In the World but Not of It: One Family's Militant Faith and the History of Fundamentalism in America [Hardcover]

Brett Grainger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 18, 2008

A memorable new literary voice traces the story of American fundamentalism through the transcendent lens of his own family experience.

Brett Grainger’s grandparents, members of the Plymouth Brethren, believed devoutly that Jesus would return and rapture them to Heaven; when he didn’t, their lives collapsed. Grainger’s father, having fled from his parents’ extremism, underwent his own conversion in later life. Grainger himself journeyed away from faith, and yet, two decades later, found a different way back to the church, seeking a balance between extremes.

Using those family pathways as a catalyst, he offers a beautifully written, clear-eyed chronicle of fundamentalism in American history, revealing it to be far richer and more complex than the images the word evokes today. Grainger explores seven major themes, including the devotion to biblical literalism, an idea nourished by the writings of nineteenth-century preacher John Nelson Darby; the experience of sudden, personal transformation known as “getting saved”; and the paradox of creation science. Above all, he illuminates the unrelenting pursuit of purity that divides believers into separatists, who shun the sullied compromises of politics, and activists, who fight to bring society under the yoke of divine law—all in the name of being “in the world but not of it.” Writing with a passion and conviction born of personal experience, Brett Grainger brings new insight into American history, and invaluable understanding for anyone interested in our country’s religious tradition.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Grainger grew up in the small, “militant” (his word), and fundamentalist Plymouth Brethren, whom he thought of as “everyday men and women who lived lives of quiet piety,” though they considered themselves outsiders. Conventionally defining a fundamentalist as a believer in the inerrancy of the Bible, the virgin birth of Jesus, the idea that Jesus died for our sins, the Resurrection, and the Second Coming, thought by some to include the Rapture, Grainger emphasizes that fundamentalism is hardly monolithic. His insightful and partly autobiographical book examines the history of fundamentalism; seminal fundamentalist figures and institutions, including John Nelson Darby, the Dallas Theological Seminary, Cyrus I. Scofield, and others; and the concepts of dispensationalism and personal salvation. He closes with visits to two different fundamentalist establishments: the Holy Land Experience, a biblical theme park in Orlando, and the Creation Museum in Kentucky. Although no longer fundamentalist, Grainger still feels compelled to return to the religion of his childhood, at least in reflection and memory. This satisfying book is his attempt to explain why. --June Sawyers

Review

“[A] thought-provoking examination of an often maligned part of American Christianity, showing its strengths as well as its weaknesses.”---Library Journal

“Insightful.”—Booklist

"Brief but insightful exploration of a people who may not see themselves as of this world, but who are certainly in it in increasing numbers." —Kirkus Reviews

“’Fundamentalism’ is often discussed and disparaged, but rarely is it well understood. Grainger puts a face, a genuine and likeable one, on this often fuzzy term. His portrait also demonstrates the tensions and the diversity within a religious movement no one can ignore today."—Harvey Cox, author of When Jesus Came to Harvard

“Brett Grainger offers an impressive family portrait of Christian fundamentalism in America in this timely, intimate, and wonderfully written work. Grainger’s retreat from fundamentalism—and his eventual journey back to faith—give him a unique perspective on an often misunderstood segment of American culture, both critical and sympathetic. In the World but Not of It is a must-read for anyone listening to the persistent heartbeat of religion in America.”—Jim Wallis, author of The Great Awakening and God’s Politics, and president of Sojourners

“In In the World but Not of It, Brett Grainger puts a human face on Christian fundamentalism—the face of his mother, his father, his grandfather, himself. This wise and beautiful book is art of a high and dignified calling, a must-read for believer and skeptic alike.”—Dennis Covington, author of Salvation on Sand Mountain

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Walker & Company; First Edition edition (March 18, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802715591
• ISBN-13: 978-0802715593
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,132,119 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A worthy contribution to the study of religion in America., April 3, 2008

By 

Antony (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In the World but Not of It: One Family's Militant Faith and the History of Fundamentalism in America (Hardcover)

I highly recommend Brett Grainger's first book. It is a most intelligent and compassionate work based on experience and thorough research. So much writing has been done on the subject of fundamentalism filled with either disdain or uncritical praise neither of which brings much illumination to the subject. Grainger manages both sympathy and critique with insight and humor. One senses that he has no axes to grind merely revelations to make. The product is simply wonderful. Grainger's book works as both memoir and expose (meant here in the best since of the term).

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Individual human insights into religious culture, May 26, 2008

By 

Anna-Lise M. Kear "fellow pilgrim" (Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In the World but Not of It: One Family's Militant Faith and the History of Fundamentalism in America (Hardcover)

It is indeed a shame that John Stackhouse found the book mean spirited. I do not share the same perspective. Grainger's reflections are an authentic look and self-portrait of his experience. His connections are in personal and cultural insight and open a space for more questions. Stackhouse's "so what" may not be of interest to him as they are to me. His dismissive attitude, especially clothed in "scholarly critique" leave me wondering if he understands the value of personal narrative to some readership populations. Prompting continued questions about a powerful American religious and political culture are never "Ho-Hum". We are saturated with the unquestioned influence of popularly packaged and staged religious beliefs that fail to address the greater complexity of individual lives lived.

I found Grainger's writing to welcome readers into an excerpt of his personal narrative. The research text was both helpful and appropriate, given the compactness of his book. There were many meaningful themes, questions and thoughts addressed or suggested that speak to the human condition and human heart. I particularly valued the notions of our human responses to the uncertainties in life and the desire to hold onto beliefs for comfort, hope and rescue from the cruelties of our culture and society, whichever the decade and place.

I identified a fellow traveler seeking to live an integrated life in a world that would readily pull us in only one direction/interpretation (pick one of many), thereby neglecting the more difficult task of understanding complexity of being human in a personal, family, and societal context.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars excellent intro to the diverse world of fundamentalism, May 22, 2008

By 

J. Thompson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In the World but Not of It: One Family's Militant Faith and the History of Fundamentalism in America (Hardcover)

This is an excellent book for anyone curious about what fundamentalism means to fundamentalists, and to our country. The most compelling point Grainger makes is that fundamentalism isn't a monolith, but a decentralized, multitudinous movement that gives expression to a fascinatingly wide range of beliefs and practices.

Grainger weaves together his personal experiences with fundamentalism with sharp, vivid reporting on various fundamentalist groups across the States. He strikes a graceful balance between the personal and the objective - he has the hard-won sympathy of someone who grew up with fundamentalism and left it behind, without losing his fascination with what fundamentalism means to other people.

The book is slim and beautifully written - an excellent, fair minded introduction to a charged topic. Fundamentalism is as powerful a force in our culture as you may think, but not in the stereotyped ways outsiders tend to believe in. Grainger's engaging discussion of 'creation science' alone makes the book worth reading, but you will also come away with a vivid insider's stories - his and others' - of one of the most misunderstood forces in our culture.