In Pursuit of Purity: American Fundamentalism Since 1850

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	• In Pursuit of Purity: American Fundamentalism Since 1850 David O. Beale BJU Press, 1986 - 457 pages average customer review:based on 5 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Well worth the investment of coin and time

This is a sorely needed and admirable work on a frequently misunderstood and misrepresented movement. It is engagingly written and informative. This thorough work of history deserves a place in any well rounded library and should be sought out by anyone interested in the history of American Christianity.

Intellectually Wonderful!

This easy to read history of American Fundamentalism chronicles the sad, but true, story of how the "leaven" of liberalism destroyed all of the mainline churches in America. The book is really a collection of many short essays tied together to paint a grotesque picture of how Satan has driven those who claim to serve Jesus Christ to deny such fundamental doctrines as the diety of The Messiah, the inerrency and inspiration of Scripture, the Virgin Birth, etc. Finally, this book is a warning to all true believers, in America and in the World, to purge the leaven of sin and false teachers out of their local churches! In order for those who love the Lord Jesus Christ to faithfully serve Him, we must take the warnings contained in this wonderful book and apply it directly to ourselves in this evil age. A must read!

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In Pursuit of Purity: American Fundamentalism Since 1850

This is a narrative history of fundamentalism focusing on its internal development as a self-conscious interdenominational movement in American Christianity. Based upon research in an impressive variety of sources and written in a clear, straightforward style, it provides a valuable perspective on the history of fundamentalism by an insider, a faculty member of an institution that considers itself a citadel of true fundamentalism. Professor Beale leaves little doubt about those groups that he believes belong among the fundamentalist faithful and those whose compromises have placed them beyond the pale.
Divided into thirty-seven chapters, the work traces the history of fundamentalism from the Prayer Meeting Revivals (1857-1859) and the "great revival" in Ireland (1859-1861) through the Bible and prophetic conferences of the late nineteenth century and the struggles during the first three decades of the twentieth century to the contemporary scene in which those who consider themselves the legitimate and obedient contenders of the fundamentalist faith are arrayed against an infinite variety of enemies, ranging from religious liberals and tolerant conservatives to the "new evangelicals" and "neofundamentalists." In a vein similar to works by George Marsden and other recent students of fundamentalism, this one interprets the phenomenon as primarily urban and Northern in origin with significant roles assigned to eminently respectable theologians of the Presbyterian and Baptist persuasion. Professor Beale emphasizes the complexity and diversity of fundamentalism and attempts to correct the stereotypical view of it as a compassionless, anti-intellectual, religiously contentious movement mean of spirit and pharisaical of character.
The two basic themes of this book revolve around the interdenominational character of fundamentalism and its emphasis on "the doctrine and practice of holiness," a term that the author defines as meaning separation-separation from the world, false religion, and every practice of disobedience to the scriptures. Fundamentalists, Professor Beale argues, have always accepted the Bible unequivocally as the divinely and verbally inspired, inerrant Word of God. While their methods of pursuing holiness have changed from time to time, their theology has not.
From its origins in 1857 to about 1930, fundamentalists functioned as non-conformists bent upon ridding mainline churches of liberals and modernists, labels used interchangeably. Failing in that effort, they embraced separatism beginning in the 1930s and withdrew from denominations controlled by liberals and other "apostates." Then, confronted by the emergence of the "new evangelicals" in the 1950s, who strove for respectability and even opened dialogues with liberals, fundamentalists began practicing their holiness in another way. They withdrew from churches and institutions that had become dominated by "disobedient evangelicals" (9).
According to Professor Beale, the "Christian school movement" was one of the most significant developments in the recent history of fundamentalism. In the vanguard of such institutions were Bob Jones Academy and the Stony Brook School, both established in the 1920s, which served as models for similar institutions that proliferated rapidly after 1950. Individuals such as Bob Jones, a host of graduates of his university, Ian Paisley and a few others, rather than Jerry Falwell and those classified as "neo-fundamentalists," continue to hold aloft the authentic flag of fundamentalism. They constitute a relatively small band who adhere to the dictum that "the only true fundamentalist is a fighting fundamentalist" (357).
Presbyterians figure significantly in this volume. Seven chapters are devoted exclusively to "Presbyterian Fundamentalism to 1930," followed by extensive coverage of Westminster Seminary, Carl McIntire and the Bible Presbyterian controversies and Paisley's Free Presbyterian Church. Regardless of whether one agrees or disagrees with the basic interpretations of fundamentalism put forward by Professor Beale, no one is likely to dismiss his book as insignificant.
By Willard B. Gatewood Jr. (University of Arkansas, Fayetteville), in "American Presbyterians: Journal of Presbyterian History." Volume 67, Number 3.
For a companion volume, with a number of sources on the Fundamentalist-Modernist controveries discussed by Professor Beale, one might also consult Willard B. Gatewood Jr., ed. "Controversy in the Twenties: Fundamentalism, Modernism, and Evolution." Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 1969.

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A Must Read

Dr. David O. Beale, author of In Pursuit of Purity: American Fundamentalism Since 1850, is the pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Franklin, Virginia and a professor of church history at Bob Jones University. Beale is a Fundamental Baptist Pastor and professor, but he writes as a historian committed to preserving the record of the fundamentalist fight against the infiltration of liberalism in American Christianity in both the Nineteenth and Twentieth Century through articles and books like In Pursuit of Purity. Beale begins by defining Fundamentalism and then progressively works through periods of time in a logical and well-defined manner with short well-documented chapters focused on specific issues and denominations. Beale's work provides any evangelical Christian with a single volume resource to gain a clear appreciation of why Baptists, Presbyterians, Congregationalist and other Bible believing Christians united to fight those who sought to undermine and ultimately destroy a believer's confidence in the Word of God and the person and work of the Son of God.
After defining a Christian Fundamentalist as "one who desires to reach out in love and compassion to people, believes and defends the whole Bible as the absolute inerrant, and authoritative Word of God, and stands committed to the doctrine and practice of holiness," (3) Beale gets to work by establishing that fundamentalism is not some new phenomena in Chapter one but merely an extension and continuation of a long line of dissenting groups who have always stood strong for Orthodox Christianity. Beale assumes that his reader has very limited understanding of what fundamentalists were fighting for; therefore, he systematically explains the issues and communicates well-documented facts in short, easy-to-read chapters. Beale's organization makes his work valuable as both a single read for clarity and a lifelong reference work for further information on specific topics like "The Fall of Princeton Theological Seminary." (165) Beale's opening sentence in chapter thirty-one provides a good flavor of his writing style and focus; he writes, "There have been several notable Fundamentalists who sounded a clarion warning of Methodism's drift into modernism." (309) Then Beale goes on to provide names, incidents, points of reference, articles and such all relating to fundamental Methodists and their either individual or collective impact.
At times, Beale writes with "rose colored glasses" as he opens his final chapter with "Fundamentalism has shown a desire to reach out in love and compassion to people." (353) This is exceptionally difficult to completely substantiate. In fact, Beale seems to contradict himself as he presents men like J. Frank Norris as those who tremendously impacted fundamentalism in a positive manner. Although it was true that Norris impacted fundamentalism, he does not have a reputation of reaching out to people in love or compassion. Beale makes specific reference to Norris as the "Texas Tornado," a Baptist that would use his pulpit to attack people and at one point shot a person in what was later determined to be "justifiable homicide" as self-defense. (235)
The greatest strength of Beale's work is the manner in which it is trans-denominational. Beale's Baptist association does not affect his ability to present an inclusive work showing that it was not just one particular denomination that was concerned about the fundamentals of the faith. Beale's reader will gain a much greater understanding of the complexity and depth of the fundamental movement. He or she will learn of Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists and other denominations that were active in fighting against the negative effects of liberalism. Some chapters are exclusively dedicated to particular denominations while other chapters show how denominations came together in associations like the World's Christian Fundamentals Association. (97)
Perhaps one weakness of Pursuit of Purity is Beale's failure to help the reader understand the relationship between Evangelical and Fundamental churches and seminaries. Beale would have done well to address the differences and similarities between Evangelicals and Fundamentalists. He briefly mentions churches that include "evangelical" in their name but does not devote any time in educating his reader in what makes a person or a church evangelical or fundamental. Maybe the lines are not clear enough in Beale's mind to identify a distinction, but he does not communicate that either. Evangelical churches are too large of a constituency in the body of Christ to ignore in a work whose readership is theologically conservative but not fundamentalist.
Pursuit of Purity needs to be mandatory reading for pastors, teachers, trustees, directors and any lay person involved in the leadership of an evangelical or fundamental Christian institution like a church, college or seminary. The manner in which Beale shows his reader the importance of five key fundamentals of the faith in a non-theological work is exceptionally compelling. Anyone who questions the importance of "earnestly contending for the faith once delivered" will be encouraged by the historical examples Beale provides in a well-written, easy-to-read record of over one hundred years of American Christian Fundamentalism.

Pastor Sean Harris

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All things pure

This book explains for those of us not raised in the fundamentalist tradition that the tradition is really the pursuit for purity--purity in scriptures and purity in holiness. When those of us raised outside of the fundamentalist tradition learn what this pursuit for purity is all about--we join in this pursuit for all things pure.

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