The Resurgence of Religion

by Zeidan, David

• ISBN13: 9789004128774
• ISBN10: 9004128778
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-12-01
• Publisher: Brill Academic Pub

Summary

This book is a comparative study of basic themes in Christian and Islamic fundamentalist discourses, analyzing and comparing texts from a wide variety of fundamentalist leaders and movements, looking for family resemblances" and significant differences in order to better understand the contemporary phenomenon of religious resurgence. After placing fundamentalisms in a theoretical framework, the study looks at selected themes important to fundamentalists, noting resemblances and differences. These themes include their anti-secularist stance, their theocentric worldviews, their reliance on inerrant sacred scriptures, and their attitudes to politics, government, state and democracy. The study also looks at the fundamentalist view of the world as a perennial battlefield between the forces of good and those of evil, in the realm of ideologies as well as politics and the legitimation of violence."

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	ix
Notes	x
Abbreviations	xi
Introduction	1	(1)
Preliminary Notes	1	(1)
Main Thesis	2	(1)
Methods of Research	2	(3)
Theoretical Considerations	5	(4)
Importance of Fundamentalist Discourse	9	(4)
Selection of Primary Sources	13	(2)
Literature Review	15	(4)
Summary of Chapters	19	(4)
Historical Background to Protestant Christian and Islamic Fundamentalisms	23	(38)
Christian Fundamentalism	23	(22)
Introduction	23	(1)
Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism	24	(5)
On the Fringes---The Hard Right or the Lunatic Fringe	29	(2)
Historical Outline	31	(11)
Some Characteristics of Contemporary Protestant Fundamentalism	42	(3)
Historical Background of Islamic Fundamentalism	45	(16)
Introduction	45	(1)
Some Causes Offered for Islamic Fundamentalism	46	(2)
History	48	(13)
The Phenomenon of Fundamentalism: Theoretical and Methodological Considerations	61	(32)
Resurgence of Religion	61	(15)
Is the Term ``Fundamentalism'' Usable across Boundaries?	70	(6)
Definitions & Attributes	76	(17)
Categorization of Fundamentalisms	83	(1)
Are Comparisons Valid?	84	(9)
Anti-secularism as a Main Common Denominator	93	(35)
Introduction	93	(9)
Anti-Secularist Stance of Fundamentalisms	93	(3)
Views on the Historical Development of the Secularist Paradigm	96	(5)
Appearance of Secularism in the Muslim World and Reaction to it	101	(1)
Fundamentalist Critique of Secularism	102	(24)
Secularism is Antithetical to Religion	103	(3)
Secularism is Based on Wrong Presuppositions	106	(3)
Secularism Privatizes Religion and Fragments Culture	109	(5)
Secularism is Anthropocentric, Yet Devalues Man	114	(2)
Secularism Promotes the Myth of Progress and Utopianism	116	(2)
Secularism Corrupts Faith, Law and Morality	118	(4)
Secularism is the Source of Contemporary Evil deologies	122	(2)
Secularism is Idolatry	124	(2)
Conclusion	126	(2)
Sacred Scripture as God's Revealed Standard and Law	128	(36)
Introduction	128	(3)
Centrality of Scripture	131	(12)
The Right Attitude to Scripture	143	(5)
Interpretation of Scripture	148	(8)
Scripture as Law	156	(6)
Conclusion	162	(2)
Attitudes to Religion, Politics, and the State	164	(36)
Introduction	164	(3)
Attitudes to Governments and to Political Participation	167	(16)
State Legal System	183	(5)
Some Views on the Integration of State and Religion	188	(4)
Who has the Right to Rule for God?	192	(6)
Conclusion	198	(2)
The Past Golden Age and Contemporary Religious Politics	200	(31)
Looking Back to the Golden Age	200	(6)
The Goal of Religious Politics	206	(3)
Gradual Implementation by Stages	209	(7)
Views on Democracy and Power Sharing	216	(12)
Conclusion	228	(3)
The Contemporary Battle	231	(46)
Introduction	231	(1)
Various Aspects of the Battle	232	(11)
Fundamentalist Separatism	243	(7)
Impact of Eschatology	250	(3)
Conspiracy Theories	253	(10)
Legitimation of Resistance and Violence	263	(11)
Conclusion	274	(3)
Conclusion	277	(6)
Discussion of Findings	280	(2)
Final Word	282	(1)
Appendix: Biographies of Primary Source Authors	283	(38)
Islamic	283	(21)
Christian	304	(17)
Bibliography	321	(52)
Primary Sources	321	(16)
Secondary Sources	337	(33)
References	370	(1)
Scriptures	371	(2)
Index	373