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Books > Christianity > Protestantism & Protestant Churches
This review brings together research in three areas of Anabaptist
studies and the Radical Reformation. The first part focuses on
16th-century Anabaptism, re-examining the polygenesis model of
Anabaptism articulated by Stayer, Packull and Depperman. The second
part deals with the connections between Anabaptists and other
Reformation dissenters, their marginalization as social groups and
their relations with the intellectual movements of the age. The
final section addresses historiographic and comparative issues of
writing the history of marginalizaed groups, investigating some
preconceptions which influence historians' approaches to Anabaptism
and their implications for understanding other religious
organizations.
The Mormon Culture of Salvation presents a comprehensive study of
Mormon cultural and religious life, offering important new theories
of Mormonism - one of the fastest growing movements and thought by
many to be the next world religion. Bringing social, scientific and
theological perspectives to bear on the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, Douglas Davies draws from theology, history of
religions, anthropology, sociology and psychology to present a
unique example of a truly interdisciplinary analysis in religious
studies. Examining the many aspects of Mormon belief, ritual,
family life and history, this book presents a new interpretation of
the origin of Mormonism, arguing that Mormonism is rooted in the
bereavement experience of Joseph Smith, which influenced the
development of temple ritual for the dead and the genealogical work
of many Mormon families. Davies shows how the Mormon commitment to
work for salvation relates to current Mormon belief in conversion,
and to traditional Christian ideas of grace. The Mormon Culture of
Salvation is an important work for Mormons and non-Mormons alike,
offering fresh insights into how Mormons see the world and work for
their future glory in heavenly realms. Written by a non-Mormon with
over 30 years' research experience into Mormonism, this book is
essential reading for those seeking insights into new
interdisciplinary forms of analysis in religion, as well as all
those studying or interested in Mormonism and world religions.
Douglas J. Davies is Professor in the Study of Religion in the
Department of Theology, Durham University, UK. He is the author of
many books including Death, Ritual and Belief (Cassell, 1997),
Mormon Identities in Transition (Cassell, 1994), Mormon
Spirituality (1987), and Meaning and Salvation in Religious Studies
(Brill, 1984).
In this fascinating collection, Auke Jelsma explores the byways and
outer reaches of the Reformation: groups and individuals who, in an
age of confessional strife, eschewed the certainties of the
established churches and sought religious truth in unconventional
ways and across confessional boundaries. The author, one of the
most distinguished Dutch Church historians of his generation, casts
a humane and sympathetic light on forms of belief that in their own
day attracted censure from the orthodox of both sides, and have
been little considered in subsequent general treatments of the
Reformation. Subjects include the Congregation of Windesheim and
its influence on Protestantism; the role of women in the Anabaptist
kingdom of MA1/4nster; the Devil in Protestantism; the Protestant
attack on popular culture; marriage and the family; the
sixteenth-century reception of St John of the Cross and Protestant
spirituality.
Although the connection between the invention of printing and the
Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century has long been a
scholarly commonplace, there is still a great deal of evidence
about the relationship to be presented and analysed. This
collection of authoritative reviews by distinguished historians
deals with the role of the book in the spread of the Reformation
all over the continent, identifying common European experiences and
local peculiarities. It summarises important recent work on the
topic from every major European country, introducing
English-speakers to much important and previously inaccessible
research.
Barry Harvey provides a doctrine of the church that combines
Baptist distinctives and origins with an unbending commitment to
the visible church as the social body of Christ. Speaking to the
broader Christian community, Harvey updates, streamlines, and
recontextualizes the arguments he made in an earlier edition of
this book (Can These Bones Live?). This new edition offers a style
of ecclesial witness that can help Christian churches engage
culture. The author suggests new ways Baptists can engage
ecumenically with Catholics and other Protestants, offers insights
for Christian worship and practice, and shows how the fragmented
body of Christ can be re-membered after Christendom.
The Protestant Reformation, begun with Martin Luther's posting of
The Ninety-Five Theses in 1517, rapidly escalated into an
evangelical reform movement that transformed European Christianity.
Less than a decade later, a massive rebellion of German commoners
challenged the social and political order in what would prove to be
the greatest popular rebellion in European history until the French
Revolution. In this volume, Michael Baylor explores the
relationship between these two momentous upheavals - one enduring,
the other fleeting - and the centuries-long debate over whether and
how they might be connected. A collection of period documents offer
first-hand accounts from the reformers, rebels, and the
institutions they sought to topple.
Richard Greenham was one of the most important and respected
figures among the Elizabethan clergy. His contemporaries described
him as the founder of a previously unknown pastoral art: the cure
of cases of conscience. Despite his fame in the Elizabethan period
as a model pastor, pioneer in reformed casuistry, and founder of
one of the first rectory seminaries, scholars have made little use
of his life and works in their study of Elizabethan religious life.
This study restores Richard Greenham to the central place he held
in the development of Elizabethan Reformed parochial ministry. The
monograph-length introduction includes a biography, an analysis of
his pastoral style, and a study of his approach to curing cases of
conscience. The transcription of Rylands English Manuscript 524,
cross-referenced with the published editions of the sayings, offers
a useful source to scholars who wish to study the collecting and
'framing' process of the humanist pedagogical tradition. The
selection of early published works includes Greenham's (unfinished)
catechism, treatises on the Sabbath and marriage, and advice on
reading scripture and educating children.
Natacha Tormey was born into the infamous religious cult known as
The Children of God. Abused, exploited, and brainwashed by 'The
Family', Natacha's childhood was stolen. Born to French hippy
parents attracted to the religious movement by the unusual mix of
evangelical Christianity, free love and rejection of the
mainstream, from an early age Natacha was brainwashed to believe
she had a special destiny - that she was part of an elite
children's army bestowed with superpowers that would one day save
the world from the Anti-Christ. Torn away from their parents,
Natacha and her siblings were beaten on a daily basis and forced to
sing and dance for entertainment in prisons and malls. Natacha
never expected to live to adulthood. At the age of 18 Natacha
escaped, but quickly found herself hurtling through a world she had
no understanding of. Alone, and grappling to come to terms with an
unbelievable sense of betrayal, she was stuck in a kind of limbo -
confused and unable to feel part of either way of life. Natacha is
one of the lucky ones; not all of her family survived the battle to
shed the shame and pain of their past. To date over 40 ex-Children
of God members of Natacha's generation have committed suicide. All
Natacha ever wanted was to feel normal, but escaping the cult was
only the beginning. Shocking, moving, but ultimately inspiring,
this is Natacha's full story; it is both a personal tale of trauma
and recovery, and an expose of the secret world of abuse hidden
behind commune walls.
This volume is a synthesis of the research articles of one of
Europe's leading scholars of 16th-century exile communities. It
will be invaluable to the growing number of historians interested
in the religious, intellectual, social and economic impact of
stranger communities on the rapidly changing nation that was
Elizabethan and early Stuart England. Southern England in general,
and London in particular, played a unique part in offering refuge
to Calvinist exiles for more than a century. For the English
government, the attraction of exiles was not so much their Reformed
religion and discipline as their economic potential - the exiles
were in the main skilled craftsmen and well-connected merchants who
could benefit the English economy.
What if there was a key that made every prayer more
effective--something that would bring all prayers into agreement
with the heart of God every single time? This type of praying does
exist, says bestselling author and prophetic leader James W. Goll,
and it's called prophetic intercession. It is the humble act of
holding the needs of people before God while leaning into God's
heart for them. There is nothing mystical or elite about this kind
of praying, and it's for the new Christian and the most seasoned
prayer warrior. All you need is to learn to lean into your heavenly
Father and pray what you see and hear in alignment with his heart,
empowered by the Holy Spirit. God wants you to align your heart
with his. He wants you to pray more effectively in these turbulent
times, and he wants you to help usher in the fullness of his
purposes on the earth. Are you ready?
The particular interest of Professor Spitz has been the close
relationship and synergy between humanism and religious reform in
the transformation of European culture in the 16th century. Within
the general cultural and intellectual context of the Renaissance
and Reformation movements, the present volume focuses on Luther and
German humanism; a subsequent collection looks more particularly at
the place of education and history in the thought of the time. The
articles here discuss Luther's imposing knowledge of the classics,
his attitudes towards learning, the religious and patriotic
interests of the humanists, and the role of a younger generation of
humanists in the Reformation. Also included is a far-reaching
appraisal of the impact of humanism and the Reformation on Western
history.
The complex and sometimes contradictory articulation of ethnicity,
religion and gender informs this book on the cultural construction
of identity for Jamaican migrants in Britain. The author argues
that religion -- in this case Pentecostalism -- cannot be
understood simply as a means of spiritual compensation for the
economically disadvantaged. Rather, in the New Testament Church of
God, one of Britain's largest African Caribbean churches, the
cosmology of the church resolves the questions surrounding identity
as well as suffering. Religious participation is one way in which
African Caribbean people negotiate the terms of representation and
interaction in British society.
Today over forty million Latin Americans classify themselves as
Protestant, of which the overwhelming majority belong to some form
of Pentecostalism. The rapid dissemination of Pentecostal beliefs
has produced vibrant alternatives to traditional dominant culture
and changed relations within the family, locality, and workplace.
This volume introduces broad issues in the Pentecostal movement,
including gender relations, political power and organization, and
inter-Pentecostal and ecumenical relations. These themes are then
examined more specifically in the country case studies, which
address the historical foundations of the Pentecostal movement,
patterns of and explanation for its growth, and the consequences of
its expanding presence, including increased political influence.
This volume completes the edition of the two earliest manuscript
Chapter Act books of Westminster Abbey, which is now the first
cathedral or collegiate church to have all its Chapter Acts fully
in print from the Reformation to the Civil War. It records the
formal decisions of the Abbey's governing authority, many involving
grants of office and leases of the Abbey's large and
widely-scattered estate, principally in the midlands and the
south-east, and especially in Westminster itself. A full
introduction brings out the value of the documents in placing the
Abbey in the tumultuous history of the church under James I and
Charles I.
This book offers a new perspective to the current debate about
popular religious attitudes in Tudor England, laying particular
emphasis on the social and secular dimensions of parish life. The
argument focuses on the role of the laity and especially on the
office of churchwarden. It assesses the rising levels of parish
income, the importance of the social context for fund-raising
strategies, and the growing expenditure on priests, voluntary
activities and administrative duties. The final part discusses the
Reformation-related reduction in religious options and the
intensifying trend towards oligarchical parish regimes and official
local government responsibilities. Wherever possible, the English
situation is put into sharper focus by comparisons with local
ecclesiastical life on the Continent and appendices provide a
detailed financial analysis for a large number of parishes.
Quaker women were unusually active participants in seventeenth- and
eighteenth-century cultural and religious exchange, as ministers,
missionaries, authors and spiritual leaders. Drawing upon
documentary evidence, with a focus on women's personal writings and
correspondence, Naomi Pullin explores the lives and social
interactions of Quaker women in the British Atlantic between 1650
and 1750. Through a comparative methodology, focused on Britain and
the North American colonies, Pullin examines the experiences of
both those women who travelled and preached and those who stayed at
home. The book approaches the study of gender and religion from a
new perspective by placing women's roles, relationships and
identities at the centre of the analysis. It shows how the
movement's transition from 'sect to church' enhanced the authority
and influence of women within the movement and uncovers the
multifaceted ways in which female Friends at all levels were active
participants in making and sustaining transatlantic Quakerism.
Enacting the Reformation in Germany brings together sixteen essays
and articles written over a thirty-year period by a historian who
has made it his special scholarly concern to trace and analyze the
social consequences of the German Reformation's salient ideas and
positions. The picture Strauss draws of a country and a society
struggling to understand and incorporate the deep structural and
mental changes brought on by Martin Luther's revolt against Rome
has the sharpness and contrast of a visual image.
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