Fundamentalisms: Threats and Ideologies in the Modern World (Library of Modern Religion)

What is fundamentalism and what does it really amount to? How do uncompromising counter-cultural movements make ordinary people behave in extraordinary ways? Arguing that an adherence to scriptural literalism and biblical inerrancy is at root a reaction to modernism, these are among the key questions with which this timely book grapples. But it goes further. Other studies have concentrated above all on Christian and Islamic fundamentalism. This volume, while exploring the origins and articulations of the fundamentalist mindset, addresses the subject from the comparative perspective of different religions, including Judaism and Hinduism. It is innovative in yet another respect. Contending that notions of certainty and infallibility are not just a religious phenomenon, the book argues that fundamentalism can be detected also in science when scientists use scientific authority to pronounce on areas outside their competence. With contributors who include Karen Armstrong, Diarmaid MacCulloch, Malise Ruthven and Ed Husain, this is a bold and incisive assessment of a crucial yet often oversimplified topic--From publisher's website Cover 1 Author Bio 2 Title Page 4 Copyright page 5 Table of Contents 6 Preface 8 Contributors 10 Introduction 14 Part I: What is Fundamentalism? 20 1. The Roots of Christian Fundamentalism in American Protestantism 22 2. Exploring the Fundamentalist Mindset: The Social Psychologist's Viewpoint 40 Part II: Religious Fundamentalisms 58 3. Rules, Recipes, Rubrics: A Theological Anatomy of Contemporary Christian Fundamentalism 60 4. Islamic Fundamentalism 82 5. Jewish Fundamentalism 90 6. Hindu Fundamentalism 106 Part III: Fundamentalism in the Modern World 130 7. Fundamentalism and Modernity 132 8. The Fear of Fundamentalism 150 9. Scientific Fundamentalism 160 Epilogue 182 Index 194 Library of Modern Religion 200 OKS