Out and About

Martin Marty and Fundamentalism

When a long-time reader and supporter of Pietisten invited me to join him at a local University of Chicago gathering to hear Martin Marty talk about Fundamentalism, I accepted gladly. Though I have never attended the U of C, I value its impact on me. Many of my professors through the years — Zenos Hawkinson, Mel Soneson, and Karl Olsson of North Park and Paul Sonnack, Paul Sponheim, and Robert Roth of Luther Northwestern Seminary, to mention a few — studied at the University of Chicago.

Martin Marty is well-known and popular in scholarly and theological circles. Several veterans of U of C gatherings imformed us that attendance for this event was triple the usual attendance at such functions. Dr. Marty, an ordained Lutheran pastor, is the Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Modern Christianity. He is author of forty books, senior editor of The Christian Century, editor of context, and co-editor of Church History. In addition to these activities, Dr. Marty is the director of a five-year project to study fundamentalist movements around the world.

I would expect a person this busy to be all worn out by now, but Marty is fresh, lively, friendly, and energetic and has a good sense of humor to boot. The project on Fundamentalism, he informed us, is sponsored by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and administered by the University of Chicago. Among the faiths with fundamentalist religious movements are Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Sikhism.

Marty said they have adopted a motto from Spinoza for their work: “When I set out to understand human actions, I made a sedulous effort not to laugh, not to cry, not to denounce, but to understand.” Defining fundamentalism has been a big task and a major contribution of the project. Some characteristics beliefs of those who fit the description of fundamentalist include: Everything of ultimate significance has been revealed by God in the past and is found in final form in a text that is sealed to addition or subtraction; God is a male deity and male hierarchy in society is divinely ordained; and the modern world is corrupt and must be resisted.

Dr. Marty said that their office got a number calls asking if Mr. Koresh and his Waco, Texas group were fundamentalist. The answer was no, because they believed that new revelation in the present had higher authority than the text. There is a distinction between fundamentalist and spiritualist movements. I had not made such a clear distinction, and this shed some light on things for me. In this light, I can see that fundamentalists often get a bad rap and are easily and unfairly identified with anything extreme.

It appears that Marty and project Associate Director R. Scott Appleby work hard to discern clearly. Debra Ladestro (1993) quotes Marty: “In the Middle Ages, they used to draw maps that showed all of the known world, and then in the unknown world they would draw dragons and write, ‘Here be monsters.’ Well, fundamentalists aren’t all monsters. And we have to learn when they aren’t and why they aren’t.”

Ladestro, D. (1993, April). “Is fundamentalism fundamentally changing society?” University of Chicago Magazine, p. 21.

The Fourth at Finn Point

No one can accuse us of heading to Pine Lake in Northern Wisconsin because of the great weather. For several years we have made an Independence Day trek to the retreat of the Nasi family on Finn Point. Saunas help make up for the lack of sunshine, and friendship and good conversation make up for rain and clouds. This year the weather was better than usual. The 100 or so people who gathered for the Pine Lake Fourth of July Party on the Nasi grounds were only drenched twice.

As wide a range of ages as one finds in church were gathered for the Finn Point Fourth. There were lots of children, lots of elder citizens, and the ages in between. We left Finn Point a bit troubled, however. Our trouble is not with the weather nor with the food nor with the hospitality. A nagging question about discrimination troubles us. For the first time, a Findlander did not win the Annual Best Hat Contest, but the Italian who did sported a hat from Helsinki. Second and third prizes went to Finns as usual. Is it accidental, a matter of low quality hats, or is there some other reason the Swedes were passed over?

Notes in lieu of a Sport Report

The Sport Prophet has been holding his pen away from the paper, the Twins are in the cellar, the basketball season is over with the trophy that belongs in Boston residing in Chicago, and Greg LaMonde is out of the Tour de France; so we will forget about sports this issue and pass along a few notes.

Zenos Hawkinson received the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters at the North Park Commencement in May. The degree is most fitting because Zenos embodies the quality and spirit that “humane letters” suggests. Pietisten is honored to be able to print Dr. Hawkinson’s Charge to the Class of 1993 (p. 11).

Just published: United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, An Ecumenical Venture by Arthur L. Merrill. This book is a history of UTS, now 30-years-old. Its roots go back into the 19th century to the School of Theology of Yankton College, Yankton, South Dakota and Mission House Theological Seminary in Plymouth, Wisconsin. Yankton was founded to prepare pastors for Congregational Christian Churches and Mission House to prepare pastors for the Evangelical and Reformed Church. United was created as a result of the merging of these denominations into the United Church of Christ.

UTS has been an ecumenical venture in many ways. Both the Copyeditor and the Managing Editor have spent wonderful years of study at United. I can personally testify to the school’s ecumenical spirit. As I write this, I recall material for a Sport Report. In the Autumns of 1965 and 1966, UTS fielded a football team. The squad of 13, coached by Dr. Don White who taught Process Theology on the side, tackled Stillwater Prison three times. Two times UTS left the premises with the sweet taste of victory in their hearts. As quarterback of this ecumenical team, I speak for our outstanding receiver Mike Groh (see p. 14) and the rest of the team when I say that failure to report these gridiron exploits is one of the few omissions of consequence in Dr. Merrill’s fine book. For your copy, write United Theological Seminary, 3000 5th St. NW, New Brighton, Minnesota 55112. Enclose $25.00. — PJ