Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1984. / Typescript. Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 281-311).

Thesis (M.A.)--Lancaster Bible College, 2003. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 65-68).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 328-339).

The need for a worldwide assessment of Baptist history is especially important for the many who have only a limited knowledge of this broad alliance of Christians known as Baptists. Understanding how and why Independent Baptist congregations emerged from within the larger picture makes the opening chapter important, even to other Baptists. The doctrinal elements of the Independent Baptists that overlap other Christian churches need to be explained in sufficient detail to note the differences that do exist. The numerous ecclesiastical beliefs, known as "distinctives," are matters of similarity and divergence that exist within the various Baptist groupings. To understand these seemingly minor differences is to come to appreciate the fine details that often divide. Baptist often are divided by these differences of fine detail in relation to their ecclesiastical "distinctives'; even more than some of the major doctrines that have divided other churches and denominations. This makes the task of tracing the specific history of Independent Baptists a most complex undertaking. The ability to understand Independent Baptists as fundamentalists is dependent on understanding their own definition of fundamentalism in the context of American and English conservativism. The highly charged issues related to the fundamentalism between 1880 and 1980 and the influence this period and its concerns has had on Independent Fundamental Baptists and Bible churches is rarely understood. Much of the modern South African political, ethical and religious issues seem far removed fium this church but these fundamentalists nonetheless have a perspective regarding the literal interpretation of the Bible that deserves to be heard and may well have a genuine contribution to make. The Independent Fundamental Baptist missionaries and local church leadership has a character of its own. The development of its leadership and ministry style is directly related to issues such as the literalness of their Biblical interpretation and application in pastoral areas such as preaching, teaching, discipleship and pastoral counselling. Of course there are many variations of leadership style and personality within such a loose combination of church leaders. Understanding the expansion of the Independent Fundamental Baptist and Bible churches depends on having a useful awareness of the churches and organisations that work behind the scenes, primarily in the United States, to promote this Christian movement with its strong emphasis on Biblical doctrine and distinctiveness. Learning about churches that are almost totally focused on the simplicity of the Gospel and on the pivotal role local churches should have in the Christian's inner spiritual life and public attitudes is a unique study. Understanding these loosely grouped churches and their missionary and church-planting fervour opens a perspective on Christianity general, though in my opinion, mistakenly viewed as irrelevant today. Their advance and growth raises questions for many who accept the idea that relevancy is dependent on pursuing religious emotionalism or responding to contemporary social change. The Independent Fundamental Baptist and Bible churches are moving forward while following a philosophy once fairly common among South African Christianity, but now believed to be outdated and unacceptable. The purpose of this thesis is: first, to clarify who and what the Independent Fundamental Baptist and Bible churches really are, and second, to establish their rightful place in the Southern African ''family" of Baptists. Further, by explaining their goals, problems and some of their changing perspectives their historic philosophy of missiology and ministry can be understood together with their outlook on today's society and social needs. All of this should lead to a better estimate of their future viability and their potential impact on South African religious life. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D.Th. (Church History)

Thesis (D. Th.)--University of South Africa, 2002.

Recent sex role research suggested that androgynous subjects demonstrated better adjustment than sex-typed subjects. Fundamentalist religious belief, however, has strongly supported sex role differentiation. This study hypothesized that the effect of appropriate sex role typing or androgyny on self-esteem would depend on religious belief. Although this hypothesis was not supported, a main effect on sex roles for females was obtained; androgynous females had a higher self-esteem level than feminine females. In addition, males in this study had a higher self-esteem level than females.

Taiwanese stock market. The results suggest that there exist two heterogeneous agents in Taiwanese stock market, £\-investors behaving as long-term contrarian and £]-investor behaving as short-term momentum traders. To depict in detail the practical financial market, this research empirically tests HAM with different fundamental values (measured by the moving average price in different rolling windows) across different investment frequencies (daily, weekly and monthly). The result suggests that £\-investors (fundamentalists) expect prices to deviate from the short-term moving average but mean revert to long-term moving average. Beta investors (chartists) act as momentum traders in daily and monthly frequency, but short-term contrarian in weekly frequency. In addition, this study tests whether the parameters in HAM can explain some characteristics of crashes and bubbles. The result suggests that there are different investor behaviors in Asian, Dotcom, and Subprime crashes. By comparing the parameters (£\, £], and £^) of each individual stock, the study finds that stocks with contrarian £\-investors and short-term momentum £]-investors acting as short-term momentum traders have more volatile price pattern. As to crashes and individual stock volatility, the result suggests that sudden crashes (abrupt price decline) tend to occur in the stocks with short-term momentum traders, and while general crash (longterm economic cycle) tend to occur in the stocks with long-term contrarian investors. Stocks with larger Gamma, proxy for uncertainty, tends to have general crash only when £\-investors acting as contrarian and £]-investors acting as momentum traders.

Like many mainline Protestant denominations, the Disciples of Christ in Indiana experienced discord and schism during the 1920s as a result of the modernistfundamentalist controversies. Although many historians accentuate the role of doctrinal disputes, recent scholarship suggests the importance of social and cultural factors. This study shows that the strife between modernist and fundamentalist Disciples in Indiana encapsulates a larger cultural rift in American society that had been growing since the latter part of the nineteenth century. Using the rhetoric of "cooperation," modernist Disciple leaders of the statewide Disciples of Christ organization tried to implement a more centralized church structure that would enable them to pursue a progressive agenda. Fundamentalist Disciple ministers and laypersons regarded such efforts as an infringement on their local autonomy, and their widespread involvement in the 1920s Ku Klux Klan was symptomatic of their anxiety over modernizing forces within their churches and throughout American culture. / Department of History

In the past few years social researchers have focused a considerable amount of attention on the relationships between religion and psychological well-being. The purpose of this paper is to examine further relationships among a sample of the Middletown population. More specifically, the paper explores gender differences which may be found in the impact of religion, as measured by church attendance and the presence of fundamentalist beliefs, on three indices of subjective psychological well-being. The findings, as indicated by a series of multiple regressions, demonstrate a significantly stronger relationship between religion and well-being for men than for women. Men who attended church frequently and who professed fundamentalist beliefs were more likely to report positive feelings of well-being. In most cases, religion had little or no effect on women's self-reported well-being. / Department of Sociology

This research describes the social structure of a fundamentalist Baptist Christian School, labeled as First Fundamentalist Baptist School (FFBS). The case study is based on field research extending from August, 1985 through June, 1987. The methodology consisted primarily of qualitative measures: non-participant observation, semi-structured and informal interviews, thematic analysis and historical research. Additionally a brief quantitative survey was given. The methodology's components produce "thick description."The findings place First Fundamentalist Baptist Church (FFBC), the organization which operates the school, in the context of American Protestant fundamentalism. The church and school are shown as representing a separatist fundamentalist category. Discussion of the development of Christian schools in the United States, since the mid-1960's, along with the causes prompting the movement and the specific founding of FFBS embody chapter two. The thematic analysis of FFBS's fundamentalist curricula, based on an inerrant Bible as the pervasive controlling integrator, is the topic of chapter three. Chapter four examines the organization's relationship with the larger society: other churches, public educational authorities, the state and the larger world. Social control mechanisms functioning to reinforce the group's unique subcultural identity are detailed in the fifth chapter.The theoretical premises proposed to explain the FFBS are: 1) fundamentalism is an enduring conservative movement in reaction to modernity; 2) the FFBS-FFBC community is representative of a countercultural subculture; and 3) FFBS is a component of FFBC's sect-like orientation.Fundamentalism, once 'thought doomed to extinction as a result of the forces of modernity, remains a vital movement. Evidence of the movement's strength includes the presence of a conservatively estimated four million fundamentalists, political activism, tele-evangelism and the rise of Christian schools. Modernity, rather than extinguishing fundamentalism, has evoked strong reactions reinforcing the movement. FFBS is a component of these reactions. / Department of History