Introduction: Reforming Fundamentalism--Part I

I've mentioned this book a couple of times already: Reforming Fundamentalism by George M. Marsden. Sub-title of the book: Fuller Seminary and the New Evangelicalism.

Perhaps you are unfamiliar with Fuller Seminary. I know I was. Maybe I had heard the name, but I paid it no attention until Sarita and I moved to Pasadena, California, at the beginning of 1984. In 1984 and after, however, living in the same community where Fuller is located and, probably more importantly, working for Dr. Ralph Winter, a former professor of the seminary's School of World Mission, I couldn't escape hearing about the school and becoming aware of some of its strengths and weaknesses.

I came to understand that Fuller had undergone a major shift in its commitment to biblical inerrancy sometime prior to our arrival in Pasadena. And, for some reason, I also came to understand that Fuller considered itself--and still considers itself--an evangelical seminary.

With these thoughts in mind, a few weeks ago I did a search online along the lines of fuller seminary inerrancy. Something like that.

And I wound up reading a blog post that references Marsden's book, complete with several tantalizing lines about some kind of major spiritual-intellectual earthquake at Fuller afterward referred to as "Black Saturday"--December 1, 1962.

Dan Fuller, the model of candor . . . saw his chance to assume his new leadership role. He pointed to what he saw as a vital need to revise the statement on inerrancy. ‘Dr. Ockenga,’ he asserted before the whole faculty and board, ‘there are errors which cannot be explained by the original autographs. It is simply not historically feasible to say that these errors would disappear if we had the autographs.’ He went on to explain his whole theory of the nature of biblical inerrancy—essentially, that the Bible claimed inerrancy only for its ‘revelational’ teachings, that is, matters that make one wise unto salvation. . . .

Ockenga responded with thinly veiled indignation. 'Well, what are we going to do then? Dan Fuller thinks the Bible is just full of errors' (211–12).

Oh, my!

My mind went into overdrive immediately.

"What's the rest of the story? What preceded this little interchange? What followed?

I did a Google search on one of the lines in this quote. I don't remember which one, exactly. Let's say it was this one: "Well, what are we going to do then? Dan Fuller thinks the Bible is just full of errors." I did a search on the phrase to see if I could find online a larger quote from that same section of the book.

Jackpot! I found a copy of Marsden's book itself in Google Books! . . . Except . . . No. Page 211 is missing from the Google copy. The crucial page!

But, oh! My curiosity was piqued. "Ockenga. Ockenga. --I know that name! But where do I know it from?" And, "Fuller. Dan Fuller. Let's see. I know that name, too. But where do I know it from?"

And there was more that had me in a lather. In the comments responding to the blog post I referenced, several people mention John Piper, beginning with this one:

Did you know that Dan Fuller was something of a mentor to John Piper when the latter attended Fuller? It was because of Fuller that Piper starting reading Edwards (and probably Barth, too) and eventually went on to Germany for his Ph.D.

I was hooked! I decided to get a copy of the book and see what it might have to tell me about "Fuller Seminary and the New Evangelicalism."

. . . Boy! Was I in for a surprise!

Actually, a bunch of surprises.

But more on that in my next post.