Understanding Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism

by George M. Marsden

In this historical overview of American fundamentalism and evangelicalism, Marsden provides an introduction to the growing religious movements and a deeper analysis of two themes that have been especially prominent and controversial in these traditions — views of science and views of politics.

Genres: History, Church History, Religion, Christianity, Theology, Nonfiction, Fundamentalism

218 pages, Paperback

First published December 26, 1990

About the author

George M. Marsden is the Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History Emeritus at the University of Notre Dame. He has written extensively on the interaction between Christianity and the American culture and has published numerous books, including Jonathan Edwards: A Life, which won the prestigious Bancroft Prize given for the best work of history. He lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

more of an overview than dense scholarly monograph, with a focus on politics and science. fast read. a little outdated, but most of his analysis from 1991 echoes to today

[Blaine Welgraven · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Any historical person or movement must be understood at a number of levels. Yet the tendency of historical interpretations, especially of controversial subjects, is to reduce our interpretation to just one level."--George Marsden, Understanding Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism

In Understanding Fundamentalism, Marsden again displays an incisive understanding of the cultural settings that birthed and the philosophical constructs that comprised this "most militant" of sectarian movements. In particular, Marsden's series of essays is concerned with ferreting out the historical causes, social settings, and hermeneutical underpinnings behind Fundamentalist political and scientific views, a feat he accomplishes in a clear, scholarly manner. The paradoxical nature of many Fundamentalist practices in these two fields is illuminated in writing that is respectfully-critical, and as always with Marsden, historically-nuanced.

Marsden's work manages the impressive exploit of leaving the reader more sympathetic to both the intellectual subtleties and cultural awareness often found within Fundamentalism's political and scientific movements, while also providing said reader with an elevated understanding of why fundamentalist intellectual constructs and cultural prescriptions repeatedly failed to win the civilizational dominance they so often sought. As Marsden dryly notes, Fundamentalists could be perfectly described in a quote meant for one of their erstwhile leaders, three-time Presidential candidate William J. Bryant, which stated, "Bryan...was never wrong in political diagnosis, and never right in prescription." Marsden aptly concludes, "We might say the same thing...of the movement that has been heir to his work."

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Marsden's Fundamentalism and American Culture while I was in graduate school, and it was a pleasure to return to his work again. He gives a clear summary of the main trends in American evangelical and fundamentalist history, showing both his understanding of the movements on their own terms and his willingness to critique them. His two chapters on the American evangelical and fundamentalist relationship with science are especially helpful.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book served its purpose insomuchas I have a better understanding of Fundamentalism's impact on contemporary society. However, I was a bit disappointed with the author's subtle hints of bias--if it was to be written as a book for the sociology of religion, personal agenda should have been left out.

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful, concise treatment of the history and relationship between Christian fundamentalism and evangelicalism in the United States. I found the chapter on J. Gresham Machen particularly interesting. The chapters "The Evangelical Love Affair with Enlightenment Science" and "Why Creation Science" are worth a re-read when I'm not in a rush.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is really a collection of essays on American evangelicalism and fundamentalism since 1870 by a highly respected historian. Among its highlights is an interesting discussion of Common Sense Realism.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply fantastic. A must read for understanding Christianity in America.

[Steve Irby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished "Understanding Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism," by George M. Marsden.

I read Marsdens "Fundamentalism in America" earlier this year and it is in the running for one of my top three books of the year.

1870-1930:
"A fundamentalist is an evangelical who is angry about something," p 1. Seems accurate. But really this begs us to address what an evangelical is. Out of the revivalist movements in America sprang the evangelicals who believed in fervent preaching for a conversation experience moment and authority in scripture, that's Evangelicalism. Now add "militant" to that and you have a fundamentalist.

Things among the evangelicals were going fine until after the Civil War when two things were well defined and introduced to the US: higher criticism and Darwinism. The first made space to question the historical validity of, for instance, the opening of Genisis and the second filled in an alternative opening. People lost their minds (militant) and condemned intellectualism since both above topics arose out of, and were furthered in, academia.

I find it interesting that during the Civil War it was the union army who was doing the whole Christian nationalism thing [insert the lyrics of the battle hymn of the republic and think postmillennialism] where today it seems more of a southern thing, though with dispensationalism.

Another aspect that got evangelicals up tight was that the Roman Church out paced Protestantism between 1860-1900. Protestantism grew three times as large while the Roman Church grew four times.

Later one finds that in the Protestant liberalism v evangelical fundamentalist fight it were the liberals who emphasized Sunday school for the moral upbringing of children.

Side note: I applaud Marsden for having used "folk religion" multiple times thus far, most recently in reference to the Klan. Misuse and abuse of the people and faith of King Jesus need be classified in this shameful way, be them fundamentalist or the Klan.

One thing that happened during this time is people with too much time on their hands were trying to make America great for the coming Kingdom. So the spinsters get together and figure out a way to be a drag on the rest of humanity. This, if you didn't know, is done by--you guessed it--getting a constitutional ammendment passed to make all good (and bad) booze, illegal. Yes, Fundamentalism, this is your history. As the 20's roared in pastors and bishops had their flock dry but now people were dancing; women were looking like flappers and the guys loved it. The church was looking for another constitutional ammendment at this point though with the monkey trials forthcoming they would soon be preoccupied with other things.

[They dug their own grave, do you expect me to be nice here? That's like me being nice over the whole helio/geocentrism thing.] So with the Scopes trial decision, around 1925, the whole formal Fundamentalism started to go down the drain. (My guess is that evolution did them in formally at this time but the publishing of, and free distribution of, "The Fundamentals" around the same time made then autonomously substantial; a force of their own even if untethered.)

1930-present (published 1991):
By this time the terrain was divided between fundamentalist and modernists. Really, again, progressive and conservative. Both had laid claim to "evangelical" so it was a bit of a irrelevant term at this point. But the main take away here is "Billy Graham" and his getting in the Eisenhower Whitehouse (I don't assume his motive, I'm sure it's pure). With this move Evangelicalism, and hidden under the shirt in a sneaky way, Fundamentalism, gained a foothold in the popular consciousness. Billy prayed with the president and all was right in the world. The moral majority and Falwell?--he gets into that too. As much as the "regular" fundamentalist and the Charismatic fundamentalist disliked each other they took notes from each other: Pat Robertson could look like Jerry Falwell as long as the check would clear. The key here was control of the right and the primacy of Israel (God help us).

Ok, that's the first two chapters. There's 7 total and Marsden is on fire as always. Buy, read, learn.

#Fundamentalism #Evangelicalism #Fundamentalist #Evangelical #GerogeMMarsden #GeorgeMarsden #MonkeyTrials #Darwin #NotOurFinestHour #VoteRepublicanOrHateJesus

[Nathan Albright · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was not until getting to near the end of this book that I really appreciated it.  As someone who is on the outskirts of both fundamentalist and evangelical culture, largely through my biblicist worldview and devouring of books by publishers who appeal to various holiness and evangelical audiences, while maintaining a strong denominational loyalty at the same time which has an ambivalent relationship with both of these traditions, I am not sure to consider myself an outsider or an insider to these particular traditions.  And I wondered the same about the author as well, seeing it generally problematic for people to write books as outsiders, since, as the author points out, a great deal of oversimplifying and misrepresenting goes on when this is done.  At the end, though, I realized that while the author might consider himself somewhat of an outsider, he is by no means a hostile one and he shares a generally serious conservatism when it comes to Christianity, even if he may not identify as a fundamentalist or evangelical.  And that realization made it possible to appreciate this book and its nuanced approach a lot more.  All outsider traditions, if viewed by outsiders, should have such a sympathetic portrayal as this one.

This book consists of seven essays that total about 200 pages or so of material.  After an introduction that seeks to define the terms fundamentalism and evangelicalism, the first two essays provide a historical overview of fundamentalism first during the Protestant crisis of 1870-1930 (1), and then after 1930 in its unity and diversity (2).  After this comes five interpretive essays that look at the tradition of evangelical political (3), the paradoxes within fundamentalist thought and politics (4), the evangelical love affair with the Scottish Enlightenment and commonsense empirical science (5), the question of why it is that fundamentalists focus so much on creation science (6), and a sympathetic but honest portrayal of J. Gresham Machen (7).  Throughout these essays the author examines the cultural impact of the Civil War, the way that some outsiders were more sensitive to various social trends than those in the Northern WASP elite, and the way that a great deal of contemporary evolutionary thought acts like a universal religious myth that is amenable to harsh treatment from those who have different worldviews.  And since the author is polite to the desire of Fundamentalism to avoid ambiguity while also subtly pointing out that this is not the biblical worldview, this makes for enjoyable and nuanced reading.

Ultimately, the author sees in Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism a complex approach to knowledge that seeks to remain true to the Bible and also to live in a way that reduces ambiguity.  The lack of postmillennial optimism that one finds in these movements at present (other than, say, the Calvinist Reconstructionists and Theonomists) tends to be associated with a distinct lack of a social program to deal with various ills that one would find in various social gospel views.  And this is certainly easy to understand.  If one has the belief that the establishment of God's kingdom will require the direct involvement of Jesus Christ in a rebellious world and that those who are genuinely faithful to Him and to His ways are a minority population within a hostile and corrupt culture, one is not going to see very much point in engaging in political efforts that involve compromise and that will not lead to genuine cultural revival.  In such a viewpoint few people, except those who stubbornly wish to apply biblical law to contemporary realities as an ideal or a future reality, will even be interested in aspects of social justice that would require an openly acknowledged covenantal relationship between God and a society, something that does not exist at present within the United States.

[Gavin Lamb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marsden's historiographical essays are insightful and compelling, filled with careful research on the diverse and surprisingly paradoxical nature of the evangelical and fundamentalist movements in America. Marsden argues that, since the 1930s, evangelicalism (especially fundamentalism) has challenged modernity with militant efforts to regain prominence in American academic, political, and religious spheres. Moreover, fundamentalists have often framed their struggle with modernity as a battle between light and darkness. Unfortunately, I see this framework persisting today, making it harder to have fruitful conversations between evangelicals and liberals who, frankly, need each other.
In one of the most illuminating sections, Marsden notes a parallel between the key modernist developments and their conservative reactions (pp. 34-44). While modernists examined the historical, ethical, and emotional aspects of Christianity, conservatives did the same but arrived at radically different conclusions. Modernists 'deified' history, while many conservatives embraced premillennial dispensationalism. Modernists emphasized Jesus' ethical teachings, whereas conservatives emphasized pietism. Finally, most modernists adopted an inward, Schleiermacherian religious impulse (i.e., "utter dependence upon the Whence"), while many conservatives stressed outward conformity to holiness.
The book's greatest weakness is its organization. Because it is a collection of seven essays, the reader will sometimes encounter repeated events, figures, and arguments—especially concerning figures like William Jennings Bryan and Jerry Falwell, who are introduced multiple times. Nevertheless, I highly recommend this book to anyone seeking a history of fundamentalism or asking "why" evangelicals look the way they do in America today.

[Stephen Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story of the course of conservative American Protestants navigating the terrain of modernity. The most prominent feature of this story is the drastic collapse of confidence due to the forces of secularization, concerning which evangelicals were ill-prepared. There was a time when American Protestants willingly took the mantle of leadership to pursue a vision of the country for the common good as they saw it. However, following the atomization of urbanization and after being caught flat-footed in response to Darwin's evolutionary theory, among other factors, Protestant leadership faced a significant decline. Following a few devastating wars and widespread corruption in the halls of power and elsewhere, a malaise set in during which evangelicals were widely evacuated from the decision-making positions of influence in American public life. Fundamentalism, dispensational premillennialism, and other aggressive ideas began to take hold in response to the aggressive anti-supernatural tendencies of the 20th century. What was interesting, however, is that in spite of some of these developments and their implications, American evangelicals retained the vestiges of the old optimism which marked them in previous centuries, which helps explain why the political theology of evangelicals remains paradoxical: though in theory they expect nothing but steady decline until the imminent return of the Lord to rapture away the faithful, they still expend significant energy and resources on political action about social causes which they care deeply about. The book does a nice job laying out these details and explaining the interesting story of Protestantism in America.

[Matthew Garringer · Rating 5 out of 5]

To gain a more clear vantage point of where American Evangelicalism is today, I cannot recommend more both this volume as well as Fundamentalism and American Culture. Marsden does such an excellent job of finding common themes and tracing movements to their intellectual origin.

This book gives a brief history of the evangelical/fundamentalist movement in the late 19th to early 20th centuries then contains various reflections on different aspects and trends within these movements. Evangelical political engagement as well as its relationship to science are given special attention as well as a small, final chapter on one of the most enigmatic figures in American evangelical history, J. Gresham Machen.

Since the book was released in 1990, some of the analysis is outdated (the New Right is no longer new for instance), but much of what Marsden wrote more than 30 years ago still has much value for today. This is also the case with Fundamentalism and American Culture. Perhaps what I appreciate most about Marsden and his works is the readability. As a layman to historical writing and process, I find that Marsden does an excellent job writing works for everyone. Both historians and curious non-historians can gain much.

[Amelia and John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an insightful and scholarly book!

Marsden offers an account of the history of Protestantism on the whole, specifically of its theologically conservative wing.

There is so much to learn in here, but some things particularly relevant to the academic work I'm doing this year:
- interdenominational rivalries and controversies
- conservative attitudes towards liberal theologies
- Protestant perspectives of immigrating Catholic populations
- rise of creation science and anti-evolutionism
- dynamics of conservative perceptions of developing sciences and historical methodology
- alignment of political conservatism and theological conservatism; alignment of political progressivism and theological liberalism

Most definitely recommend to other Prots who are wanting to understand the issues that American Protestantism faces even today.

[James Ruley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short work by Marsden explains the development of American evangelicals and fundamentalists over the 20th century. Marsden carefully tracks the development of each movement, explaining how the labels shifted over the course of the century. Marsden also examines Christianity’s relationship to culture, politics, and science. Finally, he spends a short chapter explaining J. Gresham Machen’s influence on fundamentalism. This work is an excellent entry level to the development of modern fundamentalism.

[David Blankenship · Rating 4 out of 5]

While not greatly detailed, the first two chapters give a good overview of fundamentalism and evangelicalism in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The other chapters dive in to more specific topics. Because over a quarter-century has passed since this book was released, in some ways it feels dated. But it also gives some insights as to where American Christianity is headed even today.

[Brandon Vaughan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great overview of the American church from the civil war to 1990. It was very interesting to read of events, movements and leaders that affect us even today. It’s quite honestly sad to see how far the church has fallen. My only knock is that Marsden went on and on, and on about how premillennialism basically destroyed evangelism and political involvement within most fundamental circles and I simply disagree. An overall good read

[Michael Hand · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful

Marsden covers important ground in this little book. It was a good read for its fairness and realism. He acknowledges the opposite poles and the common ground. It’s helpful history to know in a world that questions the reality of everything through sensationalized content. Read for the pleasure of realism, a fading art.

[Timothy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It was a useful introduction to the relationship between evangelicals and fundamentalism. Since it was my first book I read on the subject I don’t have much to judge it by. I think Marsden’s conclusions are reasonable based upon the evidence he provided. I look forward to reading more on the subject and more from the author, so I would say time well spent!

[Blake Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall a great series of essays of great insight, that complements his previous work on Fundamentalism. Great help in understanding a number of the paradoxical and peculiar features of American Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism. Personally was very appreciative of his chapter on Machen.

[Micah Larsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tracing fundamentalism and evangelicalism in America up to the present day, the strengths and weaknesses, the relationship to politics and science and modernism, and the main characters. Short and to the point. Critical where it needs to be.

[Steve Wegman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A history of the non-mainline denominational biblical churches starting post-civil war and looking at how it has played out in the US moving toward modern times. It's well written & documented, but it's more a text book than a just sit and read through book

[Mark Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, brief overview

[Josh Trice · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very helpful resource for understanding the characters and stories behind the Evangelical and (more so) Fundamentalist movements in Christianity since the 19th century.

[Mark Seeley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent chapter on Machen.

[Lavon Herschberger · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This work of history helped me understand the ‘how we got here’ that is so helpful in evaluating what we do next.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insightful collection of essays on American Christian movements, written with a fair-minded and considerate tone. There is some repetitiveness, which is not surprising, since this is an essay collection and not a through-composed book. Tracing the origins of current issues like creation science and biblical inerrancy back to their roots in no way "solves" the conflicts, but it certainly is useful in parsing the core issues from their cultural influences for a more honest evaluation.

[Frederick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an absolutely amazing and well-written resource on American religious history. It is sensitive of its subject and not condescending or dismissive in any way. I strongly recommend this for any student of the subject and for anyone who considers themselves a fundamentalist or an evangelical. Important reading.

[J.C. Paulk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually, the title is the worst part of the book. Marsden is one of the leaders in understanding this field and helps show why with this relatively easy to process book. Be sure to understand his angle though.

[Chuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marsden is a clear thinker and writer whose discussion of Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism should be the first stop in getting an historical understanding of what these Christian faith groups are all about.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent analysis of the different "types" of individuals in the Christian world. Once I would have labelled myself a fundamentalist and evangelical, but the caricature and re-definition of terms have radically changed. It is probably time for a re-read.