Michael Brydon
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199204816
- eISBN:
- 9780191709500
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199204816.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
Richard Hooker has long been viewed as the first systematic defender of Anglicanism, as a via media between Roman Catholicism and Reformed Protestantism. In the last twenty years, this traditional ...
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Richard Hooker has long been viewed as the first systematic defender of Anglicanism, as a via media between Roman Catholicism and Reformed Protestantism. In the last twenty years, this traditional assumption has been increasingly challenged, and it has been argued that Hooker was a Reformed figure whose Anglican credentials are the invention of the Oxford Movement. Whilst the theological ambiguity of Hooker remains perplexing, this study makes clear that the 17th and not the 19th century was responsible for the creation of his reputation as a leading Anglican father. It is argued that Hooker’s position of authority was much disputed and only gradually fashioned, and that his variable significance was dependent on the interplay between the polemical and religious needs of those who used him, and the complexities and evasions of his own work. Hooker initially came to prominence due to a suspicion that he was insufficiently Reformed. This then encouraged Catholic polemicists to view him as being representative of the theological position of the English Church. Although there was a desire to retain him as a Reformed figure, he was eventually appropriated by the avant-garde churchmen who eventually triumphed at the Restoration and enthroned him as the epitome of the Anglican identity. Unsurprisingly, the unfolding of contemporary crises led to some reappraisal of his standing. Notably, the Glorious Revolution meant that Hooker’s previously marginalized belief in an original governmental compact came to the forefront, and he was increasingly recognized as a meaningful political writer. Whilst the boundaries of Hooker’s emblematic status continued to expand and contract, the developments of the 17th century ensured that his status as an important writer has remained constant ever since.Less
Richard Hooker has long been viewed as the first systematic defender of Anglicanism, as a via media between Roman Catholicism and Reformed Protestantism. In the last twenty years, this traditional assumption has been increasingly challenged, and it has been argued that Hooker was a Reformed figure whose Anglican credentials are the invention of the Oxford Movement. Whilst the theological ambiguity of Hooker remains perplexing, this study makes clear that the 17th and not the 19th century was responsible for the creation of his reputation as a leading Anglican father. It is argued that Hooker’s position of authority was much disputed and only gradually fashioned, and that his variable significance was dependent on the interplay between the polemical and religious needs of those who used him, and the complexities and evasions of his own work. Hooker initially came to prominence due to a suspicion that he was insufficiently Reformed. This then encouraged Catholic polemicists to view him as being representative of the theological position of the English Church. Although there was a desire to retain him as a Reformed figure, he was eventually appropriated by the avant-garde churchmen who eventually triumphed at the Restoration and enthroned him as the epitome of the Anglican identity. Unsurprisingly, the unfolding of contemporary crises led to some reappraisal of his standing. Notably, the Glorious Revolution meant that Hooker’s previously marginalized belief in an original governmental compact came to the forefront, and he was increasingly recognized as a meaningful political writer. Whilst the boundaries of Hooker’s emblematic status continued to expand and contract, the developments of the 17th century ensured that his status as an important writer has remained constant ever since.
Michael Brydon
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199204816
- eISBN:
- 9780191709500
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199204816.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
The Restoration cult of Hooker reached its climax under Charles I. It was challenged during the exclusion crisis, notably by Richard Baxter who claimed Hooker as a Reformed sympathizer and by ...
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The Restoration cult of Hooker reached its climax under Charles I. It was challenged during the exclusion crisis, notably by Richard Baxter who claimed Hooker as a Reformed sympathizer and by Algernon Sidney who used the Polity to vest authority in the people, but the ultimate success of the royal party ensured they were swiftly marginalized. Instead, Hooker’s ecclesiastical image continued unchanged and works such as Pariarcha by Sir Robert Filmer ensured that Hooker’s royalist credentials were also bolstered.Less
The Restoration cult of Hooker reached its climax under Charles I. It was challenged during the exclusion crisis, notably by Richard Baxter who claimed Hooker as a Reformed sympathizer and by Algernon Sidney who used the Polity to vest authority in the people, but the ultimate success of the royal party ensured they were swiftly marginalized. Instead, Hooker’s ecclesiastical image continued unchanged and works such as Pariarcha by Sir Robert Filmer ensured that Hooker’s royalist credentials were also bolstered.
Philip Waller
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199541201
- eISBN:
- 9780191717284
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199541201.003.0019
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This chapter examines the career of a now forgotten popular story-writer, Charles Garvice, whose romances outsold most others. It shows how his first stories, published in three-volume form, failed ...
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This chapter examines the career of a now forgotten popular story-writer, Charles Garvice, whose romances outsold most others. It shows how his first stories, published in three-volume form, failed to sell; he then turned to producing stories for serialisation in popular light fiction magazines in both Britain and the U.S.A., and began to make a lot of money. His breakthrough in book form came in England after 1900, and it was in cheap sixpenny editions that he reached his largest audience. These stories were formulaic and their simple characterisations and preposterous plots met critical scorn, yet they delighted a huge readership by their reward of virtue and comeuppance for the wicked. They incorporated socially conservative opinions; among his admirers was a Nonconformist religious press which previously had been suspicious of fiction. Other writers were bewildered by Garvice's best-seller fame, though he was much liked personally for his self-deprecating good humour and he became an influential figure in the Authors' Club.Less
This chapter examines the career of a now forgotten popular story-writer, Charles Garvice, whose romances outsold most others. It shows how his first stories, published in three-volume form, failed to sell; he then turned to producing stories for serialisation in popular light fiction magazines in both Britain and the U.S.A., and began to make a lot of money. His breakthrough in book form came in England after 1900, and it was in cheap sixpenny editions that he reached his largest audience. These stories were formulaic and their simple characterisations and preposterous plots met critical scorn, yet they delighted a huge readership by their reward of virtue and comeuppance for the wicked. They incorporated socially conservative opinions; among his admirers was a Nonconformist religious press which previously had been suspicious of fiction. Other writers were bewildered by Garvice's best-seller fame, though he was much liked personally for his self-deprecating good humour and he became an influential figure in the Authors' Club.
Philip Waller
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199541201
- eISBN:
- 9780191717284
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199541201.003.0028
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This chapter explores how writers dealt with religion. It shows how a long list of authors, led by Dickens and George Eliot, provided unsympathetic portraits of Nonconformists, fixing on their ...
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This chapter explores how writers dealt with religion. It shows how a long list of authors, led by Dickens and George Eliot, provided unsympathetic portraits of Nonconformists, fixing on their apparent hypocrisy, intolerance, philistinism, and sharp practice. A curious exception is noted in regard to treatment of members of the Salvation Army by Walter Besant and George Moore, who were otherwise antipathetic to much religion. It is argued that a general hostility to institutionalised Christianity, together with a propensity to analyse character in sociological and psychological rather than metaphysical terms, distinguish many of the writers whose work is still read today. Yet one reason for the success of many best-selling novels and stage hits of the late-Victorian and Edwardian period was their reverential attitude to religious faith; and this has opened up a gap in understanding and taste between our age and theirs. The religious faith so expressed may have been doctrinally unsophisticated and even downright ignorant or assumed for the occasion; but it was not mocking; and this accorded with majority opinion then. Writers whose work is scrutinised in this regard include Wilson Barrett, Arnold Bennett, Henry James, Jerome K. Jerome, Stephen Phillips, George Bernard Shaw, J.H. Shorthouse, W. T. Stead, ‘Guy Thorne’, Mrs Humphry Ward, H. G. Wells, and Charlotte M. Yonge. The book ends with an analysis of Virginia Woolf's first novel The Voyage Out (1915), which epitomises this shift in the focus of modern fiction.Less
This chapter explores how writers dealt with religion. It shows how a long list of authors, led by Dickens and George Eliot, provided unsympathetic portraits of Nonconformists, fixing on their apparent hypocrisy, intolerance, philistinism, and sharp practice. A curious exception is noted in regard to treatment of members of the Salvation Army by Walter Besant and George Moore, who were otherwise antipathetic to much religion. It is argued that a general hostility to institutionalised Christianity, together with a propensity to analyse character in sociological and psychological rather than metaphysical terms, distinguish many of the writers whose work is still read today. Yet one reason for the success of many best-selling novels and stage hits of the late-Victorian and Edwardian period was their reverential attitude to religious faith; and this has opened up a gap in understanding and taste between our age and theirs. The religious faith so expressed may have been doctrinally unsophisticated and even downright ignorant or assumed for the occasion; but it was not mocking; and this accorded with majority opinion then. Writers whose work is scrutinised in this regard include Wilson Barrett, Arnold Bennett, Henry James, Jerome K. Jerome, Stephen Phillips, George Bernard Shaw, J.H. Shorthouse, W. T. Stead, ‘Guy Thorne’, Mrs Humphry Ward, H. G. Wells, and Charlotte M. Yonge. The book ends with an analysis of Virginia Woolf's first novel The Voyage Out (1915), which epitomises this shift in the focus of modern fiction.
Philip Waller
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199541201
- eISBN:
- 9780191717284
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199541201.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This chapter is concerned with who stepped forward to direct the novice reader, beginning with the ‘Best Hundred Books’ phenomenon launched by Sir John Lubbock in 1885. It argues that too much ...
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This chapter is concerned with who stepped forward to direct the novice reader, beginning with the ‘Best Hundred Books’ phenomenon launched by Sir John Lubbock in 1885. It argues that too much emphasis has been given to Victorians' earnestness and that the sheer enjoyment to be gained from book-reading was proclaimed by a variety of enthusiasts. The spirit of the New Journalism was democratic and eclectic. The foremost popular literary magazine to emerge after the turn of the century — targeting women as well as male readers — was T. P.'s Weekly, founded by T. P. O'Connor, and featuring Arnold Bennett as a regular columnist. Similarly influential among Nonconformist readers, by breaking down their antipathy to fiction, was The British Weekly, whose longstanding editor William Robertson Nicoll also founded The Bookman.Less
This chapter is concerned with who stepped forward to direct the novice reader, beginning with the ‘Best Hundred Books’ phenomenon launched by Sir John Lubbock in 1885. It argues that too much emphasis has been given to Victorians' earnestness and that the sheer enjoyment to be gained from book-reading was proclaimed by a variety of enthusiasts. The spirit of the New Journalism was democratic and eclectic. The foremost popular literary magazine to emerge after the turn of the century — targeting women as well as male readers — was T. P.'s Weekly, founded by T. P. O'Connor, and featuring Arnold Bennett as a regular columnist. Similarly influential among Nonconformist readers, by breaking down their antipathy to fiction, was The British Weekly, whose longstanding editor William Robertson Nicoll also founded The Bookman.
Michael Davies
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- April 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199242405
- eISBN:
- 9780191602405
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199242402.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Bunyan’s theology is not obsessed with a forbidding Calvinist doctrine of predestination. Rather, his is a comfortable doctrine, in which the believer is encouraged to accept salvation through the ...
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Bunyan’s theology is not obsessed with a forbidding Calvinist doctrine of predestination. Rather, his is a comfortable doctrine, in which the believer is encouraged to accept salvation through the more accommodating terms of Bunyan’s covenant theology. Bunyan’s narrative style is informed by this doctrine, and his major works (with particular focus on Grace Abounding and The Pilgrim’s Progress) reveal a profound sensitivity to narrative and reading practices, with reading itself instrumental to spiritual instruction. The ‘graceful reading’ of the book’s title thus encompasses a Bunyan for whom grace rather than predestination is most important, as well as a Bunyan whose narrative style tests the reader by presenting narratives that must be read for something other than ‘story’ alone. As commentators tend to divorce the ‘literary’ aspects of Bunyan’s works from their Calvinism, this book suggests a more constructive way of reading his narrative and doctrinal writings, by integrating literary interpretation with their theology and by viewing them in the context of late seventeenth-century Nonconformist culture, as well as against the narrative strategies of postmodernist fiction.Less
Bunyan’s theology is not obsessed with a forbidding Calvinist doctrine of predestination. Rather, his is a comfortable doctrine, in which the believer is encouraged to accept salvation through the more accommodating terms of Bunyan’s covenant theology. Bunyan’s narrative style is informed by this doctrine, and his major works (with particular focus on Grace Abounding and The Pilgrim’s Progress) reveal a profound sensitivity to narrative and reading practices, with reading itself instrumental to spiritual instruction. The ‘graceful reading’ of the book’s title thus encompasses a Bunyan for whom grace rather than predestination is most important, as well as a Bunyan whose narrative style tests the reader by presenting narratives that must be read for something other than ‘story’ alone. As commentators tend to divorce the ‘literary’ aspects of Bunyan’s works from their Calvinism, this book suggests a more constructive way of reading his narrative and doctrinal writings, by integrating literary interpretation with their theology and by viewing them in the context of late seventeenth-century Nonconformist culture, as well as against the narrative strategies of postmodernist fiction.
Michael Davies
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- April 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199242405
- eISBN:
- 9780191602405
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199242402.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
The enduring success of Bunyan’s allegory has been upheld largely by re-inscribing it as a universally religious or moralistic book rather than one that deals strictly with Bunyan’s Calvinist ...
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The enduring success of Bunyan’s allegory has been upheld largely by re-inscribing it as a universally religious or moralistic book rather than one that deals strictly with Bunyan’s Calvinist theology of grace, as in the anonymous Part 3 of The Pilgrim’s Progress or Alcott’s Little Women. Only by returning Bunyan’s theology to the text, in ways often avoided by Bunyan’s literary commentators, can The Pilgrim’s Progress be recognized as a work holding more radical, nonconformist literary implications.Less
The enduring success of Bunyan’s allegory has been upheld largely by re-inscribing it as a universally religious or moralistic book rather than one that deals strictly with Bunyan’s Calvinist theology of grace, as in the anonymous Part 3 of The Pilgrim’s Progress or Alcott’s Little Women. Only by returning Bunyan’s theology to the text, in ways often avoided by Bunyan’s literary commentators, can The Pilgrim’s Progress be recognized as a work holding more radical, nonconformist literary implications.
Ole Peter Grell, Jonathan I. Israel, and Nicholas Tyacke (eds)
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198201960
- eISBN:
- 9780191675102
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198201960.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History, History of Religion
This book examines the importance of the Glorious Revolution and the passing of the Toleration Act to the development of religious and intellectual freedom in England. Most historians have considered ...
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This book examines the importance of the Glorious Revolution and the passing of the Toleration Act to the development of religious and intellectual freedom in England. Most historians have considered these events to be of little significance in this connection. This book however focuses on the importance of the Toleration Act for contemporaries, and also explores its wider historical context and impact. Taking its point of departure from the intolerance of the sixteenth century, the book goes on to emphasize what is here seen to be the very substantial contribution of the Toleration Act for the development of religious freedom in England. It demonstrates that this freedom was initially limited to Protestant Nonconformists, immigrant as well as English, and that it quickly came in practice to include Catholics, Jews, and anti-Trinitarians.Less
This book examines the importance of the Glorious Revolution and the passing of the Toleration Act to the development of religious and intellectual freedom in England. Most historians have considered these events to be of little significance in this connection. This book however focuses on the importance of the Toleration Act for contemporaries, and also explores its wider historical context and impact. Taking its point of departure from the intolerance of the sixteenth century, the book goes on to emphasize what is here seen to be the very substantial contribution of the Toleration Act for the development of religious freedom in England. It demonstrates that this freedom was initially limited to Protestant Nonconformists, immigrant as well as English, and that it quickly came in practice to include Catholics, Jews, and anti-Trinitarians.
Artemis Leontis
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780691171722
- eISBN:
- 9780691187907
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691171722.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Women's Literature
This is the first biography to tell the fascinating story of Eva Palmer Sikelianos (1874–1952), an American actor, director, composer, and weaver best known for reviving the Delphic Festivals. Yet, ...
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This is the first biography to tell the fascinating story of Eva Palmer Sikelianos (1874–1952), an American actor, director, composer, and weaver best known for reviving the Delphic Festivals. Yet, as this book reveals, Eva's most spectacular performance was her daily revival of ancient Greek life. For almost half a century, dressed in handmade Greek tunics and sandals, she sought to make modern life freer and more beautiful through a creative engagement with the ancients. Along the way, she crossed paths with other seminal modern artists. Eva was a wealthy New York debutante who studied Greek at Bryn Mawr College before turning her back on conventional society to live a lesbian life in Paris. She later followed Raymond Duncan (brother of Isadora) and his wife to Greece and married the Greek poet Angelos Sikelianos in 1907. With single-minded purpose, Eva recreated ancient art forms, staging Greek tragedy with her own choreography, costumes, and even music. Having exhausted her inheritance, she returned to the United States in 1933, was blacklisted for criticizing American imperialism during the Cold War, and was barred from returning to Greece until just before her death. This biography vividly recreates the unforgettable story of a remarkable nonconformist whom one contemporary described as “the only ancient Greek I ever knew.”Less
This is the first biography to tell the fascinating story of Eva Palmer Sikelianos (1874–1952), an American actor, director, composer, and weaver best known for reviving the Delphic Festivals. Yet, as this book reveals, Eva's most spectacular performance was her daily revival of ancient Greek life. For almost half a century, dressed in handmade Greek tunics and sandals, she sought to make modern life freer and more beautiful through a creative engagement with the ancients. Along the way, she crossed paths with other seminal modern artists. Eva was a wealthy New York debutante who studied Greek at Bryn Mawr College before turning her back on conventional society to live a lesbian life in Paris. She later followed Raymond Duncan (brother of Isadora) and his wife to Greece and married the Greek poet Angelos Sikelianos in 1907. With single-minded purpose, Eva recreated ancient art forms, staging Greek tragedy with her own choreography, costumes, and even music. Having exhausted her inheritance, she returned to the United States in 1933, was blacklisted for criticizing American imperialism during the Cold War, and was barred from returning to Greece until just before her death. This biography vividly recreates the unforgettable story of a remarkable nonconformist whom one contemporary described as “the only ancient Greek I ever knew.”
Laura Wright
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780197266557
- eISBN:
- 9780191905377
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197266557.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
This book traces developments in the history of British house-names from the tenth century, beginning with medieval house-naming practices referencing the householder’s name, the householder’s ...
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This book traces developments in the history of British house-names from the tenth century, beginning with medieval house-naming practices referencing the householder’s name, the householder’s occupation, and the appearance of the house. In the early fourteenth century heraldic names appeared on commercial premises: tavern names such as la Worm on the Hope, and shop names such as the Golden Tea Kettle & Speaking Trumpet. From the eighteenth century five main categories are identified: the transferred place-name, the nostalgically rural, the commemorative, names associated with the nobility, and the latest fashion or fad. From the nineteenth century new developments are ‘pick & mix’ names consisting of uncoupled elements from British place-names joined together in new combinations, and jocular house-names. Historically, the house-name Sunnyside predominates in Scotland, and is traced through Middle English, Medieval Latin, Anglo-Norman French Scottish Gaelic, and the influence of Old Norse, recording a prehistoric Nordic land-division practice known as solskifte. It was spread southwards in the eighteenth century by Nonconformists, and became a Quaker shibboleth. Quakers took the name to North America where it remains in use as a church name. A specific historic Sunnyside in the Scottish Borders influenced author Washington Irving to name his famous New York Sunnyside, which boosted the name’s popularity. London Sunnysides of the 1870s were grand suburban residences owned by rich industrialist Nonconformists with Scottish family ties, confirming the trend.Less
This book traces developments in the history of British house-names from the tenth century, beginning with medieval house-naming practices referencing the householder’s name, the householder’s occupation, and the appearance of the house. In the early fourteenth century heraldic names appeared on commercial premises: tavern names such as la Worm on the Hope, and shop names such as the Golden Tea Kettle & Speaking Trumpet. From the eighteenth century five main categories are identified: the transferred place-name, the nostalgically rural, the commemorative, names associated with the nobility, and the latest fashion or fad. From the nineteenth century new developments are ‘pick & mix’ names consisting of uncoupled elements from British place-names joined together in new combinations, and jocular house-names. Historically, the house-name Sunnyside predominates in Scotland, and is traced through Middle English, Medieval Latin, Anglo-Norman French Scottish Gaelic, and the influence of Old Norse, recording a prehistoric Nordic land-division practice known as solskifte. It was spread southwards in the eighteenth century by Nonconformists, and became a Quaker shibboleth. Quakers took the name to North America where it remains in use as a church name. A specific historic Sunnyside in the Scottish Borders influenced author Washington Irving to name his famous New York Sunnyside, which boosted the name’s popularity. London Sunnysides of the 1870s were grand suburban residences owned by rich industrialist Nonconformists with Scottish family ties, confirming the trend.
David S. Katz
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198201960
- eISBN:
- 9780191675102
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198201960.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History, History of Religion
This chapter suggests that the earlier generous treatment of the Jews by James II was designed, at least in part, to affirm his power to dispense with penal statutes. King James II gave the Jews of ...
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This chapter suggests that the earlier generous treatment of the Jews by James II was designed, at least in part, to affirm his power to dispense with penal statutes. King James II gave the Jews of England what amounted to a Declaration of Indulgence, at the very time when the entire issue of his suspending and dispensing powers was becoming controversial, and a year and a half before he granted the same rights to all other nonconformists. The chapter also draws attention to the fiscal pressures on the Jews in the years 1689–90. Between April 1689 and December 1690, the Jews already residing in London at the time of the Glorious Revolution were subject to a number of attacks which were designed to extract as much money as possible from them. All put pressure on the Jews to demonstrate financially their loyalty to the new government.Less
This chapter suggests that the earlier generous treatment of the Jews by James II was designed, at least in part, to affirm his power to dispense with penal statutes. King James II gave the Jews of England what amounted to a Declaration of Indulgence, at the very time when the entire issue of his suspending and dispensing powers was becoming controversial, and a year and a half before he granted the same rights to all other nonconformists. The chapter also draws attention to the fiscal pressures on the Jews in the years 1689–90. Between April 1689 and December 1690, the Jews already residing in London at the time of the Glorious Revolution were subject to a number of attacks which were designed to extract as much money as possible from them. All put pressure on the Jews to demonstrate financially their loyalty to the new government.
David J. Jeremy
- Published in print:
- 1990
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198201212
- eISBN:
- 9780191674839
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198201212.003.0011
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, History of Religion
In the religious sector of Britain, the Methodists are the most centralized religious group in contrast to other Nonconformist denominations. Among the Methodists, the Wesleyans are the largest sect ...
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In the religious sector of Britain, the Methodists are the most centralized religious group in contrast to other Nonconformist denominations. Among the Methodists, the Wesleyans are the largest sect which typify the Methodist structure. This chapter focuses on the businessmen, laymen and women in the Methodist sect. It aims to answer the queries concerning the dominating laymen in the Wesleyan national Conference committees and the roles in which the businessmen participated in these committees. The chapter also discusses the dominance of businessmen in other Methodist denominations wherein the structure of the dominating Wesleyan sect are carried out through these other Methodist groups. In addition the chapter also examines the changes that happened between the 1930 and the 1950s wherein the opportunities of the laymen diminished, lay representation became democratic and business representations decreased.Less
In the religious sector of Britain, the Methodists are the most centralized religious group in contrast to other Nonconformist denominations. Among the Methodists, the Wesleyans are the largest sect which typify the Methodist structure. This chapter focuses on the businessmen, laymen and women in the Methodist sect. It aims to answer the queries concerning the dominating laymen in the Wesleyan national Conference committees and the roles in which the businessmen participated in these committees. The chapter also discusses the dominance of businessmen in other Methodist denominations wherein the structure of the dominating Wesleyan sect are carried out through these other Methodist groups. In addition the chapter also examines the changes that happened between the 1930 and the 1950s wherein the opportunities of the laymen diminished, lay representation became democratic and business representations decreased.
David J. Jeremy
- Published in print:
- 1990
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198201212
- eISBN:
- 9780191674839
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198201212.003.0012
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, History of Religion
The structure of the Nonconformist denominations is divided into two: the centralized such as the Methodists, Presbyterians and Quakers and the decentralized like the Baptists, Brethren, ...
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The structure of the Nonconformist denominations is divided into two: the centralized such as the Methodists, Presbyterians and Quakers and the decentralized like the Baptists, Brethren, Congregationalists and Unitarians. Centralized structures offered larger national stages for ambitious businessmen while the decentralized groups presented local and regional opportunities for smaller businessmen to come to the fore. This chapter looks at the businessmen, the laymen and the women in the Quakers, the Baptists and the Congregationalists; their roles and the influences they extend to these Nonconformist sects. It also examines the roles of the business people in the churches in Scotland, Wales and Ireland.Less
The structure of the Nonconformist denominations is divided into two: the centralized such as the Methodists, Presbyterians and Quakers and the decentralized like the Baptists, Brethren, Congregationalists and Unitarians. Centralized structures offered larger national stages for ambitious businessmen while the decentralized groups presented local and regional opportunities for smaller businessmen to come to the fore. This chapter looks at the businessmen, the laymen and the women in the Quakers, the Baptists and the Congregationalists; their roles and the influences they extend to these Nonconformist sects. It also examines the roles of the business people in the churches in Scotland, Wales and Ireland.
Michael R. Watts
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198229681
- eISBN:
- 9780191678905
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198229681.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
The contrast between the this-worldly orientation of the Unitarians with their prosperous congregations, their enthusiasm for secular knowledge, and their flair for business success, and the ...
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The contrast between the this-worldly orientation of the Unitarians with their prosperous congregations, their enthusiasm for secular knowledge, and their flair for business success, and the other-worldliness of the Evangelical Nonconformists, with their unsophisticated following, their humble status, and their passion for saving souls, was reflected in their differing attitudes towards politics. For the Unitarians political activity was the corollary of their belief that human problems could be solved by the rational application of knowledge. John Edwards, who succeeded Priestley as minister of the Unitarian New Meeting in Birmingham after the riots of 1791, argued that politics and religion were inextricably linked.Less
The contrast between the this-worldly orientation of the Unitarians with their prosperous congregations, their enthusiasm for secular knowledge, and their flair for business success, and the other-worldliness of the Evangelical Nonconformists, with their unsophisticated following, their humble status, and their passion for saving souls, was reflected in their differing attitudes towards politics. For the Unitarians political activity was the corollary of their belief that human problems could be solved by the rational application of knowledge. John Edwards, who succeeded Priestley as minister of the Unitarian New Meeting in Birmingham after the riots of 1791, argued that politics and religion were inextricably linked.
John L. Comaroff
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520205406
- eISBN:
- 9780520918085
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520205406.003.0005
- Subject:
- Anthropology, European Cultural Anthropology
This chapter explores the models of colonial domination in South Africa. It examines the making of the nonconformist missionaries to the Griqua and Tswana as agents of empire, and discusses the works ...
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This chapter explores the models of colonial domination in South Africa. It examines the making of the nonconformist missionaries to the Griqua and Tswana as agents of empire, and discusses the works of the evangelists of the London Missionary Society and Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society (WMMS) in South Africa. The chapter traces the missions back to the society that spawned them in Britain circa 1810–1840 and follows the evangelists onto the colonial stage itself.Less
This chapter explores the models of colonial domination in South Africa. It examines the making of the nonconformist missionaries to the Griqua and Tswana as agents of empire, and discusses the works of the evangelists of the London Missionary Society and Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society (WMMS) in South Africa. The chapter traces the missions back to the society that spawned them in Britain circa 1810–1840 and follows the evangelists onto the colonial stage itself.
Heloise Brown
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719065309
- eISBN:
- 9781781700457
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719065309.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, Political History
The role of nonconformist religion in the early feminist movement is widely acknowledged. From the Unitarian Caroline Ashurst Biggs, to the Quaker Priestman and Bright family networks, feminist ...
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The role of nonconformist religion in the early feminist movement is widely acknowledged. From the Unitarian Caroline Ashurst Biggs, to the Quaker Priestman and Bright family networks, feminist politics developed in significant part within the context of nonconformity. It was much the same for the peace movement. Two issues were key to religious perspectives on peace in the nineteenth century: one was Quaker theology and the commitment to testimony against war, the other, the influence of Evangelicalism. This chapter considers the importance of Evangelical religion in nonconformist pacifism, particularly the Peace Society, and the impact that theological developments within the Society of Friends had upon the peace movement. Evangelicals dominated the nonconformist peace movement for much of the nineteenth century, although the movement accommodated with apparent ease the rise of the new liberal Quaker theology in the 1880s and 1890s. Women were largely excluded from both this theology and the organised peace movement, although they were present and often active in supporting roles.Less
The role of nonconformist religion in the early feminist movement is widely acknowledged. From the Unitarian Caroline Ashurst Biggs, to the Quaker Priestman and Bright family networks, feminist politics developed in significant part within the context of nonconformity. It was much the same for the peace movement. Two issues were key to religious perspectives on peace in the nineteenth century: one was Quaker theology and the commitment to testimony against war, the other, the influence of Evangelicalism. This chapter considers the importance of Evangelical religion in nonconformist pacifism, particularly the Peace Society, and the impact that theological developments within the Society of Friends had upon the peace movement. Evangelicals dominated the nonconformist peace movement for much of the nineteenth century, although the movement accommodated with apparent ease the rise of the new liberal Quaker theology in the 1880s and 1890s. Women were largely excluded from both this theology and the organised peace movement, although they were present and often active in supporting roles.
Patricia Lim
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9789622099906
- eISBN:
- 9789882207714
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789622099906.003.0011
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
This chapter discusses three groups of missionaries who were part of the missionary fervour that led men to bring their families to China. These groups were the English Nonconformist Union Church ...
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This chapter discusses three groups of missionaries who were part of the missionary fervour that led men to bring their families to China. These groups were the English Nonconformist Union Church Missionaries, the American Missionaries, and the Karl Gutzlaff's Christian Mission. The latter paved the way for the arrival of the Basel Mission, the Berlin missionaries, and the Mission of the Rhenish Church.Less
This chapter discusses three groups of missionaries who were part of the missionary fervour that led men to bring their families to China. These groups were the English Nonconformist Union Church Missionaries, the American Missionaries, and the Karl Gutzlaff's Christian Mission. The latter paved the way for the arrival of the Basel Mission, the Berlin missionaries, and the Mission of the Rhenish Church.
Miles Ogborn
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780226655925
- eISBN:
- 9780226657714
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226657714.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Imperialism and Colonialism
This chapter examines forms of speech involved in talking to spirits of all sorts within Caribbean slavery. It argues that communication with other-worldly interlocutors was of crucial importance, ...
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This chapter examines forms of speech involved in talking to spirits of all sorts within Caribbean slavery. It argues that communication with other-worldly interlocutors was of crucial importance, since all islanders understood speech as giving access to the beliefs of others and as a powerful agent of personal and social transformation. Three sorts of spiritual speech practice are discussed: the sermons and catechetical teaching of the Church of England, including attempts to convert the enslaved; the speech practices of obeah, including ways of speaking with the dead, and how those were understood as powerful words by the slaveholders who sought to outlaw them; and the forms of preaching, praying, and oral instruction of the nonconformist missionaries, especially Methodists, who came to the islands to effect conversions to their religion. It demonstrates that islanders of all sorts made power-laden and racialized distinctions between who could and who could not speak to the spirits, which became increasingly important as questions of spiritual practice became central to governing these slave societies after the abolition of the slave trade. However, it also shows that the practice and experience of speaking with spirits meant that these distinctions were always both undermined and overwhelmed.Less
This chapter examines forms of speech involved in talking to spirits of all sorts within Caribbean slavery. It argues that communication with other-worldly interlocutors was of crucial importance, since all islanders understood speech as giving access to the beliefs of others and as a powerful agent of personal and social transformation. Three sorts of spiritual speech practice are discussed: the sermons and catechetical teaching of the Church of England, including attempts to convert the enslaved; the speech practices of obeah, including ways of speaking with the dead, and how those were understood as powerful words by the slaveholders who sought to outlaw them; and the forms of preaching, praying, and oral instruction of the nonconformist missionaries, especially Methodists, who came to the islands to effect conversions to their religion. It demonstrates that islanders of all sorts made power-laden and racialized distinctions between who could and who could not speak to the spirits, which became increasingly important as questions of spiritual practice became central to governing these slave societies after the abolition of the slave trade. However, it also shows that the practice and experience of speaking with spirits meant that these distinctions were always both undermined and overwhelmed.
Stewart J. Brown
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- October 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198832539
- eISBN:
- 9780191871078
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198832539.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
W. T. Stead (1849–1912), newspaper editor, author, social reformer, advocate for women’s rights, peace campaigner, spiritualist, was one of the best-known public figures in late Victorian and ...
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W. T. Stead (1849–1912), newspaper editor, author, social reformer, advocate for women’s rights, peace campaigner, spiritualist, was one of the best-known public figures in late Victorian and Edwardian Britain. This a religious biography of Stead, giving particular attention to Stead’s conception of journalism, in an age of growing mass literacy, as a means to communicate religious truth and morality, and his view of the editor’s desk as a modern pulpit from which the editor could preach to a congregation of tens of thousands. The book explores how his Nonconformist Conscience and sense of divine calling infused his newspaper crusades, most famously his ‘Maiden Tribute’ campaign against child prostitution, and it considers his efforts, through forms of participatory journalism, to create a ‘union of all who love in the service of all who suffer’ and a ‘Civic Church’. The book considers his growing interest in spiritualism and the occult as he searched for the evidence of an afterlife that might draw people of an increasingly secular age back to faith. It discusses his imperialism and his belief in the English-speaking peoples of the British Empire and American Republic as God’s new chosen people for the spread of civilization, and it considers how his growing understanding of other faiths and cultures, but more especially his moral revulsion over the South African War of 1899–1902, brought him to question those beliefs. Finally, it assesses the influence of religious faith on his campaigns for world peace and the arbitration of international disputes.Less
W. T. Stead (1849–1912), newspaper editor, author, social reformer, advocate for women’s rights, peace campaigner, spiritualist, was one of the best-known public figures in late Victorian and Edwardian Britain. This a religious biography of Stead, giving particular attention to Stead’s conception of journalism, in an age of growing mass literacy, as a means to communicate religious truth and morality, and his view of the editor’s desk as a modern pulpit from which the editor could preach to a congregation of tens of thousands. The book explores how his Nonconformist Conscience and sense of divine calling infused his newspaper crusades, most famously his ‘Maiden Tribute’ campaign against child prostitution, and it considers his efforts, through forms of participatory journalism, to create a ‘union of all who love in the service of all who suffer’ and a ‘Civic Church’. The book considers his growing interest in spiritualism and the occult as he searched for the evidence of an afterlife that might draw people of an increasingly secular age back to faith. It discusses his imperialism and his belief in the English-speaking peoples of the British Empire and American Republic as God’s new chosen people for the spread of civilization, and it considers how his growing understanding of other faiths and cultures, but more especially his moral revulsion over the South African War of 1899–1902, brought him to question those beliefs. Finally, it assesses the influence of religious faith on his campaigns for world peace and the arbitration of international disputes.
Jehu J. Hanciles (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- April 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780199684045
- eISBN:
- 9780191838927
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199684045.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
This volume examines the globalization of Protestant ‘dissenting traditions’ in the twentieth century. During this period, Protestant Dissent achieved not only its widest geographical reach but also ...
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This volume examines the globalization of Protestant ‘dissenting traditions’ in the twentieth century. During this period, Protestant Dissent achieved not only its widest geographical reach but also the greatest genealogical distance from its point of origin. This process, attended by some of the most momentous developments in human history, was marked by a multitude of pathways or starting-points, continuities and discontinuities, as well as complications and contradictions. The regional framework adopted in this compilation (coverage encompasses Africa, Asia, the Middle East, America, Europe, Latin America, and the Pacific) provides detailed snapshots of Protestant Dissent as a globalizing movement. Contributors probe the radical shifts and complex reconstruction that took place as dissenting traditions encountered diverse cultures and took root in a multitude of contexts, many of which were experiencing major historical change at the same time. This extensive overview unambiguously reveals that ‘Dissent’ was transformed as it travelled.Less
This volume examines the globalization of Protestant ‘dissenting traditions’ in the twentieth century. During this period, Protestant Dissent achieved not only its widest geographical reach but also the greatest genealogical distance from its point of origin. This process, attended by some of the most momentous developments in human history, was marked by a multitude of pathways or starting-points, continuities and discontinuities, as well as complications and contradictions. The regional framework adopted in this compilation (coverage encompasses Africa, Asia, the Middle East, America, Europe, Latin America, and the Pacific) provides detailed snapshots of Protestant Dissent as a globalizing movement. Contributors probe the radical shifts and complex reconstruction that took place as dissenting traditions encountered diverse cultures and took root in a multitude of contexts, many of which were experiencing major historical change at the same time. This extensive overview unambiguously reveals that ‘Dissent’ was transformed as it travelled.
