David Martin is a pioneer of a political sociology of religion that integrates a combined analysis of nationalism and political religions with the history of religion. He was one of the first critics of the so-called secularization thesis, and his historical orientation makes him one of the few outstanding scholars who have continued the work begun by Max Weber and Emile Durkheim. This collection provides the first scholarly overview of his hugely influential work and includes a chapter written by David Martin himself. Starting with an introduction that contextualises David Martin's theories on the sociology of religion, both currently and historically, this volume aims to cover David Martin's lifework in its entirety. An international panel of contributors sheds new light on his studies of particular geographical areas (Britain, Latin America, Scandinavia) and on certain systematic fields (secularization, violence, music, Pentecostalism, the relation between sociology and theology). David Martin's concluding chapter addresses the critical points raised in response to his theories. This book addresses one of the key figures in the development of the sociology of religion, and as such it will be of great interest to all scholars of the sociology of religion.

Many Christians who receive a prophetic message, or "word," from the Lord don't understand that its fulfillment is not necessarily automatic. Others don't know how to determine if a prophetic word really is from the Lord. And still others don't understand what prophetic ministry is and how it works.
A veteran prophetic warrior, Barbara Wentroble is aware of the need for training in Bible-based prophetic ministry. With insight and wisdom, she explains not only how prophetic ministry works, but also how believers today--like biblical characters of old--may need to engage in spiritual warfare in order to receive promises that really are from God. Wentroble shows that prophetic words are not confined to church walls, and are not for a select few Christians but for all. She gives readers the guidelines and prophetic etiquette they need to help prevent abuse and misunderstanding, while helping them find the incredible blessing of the biblical gift of prophecy.

A harmless, unassuming caravan of women and children was ambushed by masked gunmen in northern Mexico on 4 November 2019. In a massacre that produced international headlines, nine people were killed and five others gravely injured. The victims were members of the La Mora and LeBaron communities-fundamentalist Mormons whose forebears broke from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and settled in Mexico when polygamy was outlawed. In The Colony, the best-selling investigative journalist Sally Denton picks up where initial reporting on the killings left off, and in the process tells the violent history of the LeBaron clan and their homestead, from the first polygamist emigration to Mexico in the 1880s to the LeBarons' internal blood feud in the 1970s to the family's recent alliance with the NXIVM sex cult. Drawing on sources within Colonia LeBaron itself, Denton creates a mesmerising work of investigative journalism in the tradition of Under the Banner of Heaven and Going Clear.

This illustrated booklet details the substantial contribution Huguenot society made to English banking and commerce as well as the crafts and other professions in London. The author, Robin Gwynn who was the Director of the 1983/85 "Huguenot Heritage" tercentenary commemoration under the patronage of H.M. The Queen, explains why London became England's principal center for the refugees in contrast to other communities. The Huguenots' assimilation into London society is examined, as are attitudes of the British to the new refugees.

Over the past decades, Pentecostal-charismatic Christianity has arguably become the fastest growing religious movement in the world. Distinguishing features of this variant of Christianity include formal ritual activities as well as informal, experiential, and ecstatic forms of worship. This book examines Pentecostal-charismatic ritual practice in different parts of the world, highlighting, among other things, the crucial role of ritual in creating religious communities and identities.

The purpose of this study, first published in 1990, is to investigate the Americanization of an immigrant church in rural North America. The study focuses on General Conference Mennonites who came from Russia and east Europe to settle in central Kansas in 1874. The Americanization of a Rural Immigrant Church will be of interest to students of American and rural history.

How does one become 'righteous among the Nations'? In the case of Henri Nick (1868-1954) and Andre Trocme (1901-1971), two French Protestant pastors who received the title for their acts of solidarity toward persecuted Jews, it was because they had been immersed, from an early age, in the discourses and practices of social Christianity. Focussing on the lives of these two remarkable figures of twentieth-century Christianity, Revivalism and Social Christianity is the first study in English on the Social Gospel in French Protestantism. Chalamet presents a genealogy of the movement, from its emergence in the last decades of the nineteenth century to its high point during World War II, in Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, where Trocme and many local people rescued hundreds of Jewish refugees. As social Christians who prayed and worked for the coming of God's kingdom on earth in the midst of a society ravaged by two world wars, Henri Nick and Andre Trocme combined a deep revivalist faith with a concern for the concrete conditions in which people live.

This book offers a close-up look at theological education in the U.S. today. The authors' goal is to understand the way in which institutional culture affects the outcome of the educational process. To that end, they undertake ethnographic studies of two seminaries-one evangelical and one mainline Protestant. These studies, written in a lively journalistic style, make up the first part of the book and offer fascinating portraits of two very different intellectual, religious, and social worlds.
The authors go on to analyze these disparate environments, and suggest how in each case corporate culture acts as an agent of educational change. They find two major consequences stemming from the culture of each school. First, each culture gives expression to a normative goal that aims at shaping the way students understand themselves and from issues of ministry practice. Second, each provides a "cultural tool kit" of knowledge, practices, and skills that students use to construct strategies of action for the various problems and issues that will confront them as pastors or in other forms of ministry. In the concluding chapters, the authors explore the implications of their findings for theories of institutional culture and professional socialization and for interpreting the state of religion in America. They identify some of the practical dilemmas that theological and other professional schools currently face, and reflect on how their findings might contribute to their solution. This accessible, thought-provoking study will not only illuminate the structure and process by which culture educates and forms, but also provide invaluable insights into important dynamics of American religious life.

This book makes a significant contribution to the burgeoning field of childhood studies in nineteenth-century literature and culture by drawing on the intersecting fields of girlhood, evangelicalism, and reform to investigate texts written in North America about girls, for girls, and by girls. Responding both to the intellectual excitement generated by the rise of girlhood studies, as well as to the call by recent scholars to recognize the significance of religion as a meaningful category in the study of nineteenth-century literature and culture, this collection locates evangelicalism at the center of its inquiry into girlhood. Contributors draw on a wide range of texts, including canonical literature by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Susan Warner, and Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, and overlooked archives such as US Methodist Sunday School fiction, children's missionary periodicals, and the Christian Recorder, the flagship newspaper of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. These essays investigate representations of girlhood that engage, codify, and critique normative Protestant constructions of girlhood. Contributors examine girlhood in the context of reform, revealing the ways in which Protestantism at once constrained and enabled female agency. Drawing on a range of critical perspectives, including African American Studies, Disability Studies, Gender Studies, and Material Culture Studies, this volume enriches our understanding of nineteenth-century childhood by focusing on the particularities of girlhood, expanding it beyond that of the white able-bodied middle-class girl and attending to the intersectionality of identity and religion.

First published in 1988, this work was the product of extensive fieldwork in two evangelical communities. This in-depth ethnographic study focuses on the meaning systems, organizational structures and the daily lives of the people Susan D. Rose encountered. The study is centred around Christian schooling as a method of socialisation. Tracing the rise of evangelicalism and the development of the Christian School Movement in the latter half of the twentieth century, it examines the kinds of educational alternatives evangelicals have structured for their children. Moving beyond the issue of schooling itself, it analyses the interactions among schooling, ideology, economic structures and the nature of work in contemporary American society, and explores how people relate to one another within the church-family-school network. It addresses the provocative question of why evangelicalism, a self-proclaimed conservative, reactionary movement, held so much appeal for so many Americans at the time of publication. This work will be of particular interest to those studying education and religion and education in the U. S. A.

In recent years the rapid growth of Christian charismatic movements throughout sub-Saharan Africa has drastically reconfigured the region's religious landscape. As a result, charismatic factions play an increasingly public role throughout Africa, far beyond the religious sphere. This book uses a multi-disciplinary approach to consider the complex relationship between Pentecostal-charismatic Christianity and the socio-political transformation taking place throughout this region. Each of this text's three main sections helps in understanding how discourses of moral regeneration emanating from these diverse Christian communities, largely charismatic, extend beyond religious bounds. Part 1 covers politics, political elites and elections, Part 2 explores society, economies and the public sphere, and Part 3 discusses values, public beliefs and morality. These sections also highlight how these discourses contribute to the transformation of three specific social milieus to reinforce visions of the Christian citizen. Examining contemporary examples with high quality scholarly insight, this book is vital reading for academics and students with an interest in the relationship between religion, politics and development in Africa.

Paul Tillich (1886-1965) is widely regarded as one of the most influential theologians of the 20th century. By bringing his thought together with the theology and practices of an important contemporary Christian movement, Pentecostalism, this volume provokes active, productive, critical, and creative dialogue with a broad range of theological topics. These essays stimulate robust conversation, engage on common ground regarding the work of the Holy Spirit, and offer significant insights into the universal concerns of Christian theology and Paul Tillich and his legacy.

Christian churches and groups within Anglo-American contexts have increasingly used popular music as a way to connect with young people. This book investigates the relationships between evangelical Christianity and popular music, focusing particularly on electronic dance music in the last twenty years. Author Stella Lau illustrates how electronic dance music is legitimized in evangelical activities by Christians' discourses, and how the discourses challenge the divide between the 'secular' and the 'sacred' in the Western culture. Unlike other existing books on the relationships between music cultures and religion, which predominantly discuss the cultural implications of such phenomenon, Popular Music in Evangelical Youth Culture examines the notion of 'spirituality' in contemporary popular electronic dance music. Lau's emphasis on the sonic qualities of electronic dance music opens the door for future research about the relationships between aural properties of electronic dance music and religious discourses. With three case studies conducted in the cultural hubs of electronic dance music - Bristol, Ibiza and New York - the monograph can also be used as a guidebook for ethnographic research in popular music.

Scripting Pentecost explores and develops an analysis of worship and liturgy in Pentecostal and Charismatic traditions around the world. It is organized into two main sections: history and theology, and global case studies. The first section considers early Pentecostal traditions, the influence of the Welsh revival, classical Pentecostalism, the Charismatic Renewal movement and subsequent practices up to the present day. It also provides contemporary constructive theological reflections on sung worship, sacramental theology and liturgical practices. The second section offers a selection of global case studies from America, Europe, Kenya, Myanmar, Venezuela and Papua New Guinea. These case studies focus on contemporary worship and liturgical practices and their significance for Pentecostal and Charismatic studies..

This is an important book written by Pete Beck Jr. for the perilous times in which we Christians find ourselves. The maturing of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ is what is happening and is absolutely paramount to the Holy Spirit. It will not happen without mature and spiritual leaders. He wants to make it a truly apostolic church going forward with apostolic doctrine to win the nations. Apostles in the other five-fold ministry gifts, prophets, evangelistics, pastors and teachers are being raised up as never before across the world. They are being raised up as a team. The Bible is clear that satan will attempt to produce false apostles to weaken or mislead the church. Many do not seem to even understand the principles of God laid out in the Scriptures. Ambition and a love for money and recognition dominate some who claim to be apostles. When speaking to the church at Ephesus, the risen Christ commended them for discerning those who were true apostles and rejecting those who proved false.

Paul Tillich (1886-1965) is widely regarded as one of the most influential theologians of the 20th century. By bringing his thought together with the theology and practices of an important contemporary Christian movement, Pentecostalism, this volume provokes active, productive, critical, and creative dialogue with a broad range of theological topics. These essays stimulate robust conversation, engage on common ground regarding the work of the Holy Spirit, and offer significant insights into the universal concerns of Christian theology and Paul Tillich and his legacy.

Dozens of beautiful photos, both vintage and contemporary, draw us into the fascinating world of Shaker communities' accomplishments, their progressive views, and their still-resonating impact on American life. This book focuses specifically on two Shaker villages, Hancock and Mount Lebanon, which were close neighbors situated on either side of the Taconic Mountain Range bordering New York and Massachusetts. Mount Lebanon was the vibrant voice of Shakerism for over 160 years while Hancock lived in the shadows of its larger sister. Explaining the beliefs that grounded these villages, this book unfolds the Shaker legacies we live with today, involving Shakers' spiritual beliefs, their social welfare structures, their wide-ranging industries from seeds to herbal medicines to furniture to fancy goods, and their building of villages and of lives with a sense of purpose and permanency.

Since OUP's publication in 2000 of Michael Emerson and Christian Smith's groundbreaking study, Divided by Faith (DBF), research on racialized religion has burgeoned in a variety of disciplines in response to and in conversation with DBF. This conversation has moved outside of sociological circles; historians, theologians, and philosophers have also engaged the central tenets of DBF for the purpose of contextualizing, substantiating, and in some cases, contesting the book's findings. In a poll published in January 2012, nearly 70% of evangelical churches professed a desire to be racially and culturally diverse. Currently, only around 8% of them have achieved this multiracial status. To an unprecedented degree, evangelical churches in the United States are trying to overcome the deep racial divides that persist in their congregations. Not surprisingly, many of these evangelicals have turned to DBF for solutions. The essays in Christians and the Color Line complicate the research findings of Emerson and Smith's study and explore new areas of research that have opened in the years since DBF's publication. The book is split into two sections. The chapters in the first section consider the history of American evangelicalism and race as portrayed in DBF. In the second section the authors pick up where DBF left off, and discuss how American churches could ameliorate the problem of race in their congregations while also identifying problems that can arise from such attempted amelioration.

Believers were meant to live free of the cares of this world. This book reveals ways to overcome the worry habit and walk in faith by obeying God's Word.

The Christian idea of a good death had its roots in the Middle Ages with ars moriendi, featuring reliance on Jesus as Savior, preparedness for the life to come and for any spiritual battle that might ensue when on the threshold of death, and death not taking place in isolation. Evangelicalism introduced new features to the good death, with its focus on conversion, sanctification and an intimate relationship with Jesus. Scholarship focused on mid-nineteenth-century evangelical Nonconformist beliefs about death and the afterlife is sparse. This book fills the gap, contributing an understanding not only of death but of the history of Methodist and evangelical Nonconformist piety, theology, social background and literary expression in mid-nineteenth-century England. A good death was as central to Methodism as conversion and holiness. Analyzing over 1,200 obituaries, Riso reveals that while the last words of the dying pointed to a timeless experience of hope in the life to come, the obituaries reflect changing attitudes towards death and the afterlife among nineteenth-century evangelical Nonconformist observers who looked increasingly to earthly existence for the fulfillment of hopes. Exploring tensions in Nonconformist allegiance to both worldly and spiritual matters, this book offers an invaluable contribution to death studies, Methodism, and Evangelical theology.

This major textbook is a newly researched historical study of Evangelical religion in its British cultural setting from its inception in the time of John Wesley to charismatic renewal today. The Church of England, the Church of Scotland and the variety of Nonconformist denominations and sects in England, Scotland and Wales are discussed, but the book concentrates on the broad patterns of change affecting all the churches. It shows the great impact of the Evangelical movement on nineteenth-century Britain, accounts for its resurgence since the Second World War and argues that developments in the ideas and attitudes of the movement were shaped most by changes in British culture. The contemporary interest in the phenomenon of Fundamentalism, especially in the United States, makes the book especially timely.