Infidels_ A History of the Conflict Between Christendom and Islam - Andrew Wheatcroft [251]
50. There is good reason for this. In Indonesia and elsewhere, civil strife between Muslims and Christians is often termed a jihad by Muslim groups, even though its causes are largely political and economic.
51. The term “fundamentalism” is often used in a very broad sense, but I believe it should be applied only to those Christian communities and communicators that root their thinking in the literal truth of the Bible. It derives from the twelve short books, collectively entitled The Fundamentals, which were published between 1910 and 1915. Each had a print of 3 million copies, with a free copy sent to every pastor, teacher of Christian religion, and theology student in the United States. Many more were sold to the public. See Nancy T. Ammerman, “North American Protestant Fundamentalism,” in Martin E. Marty and R. Scott Appleby, Fundamentalisms Observed, Fundamentalism Project vol. 1, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1991.
52. In 1919, the World Christian Fundamentals Association was founded to advance the cause of a pure biblical Christianity. One of its progenitors was A. C. Dixon, an editor of The Fundamentals. Like the new jihadists, the Christian fundamentalists (a term which they applied to themselves after 1920) were connected by a chain of personal connections, discipleship, and institutions like Bible colleges, Bible study institutes, seminaries, and “crusades.” The name was coined by Curtis Lee Laws, editor of the Baptist Watchman-Examiner. Details of current crusades may be found via http://www.christianitytoday.com.
53. These details are drawn from the Faith Defenders Web site at http://www.faithdefenders.com (November 9, 2003).
54. It still has a modern resonance. Recently the curse was turned into an art object. It was carved on a large stone and placed in the center of Carlisle, the last city in England before the Scottish border. In the foot and mouth outbreak of 2001, it was publicly suggested that the disease was a result of the ancient curse, and the current archbishop was asked to lift it. The whole curse extends to some 1,500 words. The powerful General Commination remains in the repertoire of the Church of England and is still occasionally pronounced. See http://www.cathtelecom.com/news/111/29.php (November 9, 2003). For the text, see http://www.geocities.com/~betapisces/academy/glasgow.htm (November 9, 2003).
55. In 1989 Monsignor Philip Reilly set up his movement Helpers of God’s Precious Infants, based on peaceful prayerful public witness at the abortion sites—or “Calvary” sites as he calls them. See http://www.iol.ie/~hlii/helpers_of_infants.html (November 9, 2003). Reilly’s movement was nonviolent but for the wider range of activities, violent and nonviolent see http://www.fyleserva.com/cgnews (November 9, 2003). More recently, the Reverend Alan Perkins’s sermon is a typical example of a traditional Christian discourse. “God is not at peace with your sin. He is at war with your sin. And if you choose to abandon the field of battle; if you refuse to engage the enemy of your soul in mortal combat, then the result will be destruction, and not salvation. Do you think that kind of imagery is exaggerated or overblown? Peter didn’t. Listen: ‘Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.’–1 Peter 2:11, NIV. Sin is at war with your soul. That isn’t just rhetoric; it’s reality.” “At War with Sin,” February 9, 2003, http://www.journeychurchonline.org/messages.htm (November 9, 2003).