The Rise and Fall of Merry Englandexplores the religious and secular rituals which marked the passage of the year in late medieval and early modern England, and tells the story of how they altered over time in response to political, religious, and social changes. Ronald Hutton examines a number of important and controversial issues, such as the character and pace of the English Reformation, the nature of the early Stuart `Reformation of Manners', the context of writers like Ben Jonson and Robert Herrick, the origins of the science of folklore, the relevance of cultural divisions to the English Civil War, the impact of the English Revolution, and the viability of economic explanations for social change. Never before has such a comprehensive study of the subject been undertaken, and it has been made possible by using categories of source material, notably local financial records, in a quantity never attempted hitherto. This is highly readable and entertaining book which, in both research and interpretation, breaks several frontiers.

A gripping story of how an entire family, deeply enmeshed in Mormonism for thirty years, found their way out and found faith in Jesus Christ. For thirty years, Lynn Wilder, once a tenured faculty member at Brigham Young University, and her family lived in, loved, and promoted the Mormon Church. Then their son Micah, serving his Mormon mission in Florida, had a revelation: God knew him personally. God loved him. And the Mormon Church did not offer the true gospel. Micah's conversion to Christ put the family in a tailspin. They wondered, Have we believed the wrong thing for decades? If we leave Mormonism, what does this mean for our safety, jobs, and relationships? Is Christianity all that different from Mormonism anyway? As Lynn tells her story of abandoning the deception of Mormonism to receive God's grace, she gives a rare look into Mormon culture, what it means to grow up Mormon, and why the contrasts between Mormonism and Christianity make all the difference in the world. Whether you are in the Mormon Church, are curious about Mormonism, or simply are looking for a gripping story, Unveiling Grace will strengthen your faith in the true God who loves you no matter what.

Offering the first study in any language dedicated to the influential publications of the French Reformed theologian Antoine de Chandieu (1534-1591), Theodore Van Raalte begins by recalling Chandieu's reputation as it stood at the death of Theodore Beza in 1605. Poets in Geneva mourned the end of an era of star theologians, reminiscing about Geneva's Reformed triumvirate of gold, silver, and bronze: gold represented Calvin; silver Chandieu; and bronze Beza. Van Raalte's work sets Chandieu within the context of Reformed theology in Geneva, the wider history of scholastic method in the Swiss cantons, and the gripping social and political milieus. Chandieu was far from a mere ivory tower theologian: as a member of French nobility in possession of many estates and castles in France, he and his family acutely experienced the misery and triumph of the French Huguenots during the Wars of Religion. Connected to royalty from at least the beginning of his career, Chandieu later served the future Henry IV as personal military chaplain and cryptographer. His writings run the gamut from religious poetry (put to music by others in his lifetime) to carefully-crafted disputations which saw publication in his posthumous Opera Theologica in five editions between 1592 and 1620. Chandieu had developed a very elaborate form of the medieval quaestio disputata and made liberal use of hypothetical syllogisms. Van Raalte argues that Chandieu utilized scholastic method in theology for the sake of clarity of argument, rootedness in Scripture, and certainty of faith.

This is a study of the organized anti-Catholic movement in nineteenth-century Britain. The passing of the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829 was in some respects a triumph for religious toleration, but it was followed by a substantial Protestant backlash. This was further stimulated by the theological and evangelistic concerns of evangelicals, the growth of Catholicism in Britain, and the political actions of Irish and British Tories. In this meticulously researched book, John Wolffe examines the anti-Catholic societies which played an important part in the shaping of public opinion, and which exercised significant leverage on politics, notably in 1834-5 and between 1845 and 1855. He explores the cultural and social dimensions of anti-Catholicism, relating them to the values and impact of evangelicalism at a variety of social levels. The Protestant Crusade in Great Britain makes an important contribution to our understanding of Victorian religion, particularly in respect of the interaction between England, Ireland, and Scotland. Dr Wolffe demonstrates that, while the Protestant crusade failed in terms of most of its specific objectives, its impact on the life of the nation was nevertheless far-reaching.

An in-depth look at Christian theology through Hispanic eyes. It weaves the doctrinal formulations of the early church on creation, the Trinity, and Christology into contemporary theological reflection on the Hispanic struggle for liberation.

This volume offers a major theological statement from a respected theologian and author. Richly insightful and unique, Manana is one of the few major theological works from a Protestant representative of the Hispanic tradition. Justo L. Gonzalez offers theological reflections based upon unique insights born of his minority status as a Hispanic American.

This third volume completes the text of the cycle of 294 English Wycliffite sermons; the first two volumes appeared in 1983 and 1987 respectively. The 120 sermons here were intended to provide material for all the weekday occasions for which the Sarum rite offers a separate gospel reading; such complete coverage of ferial days is unparalleled in English medieval homiliaries, and seems unknown elsewhere in contemporary European cycles of sermons. The introduction to the present book, which is intended to be used along with the material in the previous volumes, describes the state of the text in these manuscripts and their relation to each other. Two further chapters consider questions relating to the whole cycle: the fidelity of the biblical translation in the sermons to the Vulgate texts; and the complicated issue of the relation between these English sermons and the Latin sermons of John Wyclif himself (this chapter is by Pamela Gradon). A fourth volume will provide a commentary on the individual sermons, consider the recurrent issues discussed within them, and offer suggestions concerning the origins of the collection.

Christian Theology: The Basics is a concise introduction to the nature, tasks and central concerns of theology - the study of God within the Christian tradition. Providing a broad overview of the story that Christianity tells us about our human situation before God, this book will also seek to provide encouragement and a solid foundation for the reader's further explorations within the subject. With debates surrounding the relation between faith and reason in theology, the book opens with a consideration of the basis of theology and goes on to explore key topics including: The identity of Jesus and debates in Christology The role of the Bible in shaping theological inquiry The centrality of the Trinity for all forms of Christian thinking The promise of salvation and how it is achieved. With suggestions for further reading at the end of each chapter along with a glossary Christian Theology: The Basics, is the ideal starting point for those new to study of theology.

These Lollard sermons are edited from British Library MS Additional 41321; Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Rawlinson c.751; Manchester, John Rylands Library MS 412; with introductory sections: I. The Manuscripts, by Jeremy Griffiths, and II. The Language, by Jeremy Smith; and three other introductions written by Gloria Cigman which contain extensive information about the texts and the manuscripts. They are distinctive in their intense preoccupation with the role of the preacher and the exposition of the scriptures, and in the total absence of narrative exempla. They were evidently composed for both popular transmission and as a manual for the preacher, who is sometimes urged to elaborate, or directed to other material relevant to his theme, or offered multiple exegesis for his own instruction and from which to select when preaching. There is a consistent flavour of popular Lollardy in the vocabulary and attitudes expressed. Marked differences between the sermons, however, suggest more than one sermon-writer and an overall intention to demonstrate different preaching methods. This edition includes an introductory discussion, glossary, and notes to the text, together with a two-part index of scriptural texts, one sermon by sermon, the other alphabetical.

"This eminently readable volume marks a high point in theological reflection on Martin Luther's contribution to today's church. Eschewing standard topical analyses that have often distorted Luther's thought, the authors--in essays focusing on God's twofold righteousness and God's powerful Word--have uncovered the very core of Wittenberg's theological revolution in a winsome, nondefensive manner. They thereby provide a radically new perspective on contemporary Christian faith and witness. This book is an invaluable tool for preaching, teaching, and learning the faith."--Timothy J. Wengert, Ministerium of Pennsylvania Professor of the History of Christianity, The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia

"Kolb and Arand have provided a great service to all who seek a deeper understanding of reformational theology. "The Genius of Luther's Theology" is a fresh and innovative examination of the heart of Luther's theology. This book makes Luther more understandable and thus more usable for readers of all levels."--Jack Preus, president, Concordia University, Irvine, California

"Aside from a few slogans and provocative quotes, Luther's theology is largely unknown in the land that Bonhoeffer called 'Protestantism without the Reformation.' Christianity in America desperately needs the wisdom and penetrating insight into gospel logic that is winesomely introduced in this rewarding volume."--Michael S. Horton, J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics, Westminster Seminary California

"Stressing Luther's theological anthropology and his view of the living and active Word of God, Kolb and Arand have given us a useful, pertinent, and contemporarily significantintroduction to the genius of the great reformer's thought. This book is a valuable contribution to Luther research."--Lawrence R. Rast Jr., professor of historical theology and academic dean, Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana

The treatises in this volume were first published when the persecution of nonconformists was reaching a fierce climax. Seasonable Counsel, subtitled Advice to Sufferers, presents Bunyan's reflections on how believers were to understand and respond to this experience. His own sufferings are reflected in his essentially practical discussion of the many issues raised and in the vigorous speech-based language of the mature preacher and writer. A Discourse upon the Pharisee and the Publicane is an exposition of the parable in Luke xviii. The work gives Bunyan's ultimate thoughts on justification by faith, which show a development from his earlier position. There is a shrewd analysis of the characters, with a lively and original discussion of body language. The introduction to this volume relates Bunyan's arguments and experience to their context, including contemporary ideas on persecution and toleration and on the connection between faith and justification.

This book describes the history in late 19th-century Russia and immigration to Canada of an ethnic and religious group known as Doukhobors, or Spirit Wrestlers. The book is a translation into English of the Russian original authored by Grigorii Verigin, published in 1935. The book's narrative starts with the consolidation of Doukhobor beliefs inspired by the most famous Doukhobor leader, Petr Verigin. It describes the arrival of Doukhobors in Canada, their agricultural and industrial accomplishments in Saskatchewan and British Columbia, and the clashes and misunderstandings between Doukhobors and the Canadian government. The narrative closes in 1924, with the scenes of Petr Verigin's death in a yet unresolved railway car bombing, and of his funeral. The author emphasizes the most crucial component of Doukhobor beliefs: their pacifism and unequivocal rejection of wars and military conflicts. The book highlights other aspects of Doukhobor beliefs as well, including global community, brotherhood and equality of all the people on earth, kind treatment of animals, vegetarianism, as well as abstinence from alcohol and tobacco. It also calls for social justice, tolerance, and diversity.

This volume brings together philosophers, social theorists, and theologians in order to investigate the relation between future(s) of the Revolution and future(s) of the Reformation. It offers reflections on concepts and interpretations of revolution and reformation that are relevant for the analysis of future-oriented political practices and political theologies of the present time.

"Common Prayer" explores the relationship between prayer and poetry in the century following the Protestant Reformation. Ramie Targoff challenges the conventional and largely misleading distinctions between the ritualized world of Catholicism and the more individualistic focus of Protestantism. Early modern England, she demonstrates, was characterized less by the triumph of religious interiority than by efforts to shape public forms of devotion. This provocatively revisionist argument will have major implications for early modern studies.
Through readings of William Shakespeare's "Hamlet, " Richard Hooker's "Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie," Philip Sidney's "Apology for Poetry" and his translations of the Psalms, John Donne's sermons and poems, and George Herbert's "The Temple, " Targoff uncovers the period's pervasive and often surprising interest in cultivating public and formalized models of worship. At the heart of this study lies an original and daring approach to understanding the origins of devotional poetry; Targoff shows how the projects of composing eloquent verse and improving liturgical worship come to be deeply intertwined. New literary practices, then, became a powerful means of forging common prayer, or controlling private and otherwise unmanageable expressions of faith.

This third volume in a twelve-volume series provides reliable, modern scholarly texts for three important but lesser-known works, all of which were written in the mid-1660s, early in Bunyan's career, while he was imprisoned in Bedford. Christian Behaviour is a manual of the good works required of the Christians towards their families and neighbors, The Holy City a rapturous meditation on the millennial kingdom of Christ, and The Resurrection of the Dead a defense of the doctrine of bodily resurrection. Each presents themes later developed in Bunyan's famous allegories, offering insight into the development of Bunyan's thought and the background of his greatest achievements.

From the turn of the twentieth century until the end of the Irish Civil War, Protestant nationalists forged a distinct counterculture within an increasingly Catholic nationalist movement. Drawing on a wide range of primary and secondary sources, Conor Morrissey charts the development of nationalism within Protestantism, and describes the ultimate failure of this tradition. The book traces the re-emergence of Protestant nationalist activism in the literary and language movements of the 1890s, before reconstructing their distinctive forms of organisation in the following decades. Morrissey shows how Protestants, mindful of their minority status, formed interlinked networks of activists, and developed a vibrant associational culture. He describes how the increasingly Catholic nature of nationalism - particularly following the Easter Rising - prompted Protestants to adopt a variety of strategies to ensure their voices were still heard. Ultimately, this ambitious and wide-ranging book explores the relationship between religious denomination and political allegiance, casting fresh light on an often-misunderstood period.

A scholarly edition of The Miscellaneous Works of John Bunyan: Barren Fig-Tree; Strait Gate; Heavenly Footman by Graham Midgley. The edition presents an authoritative text, together with an introduction, commentary notes, and scholarly apparatus.

This work synthesizes work previously published in leading journals in the field into a coherent narrative that has a distinctive focus on Germany while also being aware of a broader European dimension. It argues that the German Lutheran Christoph August Heumann (1681-1764) marginalized the biographical approach to past philosophy and paved the way for the German Lutheran Johann Jacob Brucker's (1696-1770) influential method for the writing of past philosophy, centred on depersonalised and abstract systems of philosophy. The work offers an authoritative and engaging account of how late ancient Platonism, Plotinus in particular, was interpreted in eighteenth-century Germany according to these new precepts. Moreover, it reveals the Lutheran religious assumptions of this new approach to past philosophy, which underpinned the works of Heumann and Brucker, but also influential reviews that rejected the English Plato translator Thomas Taylor (1758-1835) and his understanding and evaluation of late ancient Platonism.

'His finest work and one that was both symptom and engine of the concept of "history from below" ... Here Levellers, Diggers, Ranters, Muggletonians, the early Quakers and others taking advantage of the collapse of censorship to bid for new kinds of freedom were given centre stage' Times Higher Education In 'The World Turned Upside Down' Christopher Hill studies the beliefs of such radical groups as the Diggers, the Ranters, the Levellers and others, and the social and emotional impulses that gave rise to them. The relations between rich and poor classes, the part played by wandering 'masterless' men, the outbursts of sexual freedom, the great imaginative creations of Milton and Bunyan - these and many other elements build up into a marvellously detailed and coherent portrait of this strange, sudden effusion of revolutionary beliefs. 'Established the concept of an "English Revolution" every bit as significant and potentially as radical as its French and Russian equivalents' Daily Telegraph 'Brilliant ... marvellous erudition and sympathy' David Caute, New Statesman 'This book will outlive our time and will stand as a notable monument to the man, the committed radical scholar, and one of the finest historians of the age' The Times Literary Supplement 'The dean and paragon of English historians' E.P. Thompson

This book explores the impact of the sixteenth-century Reformation on the plays of William Shakespeare. Taking three fundamental Protestant concerns of the era - (double) predestination, conversion, and free will - it demonstrates how Protestant theologians, in England and elsewhere, re-imagined these longstanding Christian concepts from a specifically Protestant perspective. Shakespeare utilizes these insights to generate his distinctive view of human nature and the relationship between humans and God. Through in-depth readings of the Shakespeare comedies 'The Merry Wives of Windsor', 'Much Ado About Nothing', 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', and 'Twelfth Night', the romance 'A Winter's Tale', and the tragedies of 'Macbeth' and 'Hamlet', this book examines the results of almost a century of Protestant thought upon literary art.

A scholarly edition of The Miscellaneous Works of John Bunyan: Good News for the Vilest of Men; The Advocateship of Jesus Christ by Richard L. Greaves. The edition presents an authoritative text, together with an introduction, commentary notes, and scholarly apparatus.

`A major contribution to our understanding of the English Revolution.' Ann Hughes, Professor of Early Modern History, Keele University. John Goodwin [1594-1665] was one of the most prolific and controversial writers of the English Revolution; his career illustrates some of the most important intellectual developments of the seventeenth century. Educated at Queens'College, Cambridge, he became vicar of a flagship Puritan parish in the City of London. During the 1640s, he wrote in defence of the civil war, the army revolt, Pride's Purge, and the regicide, only to turn against Cromwell in 1657. Finally, repudiating religious uniformity, he became one of England's leading tolerationists. This richly contextualised study, the first modern intellectual biography of Goodwin, explores the whole range of writingsproduced by him and his critics. Amongst much else, it shows that far from being a maverick individualist, Goodwin enjoyed a wide readership, pastored one of the London's largest Independent congregations and was well connected tovarious networks. Hated and admired by Anglicans, Presbyterians and Levellers, he provides us with a new perspective on contemporaries like Richard Baxter and John Milton. It will be of special interest to students of Puritanism,the English Revolution, and early modern intellectual history. JOHN COFFEY is Reader in Early Modern History at the University of Leicester.

The story of Alpha is of major significance for understanding the place of religious faith in the modern world, but that story has never been told - until now. Since its launch in 1993, the Alpha movement has evolved from 'supper party evangelism' in the Kensington suburbs into a global brand of Christian outreach. Today, over a million people attend Alpha every year, but the history of its rise to popularity has never been documented. What caused such spiritual renewal in an age of scepticism? And what propelled Alpha into a phenomenon that is recognised across the globe? Alpha is far more than an introductory course to Christianity. At the core of its brand identity is a 'repackaging' of the Christian message for contemporary audiences. Innovation and cultural adaptability are built into Alpha's DNA, one of the chief reasons for its longevity and influence. Nimbly utilising the multimedia and digital revolutions, it has contextualised into cultures and languages across the planet. And led by charismatic, savvy individuals, it has attracted people from across the social spectrum, making waves in national media. Andrew Atherstone leaves no stone unturned as he presents this fascinating history. With exclusive access to original archives, Atherstone recounts the miraculous stories of HTB's early years, the first full account of Nicky Gumbel's conversion, and the strategic decisions that launched Alpha onto the global stage of Christian influence. With sharp historical analysis, Andrew Atherstone uncovers the story of Christian resurgence in our contemporary age.

Written by a leading expert on the Puritans, this brief, informative volume offers a wealth of background on this key religious movement. This book traces the shaping, triumph, and decline of the Puritan world, while also examining the role of religion in the shaping of American society and the role of the Puritan legacy in American history. Francis J. Bremer discusses the rise of Puritanism in the English Reformation, the struggle of the reformers to purge what they viewed as the corruptions of Roman Catholicism from the Elizabethan church, and the struggle with the Stuart monarchs that led to a brief Puritan triumph under Oliver Cromwell. It also examines the effort of Puritans who left England to establish a godly kingdom in America. Bremer examines puritan theology, views on family and community, their beliefs about the proper relationship between religion and public life, the limits of toleration, the balance between individual rights and one's obligation to others, and the extent to which public character should be shaped by private religious belief.
About the Series: Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam.