The Resurgence of Religion : A Comparative Study of Selected Themes in Christian and Islamic Fundamentalist Discourses

Leiden: Brill, 2003. First edition. Hardcover. near fine. Octavo. vii, (5), 390, (4)pp. Index and 50 page bibliography. Pictorial boards with lilac/gray spine lettered in white. A fine but ex-library copy (with minimal markings; i.e. rubber stamps on title page & bottom of text block).

This book is a comparative study of basic themes in Christian and Islamic fundamentalist discourses, analyzing and comparing texts from a wide variety of fundamentalist leaders and movements, looking for "family resemblances" and significant differences in order to better understand the contemporary phenomenon of religious resurgence. After placing fundamentalisms in a theoretical framework, the study looks at selected themes important to fundamentalists, noting resemblances and differences. These themes include their anti-secularist stance, their theocentric worldviews, their reliance on inerrant sacred scriptures, and their attitudes to politics, government, state and democracy. The study also looks at the fundamentalist view of the world as a perennial battlefield between the forces of good and those of evil, in the realm of ideologies as well as politics and the legitimation of violence. (Publisher)

Contents: I.; Historical Background to Protestant Christian and Islamic Fundamentalisms --; Christian Fundamentalism --; Historical Background of Islamic Fundamentalism --; II.; Phenomenon of Fundamentalism: Theoretical and Methodological Considerations --; Resurgence of Religion --; Definitions & Attributes --; III.; Anti-secularism as a Main Common Denominator --; Introduction --; Fundamentalist Critique of Secularism --; IV.; Sacred Scripture as God's Revealed Standard and Law --; Introduction --; Centrality of Scripture --; Right Attitude to Scripture --; Interpretation of Scripture --; Scripture as Law --; V.; Attitudes to Religion, Politics, and the State --; Introduction --; Attitudes to Governments and to Political Participation --; State Legal System --; Some Views on the Integration of State and Religion --; Who has the Right to Rule for God? --; VI.; Past Golden Age and Contemporary Religious Politics --; Looking Back to the Golden Age --; Goal of Religious Politics --; Gradual Implementation by Stages --; Views on Democracy and Power Sharing --; VII.; Contemporary Battle --; Introduction --; Various Aspects of the Battle --; Fundamentalist Separatism --; Impact of Eschatology --; Conspiracy Theories --; Legitimation of Resistance and Violence. (OCLC)

Volume 96 in the Brill's series, "Numen Book Series. Studies in the History of Religions.