A friend who is familiar with my situation ? Non JW married to a true-believing Dub ? passed on an interesting article about the psychology of Christian fundamentalism. I?ve read it and thought some on the board might find it interesting -- JW belief following a very similar line of reasoning. The author believes fundamentalism to be a collective neurosis. He outlines four basic beliefs fundamental to Christian fundamentalism, based upon the work of Charles Strozier. To quote the article:
In Apocalypse, a patient study of Christian fundamentalism based on extensive interviews over a five-year period with members of apocalyptic communities Charles Strozier identifies four basic beliefs as fundamental to Christian fundamentalism. 1) Inerrancy or biblical literalism, the belief that every word of the Bible is to be taken literally as the word of God; 2) conversion or the experience of being reborn in Christ; 3) evangelicalism or the duty of the saved to spread the gospel; and 4) Apocalypticism or Endism, the belief that The Book of Revelations describes the events that must come to pass for God?s plan to be fulfilled. [1] Revelations thus becomes an object of longing as well as the key to understanding contemporary history, to reading the news of the day and keeping a handle on an otherwise overwhelming world. Each of these categories, Strozier adds, must be understood not doctrinally but psychologically. What follows attempts to constitute such an understanding by analyzing each category as the progression of a disorder that finds the end it seeks in Apocalyptic destructiveness.
It?s a long read and I find some of the author?s points not well developed, i.e. his arguments about capitalism, but well worth reading for those interested. Here?s the link.
http://www.counterpunch.org/davis01082005.html
Cheers,
CPiolo
Bible Says: The Psychology of Christian Fundamentalism
by CPiolo 4 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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CPiolo
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Elsewhere
Great read! Thanks!
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under74
Thank you. Really. I'm doing a paper for grad school about Adventist groups and I think this will come in pretty handy.
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Deputy Dog
CPiolo
I've never meant a JW that believes the Bible. They only believe in the org and what the org says about the bible.
D Dog
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CPiolo
Elsewhere and under74,