From a friend:

FINDING BIBLE TRUTH – FUNDAMENTALISM

The essence of Fundamentalism is an unconditional acceptance that the Bible is literally infallible and that nothing written in it may be questioned. A fundamentalist will insist that anyone who does not believe this cannot be a Christian. It was a fundamentalist view of the Bible that caused Dr John Lightfoot, following Archbishop John Ussher, to declare that Adam was created on October 23, 4004 BC, at nine o’clock in the morning. Each of the very large number of fundamentalist sects has its own interpretation of what the Bible says and each will insist that this dogma must all be accepted by its members. I find it encouraging that even within the best disciplined groups the human spirit of independence keeps breaking out – resulting in the fragmentation of those groups – which at least gives a wider choice of doctrine to choose from.

Fundamentalism relies on dogma, not on faith. Allow me to explain the difference. Our beliefs can be divided into two parts: those that are based on established fact or on evidence which we consider sufficient to remove any possibility of their being wrong, and those which we accept in spite of a shortfall in evidence – those that we accept by faith. There is no formal evidence of God, nevertheless by faith Christians accept Him. Essentially faith covers all those areas of belief where complete factual evidence is not available. If new facts become available it will be obvious that our faith must be modified to accommodate them. If you refuse to do so, and hold on to an article of faith in spite of facts that clearly contradict it, then you have not faith but a dogma. All too often unreasoning credulity, which is falsely called faith, is promoted as the crowning Christian grace

Many of the established Churches are to some degree fundamentalist in that they will not publicly adopt the more rational views of the Bible discussed in their theological colleges and privately accepted by perhaps a majority of their ministers.

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Intellectual freedom and fundamentalism cannot co-exist. Intellectual honesty and fundamentalism cannot co-exist. An open mind on matters of religious belief and fundamentalism cannot co-exist. An enquiring mind and fundamentalism cannot co-exist. Scientific reality and fundamentalism cannot co-exist. Yet normal intelligent decent people swell their ranks, people who would strongly object to any attempt to control their ideas in any other field.

The history of theology over the last century and a half may be seen as a steady reduction in certainty as Bible scholars have exercised their freedom to show how many of the old assumptions were without justification, and as rapid changes in society has shaken peoples belief in old accepted standards. It is in opposition to this erosion that fundamentalism has flourished as people fear the loss of an old sense of security more than they welcome a new and more honest faith. Expanding on this, four main reasons for fundamentalism’s acceptance can be suggested: First that a dogma offers a relief from uncertainty – all the answers are there, neatly packaged, within the Sect’s credo – acceptable so long as you do not trouble to examine them too closely. Secondly a sect, particularly one that has not had time to fossilise, is often much more exciting, allowing far more opportunity to participate actively in the life of the Church. Thirdly, for the intellectually lazy or intellectually challenged, a dogma relieves you of any need to think about your faith. Finally acceptance of the dogma will often gain you entry to a close circle or society of welcoming friends. For the young, who (often correctly) see the local parish Church as being run by a complacent dispenser of platitudes for the benefit of a geriatric congregation, a small local branch of a Sect can offer a perfect outlet for their well-intentioned energy and zeal.

The main stock-in-trade of the fundamentalist is certainty. In the secular world all of the old values are being challenged and the difference between right and wrong is continually being blurred. Where once the moral values of society, however hypocritical, were clearly defined, now vocal apologists can be found for every indulgence. The fundamentalists will tell you that all the rules are set out in the Bible, which they will interpret for you; there is no longer any need to worry, or to think, or to question. Obey us and you will go to Heaven with a clear conscience.

But surely to a Christian the Bible must be a guide, not a rule-book, and surely the freedom from the rule-book of the Hebrew Law offered by Paul should not be replaced by a new set of laws, based on nothing better than idiosyncratic and often flawed interpretations.

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If you were to ask how you might by rational discussion convince a committed fundamentalist of errors in his beliefs the answer would have to be that it is probably not possible. Any questioning of any detail of his dogma is an attack on God, on his sect, and on him personally. Show him blatantly obvious errors in the Bible and he will assume that a complete explanation exists; show him a conflict with observed fact and he will assume that the observations are in error, show him that a different interpretation of something is more logical, or better supported by facts, and he will just assume that you are wrong. If you urge him to check the facts out for himself he will say that there is no need, the Bible tells him the truth. The armour of dogma (which he will call faith) is impervious to fact or reason. The only hope may be to stir the core of perversity in him so that he himself may start to question what he has been told.

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From http://www.users.bigpond.com/wyndkelm/Fundamentalism.html