Alexander continues to describe his own experience, including his conversion and a few specific stories, to flesh out his conversation about what absolutism is and how it betrays Christianity. He ultimately describes absolutism as a protest movement to the modernism and postmodernism that has shaped society throughout the years, adding that the “certainty” with which absolutists view the world (“God said it! I believe it! That settles it!”) shares the idea of unqualified, inevitable facts with modernism.

Alexander goes on to lead the reader towards his ultimate leaving of the fundamentalist movement, adding that he suffers occasional “relapses” to the “certainty” of the movement. He argues that believing in such absolutism is safer; thinking one has all of the answers offers a sort of blind comfort. Yet throughout his experiences, Alexander felt the pull of evocative faith more than he did that of absolutist dogma.

Encouraging discourse between the world’s faiths, Alexander suggests that most of the world’s religions are more analogous than often admitted. Each religion has the same basic components at their core, including a sort of “Golden Rule” type philosophy. Alexander suggests that we take a different approach to the “truth question (pg. 125)” and attempt to get to know other individuals from other religions.

In reaching the conclusion of the book, Alexander spends a chapter dispelling some myths about fundamentalists and describes the people he met and loved within the Jesus Freak Movement with empathy and esteem. He is never patronizing or discourteous, which gives the book a courteous tone.

All in all, Stories of a Recovering Fundamentalist is a quality book for those intrigued by a movement of absolutist Christians. Alexander’s experiences underscore the book and make it special, giving a sense of principle to his mission to characterize and more precisely examine fundamentalism.

With a lot of books on the market covering fundamentalist religion, it was a breath of fresh air to read one that is couched in considerate correction instead of anxious contempt. I highly recommend James C. Alexander’s book.