Analysis and Reflection of Square Peg: Why Wesleyans Aren't Fundamentalists

The Fundamentalist-Modernist dispute was a religious dispute that occurred in the 1920s and 1930s within the confines of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America that ended up creating separation in most of the American Christian movements also. In fact, convinced that the literal truth of the Bible formed the basis of Christian belief, fundamentalists initiated a campaign to eradicate Protestant denominations of modernism and to fight the new individual freedoms that seemed to contradict traditional morality (Foner 788). What is more, the press portrayed fundamentalism as a movement of backwoods bigots. Yet, it was a national phenomenon. Fundamentalism continued to be an important strain of 1920s politics and culture (Foner

The militant philosophy originated from the rising modernity in northern Baptist and Presbyterian congregations, a growing fear of evolution being taught in schools, and the Scopes trial results. Fear of these movements as well as the apocalyptic scenarios concocted after World War I, and the rise of communism meant the second coming of Christ and the tribulation were right around the corner. In the growing world of uncertainty, the fundamentalist movement sprung up out of a necessity for the defense of faith. Fundamentalists originated from the fear of the unknown and speculation of what could be. Perhaps one of the greatest ties between early fundamentalism and Union University stem from fundamentalism’s roots. At the beginning Northern Baptists and Presbyterians battled with Southern conservative Baptists. In 1919, fundamentalists gathered to discuss what to do with the rise of modernity in congregations and the danger of evolution in schools. Another rift among fundamentalists was also occurring in the Northern Baptist Convention, led by the liberal Baptist Harry Fosdick, who in opposition to the rise of fundamentalism in Southern congregations, wrote “Shall the Fundamentalists Win?” Perhaps the struggle between fundamentalists and modernists best description comes from Princeton’s J. Gresham Machen who argued, “Modernist compromises had so changed the basic Christian faith that it was no longer recognizable as the same religion held by orthodox believers through the previous nineteen centuries.” So much of the fundamentalist movement originates from fear, and the possibility that the identity of the Christian faith may become lost in a slippery slope due to the rise of modernist

As a “cradle Methodist,” the standards and theological tasks mentioned in Part III of the Discipline are ingrained in how I understand and apply my faith. These aspects of the United Methodist tradition have been a foundation from which I have grown during my formative years. Although I have not always been able to articulate these beliefs, I have learned the power in living them in addition to teaching them. I believe that much of the affirming, teaching, and applying of our standards and theological task that I do in my ministry is out of this same foundation that was formative to my faith. It informs how I preach, the lead Bible studies I lead, how I lead youth group, and my interactions with congregants and the community.

Connie R. Green, Emily Katherine Green Scott, and Sandra Brenneman Oldendorf scripted Religious Diversity and Children's Literature: Strategies and Resources and said “All of these groups shared common ideas such as the belief that communion is symbolic and not the literal blood and body of Jesus.” Believing salvation is the highest importance; I have chosen to research it further. I want to recognize how different or similar the plan of salvation is for the three distinct denominations. Denominations start to differentiate and separate in their spiritual philosophies, and they are remarkably contrast about the permanence of salvation. Every sect teaches their creed with absolute certainty, without acknowledging how faithfully or not it follows the

(Some essentials of Wesleyan theology…original sin, divinity of Christ, atonement, justification by faith, work of the Holy Spirit, regeneration (new birth) and trinity)

After several weeks of analyzing moral theory, the divine command theory prevails. Jehovah created us (page 7, Column 1) intrinsically valuable, in that we are each a temple, in and of ourselves. (Page 71 Column 1) Proven scientific knowledge includes the fact that in the 1769 King James Version (Isaiah 40:22), undisputedly references the circle of the earth. This is tantamount to believing in a higher being, which is in perfect accordance with the divine command theory, in that, the date of the aforementioned discovery by humankind was in the 15th century; only One Being could have shared this infinitesimal knowledge. The Bible is not a science book; it teaches through stories. However, whenever it makes an assertion relating to a

So does science contradict the Bible? Before one is able to answer this question, one must find out what the scientific facts are, rather than the unproven theories created by Scientists. Some scientists are Christians, who believe in God but also in evolution. There are many different views on the subject of just how the earth was created. The Big Bang is just one of those theories.

Too much of the Christian worldview’s attention is focused on reconciling the Bible with science and archaeological discoveries when it should be focused on redemption. The theme of the Bible could be summarized into four categories Creation,

Due to the "highly subjective nature of most scientific theorizing... [we should] let the Bible speak for itself and modify our scientific view of origins accordingly." (as cited in Downey, D., & Porter, S., 2009).

Fundamentalism is a strict adherence to a set of ideas or beliefs that are conservative in nature. It is a pejorative term usually associated with religious fanaticism. Usually, this is what comes to mind when there is mention of a fundamentalist. However, in Mohsin Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist starring the protagonist Changez, a Pakistani Princetonian who is a top-ranked employee at a prestigious New York valuation firm, turns out not to be an Islamic fundamentalist, but a reluctant fundamentalist of US Capitalism. Hamid challenges readers to reevaluate their preconceived notions and prejudices of people different from themselves in post 9/11 America by employing the use of motifs, aphorism, and suspense, to create a conflation

Church history reveals that a number of serious biblical doctrinal controversies occurred during the late 1800s and early 1900s that gave occasion for the formulation of certain fundamentalist principals to be implemented as a clarification and remedy against unbiblical manifestations. The authority of the Bible was brought into serious question.

It is Changez’s shifting identity that creates the main interest and tension in the novel. Do you agree?

It is for this reason that the debate is also not between science and Christianity. Each advocate for each position is attempting to reconcile the apparent differences between science and Christianity. It is simply the case that they each take a different approach and give different amounts of authority to science and a literal interpretation of Genesis.

The third school of interpretation is Traditionalism. Traditionalists maintain that the Bible is full of truth, God is revealed within the Bible and that it is inspired by the Holy Spirit. One of the key characteristics of their approach to the Bible is its emphasis on the need to understand the nature of the different types of literature within the bible. However, traditionalists would not accept the fundamentalist’s notion of inerrancy as many would acknowledge that there are mistakes in the Bible. These are seen as a reflection of both the historical context in which they are written and the human fallibility of the authors. As with Liberals, traditionalists believe that some aspects of the Bible need to be reinterpreted for today. Traditionalists place a lot of emphasis on the process of exegesis. However, after establishing the intended meaning of the author the next step in the traditional approach is the question of how it should be applied to Christian today. However, whereas fundamentalists believe that the true meaning of a text should be clear to each reader;

What is a reluctant fundamentalist? To be reluctant is to have feelings of aversion. A fundamentalist is one who holds on to any set of principles. Then the term of being a reluctant fundamentalist is somewhat an ironic term in this context, because our main character is a person who is not sure what beliefs he should adhere to. The novel “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” is written by Mohsin Hamid and was published in 2007. Our main character, Changez, struggles to find his identity between being an American or Pakistani through certain events in his life.