Amy Johnson Frykholm
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- July 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195159837
- eISBN:
- 9780199835614
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195159837.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Examines the readership of the contemporary best-selling series Left Behind, drawing on a qualitative study of readers. Rapture Culture asks what role an anti-worldly theory like dispensationalism ...
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Examines the readership of the contemporary best-selling series Left Behind, drawing on a qualitative study of readers. Rapture Culture asks what role an anti-worldly theory like dispensationalism plays in contemporary evangelicalism when evangelicals have gained increasing social and political power. The book argues that apocalyptic stories are a form of social relationship. They shape identity not only through agreement and a sense of belonging, but also through disagreement and dissent. The most urgent message of the rapture for readers of Left Behind is that the end of time could come soon, and therefore a decision about personal salvation is necessary. While it is true that the Left Behind series plays on readers’ fears, the primary fear is not so much a social or political fear as a personal one—a fear that the reader himself or herself might be left behind. The primary purpose of the Left Behind series is to promote evangelism. Readers feel convicted by the books of the need to tell their loved ones about Christ and to seek the conversion of others. In addition, the story of rapture and tribulation provides a lens through which readers can interpret the chaotic and sometimes disconcerting events of the world. The popularity of the Left Behind series and its diffusion into mainstream culture leads the book to conclude with the suggestion that evangelicalism is wrongly understood as a “subculture” and instead needs to be conceived as a broad and fluid part of dominant popular culture in the United States. Rapture Culture urges its readers to take seriously both the fears and the desires about social life present in the testimonies of Left Behind’s readership and to consider popular fiction reading as a complex and dynamic act of faith in American Protestantism.Less
Examines the readership of the contemporary best-selling series Left Behind, drawing on a qualitative study of readers. Rapture Culture asks what role an anti-worldly theory like dispensationalism plays in contemporary evangelicalism when evangelicals have gained increasing social and political power. The book argues that apocalyptic stories are a form of social relationship. They shape identity not only through agreement and a sense of belonging, but also through disagreement and dissent. The most urgent message of the rapture for readers of Left Behind is that the end of time could come soon, and therefore a decision about personal salvation is necessary. While it is true that the Left Behind series plays on readers’ fears, the primary fear is not so much a social or political fear as a personal one—a fear that the reader himself or herself might be left behind. The primary purpose of the Left Behind series is to promote evangelism. Readers feel convicted by the books of the need to tell their loved ones about Christ and to seek the conversion of others. In addition, the story of rapture and tribulation provides a lens through which readers can interpret the chaotic and sometimes disconcerting events of the world. The popularity of the Left Behind series and its diffusion into mainstream culture leads the book to conclude with the suggestion that evangelicalism is wrongly understood as a “subculture” and instead needs to be conceived as a broad and fluid part of dominant popular culture in the United States. Rapture Culture urges its readers to take seriously both the fears and the desires about social life present in the testimonies of Left Behind’s readership and to consider popular fiction reading as a complex and dynamic act of faith in American Protestantism.
William Kostlevy
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195377842
- eISBN:
- 9780199777204
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195377842.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
This book is the story of the Metropolitan Church Association (MCA) an intentional religious community founded in Chicago and later Waukesha, Wisconsin in the early 1890s. A product of the holiness ...
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This book is the story of the Metropolitan Church Association (MCA) an intentional religious community founded in Chicago and later Waukesha, Wisconsin in the early 1890s. A product of the holiness revival of the late nineteenth century and an important catalyst for Pentecostalism the MCA played a significant role in the twentieth century growth of Pentecostal Christianity and were one of the dozens of evangelical communal societies that flourished between 1890 and 1917. As one of the most controversial communal societies of the era, its members were commonly known as ‘holy jumpers’ because of their acrobatic worship style, or ‘Burning Bushers’ because of their acerbic periodical the Burning Bush. The book shows the MCA’s impact on the lives of such key figures in twentieth century Evangelism as popular evangelists Bud Robinson and Seth C. Rees, and self designated first women bishop, Alma White; and such key figures in Pentecostalism as A. G. Garr and Glenn Cook. The book makes three crucial contributions to an understanding of American religion and culture. First, it provides important background material on the origins of Pentecostalism. Secondly it clarifies the internal struggles within the Holiness Movement. It is precisely these currents that came to dominate in the new churches being organized in America, Africa and Asia. Thirdly, this book demonstrates the ease that holiness radicals embraced and created elements of modern culture from gospel music, art calendars (Scripture Text Calendar) to communication.Less
This book is the story of the Metropolitan Church Association (MCA) an intentional religious community founded in Chicago and later Waukesha, Wisconsin in the early 1890s. A product of the holiness revival of the late nineteenth century and an important catalyst for Pentecostalism the MCA played a significant role in the twentieth century growth of Pentecostal Christianity and were one of the dozens of evangelical communal societies that flourished between 1890 and 1917. As one of the most controversial communal societies of the era, its members were commonly known as ‘holy jumpers’ because of their acrobatic worship style, or ‘Burning Bushers’ because of their acerbic periodical the Burning Bush. The book shows the MCA’s impact on the lives of such key figures in twentieth century Evangelism as popular evangelists Bud Robinson and Seth C. Rees, and self designated first women bishop, Alma White; and such key figures in Pentecostalism as A. G. Garr and Glenn Cook. The book makes three crucial contributions to an understanding of American religion and culture. First, it provides important background material on the origins of Pentecostalism. Secondly it clarifies the internal struggles within the Holiness Movement. It is precisely these currents that came to dominate in the new churches being organized in America, Africa and Asia. Thirdly, this book demonstrates the ease that holiness radicals embraced and created elements of modern culture from gospel music, art calendars (Scripture Text Calendar) to communication.
William Cornish, Michael Lobban, and Keith Smith
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199258819
- eISBN:
- 9780191718151
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199258819.003.0005
- Subject:
- Law, Legal History
This chapter on law and religion begins with a discussion of Utilitarianism and Evangelicalism as the two competing and complementary social, political, and economic working ideologies in the 19th ...
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This chapter on law and religion begins with a discussion of Utilitarianism and Evangelicalism as the two competing and complementary social, political, and economic working ideologies in the 19th century. It then discusses crime and punishment, enforcing the law of Christian morality, Christianity and the political and economic status quo, legislating for social compassion and progress, and the dismantling of the Established church's privileges.Less
This chapter on law and religion begins with a discussion of Utilitarianism and Evangelicalism as the two competing and complementary social, political, and economic working ideologies in the 19th century. It then discusses crime and punishment, enforcing the law of Christian morality, Christianity and the political and economic status quo, legislating for social compassion and progress, and the dismantling of the Established church's privileges.
Ryan P. Harper
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781496810908
- eISBN:
- 9781496810946
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781496810908.001.0001
- Subject:
- Music, History, American
This ethnography examines songwriters Bill and Gloria Gaithers’ Homecoming video and concert series. The Homecomings re-present the “southern gospel” subgenre of gospel music—a musical style popular ...
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This ethnography examines songwriters Bill and Gloria Gaithers’ Homecoming video and concert series. The Homecomings re-present the “southern gospel” subgenre of gospel music—a musical style popular among white evangelical Christians in the American South and Midwest. The book explores how the Gaithers negotiate the tension between preservation and modification of community norms as they seek simultaneously to maintain and expand their audience, and to initiate and respond to ideological shifts within their fan base’s culture. Using data he collected from his immersion in the Homecoming catalogue, his attendance of numerous concerts and tapings, and his extensive conversations with Homecoming fans and the Gaithers themselves, Harper reveals the Homecomings to be a crucible of American religious, racial, sexual and regional identity formation.Less
This ethnography examines songwriters Bill and Gloria Gaithers’ Homecoming video and concert series. The Homecomings re-present the “southern gospel” subgenre of gospel music—a musical style popular among white evangelical Christians in the American South and Midwest. The book explores how the Gaithers negotiate the tension between preservation and modification of community norms as they seek simultaneously to maintain and expand their audience, and to initiate and respond to ideological shifts within their fan base’s culture. Using data he collected from his immersion in the Homecoming catalogue, his attendance of numerous concerts and tapings, and his extensive conversations with Homecoming fans and the Gaithers themselves, Harper reveals the Homecomings to be a crucible of American religious, racial, sexual and regional identity formation.
Robert Elder
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469627564
- eISBN:
- 9781469627588
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469627564.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
Most histories of the American South describe the conflict between evangelical religion and honor culture as one of the defining features of southern life before the Civil War. The Sacred Mirror is a ...
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Most histories of the American South describe the conflict between evangelical religion and honor culture as one of the defining features of southern life before the Civil War. The Sacred Mirror is a comprehensive reinterpretation of that relationship that examines how the success of evangelicalism during this period actually depended on its ability to address and draw on this vital part of the traditional culture of the South. Evangelical churches embraced the same understanding of communal authority that nourished a culture of honor in the South, serving as a kind of cultural bridge between old and new ways of understanding the self, and ushering in a southern modernity. Previous accounts of the rise of evangelicalism in the South have told the tale as a tragedy in which evangelicals initially opposed but eventually capitulated to many of the central tenets of southern society in order to win souls and garner influence. But through an examination of evangelical language and practices, The Sacred Mirror shows that evangelicals always shared honor’s most basic assumptions about how to shape individual identity, making it clear that evangelical beginnings and eventualities in the South were more closely linked than we have understood.Less
Most histories of the American South describe the conflict between evangelical religion and honor culture as one of the defining features of southern life before the Civil War. The Sacred Mirror is a comprehensive reinterpretation of that relationship that examines how the success of evangelicalism during this period actually depended on its ability to address and draw on this vital part of the traditional culture of the South. Evangelical churches embraced the same understanding of communal authority that nourished a culture of honor in the South, serving as a kind of cultural bridge between old and new ways of understanding the self, and ushering in a southern modernity. Previous accounts of the rise of evangelicalism in the South have told the tale as a tragedy in which evangelicals initially opposed but eventually capitulated to many of the central tenets of southern society in order to win souls and garner influence. But through an examination of evangelical language and practices, The Sacred Mirror shows that evangelicals always shared honor’s most basic assumptions about how to shape individual identity, making it clear that evangelical beginnings and eventualities in the South were more closely linked than we have understood.
Jeanne Halgren Kilde
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195143416
- eISBN:
- 9780199834372
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195143418.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
Introducing the transformation in the evangelical church architecture that occurred over the course of the nineteenth century – from the Federalist meetinghouses with their oblong meeting rooms ...
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Introducing the transformation in the evangelical church architecture that occurred over the course of the nineteenth century – from the Federalist meetinghouses with their oblong meeting rooms filled with box pews and dominated by an elevated pulpit to the late nineteenth‐century auditorium church with its radial‐plan sanctuary with sloped floors, curved pews, and pulpit stage surmounted by organ pipes – this chapter asserts that this extraordinary architectural transformation bears witness to significant changes in Protestant evangelicalism over the course of the century. Demonstrating that religious buildings, like other types of sacred space, embody a variety of cultural, social, and religious meanings, the chapter presents an illustrative overview of Protestant architecture since the Reformation, emphasizing, in particular, the ways in which cultural and religious authority have been negotiated by clergy and laity within church buildings. Important meanings and processes continue to inform church buildings, thus making them vital texts in the study of religious change.Less
Introducing the transformation in the evangelical church architecture that occurred over the course of the nineteenth century – from the Federalist meetinghouses with their oblong meeting rooms filled with box pews and dominated by an elevated pulpit to the late nineteenth‐century auditorium church with its radial‐plan sanctuary with sloped floors, curved pews, and pulpit stage surmounted by organ pipes – this chapter asserts that this extraordinary architectural transformation bears witness to significant changes in Protestant evangelicalism over the course of the century. Demonstrating that religious buildings, like other types of sacred space, embody a variety of cultural, social, and religious meanings, the chapter presents an illustrative overview of Protestant architecture since the Reformation, emphasizing, in particular, the ways in which cultural and religious authority have been negotiated by clergy and laity within church buildings. Important meanings and processes continue to inform church buildings, thus making them vital texts in the study of religious change.
Andrew O. Winckles
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781789620184
- eISBN:
- 9781789629651
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781789620184.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Women's Literature
Eighteenth-Century Women’s Writing and the Methodist Media Revolution argues that Methodism in the eighteenth century was a media event that uniquely combined and utilized different types of media to ...
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Eighteenth-Century Women’s Writing and the Methodist Media Revolution argues that Methodism in the eighteenth century was a media event that uniquely combined and utilized different types of media to reach a vast and diverse audience. Specifically, it traces specific cases of how evangelical and Methodist discourse practices interacted with major cultural and literary events during the long eighteenth-century, from the rise of the novel to the Revolution controversy of the 1790’s to the shifting ground for women writers leading up to the Reform era in the 1830’s. The book maps the religious discourse patterns of Methodism onto works by authors like Samuel Richardson, Mary Wollstonecraft, Hannah More, Elizabeth Hamilton, Mary Tighe, and Felicia Hemans. This not only provides a better sense of the religious nuances of these authors’ better-known works, but also provides a fuller consideration of the wide variety of genres women were writing in during the period, many of which continue to be read as ‘non-literary’. The scope of the book leads the reader from the establishment of evangelical forms of discourse in the 1730’s to the natural ends of these discourse structures during the era of reform, all the while pointing to ways in which women—Methodist and otherwise—modified these discourse patterns as acts of resistance or subversion.Less
Eighteenth-Century Women’s Writing and the Methodist Media Revolution argues that Methodism in the eighteenth century was a media event that uniquely combined and utilized different types of media to reach a vast and diverse audience. Specifically, it traces specific cases of how evangelical and Methodist discourse practices interacted with major cultural and literary events during the long eighteenth-century, from the rise of the novel to the Revolution controversy of the 1790’s to the shifting ground for women writers leading up to the Reform era in the 1830’s. The book maps the religious discourse patterns of Methodism onto works by authors like Samuel Richardson, Mary Wollstonecraft, Hannah More, Elizabeth Hamilton, Mary Tighe, and Felicia Hemans. This not only provides a better sense of the religious nuances of these authors’ better-known works, but also provides a fuller consideration of the wide variety of genres women were writing in during the period, many of which continue to be read as ‘non-literary’. The scope of the book leads the reader from the establishment of evangelical forms of discourse in the 1730’s to the natural ends of these discourse structures during the era of reform, all the while pointing to ways in which women—Methodist and otherwise—modified these discourse patterns as acts of resistance or subversion.
Karen W. Tice
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199842780
- eISBN:
- 9780199933440
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199842780.003.0007
- Subject:
- Sociology, Gender and Sexuality
The recent infusion of religiosity and spirituality in national beauty pageants is registered on college campuses as many contestants increasingly use college beauty pageants for divine purposes. ...
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The recent infusion of religiosity and spirituality in national beauty pageants is registered on college campuses as many contestants increasingly use college beauty pageants for divine purposes. Body stewardship, God’s design, and inner spiritual beauty are increasingly platformed on campus runways. This chapter explores how efforts to merge the spiritual and the sacred with secular, body-centered transformation and materiality are reshaping evangelical bodies, sacred femininities, Christian identities, and the Christian makeover and beauty industry as forms of women’s ministry, as well as campus pageantry itself. The corporeality of bikinis and Speedos and the display of cleavage and curves in evening gowns continue to present quandaries, however, for all contestants whether they claim spiritual or secular motives for participation. The chapter probes how contestants attempt to navigate displays of the flesh while neutralizing the ever-present reality of body politics in campus beauty pageantry.Less
The recent infusion of religiosity and spirituality in national beauty pageants is registered on college campuses as many contestants increasingly use college beauty pageants for divine purposes. Body stewardship, God’s design, and inner spiritual beauty are increasingly platformed on campus runways. This chapter explores how efforts to merge the spiritual and the sacred with secular, body-centered transformation and materiality are reshaping evangelical bodies, sacred femininities, Christian identities, and the Christian makeover and beauty industry as forms of women’s ministry, as well as campus pageantry itself. The corporeality of bikinis and Speedos and the display of cleavage and curves in evening gowns continue to present quandaries, however, for all contestants whether they claim spiritual or secular motives for participation. The chapter probes how contestants attempt to navigate displays of the flesh while neutralizing the ever-present reality of body politics in campus beauty pageantry.
William J. Abraham
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199250035
- eISBN:
- 9780191600388
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199250030.003.0013
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
The creation of Anglo Catholicism represents a fresh way to deal with the epistemological crisis at the heart of Western Christianity. John Henry Newman's journey from Evangelicalism to Roman ...
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The creation of Anglo Catholicism represents a fresh way to deal with the epistemological crisis at the heart of Western Christianity. John Henry Newman's journey from Evangelicalism to Roman Catholicism can be seen as a valiant effort to find a way to salvage scriptural foundationalism. While he appealed to conscience and judgement, he developed a vision of the infallibility of the Church and of the pope that emerged as a real alternative to Liberal Protestantism and scepticism. Epistemology has by now fully triumphed within Western Christianity.Less
The creation of Anglo Catholicism represents a fresh way to deal with the epistemological crisis at the heart of Western Christianity. John Henry Newman's journey from Evangelicalism to Roman Catholicism can be seen as a valiant effort to find a way to salvage scriptural foundationalism. While he appealed to conscience and judgement, he developed a vision of the infallibility of the Church and of the pope that emerged as a real alternative to Liberal Protestantism and scepticism. Epistemology has by now fully triumphed within Western Christianity.
Rowan Strong
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199249220
- eISBN:
- 9780191600760
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199249229.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
Establishes the reality and patterns of a genuinely Scottish Gaelic Episcopalianism against the historiographical marginality that has been assigned to Scottish historians. It proves that Gaelic ...
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Establishes the reality and patterns of a genuinely Scottish Gaelic Episcopalianism against the historiographical marginality that has been assigned to Scottish historians. It proves that Gaelic Episcopalianism was widespread in the Highlands at the end of the nineteenth century and managed to survive in defined areas into the nineteenth century. This was despite the depredations of Evangelical missionaries, the poverty and the increasing Anglicization of their own Church. Gaelic Episcopalian religion is identified as centred around the Gaelic language, bible, and prayerbook, with Gaels acting as agents in their own religious survival in many cases.Less
Establishes the reality and patterns of a genuinely Scottish Gaelic Episcopalianism against the historiographical marginality that has been assigned to Scottish historians. It proves that Gaelic Episcopalianism was widespread in the Highlands at the end of the nineteenth century and managed to survive in defined areas into the nineteenth century. This was despite the depredations of Evangelical missionaries, the poverty and the increasing Anglicization of their own Church. Gaelic Episcopalian religion is identified as centred around the Gaelic language, bible, and prayerbook, with Gaels acting as agents in their own religious survival in many cases.
Rowan Strong
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199249220
- eISBN:
- 9780191600760
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199249229.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
Looks at the impact on Scottish Episcopalian of two major reforming movements in nineteenth‐century Anglicanism, namely, Evangelicalism and Anglo‐Catholicism. It particularly seeks to recover the ...
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Looks at the impact on Scottish Episcopalian of two major reforming movements in nineteenth‐century Anglicanism, namely, Evangelicalism and Anglo‐Catholicism. It particularly seeks to recover the influence and impetus of Evangelicalism among Scottish Episcopalians. It finds this largely within separate congregations alienated by the increasing Anglo‐Catholic culture in that Church, and also by the indigenous traditions of High Church Episcopalianism. Both Anglo‐Catholicism and Evangelicalism were largely divisive and anglicizing movements within the Episcopal Church, which contributed to its nineteenth‐century reputation as the ‘English Kirk’.Less
Looks at the impact on Scottish Episcopalian of two major reforming movements in nineteenth‐century Anglicanism, namely, Evangelicalism and Anglo‐Catholicism. It particularly seeks to recover the influence and impetus of Evangelicalism among Scottish Episcopalians. It finds this largely within separate congregations alienated by the increasing Anglo‐Catholic culture in that Church, and also by the indigenous traditions of High Church Episcopalianism. Both Anglo‐Catholicism and Evangelicalism were largely divisive and anglicizing movements within the Episcopal Church, which contributed to its nineteenth‐century reputation as the ‘English Kirk’.
James Barr
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198263760
- eISBN:
- 9780191600395
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198263767.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
A deeper investigation of the twentieth‐century discussion and especially the influence of Karl Barth within various theological traditions, including conservative Protestantism, conflicts within ...
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A deeper investigation of the twentieth‐century discussion and especially the influence of Karl Barth within various theological traditions, including conservative Protestantism, conflicts within Nazi Germany, Roman Catholicism, and modern biblical studies.Less
A deeper investigation of the twentieth‐century discussion and especially the influence of Karl Barth within various theological traditions, including conservative Protestantism, conflicts within Nazi Germany, Roman Catholicism, and modern biblical studies.
Daniel Ritchie
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781786941282
- eISBN:
- 9781789629149
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781786941282.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This book reconsiders the career of an important, controversial, but neglected figure in this history of Irish Presbyterianism. The Revd Isaac Nelson is mostly remembered for his opposition to the ...
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This book reconsiders the career of an important, controversial, but neglected figure in this history of Irish Presbyterianism. The Revd Isaac Nelson is mostly remembered for his opposition to the evangelical revival of 1859, but this book demonstrates that there was much more to Nelson’s career. Nelson started out as a protégé of Henry Cooke and as an exemplary young evangelical minister. Upon aligning himself with the Belfast Anti-Slavery Society and joining forces with American abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison, Nelson emerged as a powerful voice against compromise with slaveholders. One of the central objectives of this book is to show that anti-slavery, especially his involvement with the ‘Send Back the Money’ controversy in the Free Church of Scotland and the debate over fellowship with slaveholders at the Evangelical Alliance, was crucially important to the development of Nelson into one of Irish Presbyterianism’s most controversial figures. His later opposition to the 1859 Revival has often been understood as being indicative of Nelson’s opposition to evangelicalism. This book argues that such a conclusion is mistaken and that Nelson opposed the Revival as a Presbyterian evangelical. His later involvement with the Land League and the Irish Home Rule movement, including his tenure as the Member of Parliament for County Mayo, could be easily dismissed as an entirely discreditable affair. While avoiding romantic nostalgia in relation to Nelson’s nationalism, this book argues that Nelson’s basis for advocating Home Rule was not as peculiar as it might first appear.Less
This book reconsiders the career of an important, controversial, but neglected figure in this history of Irish Presbyterianism. The Revd Isaac Nelson is mostly remembered for his opposition to the evangelical revival of 1859, but this book demonstrates that there was much more to Nelson’s career. Nelson started out as a protégé of Henry Cooke and as an exemplary young evangelical minister. Upon aligning himself with the Belfast Anti-Slavery Society and joining forces with American abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison, Nelson emerged as a powerful voice against compromise with slaveholders. One of the central objectives of this book is to show that anti-slavery, especially his involvement with the ‘Send Back the Money’ controversy in the Free Church of Scotland and the debate over fellowship with slaveholders at the Evangelical Alliance, was crucially important to the development of Nelson into one of Irish Presbyterianism’s most controversial figures. His later opposition to the 1859 Revival has often been understood as being indicative of Nelson’s opposition to evangelicalism. This book argues that such a conclusion is mistaken and that Nelson opposed the Revival as a Presbyterian evangelical. His later involvement with the Land League and the Irish Home Rule movement, including his tenure as the Member of Parliament for County Mayo, could be easily dismissed as an entirely discreditable affair. While avoiding romantic nostalgia in relation to Nelson’s nationalism, this book argues that Nelson’s basis for advocating Home Rule was not as peculiar as it might first appear.
Amy Johnson Frykholm
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- July 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195159837
- eISBN:
- 9780199835614
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195159837.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Examines the history of the idea of the rapture in American Protestantism and argues that belief in the rapture, although it has fundamentalist origins, needs to be understood as a much broader ...
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Examines the history of the idea of the rapture in American Protestantism and argues that belief in the rapture, although it has fundamentalist origins, needs to be understood as a much broader social movement and a much more integrated part of American culture. Looks briefly at the apocalyptic context of American culture and then at the more specific history of rapture belief and dispensationalism in the United States. Argues that readers of the Left Behind series no longer see themselves as intimately connected to fundamentalist belief but instead seek to integrate the rapture into a broader religious context. Similarly, the texts of the novels themselves do not so much condemn and dismiss contemporary culture as they seek negotiation with it, particularly in the roles of technology, consumer culture, and gender in society. The formulation of evangelicalism represented in the books is a significant departure from previous religious apocalyptic fiction.Less
Examines the history of the idea of the rapture in American Protestantism and argues that belief in the rapture, although it has fundamentalist origins, needs to be understood as a much broader social movement and a much more integrated part of American culture. Looks briefly at the apocalyptic context of American culture and then at the more specific history of rapture belief and dispensationalism in the United States. Argues that readers of the Left Behind series no longer see themselves as intimately connected to fundamentalist belief but instead seek to integrate the rapture into a broader religious context. Similarly, the texts of the novels themselves do not so much condemn and dismiss contemporary culture as they seek negotiation with it, particularly in the roles of technology, consumer culture, and gender in society. The formulation of evangelicalism represented in the books is a significant departure from previous religious apocalyptic fiction.
Amy Johnson Frykholm
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- July 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195159837
- eISBN:
- 9780199835614
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195159837.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
While the core of Left Behind’s readership is evangelical and white, the popularity of the books has seeped far beyond these boundaries. This chapter explores the response to Left Behind by ...
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While the core of Left Behind’s readership is evangelical and white, the popularity of the books has seeped far beyond these boundaries. This chapter explores the response to Left Behind by non-evangelical readers or by readers who struggled to place themselves easily within contemporary evangelicalism. It argues that the series is persuasive as “truth” to those who are already convinced. It is far less convincing to those who stand outside its central doctrines. At the same time, those on the margins of Left Behind’s readership use the books in creative ways to make sense of their own lives and religious realities.Less
While the core of Left Behind’s readership is evangelical and white, the popularity of the books has seeped far beyond these boundaries. This chapter explores the response to Left Behind by non-evangelical readers or by readers who struggled to place themselves easily within contemporary evangelicalism. It argues that the series is persuasive as “truth” to those who are already convinced. It is far less convincing to those who stand outside its central doctrines. At the same time, those on the margins of Left Behind’s readership use the books in creative ways to make sense of their own lives and religious realities.
Amy Johnson Frykholm
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- July 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195159837
- eISBN:
- 9780199835614
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195159837.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter trains its attention on the role that gender plays in how readers interact with Left Behind. It begins with female readers’ denial that gender is important to their reading of the books ...
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This chapter trains its attention on the role that gender plays in how readers interact with Left Behind. It begins with female readers’ denial that gender is important to their reading of the books and their resistance to single out gender for discussion. Male and female readers identified with the stronger, male characters in the books and sought to learn from them how to live in the midst of strife. The chapter continues with a look at the history of gender in dispensationalism and the complex roles that it has played. The chapter concludes that gender has a relevance when it comes to the dispensationalist narrative. It shapes and informs that narrative, but readers themselves emphasize spiritual strength and personal devotion over the policing of gender.Less
This chapter trains its attention on the role that gender plays in how readers interact with Left Behind. It begins with female readers’ denial that gender is important to their reading of the books and their resistance to single out gender for discussion. Male and female readers identified with the stronger, male characters in the books and sought to learn from them how to live in the midst of strife. The chapter continues with a look at the history of gender in dispensationalism and the complex roles that it has played. The chapter concludes that gender has a relevance when it comes to the dispensationalist narrative. It shapes and informs that narrative, but readers themselves emphasize spiritual strength and personal devotion over the policing of gender.
Amy Johnson Frykholm
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- July 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195159837
- eISBN:
- 9780199835614
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195159837.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Left Behind has been a controversial force in American culture, drawing regular criticism from secular and religious corners. This chapter examines that criticism and argues for a ...
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Left Behind has been a controversial force in American culture, drawing regular criticism from secular and religious corners. This chapter examines that criticism and argues for a stronger understanding of the activity of readers. Readers are active interpreters of fictional texts, and their interaction with these texts is complex and often unpredictable. The dynamics of both fear and desire are at work in creating responses to Left Behind within complex social settings. Evangelicalism is wrongly understood as a “subculture” and instead needs to be conceived as a broad and fluid part of dominant popular culture in the United States. Rapture Culture urges its readers to consider popular fiction reading as a complex and dynamic act of faith in American Protestantism.Less
Left Behind has been a controversial force in American culture, drawing regular criticism from secular and religious corners. This chapter examines that criticism and argues for a stronger understanding of the activity of readers. Readers are active interpreters of fictional texts, and their interaction with these texts is complex and often unpredictable. The dynamics of both fear and desire are at work in creating responses to Left Behind within complex social settings. Evangelicalism is wrongly understood as a “subculture” and instead needs to be conceived as a broad and fluid part of dominant popular culture in the United States. Rapture Culture urges its readers to consider popular fiction reading as a complex and dynamic act of faith in American Protestantism.
Jeremy Morris
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199545315
- eISBN:
- 9780191602825
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199545315.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology, History of Christianity
The four years from Frederick Denison Maurice’s ordination in January 1834 to the appearance of the first edition of The Kingdom of Christ in 1838 were momentous ones, both for the national Church ...
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The four years from Frederick Denison Maurice’s ordination in January 1834 to the appearance of the first edition of The Kingdom of Christ in 1838 were momentous ones, both for the national Church and for Maurice himself. A critical appreciation of The Kingdom of Christ must be central to any attempt to understand the shape of Maurice’s ecclesiology and his view of Anglicanism, since it is by far his most substantial work on the Christian Church. It forms the main focus of this chapter. However, its writing must be read against the background of widening ‘party’ divisions within the Church of England. Maurice was eventually (and reluctantly) to be identified with one specific group, the so-called Broad Church. However if, in the early 1830s, he inclined in fact towards the Tractarians, he did so without any intention of signalling ‘party’ affiliation. This chapter looks at Maurice’s attitudes toward Anglicanism, Tractarianism, and Evangelicalism.Less
The four years from Frederick Denison Maurice’s ordination in January 1834 to the appearance of the first edition of The Kingdom of Christ in 1838 were momentous ones, both for the national Church and for Maurice himself. A critical appreciation of The Kingdom of Christ must be central to any attempt to understand the shape of Maurice’s ecclesiology and his view of Anglicanism, since it is by far his most substantial work on the Christian Church. It forms the main focus of this chapter. However, its writing must be read against the background of widening ‘party’ divisions within the Church of England. Maurice was eventually (and reluctantly) to be identified with one specific group, the so-called Broad Church. However if, in the early 1830s, he inclined in fact towards the Tractarians, he did so without any intention of signalling ‘party’ affiliation. This chapter looks at Maurice’s attitudes toward Anglicanism, Tractarianism, and Evangelicalism.
Michael Hubbard MacKay
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780252043017
- eISBN:
- 9780252051876
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252043017.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
This book is about how Joseph Smith established religious authority and a long-lasting, complex priesthood structure. The thesis of this book builds on three scholars’ major ideas about religious ...
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This book is about how Joseph Smith established religious authority and a long-lasting, complex priesthood structure. The thesis of this book builds on three scholars’ major ideas about religious authority and Mormonism in the antebellum United States. In an effort to move the conversation toward politics and its relationship to religion, Porterfield focused on the constraint of populism. Though it is true that Mormonism grew, as Hatch shows, from the populist appeal of a lay priesthood and communal living in early Mormonism, Flake demonstrates that the Mormon priesthood was hierarchical. Left just outside the focus of the work of Hatch, Porterfield, and Flake is the role of Joseph Smith defining Mormon authority—a role that has not been fully examined. Smith’s authority grew in opposition to the civic and political authority that evangelicals were garnering and as a countertrend to the populist religious movements of the Second Great Awakening. In fact, Smith’s prophetic voice and scripture formed a hierarchical priesthood structure that eventually empowered every male member of his church to become a prophet, priest, and king, although they answered to each leader above them within the same structure. Reinforced by that structure, Smith’s prophetic voice became the arbiter of authority. It had the ultimate power to create and guide, and it was used to form a strong lay priesthood order in a stable hierarchical democracy devoid of the kind of democratic political authority that evangelicals fostered.Less
This book is about how Joseph Smith established religious authority and a long-lasting, complex priesthood structure. The thesis of this book builds on three scholars’ major ideas about religious authority and Mormonism in the antebellum United States. In an effort to move the conversation toward politics and its relationship to religion, Porterfield focused on the constraint of populism. Though it is true that Mormonism grew, as Hatch shows, from the populist appeal of a lay priesthood and communal living in early Mormonism, Flake demonstrates that the Mormon priesthood was hierarchical. Left just outside the focus of the work of Hatch, Porterfield, and Flake is the role of Joseph Smith defining Mormon authority—a role that has not been fully examined. Smith’s authority grew in opposition to the civic and political authority that evangelicals were garnering and as a countertrend to the populist religious movements of the Second Great Awakening. In fact, Smith’s prophetic voice and scripture formed a hierarchical priesthood structure that eventually empowered every male member of his church to become a prophet, priest, and king, although they answered to each leader above them within the same structure. Reinforced by that structure, Smith’s prophetic voice became the arbiter of authority. It had the ultimate power to create and guide, and it was used to form a strong lay priesthood order in a stable hierarchical democracy devoid of the kind of democratic political authority that evangelicals fostered.
Anne Stott
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199699391
- eISBN:
- 9780191739132
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199699391.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
The book casts a fresh light on William Wilberforce and his friends in the Clapham sect by looking at their private lives as revealed primarily in their voluminous family correspondence, much of it ...
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The book casts a fresh light on William Wilberforce and his friends in the Clapham sect by looking at their private lives as revealed primarily in their voluminous family correspondence, much of it created by women. It focuses on three families: the Wilberforces, the Thorntons, and the Macaulays. The families were united by a commitment to Evangelical religion and a range of philanthropic causes, most famously the abolition of the slave trade. While the men occupied important public roles they were also deeply committed to their families and to the ideal of domesticity. The ideology of the period depicted the middle-class home as a place of tranquil retreat from the cares and temptations of public life. The family crises depicted in this study show that the reality was often more complex. With varying degrees of success, the men and women of the Clapham sect brought their distinctive Evangelical piety into their patterns of courtship and marriage, their philosophy of child-rearing, and their strategies in coping with death and bereavement. For the first time, much of the story is told from the perspective of the wives. They were not shut out from their husbands’ concerns, though their participation varied, dictated by their own temperaments and interests, and by their husbands’ views about how far it was appropriate for women to involve themselves in public life. But the book’s primary focus is on the family, women and gender, childhood and education, sexuality and intimacy, themes with far‐reaching implications for the wider community.Less
The book casts a fresh light on William Wilberforce and his friends in the Clapham sect by looking at their private lives as revealed primarily in their voluminous family correspondence, much of it created by women. It focuses on three families: the Wilberforces, the Thorntons, and the Macaulays. The families were united by a commitment to Evangelical religion and a range of philanthropic causes, most famously the abolition of the slave trade. While the men occupied important public roles they were also deeply committed to their families and to the ideal of domesticity. The ideology of the period depicted the middle-class home as a place of tranquil retreat from the cares and temptations of public life. The family crises depicted in this study show that the reality was often more complex. With varying degrees of success, the men and women of the Clapham sect brought their distinctive Evangelical piety into their patterns of courtship and marriage, their philosophy of child-rearing, and their strategies in coping with death and bereavement. For the first time, much of the story is told from the perspective of the wives. They were not shut out from their husbands’ concerns, though their participation varied, dictated by their own temperaments and interests, and by their husbands’ views about how far it was appropriate for women to involve themselves in public life. But the book’s primary focus is on the family, women and gender, childhood and education, sexuality and intimacy, themes with far‐reaching implications for the wider community.
