On May 21, 1922, liberal pastor Harry Emerson Fosdick preached his famous “Shall the Fundamentalists Win?” sermon. In commemorating its 100th anniversary, liberal Episcopal writer Diana Butler Bass conflates fundamentalism with American evangelicalism and Putinist Russian Orthodoxy as white ethnonationalism whose goals are dictatorially political and not so much theological.
Bass’ conflation is unfortunate not only because it is absurdly unfair but because the anniversary is important and merits serious reflection. American Protestantism’s division between liberals and conservatives more than 100 years ago has religious, political, and cultural implications for today.
(Read rest here.)
Comment by MJ on May 26, 2022 at 7:05 pm
Nice article, Mark. Bass has made a career out of simplistic pseudohistory motivated by a hatred of her former evangelical faith.
Comment by David on May 27, 2022 at 11:19 am
“ Christians who believe in a Savior born of a virgin and risen from the dead are more likely to resist demonic worldly ideologies than are adherents of a thin spiritual moralism.”
Exactly. Those churches that take their cues from the spirit of the age have willingly relinquished the very resources that would enable them to see through the ideological narratives that have wrought so much harm around the world.
Comment by Dean Curry on May 28, 2022 at 9:50 am
And next year we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of J. Gresham Machen’s powerful response to Fosdick, “Chrisitianity and Liberalism.” “[T]he great redemptive religion which has always been known as Christianity,” wrote Machen in 1923, “is battling against a totally diverse type of religious belief, which is only the more destructive of the Christian faith because it makes use of traditional Christian terminology . . . . [V]astly more important than all questions with regard to methods of preaching is the root question as to what it is that shall be preached.” One hundred years later Machen is still spot on.
Comment by Paul Zesewitz on May 29, 2022 at 7:19 pm
If Bass had really done her homework on Fosdick, she’d know what Fosdick both knew and admitted—that there was a difference between a theological conservative and a fundamentalist. Fundamentalists, he said, we’re basically out to wage war against him and his liberal theology. But he had spoken to many conservatives who, though they disagreed with his viewpoint, said they would pray for him. As far as Bass trying to tie American fundamentalists in with Putin’s dictatorship, I’m not gonna dignify that with a comment.
Comment by Rev. Dr. Lee D Cary (ret. UM clergy) on May 30, 2022 at 10:27 am
No offense, but I find the debate above useless.
There is a sea change underway in American Christendom. The liberal “Seven Sisters” are all either dead or dying. Their demise in inevitable and irreversible.
Debates between a deceased Fosdick and a living Bass are likewise absurd.
All around us a sea change in American Christendom is underway. And the IRD would be better off, and more relevant, if it attended to understanding that shift, who it attracts, and what that means for the future of Church in America.
I read little of that on this site. To date, it’s an echo chamber for the aged and deceased.
Comment by Mark on May 30, 2022 at 12:58 pm
Dr. Cary,
I think you are on to something. There is such a fatigue among the laity with the instututional church and, frankly, institutions in general. I’m not so sure that ‘traditional’ congregations in the US will automatically flock to the new GMC. I suspect a lot will just say, “the heck with ’em all”… and simply choose to go it alone-ish, at least for a while. Many already have. And I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. ALL the institutions in this country have earned a very loud wakeup call.
Comment by Andrew Freeman on May 30, 2022 at 10:44 pm
Bass is like all ex-evangelicals, her “religion” basically consists of bashing evangelicals. If you look at her FB page, it is pure hate from top to bottom. What she “knows” about Christian history would fit on a Post-It note. She replies the Carl Sagan lie that “millions” of people were persecuted as witches. Amazing that this pathological liar has any following at all. Apparently that commandment about not bearing false witness is not in her abridged Bible. Don’t let her sugary smile fool you, this woman’s contempt for biblical Christianity runs very deep.
Comment by Jeff on May 31, 2022 at 10:52 am
Dr. Cary,
Thank you so much for your excellent comment.
>>>> There is a sea change underway in American Christendom. The liberal “Seven Sisters” are all either dead or dying. Their demise in inevitable and irreversible. <<<<
Amen! To the Glory of GOD and the Coming of His Kingdom! The direction of that sea change for "global North" Christendom is out of calm (tepid?) towards tempest-driven… rough seas are ahead but those in the boat with the Master will prevail by His Power and His Word. Through the storm comes the harvest!
Blessings
Jeff
Comment by Rev. Dr. Lee D Cary (ret. UM clergy) on June 4, 2022 at 3:15 pm
Mark & Jeff:
Thank you.
Lee Cary