“One Little Hour”

I just finished rereading Larson’s examination of the 1925 Scopes Trial, which was awarded the 1998 Pulitzer Prize in History. Larson is a Harvard law graduate who also earned a PhD in history at the University of Wisconsin.

Larson’s Pulitzer was well-deserved (I’m sure he is relieved to know I approve). He displayed no discernable bias in his treatement and presented the foibles of both creationists and evolutionists with equanimity. (more…)

I admit I was skeptical when I began reading The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism by Carl Henry, a founder of Fuller Theological Seminary and of neo-evangelicalism. Growing up at Bob Jones University imbued me with suspicion of my new-evangelical brethren and their engagement with the “world.” My worst fears appeared to be confirmed when I read Harold Ockenga’s introduction which calls for “a progressive Fundamentalism with a social message.”

But by the time I finished the book (a relatively quick read at 89 double-spaced pages, though taking far longer than the page count would indicate owing to Henry’s obtuse writing), I was convinced by parts of Henry’s thesis. (more…)

Dr. Watt, my adviser at Temple, had me start with C. Allyn Russell’s Voices of American Fundamentalism, which gives seven biographies of first generation fundamentalist leaders. Russell starts the series with a look at the life and ministry of J Frank Norris, the Texas Southern Baptist minister best known for shooting an unarmed man in his study while preparing a sermon one Saturday afternoon. (more…)