Fundamentalism is an espresso shot of Christianity—strong, bitter, and undiluted.
Fundamentalists believe the Bible should be interpreted as literal fact, not metaphorically.
To them, it is God’s direct word to humanity and the ultimate earthly authority. And so
fundamentalists follow the Bible with unwavering certainty, as if it were God himself, and
press their interpretation of the book upon society. But the certainty at fundamentalism’s core is
unwarranted, leading them to wrongfully ignore their oppositions’ own valid opinions and the
potential gains that come with them.
In the eyes of Christian fundamentalists, their actions are protecting God’s will;
they are upholding the laws of the Supreme Being, thus keeping society on the right path.
Fundamentalists’ core beliefs “[are] encapsulated under the rubric of ‘the inerrancy of
Scripture,” the idea that the Bible is God’s perfect word, the clearest expression of God’s plan
for humanity (Marsden). With this comes the concept of Biblical literalism, that “the historical
events recorded in the Bible…are accurate,” not parables or allegories—they believe God spoke
plainly and clearly, not in confusing metaphors (Creationism Has). By corollary, if the Bible
is the literal and inerrant record of God’s plan for humanity, and if God is humanity’s ultimate
authority, then humans ought to obey the laws of the Bible. By this reasoning, the Biblical norm
should be enforced over human laws, and society’s deviations from this norm, such as “the
assaults on traditional standards of family and sexuality…[posed by] changes in standards for
public decency, aggressive second-wave feminism, gay activism, and challenges to conventional
family structures,” shou...
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.... For argument is not about who is right, but what is learned as a
result and how these new truths can benefit society.
Works Cited
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"How evolution can save lives; Junk medicine." Times [London, England] 11 Feb. 2006: 4.
Academic OneFile. Web. 19 May 2014.
Marsden, George. "The sword of the Lord: how 'otherwordly' fundamentalism became a political
power." Books & Culture Mar.-Apr. 2006: 10+. General OneFile. Web. 22 May 2014.
"MIT Finds Key To Avian Flu In Humans." Space Daily 7 Jan. 2008. General OneFile. Web. 18
Riascos, Norma Enriquez. "Fundamentalisms: a real threat." Women in Action Apr.
2007: 30+. General OneFile. Web. 18 May 2014.
It is the reader and his or her interpretive community who attempts to impose a unified reading on a given text. Such readers may, and probably will, claim that the unity they find is in the text, but this claim is only a mask for the creative process actually going on. Even the most carefully designed text can not be unified; only the reader's attempted taming of it. Therefore, an attempt to use seams and shifts in the biblical text to discover its textual precursors is based on a fundamentally faulty assumption that one might recover a stage of the text that lacked such fractures (Carr 23-4).
Congdon, D. W. (2010). 12 the Word as Event: Barth and Bultmann on Scripture. Retrieved from www.academia.edu: https://www.academia.edu/658913/The_Word_as_Event_Barth_and_Bultmann_on_Scripture
Our other work for comparison is the Bible. Briefly summarized, the Bible’s message is truth about this world we live in. We are told our world is controlled by evil powers in high, spiritual places; “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12). However, the earth and the universe were created by God; “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). The world system was created by man, but inspired by Satan; “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4). This world is full of deception and contains every imaginable lie in the form of philosophies and religions, but persecutes the truth. The people who trust in the world are not willing to be “unplugged” in order to see the truth, and the truth is revealed to those who are searching for it.
The meaning of the word ‘fundamentalism’ has been redefined so often that the meaning became ‘obscured’ (Carpenter, 1997: 4). Definitions became relative to changing contexts and have almost been denatured as a descriptive term. It became evaluative and pejorative with the aim to stigmatize. Juergensmeyer says the term is “less descriptive than it is accusatory.” (De Sousa, 2007:86).
...nature of God, the world, and human beings, the Bible is a source from which a reasonably comprehensive worldview may be constructed. Many narratives or teachings of Scripture speak directly to the various elements of a worldview” (Palmer, pp 93) .
Fundamentalism and Religion For a vast majority, the term “fundamentalism” evokes images of hostage crises, embassies under siege, hijackings, and suicide bombers. But these images hardly present a comprehensive picture. People in the west associate fundamentalism with Islam, this is indeed a mistaken belief. Fundamentalism is defined as " the affirmation of religious authority as holistic and absolute, admitting of neither criticism nor reduction; it is expressed through the collective demand that specific creedal and ethical dictates derived from scripture be publicly recognized and legally enforced ." (Lawrence) Therefore the essence of fundamentalist belief is doctrinal confirmity, of not only oneself but the conformity of the rest of society too .While
In response to an ideological quote of Postmodernism by Paul Karl Feyerabend (1924-94) who said "The only absolute truth is that there are no absolute truths." proves that the movement completely shuns theological and scriptural teaching. The bible teaches in 1 John 5:20 “And we know that the Son of God is come, and has given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.” The scriptures were written and given to mankind as a delineation of how we are to live and function in faith and trust of a sovereign God who is more than capable of governing as supreme authority over all that He created, without interference or intervention from our flawed attempts of synthesis or conformity to human
the laws of man and kept in check by society's own norms. The human struggle to
When looking at the two opposing arguments I can see their perspectives are founded by
Hvistendahl, M, Cohen, J et. al. 2013. ‘New Flu Virus in China Worries and Confuses’ Science 340: 129-130
Sacred texts and writings are integral to a living and dynamic religious tradition. Such texts are materials that can range from verbally spoken stories to writings. Sacred texts and writings provide followers with information on core ethical behaviour, rituals and ceremonies, as well as beliefs. The idea of the texts and writings being sacred refers to the texts encompassing divine inspiration. Christianity’s sacred texts and writings, such as the bible (conveyed as the word of God), are continually studied/interpreted throughout generations. The teachings of the bible and the ‘Ten Commandments’ provide Christians with morally accepted standards of behaviour to live their lives by and thus directly influence the day-today actions of its adherents. Furthermore, sacred texts and writings provide information on beliefs, which assist adherents in understanding and even answering significant enduring questions of life. For instance, the creation story ...
No other book of the Bible and its interpretation is more controversial than the book of Revelation. The book of Revelation, written by John, is the last book in the New Testament and perhaps the most important book of the Bible. Revelation enforces the importance of faith and obedience to the concept of Christianity by describing God’s plan for the world and his final judgment of the people. Revelation answers the question of what the future holds for this planet and its inhabitants. While it is a sobering reality for those who have fallen astray, it can be a great comfort for believers. The book of Revelation is somewhat troubling to read because it is a forecast of God’s wrath upon humanity, and it is filled with warnings to the church to remain loyal and obedient so that they may avoid eternal damnation. Most other books in the Bible are concerned with teaching the church how to live in such a way that we will be at home in the New Jerusalem. The book of Revelation, however, tells the church why it is important to live according to God’s will in hopes that the church will be on the favorable side of God’s judgment.
The authors acknowledge that many books have been written on this topic. Their goal is to be unique by focusing on different types of literature (genres) so their readers will understand how to properly interpret them in the context they were written. This review will examine the principles the authors use to interpret the Bible. The review will summarize the book, followed by a critique, and a conclusion.
Political texts are representative of individual, shared and competing ideologies within a society and can be constructed in various forms to enhance their diverse contexts and inherent perspectives. Ultimately, political perspectives and society shape one another; they’re inextricably linked and cyclical in nature.
Although Postmodernism is all around the world today—there is something that is much more significant that affects the lives of many, and that is the Word of God. When referencing the Word of God, there are two ways that it can be interpreted. The first being to Scripture, and the second being Jesus. While there is scripture to support either, many try to refrain from referencing Scripture as the “Word of God” because Jesus is the “true, living, and eternal Word of God”. Though as mentioned in the book, people continue to reference Scripture as the Word of God—while still knowing that Jesus is the true Word of God.