“It depends on what you mean” - A Study

In the latest issue of “The Officer”, Commissioner Robert Street describes his being confronted with his Candidate’s Papers and seeing the question: “Do you have the Blessing of the Clean Heart?” He asked the DC, “What does that mean?” The reply: “Just write ‘Yes’.”

A Review of Candidates’ Application Forms in the New Zealand Territory

(with reference to traditional Salvation Army Holiness teaching

compared with Pentecostal/Charismatic experience over a 40 year period up to 2007)

Discussing my research into the relationship between the Salvation Army and the Pentecostal and charismatic renewal movements, Major Kingsley Sampson referred me to the application papers of Candidates applying for training as Salvation Army officers. He recalled that when he had been working in the Youth Department and processing these papers in the 1980s he had been struck by the number of people testifying to what might be described as a “charismatic” approach to Christian experience rather than a traditional Salvation Army “holiness” experience. He recalls as even more revealing the self-portraits penned by Candidates as part of their Candidates’ lessons, which he was responsible for marking in the late 70s-early 80s. He felt at the time that this could have some influence on the future of Salvation Army culture and theology in New Zealand.

Unfortunately the self-portraits are no longer available (having been returned to the Candidates) but Candidates’ papers may provide a useful insight into the thinking of Salvationists in general in that they represent the views of people who are active in the organisation and committed to it but who are not yet acculturated into professional ministry as officers. With the kind permission of the then Secretary for Personnel, Lt. Colonel Wilfred Arnold, I have gone through all available Candidates papers and attempted to classify them along the lines Kingsley suggested, setting them out on a chart which follows these introductory remarks.

The 479 applications reviewed and analysed, taken from the period 1967-2007, were accessed through the Personnel Section records and the Archives at the Salvation Army Headquarters in Wellington. Because some files were missing, incomplete or unavailable at the time, they are not a complete account – there were actually just under 600 cadets trained in New Zealand during these forty years. However, the over-all picture that emerges is probably representative of the whole. For the most part, this review does not include people who entered officership by way of appointment as Envoys or Auxiliary Captains, as their initial application forms did not request a spiritual self-analysis of this description. Some, however, were included where their papers provided such information. I did not include in the survey overseas (Asian) cadets spending time at the New Zealand Training College, nor Fijian or Tongan candidates except where they were trained in New Zealand rather than in Fiji.

It can be seen that nearly 40% of these officers have resigned their commissions over the years. Analysis of the papers shows that there is no correlation between views expressed as candidates and later resignation. Although some did in fact leave the Salvation Army in order to join charismatic or Pentecostal faith communities, these were not necessarily people who had come into officership with that perspective.

Two major problems beset any attempt to analyse or classify the views expressed by candidates: 

The first is a matter of language – the same words could be used to denote a variety of experiences. The Salvation Army employed a wealth of expressions for the Wesleyan “Holiness” experience, as mediated through the teaching of the American Phoebe Palmer and the Booths and Samuel Logan Brengle in particular: the second blessing, the blessing of the clean heart, holiness, sanctification, purity of heart, the baptism of the Holy Ghost, amongst others. The Army’s traditional language, pre-dating the “pentecostal” movement by some decades, employed expressions like “baptised in or with the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit” but with content sometimes differing theologically from that which came to be assumed by the later Pentecostals and charismatics. At times I have guessed or made assumptions based on some knowledge of individuals concerned in order to assign candidates’ statements to one or other category. I will have made some mistakes. The truth is that there are not only square pegs and round holes but an infinity of shapes to accommodate! And some would find any attempt to separate sheep from goats a futile exercise. The Candidate who wrote, “For many years I struggled on from one rededication to another. I earnestly sought after the victorious Christian life but I didn’t know I needed the ‘second blessing’ of baptism in the Holy Ghost. After years of needless struggling I received this outpouring and infilling of God’s Holy Spirit”, would see his testimony as entirely consistent with traditional Salvationist theology, while the same individual would be regarded by many as an advocate of charismatic experience. The designation “traditional Salvation Army Holiness teaching” fails to take into account that this changed significantly over the years and that the way it manifested by the 1960s was often a somewhat ossified, formulaic presentation, perhaps somewhat removed from the spontaneity of early Salvationism.

The second problem is that it is difficult to compare like with like because the wording of the application forms changed from time to time over the years. For much of the period there were two sources of information:

(a) The “Initial Application Form” included a range of short-answer questions on the candidate’s spiritual life, including “Have you received the Blessing of the Clean Heart? ………… If not, are you seeking it? ………” From 1974 this became “Do you enjoy the blessing of Holiness?” etc.  

(b) Another form was headed “The Candidate’s Personal Experience”.

• Some earlier forms simply requested the candidate to “give a brief account of your life and experience, both before and after your conversion.”
• Most in use in the 1960s, however, began with a series of leading questions to which narrative answers were required. Up to the mid-1970s this included: (“a) How and when you were saved; also a brief record of your personal history up to this time. (b) Whether you enjoy the Blessing of the Clean Heart; if so, when and how you obtained it; if not, whether you are earnestly seeking it.”
• From the later 1970s, this became “(a) How you became a Christian, (b) your experience of the Holy Spirit’s infilling…” etc. This language could be more accommodating of a charismatic or pentecostal interpretation.
• In the mid-1990s the wording was revised again, yet more broadly: “Please attach an account of your spiritual journey (800-1000 words). Please include an account of your conversion, spiritual growth, holiness experience, call to serve as an officer, discipling of others.” In the 1990s the Evaluation forms filled in by a candidate’s “backers” also included a question as to whether the candidate “enjoys the blessing of sanctification.”

At first sight the analysis supports the impression of a broad shift away from the candidates professing an understanding of and a claim to enjoying “holiness” as the Salvation Army traditionally formulated spiritual experience, and towards a more charismatic expression. It also appears to provide evidence for a progressive attenuation of the traditional teaching of holiness in Salvation Army meetings; the categories employed by Booth and Brengle are no longer common currency towards the end of the period. The change in the leading questions means that these conclusions cannot be substantiated with any certainty, although the content of peoples’ accounts of their personal experience does still point in this direction.

As a matter of interest, 6 candidates, applying in 1973, 1976, 1978, 1981, 1985 and 1989 respectively, said that reading Brengle’s books helped them to claim the blessing of Holiness.

For a number of years from the early 1980s, Candidates were required to sign and return a form saying that, “I am accepted with the understanding that I subscribe to the Salvation Army’s non-sacramental position as referred to in The Salvation Army Handbook of Doctrine.” The reason for this was that some Salvationists of a charismatic persuasion tend to be open to or in favour of the Army’s re-adoption of water baptism and, to a lesser extent, of the Lord’s Supper.  A number of candidates referred to their having been water-baptised in connection with their baptism with or infilling by the Holy Spirit, and in some cases their corps officers had performed the rite. This occasioned some tension with the Army’s leadership.

In order to establish some shape and discern trends in the papers, I classified the applications into 5 main categories:

1. Those in line with the Army’s traditional holiness teaching, which posited a crisis experience subsequent to conversion. In many cases, the Candidates had been brought up as Salvationists and had typically made their first commitment as Sunday School children around the age of 7 or 8. These tended to make a new commitment in later teen-age or early twenties and often identified that experience as the second blessing, or blessing of holiness. Others, converted in teens or twenties, came to another point of commitment later on. This was often described as “letting God have complete control of my life”, or some similar expression.

About a year after my conversion I became worried at my inability to keep those things which I had promised to God and so I sought the blessing of the Clean Heart. This for me has been a great struggle but I believe at this moment that I have the blessing and I am growing daily in this experience.

      Approximately a tenth of applicants subscribing to the Army’s traditional teaching on this matter nevertheless acknowledged that they personally had not received this blessing but were still seeking it, so I have bracketed these in a separate column. They are also included in the first category however.

2. Those claiming a Pentecostal or charismatic experience. Sometimes this was explicitly and clearly stated; at other times it has been inferred from other evidence in the papers.

Every born-again Christian, and there aren’t any other types, I believe enjoys the Blessing of the Clean Heart. However, not every Christian enjoys the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and shares in His gifts.

Another wrote:

At a healing meeting, God baptised me with his Holy Spirit and at the same time I received the gift of tongues.

3. Some made no reference to this matter at all. In the earlier papers, some left the short-answer questions blank. In the later papers, requiring a narrative of personal experience without categories being provided, an increasing number simply told their story, showing no particular awareness of either “traditional” or “charismatic” teaching or the language associated with those views. As stated above, this could equally indicate the absence of this teaching, so that candidates did not describe their experience in the traditional formulaic terms, or could follow from the absence of leading questions.

4. Some, possibly in reaction against a perception that people were supposed to be able to identify definite points of “crisis” in their spiritual journey, testified to an experience of gradual deepening of commitment and faith.

My conversion and call to the Lord’s work occurred over a long period of time… and there is no incident that I could cite as particularly significant, but I firmly believe that it is the work of the Holy Spirit.

            Another wrote:

            I do have the Blessing of Holiness, although I don’t recall any specific happening.

5. Finally, some, perhaps coming from the same place as the “gradualists” but wanting to analyse or question the question being asked, took issue with the necessity for two stages or levels of experience (let alone three…).

All Christians enjoy having the Clean Heart, or should if they don’t… I obtained my Clean Heart when I became saved, and to stay this way must continually ask God for forgiveness and for the renewing of the Holy Spirit within my life.

And for the record, I found that my own response to the question, “Have you received the blessing of the clean heart?” had been, “It depends on what you mean…” (The interviewing panel evidently expressed doubts about my doctrinal soundness and a copy of an article on Brengle I had written in Battlepoint quarterly was filed with the papers.)

As a matter of interest I have also recorded:

(a) Those who mentioned previous membership or the influence of members of other churches or groups as significant for them. Most of these were charismatic, although interestingly both the former AOG pastors identified with the classic SA formulation.

(b) Those who mentioned Aggressive Christianity Conference involvement, either as the occasion of their second blessing, or charismatic experience, or as the reason for their application for training as officers.

(c) Those who identified their call to officership as the next big thing after their conversion – it was seen to be the equivalent of the second blessing or an alternative to it. The factor in common was the “full surrender” to God’s will.

Made commitment for officership, which was for me an infilling of the Holy Spirit, at Youth Councils.

A number of candidates described how inadequate teaching of holiness and controversy over Pentecostal views had led to their struggling to clarify just what they believed:

It took me five years to grasp the meaning of Holiness as taught by the Salvation Army. It wasn’t until January 1973 that the truth of Holiness became a complete reality. Up until then the complete doctrine of full sanctification had eluded me, partly the result I feel of confusion over differing interpretations, especially that of the Pentecostal movement.

My impression is that this analysis confirms Kingsley Sampson’s original observation that the language which New Zealand Salvationists used to describe their spiritual journey underwent a change in the latter part of the 20^th century. I suggest this came about as a result of (1) the gradual decline in the teaching of the Salvation Army’s traditional holiness doctrine and experience, and (2) the influence of the charismatic renewal movement in the wider church.

* Explanatory notes on “Other Church influence”:

                AOG: Assemblies of God

                FGCBF: Full Gospel Christian Businessmen’s Fellowship

Subritzky: Bill Subritzky, a New Zealand charismatic evangelist and teacher (an Anglican).

** Explanatory note on “ACC”: Aggressive Christianity Conventions. These were “renewal” teaching seminar events similar to later “Roots” Conferences in some other territories, held in New Zealand between 1985 and 1996. Originating as a combined Family Camp arranged by three Corps, there were eventually incorporated into the official Salvation Army Calendar under Territorial Headquarters auspices and at the peak of the movement some five of these held in a year (one in each Division). They are credited with substantially altering the style of Salvation Army meeting generally encountered in New Zealand.

Writer: Harold Hill is a happily retired Salvation Army officer in New Zealand, happily married to Pat, blessed with two grown-up, married daughters and a fairly recent grand-daughter and grand-son, happily occupied with research into the relationship between the Salvation Army and the Charismatic and Pentecostal movements, irregular writing, speaking and teaching engagements, and the garden. 

HOD Chap 7

… by Jason Davies-Kildea

One of my first tasks in academic theological study was to mark up the Synoptic Gospels, underlining in different colours the corresponding words and phrases in Matthew, Mark and Luke.  I got a Synopsis, a book with the gospel passages reordered and placed side by side to aid comparison, and enthusiastically set to work in order to decode the secrets of the ancient texts.  After time and with practice, patterns began to emerge as shared content, adaptations and additions came to light.  I could see how Matthew had copied and extended Mark’s work and how Luke had edited the material known as ‘Q’ that he shared only with Matthew.  The distinctive ‘voices’ of the individual writers came alive in a new way and revealed new understanding of their own historical contexts.

These days, we might just ask the Gospel writers to use the ‘Track Changes’ feature in Microsoft Word so that their editing processes would be easier for us all to follow.

So, it was with similar enthusiasm that I took to investigating the differences between the new Handbook of Doctrine and its immediate predecessors Salvation Story and the associated Study Guide.  In order to complete my personal historic and hermeneutic circle, I chose the chapter relating to the seventh doctrine and the subject of my Master of Theology thesis, Salvation.

At a structural level, Chapter 7 of the new Handbook of Doctrine extracts and combines material from Chapters 5, 7 and 8 of Salvation Story and then in a separate section under the heading ‘For Further Exploration’, does the same thing with the study guide.  There’s a new introduction and conclusion, as well as a number of changes which generally reflect updates and improvements in the language used.  Have a look at the following paragraphs for example:

Now, clearly we need to be careful not to read too much into the changes.  For example, I don’t think that the removal of the phrase ‘The Holy Spirit gives wise counsel’ symbolises a repudiation of that truth.  I suspect it was just seen as redundant in the immediate context and perhaps old fashioned in its phrasing.  Similarly, the removal of the word ‘precious’ is unlikely to be intended to diminish the example of Jesus.  The substitution of the word ‘bestows’ with ‘gives’ is a helpful move.

So let’s focus on some things that might represent more substantial and meaningful changes.  I approached the passage on Liberation Theology that used to be in the Salvation Story Study Guide with a little trepidation.  Liberation Theology has had more than its fair share of critics but I’ve found much spiritual nourishment and missional inspiration in this theology rooted in the experience of the poor and grounded in hope for their liberation from poverty and oppression.  There seem to be some obvious correlations with the mission of The Salvation Army and I would have been disappointed to see the previous references disappear (minimal though they were).  So, I was pleased to find that not only does this passage still exist in the new Handbook of Doctrine but it contains some helpful clarifications and generally shows clearer phrasing.  An illustrative quote from Leonardo Boff has been substituted with one from Gustavo Gutierrez, but nothing is really lost here.  In fact, Gutierrez’ words about “liberation from sin and from all its consequences: despoliation, injustice, hatred” reminded me of a list penned at the inception of The Salvation Army proclaiming “the salvation of others from unbelief, drunkenness, vice and crime”.  It’s the wide scope of this salvation ‘matching the breadth and depth of human need’ that continues to be rightly emphasised in the updated Handbook.  “Salvation is an individual reality but also has a social context.  It relates to wholeness of life and well-being.  It has to do with material freedoms as well as spiritual ones.  It relates to the healing of communities as well as of individuals.  Jesus came to set us free from all that binds us.” (p.159)

I was also pleasantly surprised to find what seems to be a wholly new paragraph on ‘feminist theological concerns’.  It’s probably too short and therefore overly simplistic, but it’s a start and hopefully we’ll see more on this next time around.

My only real concern is the preponderance of proof-texting.  Almost every sentence in the first section of the chapter has an accompanying Scripture verse to back it up.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for looking to the Scriptures for inspiration and understanding and I do it often.  But pulling individual verses out of context from all over the Bible to illustrate diverse points that have nothing to do with their original meaning doesn’t seem helpful to me.  If there’s one thing I learned from that first colour underlining exercise in the Synoptics it was that context matters.  When we take a verse from one place and put it somewhere else, it can end up looking like it means something quite different indeed.  I understand that the motive behind this is one that deeply respects the words contained in our Scriptures, but the methodology doesn’t reflect anything we’ve learned from critical Biblical studies in the past century or more.

The biggest question about the new Handbook of Doctrine is perhaps the meaning behind the change in structure.  There’s no doubt that the re-ordering of chapters and the combination of materials from previously separate volumes does simplify the task of studying the doctrines.  It may be that some people were confused by Salvation Story as a tool for this kind of study because in some sense it started with Christian theology and then showed how our doctrines fitted in.  It’s because of this that material relating to doctrine seven, for example, appears in three separate chapters in Salvation Story.  I know a number of people that appreciated this approach, which at the time seemed to herald a more progressive way of exploring what Salvationist believe and why.  The new Handbook of Doctrine clearly places our doctrines first and foremost at centre stage.  This very act will open up discussions, like this one, about what this means and the nature of Christian belief today.  As far as I’m concerned, that’s not a bad thing at all.

Writer: Captain Jason Davies-Kildea is currently serving as Social Programme Secretary of the Melbourne Central Division in Australia. He received a Churchill Fellowship in 2006 and travelled to the US, UK and Kenya to look at “models of holistic service, for highly disadvantaged people, which have been established in faith-based communities”. He recently graduated with a Masters in Theology and is now pursuing a Masters in Social Science (Policy and Human Services).  Jason writes periodically on his own blog, which you can find here.

The Sacrament of the Good Samaritan

Paper title: Theological Options for an Understanding of Engagement with the Poor and the Marginalised as a Sacrament in The Salvation Army
Author/researcher: Jason Davies-Kildea
Country of origin: Australia
Publication/completion date: August, 2004
Length: 24 pages
Keywords:The Salvation Army, sacraments
Abstract:

This essay will consider whether it is possible to construct an understanding of engagement with the poor and the marginalised as a sacrament. In order to guide the theological options which will form the basis for that understanding, it will first be necessary to establish a working definition of sacrament. From this point, it becomes feasible to begin to unpack how a particular idea of sacrament might be understood in relation to the specific ecclesial position of The Salvation Army and its engagement in mission with the poor.

This essay is not intended to be a comprehensive ‘sacramental theology’. Instead, it will explore the concept of sacrament as a key to understanding the interaction between God and humanity in the midst of mission. It is hoped that the results of this exploration may give Salvationists a useful framework for understanding their own denomination’s engagement in mission from a theological point of view. In addition, recognition of the sacramental character of The Salvation Army’s mission may be valuable to ecumenical dialogue in which the Army have sometimes been seen as sacramentally ‘poor’ or ‘deficient’.

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Musical justice

Title: Who says I can’t sing? Musical justice for people with intellectual disabilities
Author/researcher: Katrina McFerran, National Music Therapy Research Centre, University of Melbourne
Publisher/funder: The Salvation Army’s Melbourne Central Division Research and Advocacy Portfolio
Country of origin: Australia
Publication/completion date: 2008
Length: 25 pages
Keywords: music, music therapy, Australia, disability
Abstract: This report explores the complementary roles of music therapy and community music for people with disabilities.  It compares two existing music programs through The Salvation Army Brunswick and Able Australia, in order to identify overlap and points of distinction.  The adult participants in these programs were engaged as co-researchers in the investigation, offering their perspectives through focus group interviews, regular written feedback mechanisms and quality of life questionnaires.  These adults included people with a range of disabilities and their carers, both of whom engage in the music programs with equal enthusiasm.

Click here to download a pdf of this paper (753 KB).

Tags: Australia, disability, music, music therapy

Faith in Action

Paper title: Faith in Action
Author/researcher: Jason Davies-Kildea
Country of origin: Australia
Publication/completion date: August, 2007
Length: 35 pages
Keywords: The Salvation Army, social service,
Abstract:
Faith-based organisations right across the world are providing an invaluable role as social service providers with a capacity to reach and engage people significantly beyond that of government and private sector providers. In Australia, the vast majority of non-Government social welfare services are delivered by faith-based organisations, however there has been little local research into how the religious motivations of these organisations shape the character of service delivery.

This report brings together the experiences of staff and service users in almost 50 services across three countries: the US, UK and Kenya. It demonstrates that a critically important factor to the contribution of faith-based organisations is how the spiritual and religious dimensions shape the fundamental values and character of services provided. The capacity of social services to address spiritual issues which may be initiated by service users is an essential component that adds significantly to the range of benefits these organisations provide.

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Emerging Images of Salvationist Mission

Paper title: Emerging Images of Salvationist Mission
Author/researcher: Craig Campbell
Country of origin: Australia
Publication/completion date: December, 2004
Length: 204 pages
Keywords: The Salvation Army, mission, hospitality
Abstract:
A compelling, comprehensive and contemporary image of mission is needed if The Salvation Army is to remain as a vigorous and vital presence in Australia. Such an image of mission functions to create an imaginative space into which people can enter with new energy.

The search for a contemporary image of salvationist mission employs a model that gathers tradition, culture and experience into creative conversation. This model is supported by a research methodology that brings together critical theory, constructivism and participatory inquiry, and is complemented by a theological method that begins ‘from below,’ in the human experience of God. The theological formation of The Salvation Army is traced through Arminianism, Evangelicalism and focussed in Wesleyanism. The Army commenced as an activist movement convinced that salvation for the world to come should also be experienced in all aspects of life here and now. True religion incorporates good society, and real transformation is to be expected in individuals and structures of society. Original salvationist mission incorporated dual emphasis on spiritual and temporal needs and possibilities, a practical theology seeking to connect the experience of the transcendent with daily life.

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Values in Policy Making

Paper title: Values Orientation in Decision and Policy Making
Author/researcher: Donald Gates
Country of origin: Australia
Publication/completion date: January, 2010
Length: 303 pages
Keywords: The Salvation Army, values, policy, decision, management, leadership
Abstract:

 This thesis deals with problems encountered by decision and policymakers in multifaceted environments. Although rational information is an essential input in decision and policymaking, the process is fraught with many limitations including deficient knowledge, differences in values and ideologies and ambiguities of justice outcomes. Despite this, there is a need for decision and policymakers to reflect on the ethical and social justice questions their policies raise.

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Neo-sacramental Theology

Paper title: Neo-sacramental Theology
Author/researcher: Adam Couchman
Country of origin: Australia
Publication/completion date: October, 2007
Length: 106 pages
Keywords: The Salvation Army, sacraments
Abstract:

Since January, 1883, The Salvation Army has not formally practised the dominical sacraments within its worship services, yet it still has an inherent sacramentality. At the time that this decision was made by the Army’s leader and founder, General William Booth, the issue was never fully resolved. Rather it was put off to another day when the Army would have more light on the subject. Booth left the decision open for future generations to discuss and, if necessary, rescind. In its 142 year history, this theological issue has been addressed and readdressed by many generations of Salvationists. There have been many publications on this topic and many thorough attempts to give explanation for The Salvation Army’s stance.

Given this longstanding history and ongoing discussion, it is not intended to walk the same ground that others have trodden with regard to this issue. Rather, it will be argued that, even though the Army does not use the dominical sacraments in its worship, still there is an inherent sacramentality present. This can be seen through the ceremonies and symbols that the Army does employ. Whether or not these ceremonies can be viewed as “sacraments” contextualised for Army purposes will also be considered. Finally, terms used to describe the Army’s sacramental self-understanding will also be summarised; traditionally anti-sacramental, non-sacramental or nonobservance.

A new term, “neo-sacramental,” is proposed in the hope that this provides a positive self-understanding of Army sacramentality, and a deliberate link to sacramental theology and the Church universal.

Click here to download a pdf of this paper (327 KB).

ORDINATION #5 - Clericalising the SA

Gordon Cotterill, an officer stationed at William Booth College in London, recently posted the following on his blog:

On the language of ordination…

It seems interesting to me that within TSA we are keen to maintain a certain line that causes frequent periodic debate when it comes to our non-sacramental stand …
I’m not sure if I have come across the same rigour of debate with similar issues. … it is interesting that the whole emphasis of ordination of officers doesn’t receive the same intensity of attention.
Recently as I watched the Commissioning of the latest session I was struck by how far our language has moved. It seems to me that the euphemistic use of ordination to explain commissioning has made quite some journey where now a given Territorial Commander declares to each cadet “I commission and ordain you…” (or words to that effect). It seems interesting to me that a choice of language to protect the kudos of officership with our ecclesiastical cousins has become so mainstream as to now even infer a supposed ‘higher calling’ of officership.But no debate, no walk outs, no resignations, no battle lines, no edicts from International Headquarters, no articles, no letters looking at such an impact on SA views on the ‘priesthood of all believers’ . Nothing to question the language of ordination as it, like a cuckoo, surreptitiously kicks out the centrality of dedication…. So why the lack of debate in one area and intensity in another?

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Religion, Faith, Fundamentalism

An exploration of supposed antitheses and unexpected partners by Jason Davies-Kildea

Religious belief is not a threat to reason, nor is faith to truth, the essential problem derives from fundamentalism and the violence associated with the closing of the mind.

Introduction

This essay will focus on an exploration of three relationships: religion and reason; faith and truth; fundamentalism and violence.  Essentially what needs to be considered is whether these first two pairs are antithetical and if the last couplet is inextricably linked.  Are religious belief and rational thinking sworn enemies in the modern era?  Is faith believing what you know isn’t true?  In what ways can fundamentalism be said to close the mind?  Does this necessarily result in violence?  These are the kinds of queries that will be explored throughout this essay.

After establishing the scope of concern and necessary definitions, each of the three relationships will be explored in turn.  Prior to concluding, it will also be asked whether there are any valid alternatives to fundamentalism that might be able to redeem religion in the twenty first century.  What might these look like and how can they survive a time of rapid change, scientific and technological advance?  The results of this exploration will demonstrate that fundamentalism, not religion or faith per se, is particularly problematic because it facilitates both prejudice and violence.

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