The Best and the Brightest - Redux

I know a number of you have been on pins and needles waiting for these posts :), so here they are. I would recommend that they be read in the order they are being posted.

In a previous post, entitled The Best and the Brightest, I discussed the idea that some have been promoting that "The Best and the Brightest" of Fundamentalism are leaving Fundamentalism. In that post, I alluded to the fact that one of the problems I have with that statement is tautological - to wit,

if Fundamentalism is the truly Biblical position (and I believe it is), then clearly those who are leaving it are not "the best and the brightest" by virtue of the fact that they are leaving what is right.

I did not, however, at the time expand on that statement more than that.

When I noticed that Greg Linscott over at Sharper Iron had highlighted my "The Best and the Brightest" article, I made a comment on a previous post that if I had know that was coming I would have taken a little more time to develop this point further.

Thanks to some comments from a young man (I assume from the context) named Michael C. that showed up in response to my earlier post, I can see that the need for me to develop this point further is at hand. As far as I know, I do not know Michael and I appreciate the manner in which he has made his comments, but I would like to address the questions and comments that he raised and rather than just do it in the comments section, I thought I would turn it into a post. However, after taking some time to work on this, it has actually turned itself into multiple posts.

Essentially, as I read Michael's comments, I believe that they address three general areas and it is those three areas that I will be addressing in my responses. I will deal with some of the specific statements in each of the successive posts.

The first point that Michael addresses is the idea that the meetings geared toward the younger generations by some of the established Fundamental institutions indicate that there is indeed an exodus of the best and brightest of Fundamentalism and that this is worrisome. The heart of this aspect of the issue, in my opinion, is the question - what constitutes "The Best and The Brightest"? I have addressed this question in my post entitled "The Best and the Brightest - Criteria for Evaluation"

The second point that Michael addresses is the idea that it is not so much that the sharp young guys are leaving as much as it is they are being written off and told to "walk the plank." The heart of this aspect of the issue, in my opinion, is the question - how are we to deal with those who are questioning? I have addressed this question in my post entitled, "The Best and the Brightest - Handling Questions."

The third point that Michael addresses is the idea that the young guys do not have a problem with the idea of Fundamentalism, just the movement of Fundamentalism. The heart of this aspect of the issues, in my opinion, is the question - what Fundamentalism are the young guys supposedly leaving?

I hope that by dividing up this discussion, I can avoid posting one long post that nobody is going to read anyway, as well as give an opportunity for feedback and sharpening on the individual sections.

Michael, if I say anything that you feel does not accurately represent what you have said, either here or in the posts to follow, please do not hesitate to contact me so that I can clear it up.

Just my thoughts,

Frank

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