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The 20th and 21st Centuries- Rise of Fundamentalism, Evangelicalism, and ProgressiveismAlbert Einstein - Before moving to religious movements of the last century, no discussion of science The Rise of Fundamentalism - In the 19th century there were two significant movements in Christianity that would be played out in the coming centuries - conservatism and liberalism. Liberalism in particular adopted many of the ideas from the philosophy of the times, and rejected the more orthodox teachings of Christianity. Finally, in the 20th century some Christians had had enough. They set out to formalize what it meant to be a Christian. Fundamentalism was born in the 1920s. Theologians at the conservative Princeton Theological Seminary played a role in this movement with their writings. In 1909, Lyman Steward, a businessman and Christian philanthropist, wrote a 12-volume series called The Fundamentals. This series of books became the foundation for the fundamentalist movement in the United States. Fundamentalists belong to all the major Christian denominations, and fundamentalism exists in all of the major religions today (especially troubling is the current Islamic fundamentalism and its beliefs regarding the lack of sanctity of human life). The fundamentalist belief often assumes the Bible is inerrant; hence, the fundamentalist cosmology follows that of the Iron and Bronze age understanding of the Bible. For example, fundamentalists may believe that the earth was formed as recently as 4,000 years ago. Evolution is rejected out of hand. The experimentation with stem cells is also another point of departure between many fundamentalists and scientists. There are many points of disagreement withscientific findings. Evangelicalism is often confused with fundamentalism, although the two movements share some common characteristics. Evangelicalism is often characterized by Biblical inerrancy, and this causes conflicts between evangelicals and modern science. Progressive Christianity is a relative new movement that can be considered to be a branch off of liberal Christianity of the 19th century. Progressive Christians have a metaphorical understanding of the Bible, and attempt to reconcile modern science with their Christian beliefs. The Argument Over the Creation - Conservative and fundamentalist Christians reject the evolutionary and "big bang" stories of the history of the planet, and insist on adhering to the Biblical stories of the creation (there are two of them) in Genesis. "Creationism" is a word that has been coined to describe the process whereby God created the universe in 7 days. Scientists were content to let religious believers have the right to believe in creationism until they began in intercede in the schools and change the way science was taught to children. Scientists became alarmed and felt that this jeopardized the scientific future and competitiveness of the U.S. in the world economy. Thus, there have been bitter, vocal outbreaks between the two camps over the creation story. "Intelligent design" is another way to suggest that God interceded into the evolutionary process by laying out the design of life found in nature. Scientists reject this theory as well, and consider it a threat to an enlightened, modern understanding of biology, cosmology, and the other natural sciences. This battle still rages in the United States. |
Video Clips
Dr. Joerg Rieger,
Our Fall of 2012 Lecture Speaker
Dr. Joerg Rieger on Anselm of Canterbury
Dr. Joerg Rieger, Perkins School of Theology, on Progressive Christianity
Rev. Robin Meyers,
Our Spring 2012 Lecture Speaker
Oklahoma Minister Claims Jesus Is Not God
Robin Meyers on the Christian Right
Bishop John Shelby Spong,
Our Fall 2011 Lecture Speaker
Beyond Theism -- John Shelby Spong
The Call of Jesus -- John Shelby Spong
Michael Dowd and Connie Barlow
Our Spring 2013 Lecture Speakers
Michael Dowd - "Darwin Day Celebration" 2011, Omaha
Fred Plummer
Our Fall 2011 Lecture Speaker
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