As Christians, we have received the grace of God in our baptism and so are grafted onto the body of Christ who is our Saviour. We are gifted with faith and that faith is our anchor and our rock. But as Christians today we live, struggle, and grow in faith in a situation of overlapping crises. The values and beliefs that once supported an environment of faith are widely discredited or ignored. We witness a frightening gap between the rich and the poor of the world. The ecological balance of our world is under serious threat. Our consultation took place in Europe and we were very aware of the great upsurge of hope that accompanied the birth of the new democracies of Central and Eastern Europe. That hope has now been tempered by the spectacle of tension and instability where we looked for a new era of peace and prosperity. The civil war in the former Yugoslavia, with its horrifying brutality, is an alarming sign of the depth of the crisis facing human civilisation. As we once learned to live with nuclear weapons, so today we are learning to survive in a situation which is unpredictable, volatile, and constantly changing. In spite of technological advance and sophistication the crisis of our world is a crisis of survival.

Responses to this situation are often irrational and can sometimes take the form of panic. The resources of Christianity should be at the service of this situation, providing profound hope and security. But these resources can be abused and it is against this background that we approach and seek to understand the phenomenon of Christian fundamentalism. Sociologists see it as a global trend and as a reaction to various threats and to an atmosphere of uncertainty. Within this trend can be discerned a longing for the restoration of an old and familiar world, which seems now to have been stable, safe, and predictable. It is an attempt, amidst disorder and chaos, to restore the old order with its value system. The modern world with all its threats, in the fundamentalist view, can be conquered and changed if we can only re-establish absolute certainty with a firm stance and a clearly defined orientation. Fundamentalism is often strong in situations of impoverishment and social disintegration. It attracts those who are alienated, marginalized, and have a deep but frustrated need to belong. Fundamentalism often also figures in the lives of the rich and the powerful. In our study, we note how these two contexts can sustain and perpetuate one another.

Since the threats and changes we observe are of a universal character, it is not surprising that fundamentalist tendencies are to be found not only in the Christian churches but also in other societies, including Jewish, Muslim and Hindu societies. Fundamentalism has become a catchword in social philosophy and political science. In any study of contemporary culture the reality of fundamentalism must be addressed. This study will however be restricted to the question of Christian fundamentalism.

Group 1: Approach to Scripture

Some of the attitudes towards Scripture described below can be found all over the world in many congregations that could not be called fundamentalist. What distinguishes a fundamentalist approach to Scripture is the way in which it absolutizes the inerrancy of Scripture.

Christian attitudes tend towards fundamentalism when Scripture is dealt with in the following ways:

Fundamentalists mostly start from a spiritual experience, which is located within and answers the insecurities and dangers of modern life. They look for security in and through the Bible. A positivist reading of the biblical text is thought to guarantee the undisputable truth of the Bible itself. Fundamentalists think that the biblical word gives an immediate and undistorted picture of the realities of God's "supernatural' world. By identifying words and things they believe to have an objective insight into the plans of God, and the Bible turns into a time-table of God's plans. In consequence they claim to know objectively the whole revelation of what God thinks, does and wants to do.
In order to gain full security fundamentalists postulate the immediate inspiration, inerrancy, and infallibility of the words of Scripture. These guarantee personal security and indisputable knowledge. Fundamentalists read the Bible as if everything has been already given, and nothing should be interpreted anew. They don't take account of the fact that God has spoken and continues to speak in different historical situations in diverse and creative ways, as we can best see in the stories of the Bible itself.
Consequently, in their reading of the bible, fundamentalists lack a sense of tradition, of the ongoing interpretation of Scripture stories throughout history. They apply the biblical text (in its "literal' sense) directly to the present situation without taking into account the church in its history and tradition as an interpreting community which orientates the interpretation of the Bible. On the contrary, fundamentalists limit the interpretation to one exclusive meaning, thus petrifying the word of God and turning it into a weapon to throw at each other and at people outside. In effect, they replace the living Christ by their own interpretation of the biblical word.
Many fundamentalists read the Bible from an eschatological perspective. Those who feel endangered by historical unrest interpret the nearness of the end as a deadlock to history and change. Others who see prospects for their own claim for power plead for the aggressive building of the kingdom of God on earth.

Although every church or Christian body has its specific perspectives on the biblical text, we observe in fundamentalism a very narrow approach, which gives no place for suggestions and critique from other Christians.

Group 1: Ecumenical response to the challenge of fundamentalism

The mainstream churches engaged in the ecumenical dialogue are keenly aware of the wounds inflicted by injustice, excessive nationalism, and the destruction of nature. We see hopelessness and despair, and we see lack of faith. Many people are overwhelmed by the problems of life under the conditions of today's world. But basing ourselves on the gospel and the communion we share through baptism, we deal with these problems in a different way from many fundamentalists. It is important to us that the issues to be dealt with in ecumenism include theological and spiritual as well as social and political questions. We see a danger in the fact that this holistic view of ecumenism is often forgotten when it comes to practice.

The holistic approach is one of the main results of ecumenical dialogue. It comes out of the need to read the Bible together, to interpret the biblical texts in common, to combine different emphases. Through common reading, preaching and acting we may overcome the danger of splitting up into groups that absolutize part of what the gospel tells us.

It is therefore necessary for us to state the "fundamentals' out of which we live and act as Christians:

We base ourselves on the living Christ, the incarnated, the crucified and resurrected Lord, who shared the wounds of the world and still in glory shares our life. We understand the Bible as a witness to Christ in history. We therefore reaffirm that an ongoing interpretation of the biblical texts by the Christian communions is necessary. We call for a responsible reading of the Bible and reject, both fundamentalist narrowness and the attitude of "anything goes' when interpretation is concerned.

A responsible reading has its limits. What is necessary is a reading that takes the history of the texts, their intertextuality, their contextuality, and the Christian tradition seriously. As part of this tradition we see the ecumenical dialogue, which has shown that the various churches today make use of the same methods for reading. We see the variety of methods as a means of preventing the manipulation of Scripture. This holistic approach also limits the possibility of a reading where individual passages are taken out of context.

We find it important to have a holistic approach both to the Bible and to Christian life. We regret that in the mainstream churches also we find a tendency to absolutize either worship and spiritual renewal or social work and the fight for social justice, instead of trying to make both these parts of the Christian life come together. Only by bringing these two dimensions together can we truly state the centre of the Christian message, avoiding easy simplifications.

We recommend a holistic approach to doctrinal issues. Truth always has different shapes (Gestalten), different historical and theological forms, and churches have different approaches out of which comes unity. We must accept these different emphases, knowing that the Spirit acts in a variety of ways.

We acknowledge that the mainstream churches need to stress more the eschatological aspects of the Bible which have too often been neglected. Likewise the subject of pneumatology has to be reconsidered. These emphases have been strongly stressed by fundamentalist and charismatic groups. They now need to be addressed more consistently by all the churches in a broad theological context.

The aim of ecumenism is unity in diversity. We seek diversity without division, unity without uniformity. Within ecumenism different emphases must be respected. There must be room for discussion and criticism. Ecumenical dialogue has taught us that the churches are not opposites. We have realized that we share more than we thought, but the question about legitimate diversity must be asked again and again.

This paper is supposed to give some guidelines to our communions concerning our ecumenical response to the challenge of fundamentalism. We therefore present a list of statements that we hope will be useful in daily life:

We want to invite fundamentalists for dialogue and see a basis for dialogue in the fact that we all suffer from the wounds of the world.
We want to invite them for common worship.
We want to invite them for common actions where we can join each other and seek to solve some of the social problems in the world out of which come anxiety, hopelessness and cries for easy answers.
We see fundamentalism as a challenge to deepen our own faith and practice, to read the Bible in a responsible way, to preach in a fresher, more enthusiastic and more appealing way.
We see fundamentalism as a danger, when people are manipulated, met with superficial answers and practices and kept immature, the approach to the Bible and Christian life is narrow, ideas or things are absolutized so that dialogue becomes impossible, and the spirituality offered is not sound.
We warn against the tendency to absolutize economic or political systems by means of religious language.
We extend an invitation to dialogue, but we want to stress that dialogue should not exclude the possibility of confrontation and critique. When, for example, fundamentalist attitude goes against the life and integrity of the marginalized by promoting an exclusive Prosperity Doctrine or blaming other Christians for their social activities, dialogue tends to reach its limits. We expect to learn from dialogue where the borders are and must be. We present our analysis of fundamentalist attitudes as part of this dialogue.

Group 2: The personal aspects of fundamentalism

The group made a basic distinction between the personal question as it arises in relation to leaders of fundamentalist groups and to members or participants. We looked at some of the questions raised by fundamentalist affiliation in the context of a Christian understanding of community. We also dealt with the distinction between the spontaneous fundamentalist groups mostly in Third World countries and the international network of organized fundamentalism based in the Western world. In all these reflections, the group sought to share insights and perceptions based on their experience.

Among fundamentalists one often finds people who repress and are afraid of their real feelings, especially feelings of doubt, ambivalence and internal contradiction. They do not want these feelings to be reechoed in the teaching they receive, but want them to be dispelled by clear teaching. Often - here testimonies from Africa, Europe and Latin America converge - they are highly intelligent people whose secular lives are complex and uncertain, but do not want these dynamics to figure in their religion. They are prepared to be "adult' only in the secular sphere of their lives, not the religious. Of course, not everyone with such problems seeks to resolve them through fundamentalism. What we are talking about is one way of dealing with basic questions that confront us all: Who am I? What am I to do? What am I here for? Fundamentalists want the answer to these questions to come from and to remain within the religious sphere. They do not, therefore, want the sermon on Sunday to talk about social or political involvement. They become "bearers of the truth' and proclaim it militantly, in a way that brooks no contradiction.

In some parts of the world, fundamentalist leaders often have experienced some great personal crisis and wish to interpret and draw on that experience in the context of a ministry to other people. This is basic to the way they acquire a following. They reach out to suffering and isolated people in order to draw them into a group. Within the group they may become very authoritarian and feel that their spiritual authority entitles them to manipulate other people - sometimes also financially - since, in their understanding, this is ultimately in the best interests of those people. It also happens, however, that the leader himself may be at the mercy of the group or the church in which he ministers. In some parts of Africa, for socio-political reasons, Christian leadership has tended to be shaped by the patterns of behaviour both of political leadership and of religious leaders of the colonial era: there is a tendency to be patronising, authoritarian, even dictatorial. This may find a theological justification: the leader sees himself as an obedient and submissive servant of God, and then in the exercise of his own leadership role expects submission, obedience, and subordination from others; in this way God's will is fulfilled. This can result in some very dangerous manifestations of authority, for example, when the leader insists that a member should not go to the doctor to heal his sickness, but instead should trust the healing ministry that the leadership provides.

Some of the personal aspects of fundamentalism can usefully be considered in the framework of the fundamentalist group. One of the things that make people fundamentalists is the need for a warm vibrant community. People often discover a rôle in fundamentalist groups; young people and women especially may find status, thus satisfying a personal need. People also find powerful clear teaching and a ministry that is approachable and interested in their problems. These things are, of course, characteristic of other kinds of Christian groups. What distinguishes fundamentalist groups is the insistence that the group is the exclusive provider of these things.

A person exists in and for communication with others. The fundamentalist group provides a much-needed sense of community, but it is a flawed framework. Christianity is an incarnational religion: the fact that the son of God became human affects the totality of human interaction. But the sphere of communication of the fundamentalist is only within one's own group. So there is little room for dialogue which presupposes openness to the other and mutual respect, the ability to see God at work in "other' contexts and not exclusively in one's own. Likewise the fundamentalist in rejecting tradition tends to become isolated from history: from the spheres of communication and transmission that preceded the present time. The handing on and receiving of the biblical witness in previous generations is of no importance.

Group 2: Pastoral response to the challenge of fundamentalism

Our pastoral concern in the face of fundamentalism is to assist Christians to be mature in their faith and to move from narrow exclusive attitudes to inclusive love. We take our orientation from God himself who loves all of humanity since it is created in his own image and likeness.

From the very beginning God spoke to his people in various ways, but in the last days God spoke to us through his Son, Jesus, revealing in him that love which sustains all things. By his words, life and action, Jesus fulfils the Father's plan, uniting all those who believe in one body.

Each member of the body of Christ has been graced with gifts helping to create unity in diversity. All share together in community the word that instructs and the bread that nourishes and sustains. Spontaneously and out of love they reach out to all who are in need. They speak out against injustice. They work together for the good of all in society.

Followers of Jesus are ready to listen, to engage in dialogue, to salute the image of God in all their brothers and sisters no matter what their background or tradition. They see the word of God as inspired by God, and guiding the church in times past and in ever more meaningful ways today. Thus, there is constant need for study, for greater understanding of what God wishes to say to us. The word known, understood and shared with other members opens up God's purposes ever more clearly and helps to avoid the literal excesses that individuals may be tempted to seek and to follow.

This is our foundation and our model. We regret that very often, we have not put it into practice. As a result, some Christians have felt confused, alone and powerless and followed teachers who gave them simple answers to the crucial questions of faith and life. We need to examine ourselves and to renew our Christian commitment; to promote biblical study among the members of our congregations; contextual theological and pastoral training for ministers and lay leaders; better inculturation of our liturgical celebrations with the use of symbols that are meaningful for our time; to establish counselling facilities to attend to the needs of our people today; to promote ecumenical prayer and action for special occasions; home visiting; to seek dialogue and communication with fundamentalists both in and outside our congregations. Our approach towards our fundamentalist brothers and sisters should be guided by the principles of charity, respect and concern.

Group 3: Understanding fundamentalism

Modern Christian fundamentalism is one form of the widespread need among Christians to find and hold on firmly to fundamental confidences in the face of modernity. It is a response to the longing to break through the bewildering variety of available meaning systems and so many religious/anti-religious/a-religious/moral/ amoral claims; to find a buttress against social instabilities, marginalizations and dislocations, and against perceived moral, even physical "ends-of-the-world'; and in this disarray, to possess God's revealed clear answer and have an earthly authority to voice it.

Fundamentalists see a feverish red line in the thermometer reading of the world's illness, and believe God has given them the prescription for the cure. They judge that the world is basically evil and hostile, and will do everything possible to compromise the Christian answer to its ills, or to ignore it.

How in such a world does one live as a faithful believer?

Some fundamentalists respond by withdrawing their attention and energies from the betterment of society. They choose the smaller, more manageable world of one's self, the family, like-minded church groups. Biblical texts such as the following have been used to justify withdrawal and separation: "Do not yoke yourself in a mismatch with unbelievers... Come out from among them and separate yourselves from them" (2 Cor.6.14,17). One trusts in God and divine blessings in resignation to the world's pains and in the hope of eternal life. The world will pass away, tears will be shed no more.

Other fundamentalists move into the world of economics and politics. They are convinced that God has given direct and uncompromising imperatives for political action which aim at the comprehensive change of society or at the preservation of present social structures. With their words and ideas, public protests and ballots, they fight for that God-revealed world-view and platform for society's conversion which shape the core of the fundamentalist social and personal identity, and inspire corporate action in the public arena. History is thought to be on their side because they are on God's side.

Group 3: Response to the social consequences of fundamentalism

Fundamentalism is a very ambiguous phenomenon, with a variety of expressions and manifestations, which calls for further analysis. Regional study and analysis of the phenomenon should be undertaken by churches.

In many situations fundamentalism has a propensity to legitimate authoritarian political power or unjust economic and class structures. In such cases it is vital to stand in solidarity with those affected by the ongoing social conflict. Churches should express their opposition to those fundamentalist forces that are allied with oppressive regimes. In such situations of conflict (especially in the Third World) the line distinguishing fundamentalist groups and the mainline churches becomes clearer. The negative and destructive consequences of certain forms of fundamentalism when co-opted by political regimes are a threat to Christian integrity and faith.

Participants

1. Lutheran

Rev Bernhard Barnikol-Oettler-Joergensen, Wolfratshausen, Germany

Rev Dr Kerstin Gäfgen-Track, Ansbach, Germany

Prof Dr Kirsten Nielsen, Department of Religious Studies, University of Aarhus, Denmark

Rev Dr Ricardo Pietrantonio and Mrs Angela Noemi Schiavon Pietrantonio, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Prof Dr J Paul Rajashekar, Department for Systematics, Lutheran Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, USA

Rev Dr Abisai Shejavali, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia

Prof Dr David Westerlund, Department of Theology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

LWF staff

Rev Dr Heinrich Holze, theology and the church

Dr Viggo Mortensen, director, department for theology & studies

Dr Hance AO Mwakabana, church & people of other faiths, department for theology & studies

2. Reformed

Dr George Mathew, Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi, India

Rev Malachie Munyaneza, Kigali, Rwanda

Dr Jürgen Regul, Evangelische Kirche im Rheinland, Düsseldorf, Germany

Dr Heinrich Schäfer, Marl, Germany

Warc staff

Dr Milan Opocensky, general secretary;

Dr HS Wilson, executive secretary, department of theology;

3. Roman Catholic

Prof Dr Norbert Baumers, sj, Frankfurt, Germany

Dr Teresa O Gonçalves, pontifical council for interreligious dialogue, Vatican City, Italy

Rev Remi Hoeckman, op, secretary, commission for religious relations with the Jews, Vatican City, Italy

Frei Leonardo Martin, sa, co-ordinador, ecumenismo e diálogo interreligioso da Arquidiocese de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

Rev Karl Müller, svd, St Augustin, Germany

Rev Thomas F Stransky, csp, rector, Tantur ecumenical institute for advanced theological studies, Jerusalem

PCPCU staff

Msgr Kevin McDonald and Msgr John Radano, pontifical council for promoting Christian unity, Vatican City, Italy