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Books > Religion & Spirituality > Christianity > Protestantism & Protestant Churches
B. W. Young describes and analyses the intellectual culture of the
eighteenth-century Church of England, in particular relation to
those developments traditionally described as constituting the
Enlightenment. It challenges conventional perceptions of an
intellectually moribund institution by contextualising the
polemical and scholarly debates in which churchmen engaged. In
particular, it delineates the vigorous clerical culture in which
much eighteenth-century thought evolved. The book traces the
creation of a self-consciously enlightened tradition within
Anglicanism, which drew on Erasmianism, seventeenth-century
eirenicism and the legacy of Locke. By emphasizing the variety of
its intellectual life, the book challenges those notions of
Enlightenment which advance predominantly political interpretations
of this period. Thus, eighteenth-century critics of the
Enlightenment, notably those who contributed to a burgeoning
interest in mysticism, are equally integral to this study.
In April 2008, state police and child protection authorities raided
Yearning for Zion Ranch near Eldorado, Texas, a community of 800
members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day
Saints (FLDS), a polygamist branch of the Mormons. State officials
claimed that the raid, which was triggered by anonymous phone calls
from an underage girl to a domestic violence hotline, was based on
evidence of widespread child sexual abuse. In a high-risk
paramilitary operation, 439 children were removed from the custody
of their parents and held until the Third Court of Appeals found
that the state had overreached. Not only did the state fail to
corroborate the authenticity of the hoax calls, but evidence
reveals that Texas officials had targeted the FLDS from the outset,
planning and preparing for a confrontation. Saints under Siege
provides a thorough, theoretically grounded critical examination of
the Texas state raid on the FLDS while situating this event in a
broader sociological context. The volume considers the raid as an
exemplar case of a larger pattern of state actions against minority
religions, offering comparative analyses to other government raids
both historically and across cultures. In its look beyond the Texas
raid, it provides compelling evidence of social intolerance and
state repression of unpopular minority faiths in general, and the
FLDS in particular.
The Puritans of seventeenth century England have been blamed for
everything from the English civil war to the rise of capitalism.
But who were the Puritans of Stuart England? Were they apostles of
liberty, who fled from persecution to the New World? Or were they
intolerant fanatics, intent on bringing godliness to Stuart
England? This study provides a clear narrative of the rise and fall
of the Puritans across the troubled seventeenth century. Their
story is placed in context by analytical chapters, which describe
what the Puritans believed and how they organised their religious
and social life. Quoting many contemporary sources, including
diaries, plays and sermons, this is a vivid and comprehensible
account, drawing on the most recent scholarship. Readers will find
this book an indispensable guide, not only to the religious history
of seventeenth century England, but also to its political and
social history.
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.
This German edition of Muhleberg's correspondence is of fundemental
importance not only for church history in the USA, but also for the
early history of that country. The letters, reproduced in their
orignal form, are accompanied by numerous footnotes, which offer
necessary explanations and commentary on their and commentary on
the texts of the letters. They reflect not only the history of
German Lutherism in the USA but also the history of other churches
and denominations.
This book considers three defining movements driven from London and
within the region that describe the experience of the Church of
England in New England between 1686 and 1786. It explores the
radical imperial political and religious change that occurred in
Puritan New England following the late seventeenth-century
introduction of a new charter for the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the
Anglican Church in Boston and the public declaration of several
Yale 'apostates' at the 1722 college commencement exercises. These
events transformed the religious circumstances of New England and
fuelled new attention and interest in London for the national
church in early America. The political leadership, controversial
ideas and forces in London and Boston during the run-up to and in
the course of the War for Independence, was witnessed by and
affected the Church of England in New England. The book appeals to
students and researchers of English History, British Imperial
History, Early American History and Religious History.
Hymnody is widely recognised as a central tenet of Methodism's
theological, doctrinal, spiritual, and liturgical identity.
Theologically and doctrinally, the content of the hymns has
traditionally been a primary vehicle for expressing Methodism's
emphasis on salvation for all, social holiness, and personal
commitment, while particular hymns and the communal act of
participating in hymn singing have been key elements in the
spiritual lives of Methodists. An important contribution to the
history of Methodism, British Methodist Hymnody argues that the
significance of hymnody in British Methodism is best understood as
a combination of its official status, spiritual expression, popular
appeal, and practical application. Seeking to consider what, when,
how, and why Methodists sing, British Methodist Hymnody examines
the history, perception, and practice of hymnody from Methodism's
small-scale eighteenth-century origins to its place as a worldwide
denomination today.
Brian Beck has had a long and distinguished career in Methodist
studies, having additionally served as President of the UK
Methodist Conference and helped lead the international Oxford
Institute of Methodist Theological Studies. This book is the first
time that Beck's seminal work on Methodism has been gathered
together. It includes eighteen essays from the last twenty-five
years, covering many different aspects of Methodist thought and
practice. This collection is divided into two main sections. Part I
covers Methodism's heritage and its implications, while Part II
discusses wider issues of Methodism's identity. The chapters
themselves examine the work of key figures, such as John Wesley and
J. E. Rattenbury, as well as past and present forms of Methodist
thought and practice. As such, this book is important reading for
any scholar of Methodism as well as students and academics of
religious studies and theology more generally.
BETWEEN 1815 and 1848, Primitive Baptists emerged as a distinct,
dominant religious group in the area of the deepest South known as
the Wiregrass country. John Crowley, a historian and former
Primitive minister, chronicles their origins and expansion into
South Georgia and Florida, documenting one of the strongest aspects
of the inner life of the local piney-woods culture.
Crowley begins by examining Old Baptist worship and discipline
and then addressing Primitive Baptist reaction to the Civil War,
Reconstruction, Populism, Progressivism, the Depression, and
finally the ferment of the 1960s and present decline of the
denomination. Intensely conservative, with a strong belief in
predestination, Old Baptists opposed modernizing trends sweeping
their denomination in the early nineteenth century. Crowley
describes their separation from Southern Baptists and the many
internal schisms on issues such as the saving role of the gospel,
the Two Seed doctrine, and absolute as opposed to limited
predestination. Going beyond doctrine, he discusses contention
among Old Baptists over music, divorce, membership in secret
societies, sacraments administered by heretics, and rituals such as
the washing of feet.
Writing with insight and sensitivity, he navigates the history
of this denomination through the twentieth century and the
emergence of at least twenty mutually exclusive factions of
Primitive Baptists in this specific region of the Deep South.
This is the first full biography of James Rendel Harris
(1852-1941), Bible and patristic scholar, manuscript collector,
Quaker theologian, devotional writer, traveller, folklorist, and
relief worker. Drawing on published and unpublished sources
gathered in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East, many of
which were previously unknown, Alessandro Falcetta tells the story
of Harris's life and works set against the background of the
cultural and political life of contemporary Britain. Falcetta
traces the development of Harris's career from Cambridge to
Birmingham, the story of his seven journeys to the Middle East, and
of his many campaigns, from religious freedom to conscientious
objection. The book focuses upon Harris's innovative contributions
in the field of textual and literary criticism, his acquisitions of
hundreds of manuscripts from the Middle East, his discoveries of
early Christian works - in particular the Odes of Solomon - his
Quaker beliefs and his studies in the cult of twins. His enormous
output and extensive correspondence reveal an indefatigable genius
in close contact with the most famous scholars of his time, from
Hort to Harnack, Nestle, the 'Sisters of Sinai', and Frazer.
Much misunderstood, Mormonism had a colorful beginning in the 19th
century, as a visionary named Joseph Smith founded and built a
community of believers with their own unique faith. In the
late-20th century, the church had to come to terms with its own
growth and organization, as well as with the increasing
pervasiveness of globalization, secularization, and cultural
changes. Today Mormonism is one of the major religions in America,
and continues to grow internationally. However, though the church
itself remains strong, it is elusive to those of other faiths.
Here, a seasoned author and third-generation Mormon sheds light on
the everyday lives and practices of faithful Mormons. Bushman's
readers will come away with a more thorough appreciation of what it
means to be Mormon in the modern world. Much misunderstood,
Mormonism had a colorful beginning in the 19th century, as a
visionary named Joseph Smith founded and built a community of
believers with their own unique faith. In the late-20th century,
the church had to come to terms with its own growth and
organization, as well as with the increasing pervasiveness of
globalization, secularization, and cultural changes. Today
Mormonism is one of the major religions in America, and one that
continues to grow internationally. However, though the church
itself remains strong, it is elusive to those of other faiths.
Here, a seasoned author and third-generation Mormon sheds light on
the everyday lives and practices of faithful Mormons. Bushman's
readers will come away with a more thorough appreciation of what it
means to be Mormon in the modern world. Following Brigham Young
into the Great Basin and founding communities that have endured for
over 100 years, Mormons have forged a rich history in this country
even as they built communities around the world. But the origins of
this faith and those who adhere to it remain mysterious to many in
the United States. Bushman allows readers a vivid glimpse into the
lives of Mormons-their beliefs, rituals, and practices, as well as
their views on race, ethnicity, social class, gender, and sexual
orientation. The voices of actual Mormons reveal much about their
inspiration, devotion, patriotism, individualism, and conservatism.
With its mythical history and unlikely success, many wonder what
has made this religion endure through the years. Here, readers will
find answers to their questions about what it means to be Mormon in
contemporary America.
This is an introduction to the Methodist way and method of doing
theology. This book is written to capture the imagination and
engage the reader in conversation. Methodism is not a doctrinaire
society, yet it is clear about what it believes. Methodists
confidently develop their theology through conversation with the
world of secular knowledge, with other Christian traditions and
other religious faiths, drawing on contemporary biblical
scholarship and with careful attention to the Christian tradition.
Methodism is serious about worship, public and personal, since it
wants to celebrate the reality of God's presence with God's people
- that is, as Methodists understand it, with all God's people.
Methodist theology is grounded in the grace of God that it
proclaims to be free for all. Methodist theology is essentially
Christological; it puts Christ at the centre of faith, but
therefore, (not 'as well'!) is focused on God, the Holy Trinity.
Methodism is one Society and is keen to draw others into its
fellowship. Hence the Methodist Church does not have missionary
societies; it is, properly understood, a Society organised for
mission. "Doing Theology" introduces the major Christian traditions
and their way of theological reflection. The volumes focus on the
origins of a particular theological tradition, its foundations, key
concepts, eminent thinkers and historical development. The series
is aimed readers who want to learn more about their own theological
heritage and identity: theology undergraduates, students in
ministerial training and church study groups.
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