Award-winning author Rev. Martin Pable, OFM Cap, offers a concise presentation of the basic beliefs and differences of Catholics and Fundamentalists. With an updated section focusing on Catholic and Muslim Fundamentalists.
Catholics & Fundamentalists explains the allure of Fundamentalist churches and provides clear, concise explanations of:
- The origins and appeal of Fundamentalism
- The problems with the Fundamentalist approach to the Bible
- The Catholic understanding of salvation
- The best way to respond to Fundamentalists
- What to do when friends or relatives join a Fundamentalist church
Catholics of all ages and backgrounds will benefit from the straightforward answers, wise guidance, and practical suggestions for reaching out to Fundamentalists in a spirit of Christian charity and understanding.
EXCERPT: What is Fundamentalism?
Origins of Fundamentalism
Fundamentalism is not the same as traditionalism or conservatism. These tendencies are present in every major religion. Modern Protestant fundamentalism began as a reaction to major intellectual upheavals in the late nineteenth century. In biology, the evolutionary theory of Charles Darwin seemed to contradict the biblical accounts of creation by postulating that the earth gradually evolved over a period of billions of years and that humans themselves have evolved from lower forms of life. In psychology, Sigmund Freud claimed that human freedom of the will is an illusion, that our choices are really determined by unconscious motvies buried deep in our pysche. And Karl Marx maintained that religion is a creation of the ruling classes to control the working class and the poor. "Don't worry if you have to suffer in this life, you will be rewarded in the life to come." He dismissed religion as "the opium of the people," a drug to dull them to their oppression by the upper class.
In response to these attacks on traditional religion, some liberal Protestant scholars tried to make some accomodations to the new scientific thinking. They began to study the Bible more critically, taking into account the various literary forms in which the Bible was written, as well as the findings of archaeology and cultural anthropology. They concluded that not all biblical accounts had to be understood literally, that evolution did not neccessarily contradict the Scriptures, and that some of the biblical truths were open to various interpretations...
