The A-Z of Believing: F is for Fundamentalism

Are religious fundamentalists fighters for truth or unworldly fantasists? Ed Kessler, head of the Woolf Institute, presents the sixth part in a series on belief and scepticism

Zealots desire to return to a ‘golden age’ and live as much as possible according to ancient rules and scriptural authority (Shutterstock/agsandrew)

Written and presented by Dr Ed Kessler MBE, founder and director of the Cambridge-based Woolf Institute, this compelling guide to religious belief and scepticism is a must-read for believers and nonbelievers alike.

Founded in 1998 to explore the relationship between religion and society, the Woolf Institute uses research and education to foster understanding between people of all beliefs with the aim of reducing prejudice and intolerance.

Says Dr Kessler: “Latest surveys suggest that 85 per cent of the world’s population identify themselves as belonging to a specific religion, and in many parts of the world the most powerful actors in civil society are religious. Understanding religion and belief, the role they play and their impact on behaviour and decision-making is, therefore, vital.”

Dr Kessler – who was awarded an MBE for services to interfaith relations in 2011 – is an affiliated lecturer with the Faculty of Divinity at Cambridge University, a principal of the Cambridge Theological Federation and additionally teaches at the Cambridge Muslim College.

He says: “This A-Z of Believing aims to show how the encounter between religions has influenced and been influenced by the evolution of civilisation and culture, both for good and for ill. I hope that a better understanding of believing will lead people to realise that while each religion is separate, they are also profoundly connected.”

F is for… Fundamentalism

Heave an egg out of a Pullman window and almost anywhere in America today, you will hit a fundamentalist.
HL Mencken

Between 1915 and 1920, “The Fundamentals”, consisting of 12 Protestant theological pamphlets, were published and, since then, fundamentalism has extended beyond Protestantism and can be found in Roman Catholicism (often called “traditional Catholicism”, which seeks to reverse the reforms of Vatican II), as well as in other religions, notably Judaism and Islam.

Fundamentalists desire to return to a golden (mythic) age, and to live as much as possible according to ancient rules and scriptural authority. They have a nostalgic view of a utopian past, when their religion was pure and which they long to reacquire. Muslim fundamentalists, for example, seek to return to the purity of Islam, and to live similarly to how they think the prophet Muhammad and his companions lived in seventh century Arabia.

Fundamentalists reject modern scriptural criticism, human evolution, abortion and euthanasia as well as secular humanism, a catch-all and pejorative term used to describe their opponents. They affirm that the Scriptures are perfect, although in practice fundamentalists do not apply equal authority to every word. Yet any criticism, however small, is taken as a criticism of the whole religion, which helps explain the fundamentalist reluctance to compromise.

Fundamentalists emphasise the role of patriarchy; specific roles for men include leadership and for women, procreation and family life. Wives are subservient to their husbands and this subservience can also apply to sisters towards their brothers, providing a religious excuse, (without ignoring a cultural context) to what should be called “dis-honour killings”.

Whilst nearly all fundamentalists believe that the Bible is the word of God, there is an almost even split (according to surveys of Christian fundamentalists in the United States) between those who believe that everything in the Bible should be taken literally and those who do not.

Prooftexting is a common fundamentalist practice. It uses biblical passages to draw conclusions without regard to historical context, lifting a text from its location both in time and in narrative in order to solve an unrelated theological problem. For example, the “Suffering Servant”, attributed to a disciple of the prophet Isaiah and written towards the end of the Babylonian exile, that is the sixth century BCE, is used to identify Jesus as the suffering messiah by Christians, while for Jews the servant represents the collective people of Israel. A close reader of the biblical text will notice the text focusses more on the Servant’s role than his identity.

Jewish, Christian and Muslim fundamentalists share a similar understanding of prophecy and 22 prophets are shared by these three religions, most famously Abraham (Ibrahim) and Moses (Musa). Some fundamentalist leaders, their followers believe, have received divine approval and speak God’s truth.

Whilst fundamentalists agree prophecy has come to an end (though it will be restored at the end times), they naturally disagree when. For Jews, prophecy ended with Malachi. Christians believe prophecy returned with Jesus and Muhammad is the seal of prophets for Muslims – the revelation each brought is believed to supersede the previous revelation.

In recent years, fundamentalist leaders have made odd bedfellows: conservative Catholics and Protestant fundamentalists work together to support pro-life movements; evangelical Christians and Israeli fundamentalist Jews support right-wing Israeli government policies; and Islamist fundamentalists and anti-Zionist Jewish fundamentalists collaborate in opposition to the state of Israel, and so on.

Jewish fundamentalists generally focus on issues related to Israel and have emerged as a significant political force today, seeking to impose some biblical and rabbinic laws on the modern State of Israel in areas including education, food, transportation and sovereignty over holy sites. There is a widespread tendency to speak of the State of Israel in language, which echoes biblical prophecies. Some Christian fundamentalists, commonly called Christian Zionists, are well represented among Southern Baptists in the United States and have considerable influence on US policy, demonstrated by President Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Other Christian fundamentalists join their Jewish partners in calling for the construction of a (third) holy temple in Jerusalem, believing that this temple, alongside the creation of the Jewish state in 1948, are prerequisites for the second coming of Jesus. Some of these same fundamentalists also actively seek the conversion of Jews to Christianity.

Whilst sacred land is important to Jewish, as well as to Sikh and Hindu, fundamentalists, it is unimportant to Christian or Buddhist. Similarly, proselytism is central to Christian and Muslim fundamentalism, but not Jewish or Hindu. This needs further investigation, but whatever the similarities and differences, fundamentalism is a major and increasing global force, gaining significant ground against liberal and secular counterparts.

All fundamentalists perceive themselves as beleaguered believers who are attempting to preserve their distinctive identities in the face of modernity and secularisation. There is a distinct group of insiders and all others are outsiders. Insiders are nurtured and cared for. Outsiders are cast off and fought.

We have been warned.

Next week: G is for God

Listen to each episode of An A-Z of Believing: from Atheism to Zealotry on the Woolf Institute podcast site or wherever you get your podcasts