in religious movements. Rev. Marc Axelrod

I used this book to get insight in background of R.A. Torrey, and it helped wonderfully. Espescially for me as a European theologian, it helped to get insight in history and society of the States, especially concerning the relation between pre-millenianism and cultural atmosphere and impact on theology, especially on the question of the personhood of the Holy Spirit! For European theology it gives an insight in the background of the more and more popular evangelical and pentecostal churches and their theology, that has its roots there, where this book is al about! Stefan R Timmerman

The thesis of this book parallels that of George Marsden's similar book on American culture, Religion and American Culture, that Fundamentalism shaped and was shaped by the surrounding culture. Marsden builds upon the work of earlier historians of Fundamentalism, namely that of Ernest Sandeen's book The Roots of Fundamentalism: British and American Millenarianism. Sandeen's thesis is that Fundamentalism is the outgrowth of the "millenarian" movement that developed in late nineteenth-century American, especially through Bible institutes and conferences concerning the interpretation of biblical prophecies. Sandeen's thesis, according to Marsden, has much to commend it in connecting millenarianism and Princeton theology to the movement; however, it does not deal adequately with the militant anti-modernistic slant of the movement. Fundamentalism can briefly be defined as militant anti-modernist Protestantism that took on its own identity as a patchwork coalition of representatives of other movements. Overview of the Book Marsden divides his book into three sections (these sections are different in intent than the above themes. Marsden uses these sections to expand on his themes), Evangelicalism before Fundamentalism, the Shaping of Fundamentalism as a Movement, and the Crucial Years in which it gained popularity and its subsequent exodus of public life. In understanding the rise of Fundamentalism at the end of the nineteenth-century one must understand the backdrop from which it arose-nineteenth-century evangelicalism. Conclusion Marsden concludes the book by re-emphasizing his definition of Fundamentalism as a militant anti-modernist conservative force. For Marsden this should be the starting point for defining the movement. Militant anti-modernism applies to all types of Fundamentalism and any definition that goes beyond this must have qualifiers so that false stereotypes are not applied to the wrong group. As an Evangelical I enjoyed this book as I saw where the mind-set of conservatives and liberals developed. I also learned to what extent my own beliefs were influenced by this movement. I suggest that this book be read alongside another book on the shaping of American Christianity for a full understanding. I would also like to see an analysis of Fundamentalism from a more mainline perspective, although I believe Marsden is objective in this work. My main qualm with this book is in Part Three. In discussing the peak and soon-to-come fall of Fundamentalism, Marsden tried to put too many ideas into too few words. To keep up with him I had to re-analyze several chapters. However, due to the length of the book already, I can understand his attempt to save space. I would recommend this book to people of all political and religious persuasions so that they may have a fair understanding of this branch of early twentieth-century American religion.

Prior to more recent historiography, most mainstream commentators and historians portrayed fundamentalists as rural, uneducated people, who lived in the West and the South, and who would not display such resistance to modernity if they lived in urban areas and were well-educated.In the last thirty years, however, this consensus was challenged by a number of historians. The two most influential monographs were written by Ernest Sandeen and George Marsden. In his "Roots of Fundamentalism: British and American Milleniarianism 1800-1930", Sandeen rejects the primacy of sociological interpretations, emphasizing the importance of theology. He views Fundamentalism primarily as a combination of premillenialism (particularly dispensational premillenialism) and the theology of Biblical inerrancy defended by Princeton Theological Seminary, with leadership of the movement located primarily in Northeastern urban areas. Marsden agrees to some extent with this perspective, but he believes that Sandeen's interpretation ignores other important contributions to the Fundamentalist movement. Marsden argues that a proper methodology will begin by examining Fundamentalism in 1925 and then will trace Fundamentalism back to its sources, instead of beginning with British and American millenarianism in 1800 and charting how the Fundamentalist movement grew out of them. Marsden asserts that Fundamentalism should be defined as "militantly anti-modernist Protestant evangelicalism."Marsden believes that Sandeen's analysis is important, and that is a helpful corrective for an excessive focus on the sociological roots of Fundamentalism. Certainly, premil-lenialism and biblical inerrancy are two very important "roots" of Fundamentalism. The problem with Sandeen's analysis, Marsden argues, is that "he mistook the roots he uncovered for the source of the entire movement." Marsden asserts that "what was called 'fundamentalism' in the 20s sprang from equally complex and tangled roots in nineteenth-century tra-ditions of revivalism, evangelicalism, pietism, Americanism, and varied orthodoxies." Marsden overemphasizes the extent to which Common Sense Realism buttressed the Princeton Theology. His analysis tends to make the Princeton Theologians appear more rationalistic than they really were. Also, it seems likely that someone like Warfield would be much more heavily influenced by his immersion in the Reformed tradition and his intense study of Augustine and Calvin than by Common Sense Realism. Finally, while Marsden does not go as far as does Sandeen in describing "inerrancy" as a nineteenth century innovation, his analysis tends to focus too much on Common Sense Realism as the source of inerrancy. There have been many inerrantists throughout the history of the church who have held to different epistemologies.These, however, are a few minor complaints about an obviously superior piece of historiography. Although Sandeen's "The Roots of Fundamentalism" helped correct a