New Book: Leaving Fundamentalism (fifteen testimonies edited by philosophy professor, Dr. G. Elijah Dann)


Leaving Fundamentalism will be published Dec. 2007 by Laurier University Press.

It's editor, professor G. Elijah Dann, is not only a former fundamentalist but also had as his thesis advisor, Gabriel Vahanian. (At Princeton in 1961 Professor Vahanian wrote the ground-breaking book, The Death of God.) After Professor Dann's studies in France, he was awarded a predoctoral fellowship from the Center for Philosophy of Religion at the University of Notre Dame. Besides Prof. Dann's story ("Confessions of an Ex-fundamentalist") and a chapter on the history of fundamentalistic types of Christianity, the book includes:

The Slippery Slope of Theology
by Jeffrey W. Robbins [an American Continental philosopher of Religion. He received his B.A. from Baylor University (1994), his M.Div. from Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University (1997), and his Ph.D. in Religion from Syracuse University (2001). His dissertation was entitled "The Problem of Philosophical Theology." He is the author of two books, Between Faith and Thought, and, In Search of a Non-Dogmatic Theology, and is editor of After the Death of God. Oddly enough Dr. Robbins is not a big fan of Christopher Hitchen's recent atheist bestseller, God is Not Great.]

The Jesus Lizard [which I learned might not appear in the book, but which has been written] by James Fieser [author, co-author, and editor of seven textbooks, including Moral Philosophy through the Ages, A Historical Introduction to Philosophy (Oxford University Prss, 2003), Socrates to Sartre and Beyond (McGraw Hill, 2003), and Philosophical Questions (Oxford University Press, 2005), editor of the ten-volume Early Responses to Hume (Thoremmes Press, 1999-2003) and the five-volume Scottish Common Sense Philosophy; and founder and general editor of The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy web site.]

Fantastic Voyage: Surviving Charismatic Fundamentalism
by David L. Rattigan [Former Pentecostal and evangelical, as well as one-time associate pastor, Dave is now an openly gay liberal Anglican, and actively involved at lay-level in his local Church of England parish. He has a BA (Hons) in Biblical-Theological Studies. Some excellent online essays by Mr. Rattigan include, "Worldviews, Stories and Why Leaving Fundamentalism Hurts," "The Bible and Me: Two Friends on a Curious Journey" in which Dave explains how he lost his belief in the inerrancy of the Bible; and, "Do Evangelicals Really Believe in Hell?" Dave also manages (with some friends and co-contributors) a website titled Leaving Fundamentalism "...to aid people making the difficult and often painful journey away from conservative Christianity. It can be a time of confusion, hurt and frustration, but it's important to know that you are not making the journey alone. Thousands of others have been right where you are today. The site offers support and encouragement to anyone in the midst of leaving fundamentalism, whether they choose to remain within a Christian tradition or leave Christianity altogether." Check out the Frequently Asked Questions at Leaving Fundamentalism.]

"More Catholic than thou":
One Man's Journey through Roman Catholic Fundamentalism
by Andrea Lorenzo Molinari [Ph.D., in Theology (N.T. and Early Christianity), Marquette University; expert on the Nag Hammadi documents; Catholic educator; click on his name for further information]

From There to Here
by L. A. Livingston

My Mother, My Church
by Margaret Steel

The Ministry Revisited
by Keith Dixon

Rapture, Community, and Individualist Hope
by Joseph Simons

Looking Back at Sodom: My Evangelical and Lesbian Testimonies
by Julie Rak [Associate Professor of English, University of Alberta; and, Finalist for the 2006 Raymond Klibansky Prize for the Best Book in the Humanities (English Language)]

Life Stages
by Jacob Shelley

Inching Along
by Beverley Hardy

From Fear to Faith: My Journey into Evangelical Humanism
by Glenn A. Robitaille

"Are you a 'real' Christian?"
by Leia Minaker

The Naked Empress, Queen of Fundamentalism
by Anonymous


THE ABOVE BOOK IS BEING MENTIONED ON BLOGS:

Blog owner of Sub Ratione Dei writes:

One of the essays in Leaving Fundamentalism is by former pastor, David Rattigan, an old college friend from my two year stint at Theological College before I saw the light and got the hell away from the place. Also, he writes very well.

Alexis adds:

I also had a brush with Fundamentalism in the early 90s (and I still have emotional scars). Today I still am a person of faith, but I’ve found that the (majority of the) fundamentalist/charismatic movement has become so entrenched in the modern Christian church (and divisive to the public discourse) that I stopped going. As a result of my own inquiry, research, and exposure to other spiritual traditions, my faith today is a mixture that most closely resembles Zen Christianity.

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