Reforming Fundamentalism: Fuller Seminary and the New Evangelicalism
Overview
“The best telling of the story of the past,” writes George Marsden, “relies on a balance of the general and the particular.” In this book, a sequel and companion to his widely acclaimed Fundamentalism and American Culture, Marsden uses the history of Fuller Theological Seminary—a durable evangelical institution—as a lens through which to focus an examination of the broader story of evangelicalism and fundamentalism since the 1940s. In fact, at the time of the school’s founding in 1947, “evangelicalism” and “fundamentalism” were not considered separate entities. Though Fuller Seminary later became so thoroughly identified with the “new evangelicalism” (or neo-evangelicalism) that its fundamentalist roots are sometimes overlooked, in the school’s early years it was in striking ways a fundamentalist institution with a thoroughly fundamentalist constituency. Marsden’s detailed history relies heavily on primary sources: personal recollections and correspondence of the seminary’s founders, and discussions with students and staff from throughout the seminary’s history. Although the story of Fuller Seminary provides the framework for this fascinating look at a segment of American religious history, Marsden’s careful and knowledgeable attention to the surrounding worlds of mainline denominations and stricter fundamentalism makes this book a major contribution to the study of a movement that has played an important role in shaping American culture.
Top Highlights
“This unresolved tension was crucial for understanding the movement that a generation later became known as the ‘new evangelicalism.’ Most simply understood, the ‘new evangelical’ reformers repudiated both the doctrinal and the cultural implications of a thoroughgoing dispensationalism while they remained loyal to the fundamentals of fundamentalism.” (Page 6)
“Fundamentalism arose out of the decline in influence of traditional revivalist evangelicalism in America during the first half of the twentieth century.” (Page 4)
“First, in its early years Fuller Seminary was shaped by a striking number of remarkable individuals. Those of the greatest national prominence include Charles and Grace Fuller, Harold Ockenga, Wilbur Smith, Everett Harrison, Carl F. H. Henry, Harold Lindsell, Edward J. Carnell, William LaSor, Gleason Archer, Béla Vassady, Charles Woodbridge, George Eldon Ladd, Paul K. Jewett, and Daniel P. Fuller. All were strong personalities, and their combination gave rise to speculation from the earliest days as to whether so many ‘stars’ could ever form a team.” (Page 1)
“There was no clear line between fundamentalists and evangelicals during the period between 1947 and 1957. The emerging evangelicals were in an in-between state, repudiating some of the distinctives of fundamentalism, especially dispensationalism (which both Bradley and Dayton correctly suggest I might have emphasized more), and yet eager to preserve what they considered the essence of fundamentalism, its commitments to the essentials of historic Christianity in firm opposition to secularism and theological liberalism.” (Page xii)
- Title: Reforming Fundamentalism: Fuller Seminary and the New Evangelicalism
- Author: George Marsden
- Publisher: Eerdmans
- Print Publication Date: 1995
- Logos Release Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Fundamentalism › History; Evangelicalism › United States--History--20th century; Fuller Seminary
- ISBNs: 9780802808707, 0802808700
- Resource ID: LLS:RFRMNGFNDMNTLSM
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T02:42:53Z