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126-517: Christian fundamentalism , also known as fundamental Christianity or fundamentalist Christianity , is a religious movement emphasizing biblical literalism . In its modern form, it began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries among British and American Protestants as a reaction to theological liberalism and cultural modernism . Fundamentalists argued that 19th-century modernist theologians had misunderstood or rejected certain doctrines , especially biblical inerrancy , which they considered

252-498: A systematic theology . The ideology became active in the 1910s after the release of The Fundamentals , a twelve-volume set of essays, apologetic and polemic , written by conservative Protestant theologians in an attempt to defend beliefs which they considered Protestant orthodoxy . The movement became more organized within U.S. Protestant churches in the 1920s, especially among Presbyterians , as well as Baptists and Methodists . Many churches which embraced fundamentalism adopted

378-482: A Church, all those who adhere to them". Sacred things are not, however, limited to gods or spirits. On the contrary, a sacred thing can be "a rock, a tree, a spring, a pebble, a piece of wood, a house, in a word, anything can be sacred". Religious beliefs, myths, dogmas and legends are the representations that express the nature of these sacred things, and the virtues and powers which are attributed to them. Echoes of James' and Durkheim's definitions are to be found in

504-456: A cause'. Marsden saw fundamentalism arising from a number of preexisting evangelical movements that responded to various perceived threats by joining forces. He argued that Christian fundamentalists were American evangelical Christians who in the 20th century opposed "both modernism in theology and the cultural changes that modernism endorsed. Militant opposition to modernism was what most clearly set off fundamentalism." Others viewing militancy as

630-403: A common set of characteristics. As an example, he lists the following common characteristics between "Jewish fundamentalists" and "the extremists of Hamas": Among the explanations for extremism is one that views it as a plague. Arno Gruen said, "The lack of identity associated with extremists is the result of self-destructive self-hatred that leads to feelings of revenge toward life itself, and

756-525: A compulsion to kill one's own humanness." In this context, extremism is seen as not a tactic, nor an ideology, but as a pathological illness which feeds on the destruction of life. Dr. Kathleen Taylor believes religious fundamentalism is a mental illness and is "curable." There are distinct psychological features of extremists that contribute to conflict among societal groups; Jan-Willem van Prooijen identified them as psychological distress, cognitive simplicity, overconfidence and intolerance. Another view

882-484: A concrete deity or not" to which the individual feels impelled to respond with solemnity and gravity. Sociologist Émile Durkheim , in his seminal book The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life , defined religion as a "unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things". By sacred things he meant things "set apart and forbidden—beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called

1008-460: A core characteristic of the fundamentalist movement include Philip Melling, Ung Kyu Pak and Ronald Witherup. Donald McKim and David Wright (1992) argue that "in the 1920s, militant conservatives (fundamentalists) united to mount a conservative counter-offensive. Fundamentalists sought to rescue their denominations from the growth of modernism at home." According to Marsden, recent scholars differentiate "fundamentalists" from "evangelicals" by arguing

1134-419: A defeat, but Bryan's death soon afterward created a leadership void that no other fundamentalist leader could fill. Unlike the other fundamentalist leaders, Bryan brought name recognition, respectability, and the ability to forge a broad-based coalition of fundamentalist religious groups to argue in favor of the anti-evolutionist position. Gatewood (1969) analyzes the transition from the anti-evolution crusade of

1260-489: A definition of religion. There are, however, two general definition systems: the sociological/functional and the phenomenological/philosophical. The concept of religion originated in the modern era in the West . Parallel concepts are not found in many current and past cultures; there is no equivalent term for religion in many languages. Scholars have found it difficult to develop a consistent definition, with some giving up on

1386-687: A militant attitude with regard to their core beliefs. Reformed fundamentalists lay heavy emphasis on historic confessions of faith , such as the Westminster Confession of Faith , as well as uphold Princeton theology . Since 1930, many fundamentalist churches in the Baptist tradition (who generally affirm dispensationalism ) have been represented by the Independent Fundamental Churches of America (renamed IFCA International in 1996), while many theologically conservative connexions in

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1512-401: A psychology than a theology," with characteristics shared by competing Christian theologies and competing religions. According French, that psychology is one that shares "three key traits": certainty (of a mind unclouded by doubt), ferocity (against perceived enemies of their religion) and solidarity (of "comrades in the foxhole", a virtue surpassing even piety in importance). The latter half of

1638-443: A similar union between imperial law and universal or Buddha law, but these later became independent sources of power. Though traditions, sacred texts, and practices have existed throughout time, most cultures did not align with Western conceptions of religion since they did not separate everyday life from the sacred. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the terms Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Confucianism, and world religions first entered

1764-655: A subject of interest to philosophers and theologians. The word myth has several meanings: Ancient polytheistic religions, such as those of Greece, Rome , and Scandinavia , are usually categorized under the heading of mythology . Religions of pre-industrial peoples, or cultures in development, are similarly called myths in the anthropology of religion . The term myth can be used pejoratively by both religious and non-religious people. By defining another person's religious stories and beliefs as mythology, one implies that they are less real or true than one's own religious stories and beliefs. Joseph Campbell remarked, "Mythology

1890-600: A transcendent deity and all else, between the creator and his creation, between God and man. The anthropologist Clifford Geertz defined religion as a: ... system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic. Alluding perhaps to Tylor's "deeper motive", Geertz remarked that: ... we have very little idea of how, in empirical terms, this particular miracle

2016-660: A war in Chechnya by the writer Polina Zherebcova , the Jehovah's Witnesses movement in Russia, Raphael Lemkin , and articles by the initiator of the Genocide Convention of 1948. Tushar Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi's great-grandson, says India's Hindu nationalism is a threat to Gandhi's legacy and that the ideology of hate, division and polarization that led to Gandhi's assassination by a religious zealot in 1948 has captured India. Since

2142-450: A wide variety of academic disciplines, including theology , philosophy of religion , comparative religion , and social scientific studies. Theories of religion offer various explanations for its origins and workings, including the ontological foundations of religious being and belief. The term religion comes from both Old French and Anglo-Norman (1200s CE ) and means respect for sense of right, moral obligation, sanctity, what

2268-559: A word or even a concept of religion in the original languages and neither did the people or the cultures in which these sacred texts were written. For example, there is no precise equivalent of religion in Hebrew, and Judaism does not distinguish clearly between religious, national, racial, or ethnic identities. One of its central concepts is halakha , meaning the walk or path sometimes translated as law, which guides religious practice and belief and many aspects of daily life. Even though

2394-453: Is a range of social - cultural systems , including designated behaviors and practices, morals , beliefs , worldviews , texts , sanctified places , prophecies , ethics , or organizations , that generally relate humanity to supernatural , transcendental , and spiritual elements —although there is no scholarly consensus over what precisely constitutes a religion. Different religions may or may not contain various elements ranging from

2520-622: Is a violation of the Racial and Religious Hatred Act of 2006. The movement has its origins in 1878 in a meeting of the "Believers' Meeting for Bible Study" ( Niagara Bible Conference ) in the United States, where 14 fundamental beliefs were established by evangelical pastors. Fundamentalism draws from multiple traditions in British and American theologies during the 19th century. According to authors Robert D. Woodberry and Christian S. Smith, Following

2646-400: Is accomplished. We just know that it is done, annually, weekly, daily, for some people almost hourly; and we have an enormous ethnographic literature to demonstrate it. The theologian Antoine Vergote took the term supernatural simply to mean whatever transcends the powers of nature or human agency. He also emphasized the cultural reality of religion, which he defined as: ... the entirety of

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2772-461: Is also the product of the dominant Western religious mode, what is called the Judeo-Christian climate or, more accurately, the theistic inheritance from Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The theistic form of belief in this tradition, even when downgraded culturally, is formative of the dichotomous Western view of religion. That is, the basic structure of theism is essentially a distinction between

2898-508: Is derived from religare : re (meaning "again") + ligare ("bind" or "connect"), which was made prominent by St. Augustine following the interpretation given by Lactantius in Divinae institutiones , IV, 28. The medieval usage alternates with order in designating bonded communities like those of monastic orders : "we hear of the 'religion' of the Golden Fleece , of a knight 'of

3024-546: Is found in texts from the 17th century due to events such as the splitting of Christendom during the Protestant Reformation and globalization in the Age of Exploration , which involved contact with numerous foreign cultures with non-European languages. Some argue that regardless of its definition, it is not appropriate to apply the term religion to non-Western cultures, while some followers of various faiths rebuke using

3150-557: Is important to recognize that they may be conflicted or ambivalent psychologically as individuals, or contain difference and conflict within their groups. For instance, individual members of Hamas may differ considerably in their willingness to negotiate their differences with the Palestinian Authority and, ultimately, with certain factions in Israel. Ultimately, the core problem that extremism presents in situations of protracted conflict

3276-581: Is infrequent, although there are fundamentalist denominations. Reformed fundamentalism includes those denominations in the Reformed tradition (which includes the Continental Reformed , Presbyterian , Reformed Anglican and Reformed Baptist Churches) who adhere to the doctrine of biblical infallibility and lay heavy emphasis on historic confessions of faith, such as the Westminster Confession . Examples of Reformed fundamentalist denominations include

3402-640: Is less the severity of the activities (although violence, trauma, and escalation are obvious concerns) but more so the closed, fixed, and intolerant nature of extremist attitudes, and their subsequent imperviousness to change. Astrid Bötticher notes several differences between radicalism and extremism, among them in goals (idealistic vs. restorative , emancipatory vs. anti-democratic), morals (universal vs. particular), approach towards diversity (acceptance vs. disdain), and use of violence (pragmatic and selective vs. legitimate and acceptable). Eric Hoffer and Arthur Schlesinger Jr. were two political writers during

3528-547: Is not a standalone characteristic. The attitude or behavior of an "extremist" may be represented as part of a spectrum, which ranges from mild interest through "obsession" to "fanaticism" and "extremism". The alleged similarity between the "extreme left" and "extreme right", or perhaps between opposing religious zealots, may mean only that all these are "unacceptable" from the standpoint of the mainstream or majority. Economist Ronald Wintrobe argues that many extremist movements, even though having completely different ideologies, share

3654-567: Is not very different". According to Olson, a key event was the formation of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) in 1942. Barry Hankins (2008) has a similar view, saying "beginning in the 1940s....militant and separatist evangelicals came to be called fundamentalists, while culturally engaged and non-militant evangelicals were supposed to be called evangelicals." Timothy Weber views fundamentalism as "a rather distinctive modern reaction to religious, social and intellectual changes of

3780-763: Is often based around the Russian Orthodox Church or the Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Church . Orthodox Christian fundamentalism was often connected strongly to a sense of Russian nationalism , since the Russian Orthodox Church often has a strong connection to the Russian state . This Church-state connection has arguably existed since the time of Vladimir the Great 's conversion. In 2013, composer Andrei Kormukhin and athlete Vladimir Nosov founded

3906-459: Is often thought of as other people's religions, and religion can be defined as misinterpreted mythology." Extremism Extremists' views are typically contrasted with those of moderates . In Western countries , for example, in contemporary discourse on Islam or on Islamic political movements , the distinction between extremist and moderate Muslims is commonly stressed. Political agendas perceived as extremist often include those from

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4032-526: Is possible to understand why scientific findings and philosophical criticisms (e.g., those made by Richard Dawkins ) do not necessarily disturb its adherents. The origin of religious belief is an open question, with possible explanations including awareness of individual death, a sense of community, and dreams. Traditionally, faith , in addition to reason , has been considered a source of religious beliefs. The interplay between faith and reason, and their use as perceived support for religious beliefs, have been

4158-467: Is sacred, reverence for the gods. It is ultimately derived from the Latin word religiō . According to Roman philosopher Cicero , religiō comes from relegere : re (meaning "again") + lego (meaning "read"), where lego is in the sense of "go over", "choose", or "consider carefully". Contrarily, some modern scholars such as Tom Harpur and Joseph Campbell have argued that religiō

4284-452: Is sometimes mistakenly confused with the term evangelical . The term fundamentalism entered the English language in 1922, and it is often capitalized when it is used in reference to the religious movement. By the end of the 20th century, the term fundamentalism acquired a pejorative connotation, denoting religious fanaticism or extremism , especially when such labeling extended beyond

4410-419: Is that extremism is an emotional outlet for severe feelings stemming from "persistent experiences of oppression, insecurity, humiliation, resentment, loss, and rage" which are presumed to "lead individuals and groups to adopt conflict engagement strategies which "fit" or feel consistent with these experiences". Extremism is seen by other researchers as a "rational strategy in a game over power", as described in

4536-744: Is the International Network of Churches , formerly known as the "Christian Outreach Centre". A former influential group was the Logos Foundation . The Logos Foundation, led by Howard Carter , was a controversial Christian ministry in the 1970s and 1980s that promoted Reconstructionist , Restorationist , and Dominionist theology. They also actively campaigned for several candidates for Queensland, Australia public office that shared their values (e.g., anti-abortion). The Logos Foundation disbanded shortly after an adulterous affair by Carter became public in 1990. In Russia , Christian fundamentalism

4662-508: Is to see a return of the Russian Tsar as supreme autocrat of Russia . The group as a particular affinity for Tsar Nicolas II . The group has at times referred to Russian president Vladimir Putin as a modern Tsar, though it is unclear as to whether or not this is a message of support for Putin or not. Bible Baptist Churches, Fundamental Baptist Churches or Independent Baptist Churches refuse any form of ecclesial authority other than that of

4788-476: The 1964 Republican National Convention , Barry Goldwater said, "I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue." Robert F. Kennedy said "What is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists is not that they are extreme but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents." In Russia ,

4914-481: The Abrahamic religions Christianity, Islam, and Judaism , while others are arguably less so, in particular folk religions , indigenous religions , and some Eastern religions . A portion of the world's population are members of new religious movements . Scholars have indicated that global religiosity may be increasing due to religious countries having generally higher birth rates. The study of religion comprises

5040-483: The Association of Independent Methodists , which is fundamentalist in its theological orientation. By the 1970s Protestant fundamentalism was deeply entrenched and concentrated in the U.S. South. In 1972–1980 General Social Surveys , 65 percent of respondents from the "East South Central" region (comprising Tennessee , Kentucky , Mississippi , and Alabama ) self-identified as fundamentalist. The share of fundamentalists

5166-490: The Civil War , tensions developed between Northern evangelical leaders over Darwinism and higher biblical criticism ; Southerners remained unified in their opposition to both. ... Modernists attempted to update Christianity to match their view of science. They denied biblical miracles and argued that God manifests himself through the social evolution of society. Conservatives resisted these changes. These latent tensions rose to

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5292-832: The Independent Baptist movement. By the late 1920s the national media had identified it with the South, largely ignoring manifestations elsewhere. In the mid-twentieth century, several Methodists left the mainline Methodist Church and established fundamental Methodist denominations, such as the Evangelical Methodist Church and the Fundamental Methodist Conference (cf. conservative holiness movement ); others preferred congregating in Independent Methodist churches, many of which are affiliated with

5418-593: The King James Version , a position known as King James Onlyism . Fundamental Methodism includes several connexions , such as the Evangelical Methodist Church and Fundamental Methodist Conference , along with their seminaries such as Breckbill Bible College . Additionally, Methodist connexions in the conservative holiness movement , such as the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection and Evangelical Methodist Church Conference , herald

5544-663: The Orthodox Presbyterian Church and the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster . Fundamentalists' literal interpretation of the Bible has been criticized by practitioners of biblical criticism for failing to take into account the circumstances in which the Christian Bible was written. Critics claim that this "literal interpretation" is not in keeping with the message which the scripture intended to convey when it

5670-582: The Russian far-right , including neo-Nazis and Third Positionists . The Sorok Sorokov Movement has its own political party as well, called For the Family . Many far-right Russian Christian nationalists have been highly supportive of Russia's unprovoked war with Ukraine . One such group supportive of Russian Orthodox Christian fundamentalist-nationalism is the Union of Orthodox Banner-Bearers . Known for their book burnings and political rallies , their primary goal

5796-661: The attack in Waco by the FBI in the U.S.). Extremist acts often employ violent means, although extremist groups will differ in their preference for violent extremism vs. nonviolent extremism , in the level of violence they employ, and in the preferred targets of their violence (from infrastructure to military personnel to civilians to children). Again, low power groups are more likely to employ direct, episodic forms of violence (such as suicide bombings), whereas dominant groups tend to be associated with more structural or institutionalized forms (like

5922-405: The divine , sacredness , faith , and a supernatural being or beings. The origin of religious belief is an open question, with possible explanations including awareness of individual death, a sense of community, and dreams. Religions have sacred histories , narratives , and mythologies , preserved in oral traditions, sacred texts , symbols , and holy places , that may attempt to explain

6048-420: The far-left politics or far-right politics , as well as radicalism , reactionism , chauvinism , fundamentalism , and fanaticism . Peter T. Coleman and Andrea Bartoli give observation of definitions: Extremism is a complex phenomenon, although its complexity is often hard to see. Most simply, it can be defined as activities (beliefs, attitudes, feelings, actions, strategies) of a character far removed from

6174-456: The historical-grammatical method to biblical literalism . The Dallas Theological Seminary , founded in 1924 in Dallas , would have a considerable influence in the movement by training students who will establish various independent Bible Colleges and fundamentalist churches in the southern United States. In the 1930s, fundamentalism was viewed by many as a "last gasp" vestige of something from

6300-531: The laws prohibiting extremist content are used to suppress the freedom of speech through very broad and flexible interpretation. Published material classified as "extremist", and thus prosecuted, included protests against the court rulings in the Bolotnaya Square case ("calling for illegal action"), criticism of overspending by a local governor ("insult of the authorities"), publishing a poem in support of Ukraine ("inciting hatred"), an open letter against

6426-553: The medieval period . In the Quran, the Arabic word din is often translated as religion in modern translations, but up to the mid-1600s translators expressed din as "law". The Sanskrit word dharma , sometimes translated as religion, also means law. Throughout classical South Asia , the study of law consisted of concepts such as penance through piety and ceremonial as well as practical traditions . Medieval Japan at first had

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6552-574: The origin of life , the universe , and other phenomena. Religious practices may include rituals , sermons , commemoration or veneration (of deities or saints ), sacrifices , festivals , feasts , trances , initiations , matrimonial and funerary services, meditation , prayer , music , art , dance , or public service . There are an estimated 10,000 distinct religions worldwide, though nearly all of them have regionally based, relatively small followings. Four religions— Christianity , Islam , Hinduism , and Buddhism —account for over 77% of

6678-527: The religion of Avys '". In classic antiquity, religiō broadly meant conscientiousness , sense of right , moral obligation , or duty to anything. In the ancient and medieval world, the etymological Latin root religiō was understood as an individual virtue of worship in mundane contexts; never as doctrine , practice, or actual source of knowledge . In general, religiō referred to broad social obligations towards anything including family, neighbors, rulers, and even towards God . Religiō

6804-584: The "Five Fundamentals", this arose from the Presbyterian Church issuance of "The Doctrinal Deliverance of 1910". Topics included are statements on the historical accuracy of the Bible and all of the events which are recorded in it as well as the Second Coming of Jesus Christ . Fundamentalism manifests itself in various denominations which believe in various theologies, rather than a single denomination or

6930-488: The 1500s to distinguish the domain of the church and the domain of civil authorities ; the Peace of Augsburg marks such instance, which has been described by Christian Reus-Smit as "the first step on the road toward a European system of sovereign states ." Roman general Julius Caesar used religiō to mean "obligation of an oath" when discussing captured soldiers making an oath to their captors. Roman naturalist Pliny

7056-411: The 1920s devoted themselves to fighting against the teaching of evolution in the nation's schools and colleges, especially by passing state laws that affected public schools. William Bell Riley took the initiative in the 1925 Scopes Trial by bringing in famed politician William Jennings Bryan and hiring him to serve as an assistant to the local prosecutor, who helped draw national media attention to

7182-443: The 1920s to the creation science movement of the 1960s. Despite some similarities between these two causes, the creation science movement represented a shift from religious to pseudoscientific objections to Darwin's theory. Creation science also differed in terms of popular leadership, rhetorical tone, and sectional focus. It lacked a prestigious leader like Bryan, utilized pseudoscientific argument rather than religious rhetoric, and

7308-647: The 1920s, Christian fundamentalists "differed on how to understand the account of creation in Genesis" but they "agreed that God was the author of creation and that humans were distinct creatures, separate from animals, and made in the image of God." While some of them advocated the belief in Old Earth creationism and a few of them even advocated the belief in evolutionary creation , other "strident fundamentalists" advocated Young Earth Creationism and "associated evolution with last-days atheism." These "strident fundamentalists" in

7434-781: The 1980s, the Christian Right began to have a major impact on American politics. In the 1980s and 1990s, the Christian Right was influencing elections and policy with groups such as the Family Research Council (founded 1981 by James Dobson ) and the Christian Coalition (formed in 1989 by Pat Robertson ) helping conservative politicians, especially Republicans , to win state and national elections. A major organization of fundamentalist, pentecostal churches in Australia

7560-511: The 1990s, in United States politics , the term Sister Souljah moment has been used to describe a politician 's public repudiation of an allegedly extremist person or group, statement, or position which might otherwise be associated with his own party. The term " subversive " was often used interchangeably, in the United States at least, with "extremist" during the Cold War period, although

7686-409: The Bible by developing from the 1840s to 1920 the doctrine of inerrancy, was another influence in the movement. This doctrine, also called biblical inerrancy, stated that the Bible was divinely inspired, religiously authoritative, and without error. The Princeton Seminary professor of theology Charles Hodge insisted that the Bible was inerrant because God inspired or "breathed" his exact thoughts into

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7812-627: The Bible, often using the Scofield Reference Bible of 1909, a King James Version of the Bible with detailed notes which interprets passages from a dispensational perspective. Although U.S. fundamentalism began in the North , the movement's largest base of popular support was in the South, especially among Southern Baptists , where individuals (and sometimes entire churches) left the convention and joined other Baptist denominations and movements which they believed were "more conservative" such as

7938-587: The Creation Research Society in California, all supported by distinguished laymen. They sought to ban evolution as a topic for study, or at least relegate it to the status of unproven theory perhaps taught alongside the biblical version of creation. Educators, scientists, and other distinguished laymen favored evolution. This struggle occurred later in the Southwest than in other US areas and persisted through

8064-520: The Elder used the term religiō to describe the apparent respect given by elephants to the night sky . Cicero used religiō as being related to cultum deorum (worship of the gods). In Ancient Greece , the Greek term threskeia ( θρησκεία ) was loosely translated into Latin as religiō in late antiquity . Threskeia was sparsely used in classical Greece but became more frequently used in

8190-508: The English language. Native Americans were also thought of as not having religions and also had no word for religion in their languages either. No one self-identified as a Hindu or Buddhist or other similar terms before the 1800s. "Hindu" has historically been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for people indigenous to the Indian subcontinent . Throughout its long history, Japan had no concept of religion since there

8316-734: The Methodist tradition (who adhere to Wesleyan theology ) align with the Interchurch Holiness Convention ; in various countries, national bodies such as the American Council of Christian Churches exist to encourage dialogue between fundamentalist bodies of different denominational backgrounds. Other fundamentalist denominations have little contact with other bodies. A few scholars label Catholic activist conservative associations who reject modern Christian theology in favor of more traditional doctrines as fundamentalists. The term

8442-554: The Orthodox fundamentalist and conservative Christian organization known as the Sorok Sorokov Movement . The Sorok Sorokov Movement was founded in reaction to Pussy Riot 's 2012 protests, which were themselves against increasingly socially conservative policies in Russia, including moves towards decriminalizing wifebeating and criminalizing homosexuality . The Sorok Sorokov Movement has received support from many priests of

8568-713: The Russian Orthodox Church, most notably celebrate priest Vsevolod Chaplin . Chaplin in particular supported the creation of "Orthodox squads" in order to punish people from carrying out "blasphemous acts" in religious places. Some have argues that the Sorok Sorkov Movement has been involved in protecting the construction of Russian Orthodox churches in Moscow , though the facts have been hard to verify with this. Just as many sources have argued that these acts were more in line with violent vigilantism against LGBT people in Russia. The Sorok Sorokov Movement has also been connected to

8694-515: The Sputnik era. In recent times, the courts have heard cases on whether or not the Book of Genesis's creation account should be taught in science classrooms alongside evolution, most notably in the 2005 federal court case Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District . Creationism was presented under the banner of intelligent design , with the book Of Pandas and People being its textbook. The trial ended with

8820-492: The U.S. South . Both rural and urban in character, the flourishing movement acted as a denominational surrogate and fostered a militant evangelical Christian orthodoxy. Riley was president of WCFA until 1929, after which the WCFA faded in importance. The Independent Fundamental Churches of America became a leading association of independent U.S. fundamentalist churches upon its founding in 1930. The American Council of Christian Churches

8946-538: The West (or even in the West until after the Peace of Westphalia ). The MacMillan Encyclopedia of Religions states: The very attempt to define religion, to find some distinctive or possibly unique essence or set of qualities that distinguish the religious from the remainder of human life, is primarily a Western concern. The attempt is a natural consequence of the Western speculative, intellectualistic, and scientific disposition. It

9072-471: The activities of members of low power groups tend to be viewed as more extreme than similar activities committed by members of groups advocating the status quo. In addition, extreme acts are more likely to be employed by marginalized people and groups who view more normative forms of conflict engagement as blocked for them or biased. However, dominant groups also commonly employ extreme activities (such as governmental sanctioning of violent paramilitary groups or

9198-707: The alleged need for societies to draw definite lines regarding what falls outside of this acceptability. Seymour Martin Lipset argued that besides the extremism of the left and right there is also an extremism of the center , and that it actually formed the base of fascism . Laird Wilcox identifies 21 alleged traits of a "political extremist", ranging from "a tendency to character assassination " and hateful behavior like "name calling and labelling ", to general character traits like "a tendency to view opponents and critics as essentially evil", "a tendency to substitute intimidation for argument" or " groupthink ". "Extremism"

9324-422: The belief in spiritual beings exists in all known societies. In his book The Varieties of Religious Experience , the psychologist William James defined religion as "the feelings, acts, and experiences of individual men in their solitude, so far as they apprehend themselves to stand in relation to whatever they may consider the divine". By the term divine James meant "any object that is god like , whether it be

9450-430: The beliefs and traditions of Judaism are found in the ancient world, ancient Jews saw Jewish identity as being about an ethnic or national identity and did not entail a compulsory belief system or regulated rituals. In the 1st century CE, Josephus had used the Greek term ioudaismos (Judaism) as an ethnic term and was not linked to modern abstract concepts of religion or a set of beliefs. The very concept of "Judaism"

9576-422: The beliefs of "separation from the world, from false doctrines, from other ecclesiastical connections" as well as place heavy emphasis on practicing holiness standards . In nondenominational Christianity of the evangelical variety, the word biblical or independent often appears in the name of the church or denomination. The independence of the church is claimed and affiliation with a Christian denomination

9702-491: The biblical writers ( 2 Timothy 3 :16). Princeton theologians believed that the Bible should be read differently than any other historical document, and they also believed that Christian modernism and liberalism led people to Hell just like non-Christian religions did. Biblical inerrancy was a particularly significant rallying point for fundamentalists. This approach to the Bible is associated with conservative evangelical hermeneutical approaches to Scripture, ranging from

9828-400: The chief interdenominational fundamentalist organization in the 1920s. Some mark this conference as the public start of Christian fundamentalism. Although the fundamentalist drive to take control of the major Protestant denominations failed at the national level during the 1920s, the network of churches and missions fostered by Riley showed that the movement was growing in strength, especially in

9954-417: The cities and the country. In this view the fundamentalists were country and small-town dwellers who were reacting against the progressivism of city dwellers. Fundamentalism was seen as a form of anti-intellectualism during the 1950s; in the early 1960s American intellectual and historian Richard Hofstadter interpreted it in terms of status anxiety, social displacement, and 'Manichean mentality'. Beginning in

10080-601: The communication of supernatural beliefs, defining religion as: ... the communicated acceptance by individuals of another individual’s “supernatural” claim, a claim whose accuracy is not verifiable by the senses. Friedrich Schleiermacher in the late 18th century defined religion as das schlechthinnige Abhängigkeitsgefühl , commonly translated as "the feeling of absolute dependence". His contemporary Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel disagreed thoroughly, defining religion as "the Divine Spirit becoming conscious of Himself through

10206-508: The consensus view among scholars that in the wake of the Scopes trial, fundamentalism retreated into the political and cultural background, a viewpoint which is evidenced in the movie Inherit the Wind and the majority of contemporary historical accounts. Rather, he argues, the cause of fundamentalism's retreat was the death of its leader, Bryan. Most fundamentalists saw the trial as a victory rather than

10332-454: The covert use of torture or the informal sanctioning of police brutality). In Germany, extremism is explicitly used for differentiation between democratic and non-democratic intentions. The German Ministry of Home Affairs defines extremism as an intention that rejects the democratic constitution state and fundamental values, its norms and its laws. Although extremist individuals and groups are often viewed as cohesive and consistently evil, it

10458-450: The finite spirit." Edward Burnett Tylor defined religion in 1871 as "the belief in spiritual beings". He argued that narrowing the definition to mean the belief in a supreme deity or judgment after death or idolatry and so on, would exclude many peoples from the category of religious, and thus "has the fault of identifying religion rather with particular developments than with the deeper motive which underlies them". He also argued that

10584-530: The former were more militant and less willing to collaborate with groups considered "modernist" in theology. In the 1940s the more moderate faction of fundamentalists maintained the same theology but began calling themselves "evangelicals" to stress their less militant position. Roger Olson (2007) identifies a more moderate faction of fundamentalists, which he calls "postfundamentalist", and says "most postfundamentalist evangelicals do not wish to be called fundamentalists, even though their basic theological orientation

10710-630: The founders of the international Council of Christian Churches. Oswald J. Smith (1889–1986), reared in rural Ontario and educated at Moody Church in Chicago, set up The Peoples Church in Toronto in 1928. A dynamic preacher and leader in Canadian fundamentalism, Smith wrote 35 books and engaged in missionary work worldwide. Billy Graham called him "the greatest combination pastor, hymn writer, missionary statesman, an evangelist of our time." A leading organizer of

10836-634: The fundamentalist campaign against modernism in the United States was William Bell Riley , a Northern Baptist based in Minneapolis, where his Northwestern Bible and Missionary Training School (1902), Northwestern Evangelical Seminary (1935), and Northwestern College (1944) produced thousands of graduates. At a large conference in Philadelphia in 1919, Riley founded the World Christian Fundamentals Association (WCFA), which became

10962-555: The fundamentalist movement, and the term is seldom used of them. The broader term " evangelical " includes fundamentalists as well as people with similar or identical religious beliefs who do not engage the outside challenge to the Bible as actively. Writing in 2023, conservative Christian journalist David French quotes a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention 's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Richard Land , as identifying fundamentalism as "far more

11088-454: The fundamentals of the Christian faith. Fundamentalists are almost always described as upholding beliefs in biblical infallibility and biblical inerrancy, in keeping with traditional Christian doctrines concerning biblical interpretation , the role of Jesus in the Bible , and the role of the church in society. Fundamentalists usually believe in a core of Christian beliefs, typically called

11214-572: The judge deciding that teaching intelligent design in a science class was unconstitutional as it was a religious belief and not science. The original fundamentalist movement divided along clearly defined lines within conservative evangelical Protestantism as issues progressed. Many groupings, large and small, were produced by this schism. Neo-evangelicalism , the Heritage movement , and Paleo-Orthodoxy have all developed distinct identities, but none of them acknowledge any more than an historical overlap with

11340-487: The late 1800s and early 1900s, a reaction that eventually took on a life of its own and changed significantly over time". Fundamentalist movements existed in most North American Protestant denominations by 1919 following attacks on modernist theology in Presbyterian and Baptist denominations. Fundamentalism was especially controversial among Presbyterians. In Canada, fundamentalism was less prominent, but an early leader

11466-690: The late 1960s, the movement began to be seen as "a bona fide religious, theological and even intellectual movement in its own right". Instead of interpreting fundamentalism as a simple anti-intellectualism , Paul Carter argued that "fundamentalists were simply intellectual in a way different than their opponents". Moving into the 1970s, Earnest R. Sandeen saw fundamentalism as arising from the confluence of Princeton theology and millennialism . George Marsden defined fundamentalism as "militantly anti-modernist Protestant evangelicalism" in his 1980 work Fundamentalism and American Culture . Militant in this sense does not mean 'violent', it means 'aggressively active in

11592-514: The leadership and funding of former Princeton Theological Seminary professor J. Gresham Machen . Many Bible colleges were modeled after the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. Dwight Moody was influential in preaching the imminence of the Kingdom of God that was so important to dispensationalism. Bible colleges prepared ministers who lacked college or seminary experience with intense study of

11718-424: The linguistic expressions, emotions and, actions and signs that refer to a supernatural being or supernatural beings. Peter Mandaville and Paul James intended to get away from the modernist dualisms or dichotomous understandings of immanence/transcendence, spirituality/materialism, and sacredness/secularity. They define religion as: ... a relatively-bounded system of beliefs, symbols and practices that addresses

11844-445: The local church. Great emphasis is placed on the literal interpretation of the Bible as the primary method of Bible study as well as the biblical inerrancy and the infallibility of their interpretation . Dispensationalism is common among Independent Baptists. They are opposed to any ecumenical movement with denominations that do not have the same beliefs. Many Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) churches adhere to only using

11970-609: The mainstream evangelical movement due to their anti-intellectual approaches. From 1910 until 1915, a series of essays titled The Fundamentals: A Testimony to the Truth was published by the Testimony Publishing Company of Chicago. The Northern Presbyterian Church (now Presbyterian Church in the United States of America ) influenced the movement with the definition of the five "fundamentals" in 1910, namely The Princeton theology , which responded to higher criticism of

12096-501: The matter I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love…Was not Amos an extremist for justice…Was not Martin Luther an extremist…So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice?" In his 1964 acceptance speech at

12222-401: The mid-20th century who gave what they purported to be accounts of "political extremism". Hoffer wrote The True Believer and The Passionate State of Mind about the psychology and sociology of those who join "fanatical" mass movements. Schlesinger wrote The Vital Center , championing a supposed "center" of politics within which "mainstream" political discourse takes place, and underscoring

12348-583: The nature of existence, and in which communion with others and Otherness is lived as if it both takes in and spiritually transcends socially-grounded ontologies of time, space, embodiment and knowing. According to the MacMillan Encyclopedia of Religions , there is an experiential aspect to religion which can be found in almost every culture: ... almost every known culture [has] a depth dimension in cultural experiences ... toward some sort of ultimacy and transcendence that will provide norms and power for

12474-594: The observer's values, politics, moral scope, and the nature of their relationship with the actor. In addition, one's sense of the moral or immoral nature of a given act of extremism (such as Nelson Mandela's use of guerilla war tactics against the South African Government) may change as conditions (leadership, world opinion, crises, historical accounts, etc.) change. Thus, the current and historical context of extremist acts shapes our view of them. Power differences also matter when defining extremism. When in conflict,

12600-528: The ordinary. In conflict settings it manifests as a severe form of conflict engagement. However, the labeling of activities, people, and groups as "extremist", and the defining of what is "ordinary" in any setting is always a subjective and political matter. Thus, we suggest that any discussion of extremism be mindful of the following: Typically, the same extremist act will be viewed by some as just and moral (such as pro-social "freedom fighting"), and by others as unjust and immoral (antisocial "terrorism") depending on

12726-483: The original movement which coined the term and those who self-identify as fundamentalists. Some who hold certain, but not all beliefs in common with the original fundamentalist movement reject the label fundamentalism , due to its perceived pejorative nature, while others consider it a banner of pride. In certain parts of the United Kingdom , using the term fundamentalist with the intent to stir up religious hatred

12852-486: The past but more recently, scholars have shifted away from that view. In the early 1940s, evangelicals and fundamentalist Christians began to part ways over whether to separate from modern culture (the fundamentalist approach) or engage with it. An organization very much on the side of separation from modernity was the American Council of Christian Churches , founded in 1941 by Rev. Carl McIntire . Another group "for conservative Christians who wanted to be culturally engaged"

12978-408: The political extremes were shown to have much greater (but misplaced) confidence in their beliefs, and resisted change. A 2019 study found that political extremism on both the left and right tended to have four common psychological features: psychological distress stimulates the adoption of an extreme ideological outlook, extreme ideologies tend to have relatively simplistic black-white perceptions of

13104-428: The possibility of a definition. Others argue that regardless of its definition, it is not appropriate to apply it to non-Western cultures. An increasing number of scholars have expressed reservations about ever defining the essence of religion. They observe that the way the concept today is used is a particularly modern construct that would not have been understood through much of history and in many cultures outside

13230-419: The rest of life. When more or less distinct patterns of behavior are built around this depth dimension in a culture, this structure constitutes religion in its historically recognizable form. Religion is the organization of life around the depth dimensions of experience—varied in form, completeness, and clarity in accordance with the environing culture. Anthropologists Lyle Steadman and Craig T. Palmer emphasized

13356-479: The social world, said mental simplicity causes overconfidence in judgements, and political extremists are less tolerant of different groups and opinions than moderates. After being accused of extremism, Martin Luther King Jr. criticized the mainstream usage of the term in his Letter from Birmingham Jail , "But though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about

13482-430: The surface after World War I in what came to be called the fundamentalist/modernist split . However, the split does not mean that there were just two groups: modernists and fundamentalists. There were also people who considered themselves neo-evangelicals, separating themselves from the extreme components of fundamentalism. These neo-evangelicals also wanted to separate themselves from both the fundamentalist movement and

13608-413: The term superstitio (which meant too much fear or anxiety or shame) to religiō at times. When religiō came into English around the 1200s as religion, it took the meaning of "life bound by monastic vows" or monastic orders. The compartmentalized concept of religion, where religious and worldly things were separated, was not used before the 1500s. The concept of religion was first used in

13734-434: The time Ronald Reagan ran for the presidency in 1980, fundamentalist preachers, like the prohibitionist ministers of the early 20th century, were organizing their congregations to vote for supportive candidates. Leaders of the newly political fundamentalism included Rob Grant and Jerry Falwell . Beginning with Grant's American Christian Cause in 1974, Christian Voice throughout the 1970s and Falwell's Moral Majority in

13860-619: The trial. In the half century after the Scopes Trial, fundamentalists had little success in shaping government policy, and they were generally defeated in their efforts to reshape the mainline denominations , which refused to join fundamentalist attacks on evolution. Particularly after the Scopes Trial, liberals saw a division between Christians in favor of the teaching of evolution, whom they viewed as educated and tolerant, and Christians against evolution, whom they viewed as narrow-minded, tribal, and obscurantist. Edwards (2000), however, challenges

13986-662: The twentieth century witnessed a surge of interest in organized political activism by U.S. fundamentalists. Dispensational fundamentalists viewed the 1948 establishment of the state of Israel as an important sign of the fulfillment of biblical prophecy, and support for Israel became the centerpiece of their approach to U.S. foreign policy. United States Supreme Court decisions also ignited fundamentalists' interest in organized politics, particularly Engel v. Vitale in 1962, which prohibited state-sanctioned prayer in public schools, and Abington School District v. Schempp in 1963, which prohibited mandatory Bible reading in public schools. By

14112-466: The word to describe their own belief system. The concept of "ancient religion" stems from modern interpretations of a range of practices that conform to a modern concept of religion, influenced by early modern and 19th century Christian discourse. The concept of religion was formed in the 16th and 17th centuries, despite the fact that ancient sacred texts like the Bible , the Quran , and others did not have

14238-441: The works of Eli Berman . In a 2018 study at University College London , scientists have demonstrated that people with extreme political views (both extreme right and extreme left) had significantly worse metacognition, or the ability of a person to recognize they are wrong and modify their views when presented with contrary evidence, thus creating an opinion that supports only their idea of wrong and right. People found on either of

14364-502: The world's population, and 92% of the world either follows one of those four religions or identifies as nonreligious , meaning that the remaining 9,000+ faiths account for only 8% of the population combined. The religiously unaffiliated demographic includes those who do not identify with any particular religion, atheists , and agnostics , although many in the demographic still have various religious beliefs. Many world religions are also organized religions , most definitively including

14490-400: The writings of Josephus in the 1st century CE. It was used in mundane contexts and could mean multiple things from respectful fear to excessive or harmfully distracting practices of others, to cultic practices. It was often contrasted with the Greek word deisidaimonia , which meant too much fear. Religion is a modern concept. The concept was invented recently in the English language and

14616-439: The writings of, for example, Frederick Ferré who defined religion as "one's way of valuing most comprehensively and intensively". Similarly, for the theologian Paul Tillich , faith is "the state of being ultimately concerned", which "is itself religion. Religion is the substance, the ground, and the depth of man's spiritual life." When religion is seen in terms of sacred, divine, intensive valuing, or ultimate concern, then it

14742-568: Was English-born Thomas Todhunter Shields (1873–1955), who led 80 churches out of the Baptist federation in Ontario in 1927 and formed the Union of Regular Baptist Churches of Ontario and Quebec. He was affiliated with the Baptist Bible Union, based in the United States. His newspaper, The Gospel Witness, reached 30,000 subscribers in 16 countries, giving him an international reputation. He was one of

14868-521: Was a product of California and Michigan rather than the South. Webb (1991) traces the political and legal struggles between strict creationists and Darwinists to influence the extent to which evolution would be taught as science in Arizona and California schools. After Scopes was convicted, creationists throughout the United States sought similar anti-evolution laws for their states. These included Reverends R. S. Beal and Aubrey L. Moore in Arizona and members of

14994-613: Was at or near 50 percent in "West South Central" ( Texas to Arkansas ) and "South Atlantic" (Florida to Maryland), and at 25 percent or below elsewhere in the country, with the low of nine percent in New England. The pattern persisted into the 21st century; in 2006–2010 surveys, the average share of fundamentalists in the East South Central Region stood at 58 percent, while, in New England , it climbed slightly to 13 percent. In

15120-604: Was founded for fundamental Christian denominations as an alternative to the National Council of Churches . Much of the enthusiasm for mobilizing fundamentalism came from Protestant seminaries and Protestant "Bible colleges" in the United States. Two leading fundamentalist seminaries were the dispensationalist Dallas Theological Seminary , founded in 1924 by Lewis Sperry Chafer , and the Reformed Westminster Theological Seminary , formed in 1929 under

15246-540: Was invented by the Christian Church , and it was in the 19th century that Jews began to see their ancestral culture as a religion analogous to Christianity. The Greek word threskeia , which was used by Greek writers such as Herodotus and Josephus, is found in the New Testament . Threskeia is sometimes translated as "religion" in today's translations, but the term was understood as generic "worship" well into

15372-434: Was most often used by the ancient Romans not in the context of a relation towards gods, but as a range of general emotions which arose from heightened attention in any mundane context such as hesitation , caution, anxiety , or fear , as well as feelings of being bound, restricted, or inhibited. The term was also closely related to other terms like scrupulus (which meant "very precisely"), and some Roman authors related

15498-515: Was no corresponding Japanese word, nor anything close to its meaning, but when American warships appeared off the coast of Japan in 1853 and forced the Japanese government to sign treaties demanding, among other things, freedom of religion, the country had to contend with this idea. According to the philologist Max Müller in the 19th century, the root of the English word religion, the Latin religiō ,

15624-424: Was originally used to mean only reverence for God or the gods, careful pondering of divine things, piety (which Cicero further derived to mean diligence). Müller characterized many other cultures around the world, including Egypt, Persia, and India, as having a similar power structure at this point in history. What is called ancient religion today, they would have only called law. Scholars have failed to agree on

15750-430: Was the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) founded in 1942, by Harold Ockenga . The interpretations given the fundamentalist movement have changed over time, with most older interpretations being based on the concepts of social displacement or cultural lag. Some in the 1930s, including H. Richard Niebuhr , understood the conflict between fundamentalism and modernism to be part of a broader social conflict between

15876-563: Was written, and it also uses the Bible for political purposes by presenting God "more as a God of judgement and punishment than as a God of love and mercy." In contrast to the higher criticism, fundamentalism claims to keep the Bible open for the people. However, through the complexity of the dispensational framework, it has actually forced lay readers to remain dependent upon the inductive methods of Bible teachers and ministers. Religion Antiquity Medieval Early modern Modern Iran India East-Asia Religion

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