“Know Thyself” — That’s Socrates — and it makes sense.  I recently read “Reforming Fundamentalism” (a terrible title, by the way) by George Marsden, a church historian at Notre Dame, about the developments in American Christianity in the part of the church that actually believes that the Bible is true, that Jesus is the Son of God, that He died for our sins, rose from the dead.  Meaning, us.

It centers on the founding of Fuller Theological Seminary, in Pasadena, and its development over the past few decades.  Fuller is important: it’s the premiere reasonable evangelical seminary, it’s big, its graduates are pastors all over the West.  It’s efforts to be reasonable have been the theme that has driven its history, both for good, and (in my opinion) for not-so-good.

Fundamentalism started healthy.  It developed from some very well-written paper-back books of articles on the essentials of the Christian faith.  But after the Scopes Trial (remember “Inherit the Wind”?), it descended into obscurantism.  Sort of “My mind is made up; don’t confuse me with facts.”  After World War II, a handful of serious Christian scholars started Fuller in Pasadena with the goal of being faithful to the Gospel, believing in the reliability of the Bible — but also being careful about scholarship.  Considering, and answering objections to the faith in a responsible way.  One of their key tenets was the belief that the Bible is completely reliable, the inspired word of God. Read on…