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Christianity has, from its very beginnings and because of its beliefs and practices, had a paradoxical relationship to the world. This book, which contains articles by seven leading historians, argues that the relationship between the Nonconformist tradition in Britain and 'culture' provides a particularly illuminating example of this paradox. Nonconformists, set apart from the Established Church, developed their own particular cultural practices and in so doing made a distinctive contribution to the culture of Britain as a whole. At the same time, they were inevitably influenced by that wider culture. These essays consider the development of chapel and Dissenting culture within the wider society, examining such issues as the emergence of the Nonconformist conscience, the place of politics in the pulpit, the contribution of women writers to provincial Nonconformity and the architecture of the free churches. This collection of essays goes beyond the usual boundaries of denominational and ecclesiastical history and interacts with broader trends in cultural and social history to demonstrate the significance of such matters as gender relations, politics and economics in any exploration of the relationship between Christianity and 'the world.' --From publisher's description.
First published in 1869, Culture and Anarchy debates questions about the nature of culture and society. Arnold asks what good culture can do and how it can best be disseminated. This edition reproduces the first book version and enables readers to appreciate its historical context and its continued importance.
Protestant Nonconformity, the umbrella term for Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists and Unitarians, belongs specifically to the religious history of England and Wales. Initially the result of both unwillingness to submit to the State's interference in Christian life and a dissatisfaction with the progress of reform in the English Church, Nonconformity has been primarily motivated by theological concern, ecclesial polity, devotion and the nurture of godliness among the members of the church. Alongside such churchly interests, Nonconformity has also made a profound contribution to debates about the role of the State, to family life and education, culture in general, trade and industry, the development of philanthropy and charity, and the development of pacifism. In this volume, for the first time, Nonconformity and the breadth of its activity come under the expert scrutiny of a host of recognised scholars. The result is a detailed and fascinating account of a movement in church history that, while currently in decline, has made an indelible mark on social, political, economic and religious life of the two nations.
This is a series of four substantial volumes designed to demonstrate the range of interests of the several Protestant Nonconformist traditions from the time of their Separatist harbingers in the 16th century to the end of the 20th century. It represents a major project of the Association of Denominational Historical Societies and Cognate Libraries. of such topics as theology, philosophy, worship, socio-political concerns, and so on. Prepared by a team of 12 editors, all of whom are expert in their areas, and drawn from a number of the relevant traditions, it should provide a much needed comprehensive view of Nonconformity, told largely in the words of those whose story it is. Nonconformity. Through contemporary writings it provides a lively insight into the life and thought of the Methodists, Congregationalists, Baptists, Quakers, Unitarians and other groups that formed pieces in the diverse mosaic of the 19th-century chapels. Each aspect of Nonconformity has an introductory discussion, which includes a guide to the secondary literature on the subject, and each passage from a primary source is put in context.
This is the first book to attempt a theological portrait of a pivotal generation in the history of the English Free Churches. It does so through a dual strategy: firstly, studying the theological development of key leaders over several decades; and secondly, capturing the state of the Unions -- Congregational and Baptist -- through the freeze frames provided by their biggest denominational controversies in the 1870s and 1880s respectively. Archetypal Victorians whose working lives stretched through most of that long reign, in the 1860s this generation inherited leadership from a predecessor that had eked out the dying momentum of the Evangelical Revival. Bathed in the formidable energy of a newly discovered Romanticism, they wrestled strenuously with the fresh challenges it exposed them to while engaged in lengthy ministries in thriving city churches. They variously tried rejecting and embracing the liberal transformation of their evangelical heritage, or even, in the case of R.W. Dale, somehow achieving their synthesis. Yet in the end neither he nor C.H. Spurgeon, nor anyone else, really found an expression of Christian faith that the next generation could take up and build with, and their successors were to preside over the first obvious stages of a long, deep, and traumatic decline. At a time when this period is again being scrutinized for that elusive 'answer', the author will not claim to have tracked it down there; but the conclusion nonetheless indicates that this study surprisingly helped open up vistas much broader than those of the nineteenth-century debates.
This volume gathers and introduces texts relating to English and Welsh Nonconformity. Through contemporary writings it provides a vivid insight into the life and thought of the Methodists, Congregationalists, Baptists, Quakers, Unitarians, and other groups that formed pieces in the diverse mosaic of the nineteenth-century chapels. Each aspect of Nonconformity has an introductory discussion, which includes a guide to the secondary literature on the subject, and each passage from a primary source is put in context.
Anne Steele (1717-1778) was one of the most well-known and best-loved hymn-writers of the eighteenth century, and her hymns remained exceedingly popular until late in the nineteenth century, being reprinted regularly in hymnbooks throughout Britain and North America. She was the first major woman hymn-writer as well as the most popular Baptist hymn-writer in the history of the church. Despite this, she has been largely neglected as a subject of academic enquiry until now. This book aims to elucidate Steele's spirituality and to clarify her unique contribution to eighteenth-century hymnody. It takes an interdisciplinary approach, setting Steele's devotional expression in its theological, literary, and historical contexts, and providing comparison to other eighteenth-century figures. It uses archival sources to reconstruct her life and work, offers a close reading of her verse, and concludes that Steele made a significant and as yet underrated contribution to eighteenth-century devotional expression.
Christianity and cultural aspirations are inevitably in tension: the combination invites a suspicion that temporal pursuits have slackened a quest for divine approbation. Nevertheless, as Christians generally believe that worldly success may be a position of influence worth seeking for noble reasons, it is truly an area of tension, rather than merely temptation. This volume explores this lively juxtaposition in the context of modern Britain and America. In fifteen original essays, a range of well-respected scholars examine the cultural aspirations of a broad spectrum of Christians, including Baptists, Congregationalists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Roman Catholics, and Anglicans, as they were expressed in arenas as diverse as politics, education, arthitecture, and sport.