of the American evangelical movement (“A Fundamentalist is an Evangelical who is angry about something,” George Marsden wrote). Fundamentalists argued that it was not enough merely to believe in God and obey the teachings of the Gospels. One had to make a personal, confessional commitment to Jesus Christ, so that he could wash away one’s sins with his “redeeming blood.” Only then could one reenter the world in purity and innocence as “born again.”
