Why Fundamentalism is Not (Always) Such a Bad Thing. Take Bart for example...

Episode Outline:
0:00 Did Bart’s born-again fundamentalism actually help create the scholar he became?
0:55 Bart on research leave, Jesus’ ethics, and “The Origins of Altruism”
3:24 How Jesus’ radical ethics were softened by later followers
5:55 Bart’s life as a typical teenager before his conversion
7:35 Why no one in high school would have predicted an academic career
9:07 How fundamentalist conversion led him to Moody Bible Institute
11:04 What Moody was like, and why Bart loved being there
12:34 How Moody gave him a serious academic grounding in Bible and theology
15:56 Memorization, all-nighters, and how he trained his mind at Moody
18:48 Why Princeton was not the first major turning point, but Wheaton was
24:31 How serving as a youth pastor taught him to explain difficult ideas clearly
26:43 Why youth ministry also convinced him not to become a pastor
27:50 Would Bart have had this career without his fundamentalist path?
31:35 The major downsides of his fundamentalist education and what it left out
36:45 Was fundamentalism, on balance, a net positive in his life?
39:45 Course promo: The Genius of Matthew
44:28 Weekly Update: teaser on Matthew as both deeply Jewish and sharply anti-Jewish
48:30 Listener Q&A: eternal torment, Isaiah 7:14, Exodus 34:14, Jesus’ age, and agnostic atheism
58:09 Final summary: Bart would not be who he is without fundamentalism, even though he has deep regrets about parts of it

Episode Description

Bart has never held back from opposing Christian fundamentalism (and every other religious fundamentalism), even though he was once a fundamentalist himself. Many fundamentalists consider (and call) him the spawn of the Devil for his attempts to expose the flaws of fundamentalist thinking, in part because he understands the view from the inside. But Bart has never publicly talked about how being a fundamentalist had a serious upside and played a positive role in his life, affecting everything that came after in some extraordinarily helpful ways. In this episode he spills the beans on how being a fundamentalist proved, in some ways, to be a good thing. (Even if he doesn't advise going there!)

Also watch these episodes:
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Is the New Testament Actually *Filled* with Forgeries?

Can There Be Meaning in a World without God?
Can There Be Meaning in a World without God?

If There Is a God, Why Do We Suffer?
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Megan asks Bart:

-You became a born-again, fundamentalist Christian at 15. How did your teenage life change following that experience?

-What had been your trajectory up until that point? Had you already planned to take your academic studies further than an undergraduate degree?

-You went to Moody Bible Institute - was that a direct result of your conversion?

-What was it like being a student at Moody?

-Did it give you a good grounding for your future studies?

-Did it give you any experience with research?

-How did being a fundamentalist impact your time at Princeton Theological Seminary?

-Did your experiences as a youth pastor help inform how you teach and lecture?

-Do you think you’d have had this career if you hadn’t become a fundamentalist Christian?

-Did you have any prior interests in ancient or foreign languages?

-Fundamentalism gave you the drive to study intensively, and the forum to develop your skills as a communicator…are there any downsides to your educational experience?

-Do you feel as though your experiences as a fundamentalist were overall a net positive in your life?