A brief, narrative survey of the Baptists in North America over the last three and a half centuries, from their roots in Europe to their present manifestations in contemporary America and the world. The six chapters are organized around five distinctives historically important to the Bible, the Church, the ordinances/sacraments, voluntarism, and religious liberty. Concluding with a Chronology and extensive Bibliographic Essay, this is an ideal text for courses in Church History, North American Religious History, or American social and cultural history.

From two professors of religion, a comprehensive history of the Society of Friends in the U.S... The authors are careful to explain what Quakers believed at every stage of their development and how they organized their lives around the religious and social movements they fostered or fought against. The second part of this engaging book is a biographical dictionary of Quaker leaders. Reference Books Bulletin This volume interweaves theology, social history, and biography in the first comprehensive history of Quakers in America to be published in more than forty years. Barbour and Frost treat all branches of American Quakers, tracing the history of the denomination from 1650 to the present and demonstrating how changes in the movement can be related to the traditions of the Society of Friends and developments in the wider cultural context. The text presents the lives and ideas of prominent Quaker men and George Fox, William Penn, John Woolman, Elias Hicks, Joseph John Gurtney, Rufus Jones, Henry Cadbury, and many others. The authors show that today although a Quaker can be fundamentalist, an evangelical, a moderate, or a liberal, the twentieth century has been marked by attempts to reunify and affirm a common tradition among all branches of the denomination. After initial chapters dealing with the genesis of Quakerism under George Fox in Puritan England, the authors turn to an examination of the Society of Friends in colonial America. They reveal the Friends' creative response to persecution after 1660, the intellectual achievements of William Penn and Robert Barclay, and the creation of early colonies in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Later chapters address the influence of Quaker pacifism and opposition to slavery, the establishment of Quaker communities in midwestern and western states, and the theological divisions within the Society of Friends that characterized the movement in the nineteenth century.

Lutheran churches in the United States have included multiple ethnic cultures since the colonial era and continue to wrestle with increasing internal variety as one component of their identity. By combining the concerns of social history with an awareness for theological themes, this volume explores the history of this family of Lutheran churches and traces the development from the colonial era through the formation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in 1988. An introduction details the origins of Lutheranism in the European Reformation and the practices significant to the group's life in the United States. Organized chronologically, subsequent chapters follow the churches' maturation as they form institutions, provide themselves with leaders, and expand their membership and geographic range. Attention is given throughout to the contributions of the laity and women within the context of the Lutherans' continued individual and corporate effort to be both authentically Lutheran and genuinely American. Offering a rich portrayal of the Lutherans' lives and their churches, the social historical approach of this study brings the Lutheran people to the foreground. The dynamic relationship between pietist, orthodox, and critical expressions of the tradition has remained among Lutherans even though they have divided themselves by several factors including ethnicity and confessional stance. Of interest to scholars and researchers of Lutheran history and religion in America, this engaging, multifaceted work balances narrative history with brief biographical essays. A chronological listing of important dates in the development of the Lutheran church is especially helpful.

The story of the Episcopalians in America is the story of an influential denomination that has furnished a disproportionately large share of the American political and cultural leadership. Beginning with the denomination's roots in 16th-century England, this book offers a fresh account of the Episcopal Church's rise to prominence in America. Chronologically arranged, it follows the establishment of colonial Anglicanism in the New World, the national organization of the denomination following the Revolution, its rise during the 19th century, and the complex array of forces that affected the church in the 20th century―and continue to affect it today. The authors pay particular attention to the established leadership of the Episcopal Church, as well as to the experience of the ordinary layperson, the form and function of sacred space, developments in church parties and theology, relations with other Christian communities, and the evolving roles and status of women and minorities. Shining a light on the lives of ordinary churchgoers and historically marginalized groups, the authors reveal the strengths and weaknesses of the Episcopal Church. While the church evolved into the denomination of the urban establishment, a politically, theologically, and socially moderate religious body that appealed to those seeking the society of their largely middle- and upper-middle-class peers, it also appealed to those whom the dominant society excluded from African and Hispanic Americans, women, and American Indians. The volume concludes with a chronology of important events and biographical sketches of major figures in the Episcopal Church.