ABSTRACT
Two fundamentalist movements are selected by way of example: the Plymouth Brethren and the Taliban. They are chosen because they differ profoundly in many ways. For example, the Brethren are peaceful and the Taliban are violent. However, both share the same two core beliefs on which fundamentalism is founded. These concern the supreme authority of God's word and the cosmic conflict between God and Satan. Brief historical accounts of the origins and development of the Brethren and the Taliban emphasise the difficulties in making general statements about either of them, given their tendency to split into factions.
