:) :) :) :) Ha Ha Ha! :)
I thought this might make you chuckle a bit as it did me...
"Fundamentalism involves a mindset as well as a set of beliefs; it includes attitudes as much as beliefs; it is perhaps as much a psychology as a theology. The Fundamentalist tends to see issues in terms of black and white, either absolutely right or completely wrong. The Fundamentalist must be absolutely certain even in areas where human certainty is suspect [obvious from odd stances on eschatology] . The seeking for extreme certainty may in fact mask a deeper level of doubt. This kind of mindset can often tolerate error better than ambiguity; atleast a known evil can be confronted. Fundamentalists also tend to be 100 percenters, a trait commendable at times but with a potential for excessive actions which at times may border on finaticism."
Anyway...
McBeth, Baptist Heritage, 768.
"Fundamentalism involves a mindset as well as a set of beliefs; it includes attitudes as much as beliefs; it is perhaps as much a psychology as a theology. The Fundamentalist tends to see issues in terms of black and white, either absolutely right or completely wrong. The Fundamentalist must be absolutely certain even in areas where human certainty is suspect [obvious from odd stances on eschatology] . The seeking for extreme certainty may in fact mask a deeper level of doubt. This kind of mindset can often tolerate error better than ambiguity; atleast a known evil can be confronted. Fundamentalists also tend to be 100 percenters, a trait commendable at times but with a potential for excessive actions which at times may border on finaticism."
Anyway...
McBeth, Baptist Heritage, 768.
posted by adam at 5:34 PM
13 Comments:
i laughed in relief just to see you post something once every 2 months!
as for the quote -
it aptly describes you and yours...
whereas, me and mine are out.
here's to your eschatology.
Thomas,
Several months ago (around the last time you posted) I posted on the positivistic tendancies of fundamentalism which creates an undue attitude of certainty or arrogance to their interpretations. Therefore, I agree largely with this post. I would add to this that fundamentalists often absorb the psychologically damaged or weak -- though not always -- and that you are undoubtedly one of them.
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Adam,
Nice to see you back in action. We talked about this at the DG national conference. Not only do Fundamentalists have their beliefs and opinions, but they think that they are God's gift to mankind in order to share their "enlightened" state of knowledge with the rest of us lowly beings. Nice quote!
To clarify my above statement about fundamentalism absorbing the psychologically weak or damaged, I think this is because it offers them a level of certainty and "fixedness" that they might otherwise need. This is not to say that all fundamentalists are weak or damaged, however, but that the positivism of fundamentalism is attractive to this group.
I'm reading Carson's exposition of 1 Corinthians 12-14 (which covers some material which tends to be the dividing line for many fundamentalists). This statement from the tail-end of his treatment of 1Cor13 floored me.
"The various spiritual gifts, as important as they are and as highly as Paul values them, can all be duplicated by pagans. This quality of love cannot be."
Showing the Spirit, 65
He feels that the same can be said of most of which we value in the Church - theological prowess, biblical orthodoxy, proper worship, good teaching, acts of mercy and altruism, even martyrdom. These are all important, but without love, we are all of us a cacophony.
That's my problem with my experience in fundamentalism, but sadly, lack of love is not limited to a particular movement. It still festers in my own heart.
Luther:
Does loving yourself count for being "psychologically damaged" and if so how do you perceive yourself in light of that?
Logan:
"me and mine are out"? Will you wait and save room for my love?
G:
Perfect interjection,(safe with Carson) which seems to be your tendency on this blog.
yes rebecca st. james, we've been through this all before. i am willing, but you are not - a man whose words speak louder than his actions. come now...
I hope that when Logan says "me and mine" he is referring to himself and his crappy library.
I think I'm the quintessential Evangelical. I want everybody to just get along!
oh absolutely, tim -
but then, not all of us sit around and brag about books we didn't write...
some of us are out there blazing trails for office-dwellers like you to follow after. kingdom work.
ever heard of it? of course not.
(did you love that thomas?)
Logan,
You wouldn't be referring to a saw-dust trail would you?
Logan,
You wouldn't be referring to a saw-dust trail would you?
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