The Battle for God: A History of Fundamentalism

Armstrong's monograph examines the rise of fundamentalist movements within Judaism, Christianity, and Islam from the late nineteenth century to the present, arguing that these movements represent a distinctly modern phenomenon rather than a return to premodern religiosity. The work challenges conventional narratives that frame fundamentalism as an atavistic rejection of modernity, proposing instead that fundamentalist movements emerge as defensive reactions to aggressive secularization and constitute attempts to sacralize modernity itself.

The study employs a comparative historical methodology, tracing parallel developments across the three Abrahamic traditions. Armstrong demonstrates how fundamentalist movements in each tradition share common characteristics: selective retrieval of sacred texts, innovative reinterpretation of religious symbols, and the creation of alternative modernities that incorporate technological and organizational innovations while rejecting secular epistemologies. Her analysis reveals how fundamentalists paradoxically employ modern methods of organization, communication, and political mobilization to construct antimodern ideologies.

Central to Armstrong's argument is the concept of mythos and logos as complementary modes of human understanding. She contends that premodern societies maintained a balance between mythical thinking (addressing meaning and transcendence) and rational discourse (addressing practical and empirical concerns). The modern West's privileging of logos at the expense of mythos, she argues, creates a spiritual vacuum that fundamentalist movements attempt to fill, albeit through distorted means that conflate mythical and rational truth claims.

The work engages critically with secularization theory, particularly its teleological assumptions about religious decline. Against scholars who view fundamentalism as evidence of religion's last gasps, Armstrong presents it as evidence of religion's adaptive capacity and continued relevance. She argues that fundamentalism's emergence across diverse cultural contexts demonstrates the inadequacy of purely secular frameworks for addressing human needs for meaning and community.

Armstrong's contribution to debates about God lies not in defending or attacking theistic belief per se, but in analyzing how modern conditions transform religious expression. Her work suggests that the "battle for God" reflects deeper conflicts about the nature of truth, authority, and human flourishing in modernity. By treating fundamentalist movements as modern phenomena requiring serious analysis rather than dismissal, she opens space for understanding how conceptions of the divine evolve in response to historical pressures. The study implies that neither aggressive secularism nor reactive fundamentalism adequately addresses the human need for transcendent meaning in modern societies.