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Towards a definition of Fundamentalism

I recently asked Jim West what his definition of a Fundamentalist was and this has led to some disagreement between Jim and Joe Cathey. The problem is that for most people the word "Fundamentalist" is nothing more than a term of abuse for those more theologically conservative than themselves. For example, a humanist might refer to all Christians as "Fundamentalists", while a liberal Christian might call all Evangelicals by that name, a member of the "Evangelical Left" might refer to more conservative Evangelicals as such, and so on. The definition thus depends on your own perspective.

Theological Journals On-line!

Over the past three years I have been working hard to make a range of helpful material available on-line free-of-charge. In most cases this has involved obtaining copyright permission from writers, editors and publishers and then scanning the article and then publishing it in HTML or PDF format. In the vast majority of cases the people I have contacted have been delighted to give me the necessary permission. It is encouraging that a number of Evangelical Journals are now working to make their own material available in this way.

The Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society leads the way in this and has all its articles from 2004 to 1995 on-line. In my opinion they set the standard that others should follow. Grace Theological Journal has a number of sample articles on-line, as does Westminster Theological Journal. I understand that a number of other journals are also working towards publishing their complete back-issues. I will post information on this blog as they become available. If anyone else hears of any - please let me know.

It is often said that the Internet is filled with unreliable and poor quality material. Surely this should be a challenge to fill it with the results of good scholarship! I hope that many more journals will soon be available in this way.

Bookselling moving to cyberspace

The Daily Telegraph had an interesting article on Saturfay 26th November:

Book trade shifts from dusty shops to cyberspace By Simon Heffer

In it Simon Heffer laments the passing away of large numbers of small secondhand bookshops in favour of on-line services such as the Advanced Book Exchange. I know of many owners of bookshops who via the rise of the Internet with alarm, but also many others who have eagerly exploited this new market place. Pendlebury's Bookshop, for example, has succeeded not only in maintaining an excellent bookshop in North London, but now sells internationally to a potentially vast customer base via the Internet.

Perhaps a bigger threat to the secondhand book trade is the Amazon marketplace. Instead of selling your old books to a bookshop for a fraction of the market price (around 25%) more and more people are choosing to sell via Amazon and get a much better price (perhaps 75% after payment of Marketplace fees). As this becomes more commonplace bookshops may find it much harder to acquire stock, making a move to Internet-only sales necessary in order to cut their overheads.

Responding to Gail Riplinger on King James Onlyism

I was recently given a copy of New Age Bible Versions by Home Economics lecturer Gail Riplinger. It is sad that such a book has achieved such notoriety, given that its arguments are so flawed. I was grateful for the work done by James R. White in his book:

James R. White, The King James Only Controversy: Can You Trust the Modern Translations? Bethany House Publishers, 1995. Pbk. ISBN: 1556615752. pp.286.

and for his on-line article, available here.

I know from personal experience how seductive this kind of conspiracy theory can be and can only hope that common sense and sound reasoning will ultimately prevail.

Update: 9th June 2006:

Observant readers of this blog will hav noticed that this entry has been been graced by a visit from Mrs Riplinger herself. When I read that Gail now styles herself "Dr" I wondered how she had managed to earn this qualification, but am reliable informed that she hasn't - it is an honorary doctorate from Hyles-Anderson College. While this institution can award these pieces of paper to however they wish it is generally regarded as very bad form to use them in order to mislead people into thinking that you have an earned qualification.

I am still awaintg a reply from Kent State University regarding which courses she taught there. It seems clear that whatever courses Mrs Riplinger taught within the Home Economics Department at Kent State, they are all a long way from textual criticism and theology!

4/7/06: New Comment:

Dear Mr Bradshaw,

I note that you are in the process of investigating Dr Mrs Riplinger's background at Kent State. Should that investigation vindicate the comments that she has posted, will you be issuing a public apology to her?

Yours sincerely

Alan O'Reilly

- Of course if Mrs Riplinger taught anything that is remotely connected with Textual Criticism and Theology she deserves an apology. Her own comment in my blog does not lead to me to think that this is the case.

It would seem from Bob & Gretchen Passantino's research on the subject:

New Age Bible Versions: A Critical Review

That my description is accurate:

Gail Riplinger does not have any advanced degrees in Bible, theology, linguistics, textual criticism, or any other academic subject related to the subject of this book. She has not been associated with any well-known, accepted counter cult organization or expert, nor has she had previous books published on biblical issues. No reputable biblical scholar has endorsed her thesis or her arguments. Riplinger has advanced degrees in Industrial and Environmental Design
(a branch of what used to be called Home Economics) and taught Family and Consumer Studies and Retail Space Plans (Home Economics) for a few years at Kent State University in Ohio. When she is asked what facility she has in biblical languages, she says that as a school girl she took Latin, and after graduation from high school, she worked as an English tutor with Greek immigrants. On a radio program she admitted she could not read Greek or Hebrew.

It would appear that no apology is necessary on my part.

Library of Congress Announces New Digitisation Project

The United States Library of Congress has announced the creation of the World Digital Library today, a project that's also just received its first $3 million in funding from Google. Complete story here.

Tyndale Bulletin Vol 56 No 2 (2005) table of contents

David G. Firth, “Play It Again Sam: The Poetics of Narrative Repetition in 1 Samuel 1-7,” pp. 1-17.

Peter J. Leithart, “Counterfeit Davids: Davidic Restoration and the Architecture of 1-2 Kings,” pp.19-33.

Peter M. Head, “An Unidentified Theological Fragment from the Fifth Century in a Private Collection in Cambridge (De Hamel MS 373),” pp.35-38.

Edward Adams, “The Coming of the Son of Man in Mark's Gospel,” pp. 39-61.

G. K. Beale, “The Descent of the Eschatological Temple in the Form of the Spirit at Pentecost: Part 2: Corroborating Evidence,” pp. 63-85.

Gary S. Shogren, “The ‘Ultracharismatics’ of Corinth and the Pentecostals of Latin America as the Religion of the Disaffected,” pp. 91-110.

Richard Fellows, “Renaming in Paul's Churches: The Case of Crispus-Sosthenes Revisited,” pp. 111-

Darian R. Lockett, “The Spectrum of Wisdom and Eschatology in the Epistle of James and 4QInstruction,” pp.131-

Table of Contents for Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Vol. 30, No. 2 (2005) now available

Antony Cothey, "Ethics and Holiness in the Theology of Leviticus," pp.131-151. [Abstract] [PDF]

Katherine Stott, "Finding the Lost Book of the Law: Re-reading the Story of ‘The Book of the Law’ (Deuteronomy–2 Kings) in Light of Classical Literature," pp.153-169. [Abstract] [PDF] [References]

Yaron Peleg, "Love at First Sight? David, Jonathan, and the Biblical Politics of Gender," pp. 171-189. [Abstract] [PDF]

John Zhu-En Wee, "Maacah and Ish-Tob," pp.191-199. [Abstract] [PDF]

Kenneth A. Ristau, "Breaking Down Unity: An Analysis of 1 Chronicles 21.1–22.1," pp. 201-221. [Abstract] [PDF]

Dan Olson, "What Got the Gatekeepers into Trouble?" pp.223-242. [Abstract] [PDF]

Gerald Wilson, "Preknowledge, Anticipation, and the Poetics of Job," pp. 243-256. [Abstract] [PDF]

Gordon Wenham on Pentateuchal Studies on-line

I have recently uploaded Gordon Wenham's summary of developments in academic Pentateuchal studies up to 1996:

Gordon Wenham, "Pentateuchal Studies Today," Themelios 22:1 (October 1996): 3-13.

More articles from Themelios are available here.