American fundamentalism in the independent Baptist tradition

This study presents an ethnographic record of both the micro and macro levels of American fundamentalism in the independent Baptist tradition. On the micro level, the congregation of a small fundamentalist independent Baptist church was the focus of a three and one-half years of participant observation. Fieldwork also included constructing an ethnography, interviewing church members, and visiting other churches during revival meetings, observation of Jerry Falwell's "Old-Time Gospel Hour" television broadcast, and his church in Lynchburg, Virginia. Thus, I was able to judge how representative the local church was as well as understanding the relationship between the micro and macro level concerns within the subculture.;Analysis of the extensive data led to a number of findings common to the local church and fundamentalist televangelists. There are systematic connections among three variables: the pragmatic concerns of evangelism (church growth and development), ideology, and ritual practices. In this milieu, the process of institutional origination and development can be characterized as a continuing cycle of economic/spiritual crises that represent a ritualization of (dispensational premillennial) doctrine. These phenomena would explain the frequent fiscal crises among televangelists.;The roles of the religious leader in the process of founding, maintaining, and expanding the church include all three of Weber's forms of authority: charismatic, traditional, and rational bureaucratic. The preacher too is a folk hero within the group.;For the congregation, socialization within an evangelical "born again" environment transforms the Aristotelian categories of understanding: time, space, number, and human personality.;All of these factors are common to both the micro and macro levels of the subculture.;At the macro level, Jerry Falwell brought many secular techniques into the service of evangelism including mass media, marketing, mainstream politics, a rhetoric of propaganda, and civil disobedience. Furthermore, the resources of his mega-church paved the way for his political ambitions. Two other factors were essential. Francis Schaeffer's philosophically based support for political activism with "co-belligerents" beyond fundamentalism provided a basis for wider support. A second factor was leadership in the person of Randall Terry and Operation Rescue on the front lines of civil disobedience.