First Fundamentalist Baptist School : a sociological inquiry

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 HistoryThesis (Ph. D.