ENGL 120: Pruitt-Westover: Christian Fundamentalism

Librarian Jerry Seay from the College of Charleston, South Carolina, has put together a list of resources in the area of Christian fundamentalist belief both from within and outside of the fundamentalist viewpoint.  Although initially written in 1998, Seay's bibliography has been updated and expanded in 2019 for inclusion in this libguide using additional information from religious studies gateway sites.

What is Christian Fundamentalism?

"Christian fundamentalists interpret the Bible as the inerrant, factual, and literal word of God.  Though each of these terms can be argued as to what exactly the terms mean, it is in any case clear that fundamentalism rejects any modernist critical interpretation of the Bible.  They reject most modern scientific findings in biology and geology, or at least greatly reinterpret them to "fit" their view of the Bible.  Most believe, for example, that the world was created in seven 24-hour days simply because that is what the Genesis account says.  Most fundamentalists also believe that the earth (and the universe) is no more than a few (less than ten) thousand years old based on the genealogies in the Bible.  Any findings by science that seem to refute this argument are simply discarded and seen to be "obviously wrong" since it disagrees with the Bible.  In other words, "if it disagrees with the Bible (the fundamentalist view of the Bible), then it is wrong and probably straight from Satan."  It must be stated for the record that there are differing levels or versions of fundamentalist belief.  Some fundamentalists, for example, believe that the Genesis account allows for the so called "day - age" interpretation, in which the days of creation are actually unknown periods of time.  Even such "liberal" fundamentalists, however, believe that everything written about in the Bible is an accurate reporting of actual historical events.  This "literal" interpretation of the bible is very dear to fundamentalists to the extent that most believe that anyone who does not accept this "literal" interpretation are not true Christians.  Many "hard core" fundamentalists even believe that anyone who does not use the King James (1611) version of the Bible is destined for Hell."    Jerry Seay, 1998

Within Fundamentalism Websites:

Bible Believers http://www.biblebelievers.com/

This site contains many articles written by fundamentalists who tend to hold the belief that the original Kings James version of the Bible is the only real word of God. 

Journal of Dispensational Theology  https://tyndale.edu/jodt/

The Journal of Dispensational Theology is the academic journal of Tyndale Theological Seminary, and is committed to asserting and defending sound Biblical exegesis (the critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially of scripture) and the resulting Biblical theology on both an academic and practical level.

Outside of Fundamentalism Websites:

Christian Fundamentalism in America:  Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion
 Margaret Bendroth has written an excellent article on the meaning of fundamentalism in the history of American Christianity.  

University of Calgary - Religious Studies Website - Christianity

Provides information on many of the different denominations within Christianity. 

New York Times - Religion and Belief

Search the NYT archives of articles for "Christian Fundamentalism" (122 hits). 

While Mormonism is not strictly classified as Christian Fundamentalist, its belief system does contain many of the aspects of standard fundamentalism.  Mormon theology is based on beliefs that can not be empirically confirmed and contradict scientific explanations (mostly archeology).  These aspects are found mostly in what Mormonism's adherents believe to be their sacred scripture:  The Book of Mormon, The Pearl of Great Price and the Doctrine and Covenants.

Of interest to readers of Educated, may be an article by Paul Peterson on "The Sanctity of Food:  A Latter-day Saint Perspective" for a broad understanding of the religious culture in the state of Utah.

Sources that assume a fundamentalist viewpoint:

Sources that do not assume a fundamentalist viewpoint (sometimes even an anti-fundamentalist viewpoint).  Included are critical examinations of the belief system, sociological analysis, skeptical investigations and/or explanations, scientific viewpoints, and alternative interpretations.