James D G Dunn (editor) - Fundamentalisms: Threats and Ideologies in the Modern World

James D. G. Dunn, FBA, is Lightfoot Professor of Divinity Emeritus at Durham University. He is the author of many benchmark books in the field of New Testament studies, including Jesus and the Spirit (1975), Unity and Diversity in the New Testament (1977, 2006), Christology in the Making (1980), The Partings of the Ways between Christianity and Judaism and their Significance for Christianity (1991) and Christianity in the Making (3 vols. 2003, 2009, 2015).

For those anxious to understand contemporary fundamentalism (of whatever complexion), but are weary of incessant political and media oversimplifications, this book will be warmly welcomed by specialists and non-specialists alike. It consistently combines cultural breadth with scholarly precision and depth. Sometimes refreshingly combative, often grounded in recent primary research, and always stylistically accessible, the various chapters are presented within a generously cross-disciplinary framework. The book outclasses certain rival overviews currently in print. More crucially, it will also help many of us to avoid the process whereby (as Linda Woodhead describes it in a thoughtful Epilogue) the joining up of the dots of varied fundamentalist groups to produce a unified global threat oversimplifies and exaggerates what it seeks to contain.

Graham Howes, Emeritus Fellow in Social and Political Sciences, Trinity Hall, Cambridge

This welcome addition to the literature on fundamentalism offers a variety of perspectives on a highly complex phenomenon. The appearance of militant religiosity as a counterpoint to the secularity and pluralism consequent on globalization deserves to be recognized as one of the key issues of our time, and the book makes a valuable contribution to this vital intellectual project.

Malise Ruthven, author of Fundamentalism: A Very Short Introduction and Fundamentalism: The Search for Meaning

FUNDAMENTALISMS

Threats and Ideologies in the
Modern World

Edited by J AMES D. G. D UNN

Published in 2016 by
I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd
London New York
www.ibtauris.com

Copyright Editorial Selection and Preface 2016 James D. G. Dunn

Copyright Individual Chapters 2016 Karen Armstrong, James D. G. Dunn, Peter Herriot, Ed Husain, Laura Janner-Klausner, John Lennox, Julius Lipner, Diarmaid MacCulloch, Peter R. Neumann, Martyn Percy, Linda Woodhead

The right of James D. G. Dunn to be identified as the editor of this work has been asserted by the editor in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Every attempt has been made to gain permission for the use of the images in this book.

Any omissions will be rectified in future editions.

References to websites were correct at the time of writing.

Library of Modern Religion 47

ISBN: 978 1 78076 950 9

eISBN: 978 0 85773 909 4

A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

A full CIP record is available from the Library of Congress

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: available

CONTENTS

Diarmaid MacCulloch

James D. G. Dunn

Peter Herriot

Martyn Percy

Ed Husain

Laura Janner-Klausner

Julius Lipner

Peter R. Neumann

Karen Armstrong

John Lennox

Linda Woodhead

PREFACE

For many years fundamentalism has been quite a narrow, specialist issue, important in more conservative circles of Christianity, but more an historical curiosity than a subject for substantive scholarship. But in recent years fundamentalist beliefs and policies have become major issues in several world religions and major factors in several international crises. The questions and challenges they pose demand an attention that has hitherto been largely confined to specialist studies and limited to university classrooms. Do all ideologies have forms that simplify beliefs and demand unquestioning commitment? Is fundamentalism an unavoidable expression, in at least some cases, of strongly held beliefs and convictions? Are all fundamentalisms a threat to more moderate expressions of belief, as well as to those outside the belief system?

Somewhat surprisingly, fundamentalism has not received the scholarly attention it deserves and requires. This volume seeks to remedy that deficit. The following essays focus on several contemporary fundamentalisms, the beliefs they express, the attitudes they foster, and the policies they promote. They bring together an amazing range of information and experience, insight and critique, and should make a significant contribution to understanding the fundamentalist phenomenon as it impinges on traditional religions, on national priorities and on international policies.

The chapters here published are the principal fruit of a focused consultation organised by the British Academy in London in February 2013, edited and refined in the light of the consultation itself, and well reflecting its value. The conversations would not have been possible without the energetic organisation of Tim Brassell of the British Academy, and the concluding discussion was chaired by Sir Adam Roberts, President of the British Academy. To all concerned: for a memorable day, many thanks. As also to Alex Wright of I.B.Tauris for making the fruits of these labours more widely available.

Bibliography

Goodman, M., Rome and Jerusalem: The Clash of Ancient Civilizations (London: Penguin, 2008).

CONTRIBUTORS

Karen Armstrong, OBE, FRSL, a prominent and prolific religious historian (Washington Post), is the award-winning author of A History of God (1993), The Battle for God: Fundamentalism in Judaism, Christianity and Islam (2000) and Fields of Blood: Religion and the History of Violence (2014).

James D. G. Dunn is Emeritus Professor of Divinity at Durham University. He is the author of many benchmark books in the field of New Testament studies, including Jesus and the Spirit (1975), Christology in the Making (1980), The Partings of the Ways between Christianity and Judaism and their Significance for Christianity (1991) and Christianity in the Making (3 vols. 2003, 2009, 2015).

Peter Herriot was formerly Professor of Organisational Psychology at Birkbeck College, University of London. He is the author of Religious Fundamentalism and Social Identity (2007) and of Religious Fundamentalism: Global, Local and Personal (2008).

Ed Husain is Adjunct Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, New York. A cofounder of The Quilliam Foundation (now Quilliam), he is the author of The Islamist: Why I Joined Radical Islam in Britain, What I Saw Inside and Why I Left (2007).

Laura Janner-Klausner, a prominent voice in Britain on interfaith relations, is a British-Israeli rabbi who in 2011 became the first Senior Rabbi to the Movement for Reform Judaism.

John Lennox is Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford and a Fellow in Mathematics and Philosophy of Science at Green Templeton College, Oxford. His several books on science and religion include