Church historians have long known and appreciated Christianity's global history. Until recently, however, introductory textbooks on the history of Christianity focused almost exclusively on Europe and North America. Robert Bruce Mullins's A Short World History of Christianity, by contrast, offers a panoramic picture of the history of Christianity in its Western and non-Western expressions. It tells the story of the early church in the Greek East as well as the Latin West; of Christianity's spread into Asia as well as Europe during the Middle Ages; and its explosion around the world during the modern period. Mullins's highly readable narrative explores why global perspectives have emerged so strongly in our understanding of the story of Christianity and how they have impacted Christianity's perspective on its place in the world. This newly revised edition adds information on such global phenomena as early Syriac-speaking Christianity; the growth of Pentecostalism around the world, especially in the southern hemisphere; and recent trends in Christianity, including the elevation of the first pope born in the Americas. A time line of key dates, call-out boxes, and other helpful study materials are also provided. Beginning students will appreciate this memorable introduction to the most important events in the history and development of Christianity.
The first book to study the Episcopal high church movement within the context of nineteenth-century American culture. Mullin traces the history of the Episcopal Church from its rise in the early nineteenth century, when it was seen as a refuge from the excesses of evangelical Protestantism, to 1870, when the antebellum high church synthesis had largely collapsed. His book not only sheds light on the reasons for the flourishing of this alternative social and intellectual vision but also helps to account for the general crisis confronting religion in America at the turn of the century.
Horace Bushnell (1802-76), the much maligned 19th-century liberal pastor/scholar/ theologian, is here vindicated as a deeply conservative Puritan and misunderstood intellectual of his time. In this biography, Mullin (General Theological Seminary) considers Bushnell in the context of his time and milieu. While calling him a "flinty character," Mullin argues that Bushnell was quintessentially a Yankee and a Puritan, seeking innovation yet all the while sustained by a bedrock trust in the values and continuity of the Puritan tradition. Mullin places great emphasis on Bushnell's European travels as well as his writings (published as well as unpublished) from 1846 to early 1849, where he finds him working through his concerns for the lost unity of the Puritans. These ideas fed into Bushnell's sense that "the fractiousness of American political life was an outgrowth of the New Light piety," an evangelical piety that stressed individualism over community. Sophisticated, well informed, and challenging, this first biography of Bushnell in 50 years requires some awareness of American religious history. Recommended for all religion and early American history collections." - Library Journal
This work is based on Sydney Ahlstrom's 1951 Harvard dissertation. The biography of Francis Ellingwood Abbot has been completely rewritten to focus on the context of his life and, as such, provides a vista into the intellectual and religious world of America in the late nineteenth century. Ahlstrom and one of his former students, Robert Bruce Mullin, began reworking the dissertation in 1983.
Foreword by Frank T. Griswold One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism gathers twenty-one articles from distinguished church historians, literary historians, and ecumenists -- all written in honor of the Reverend Canon J. Robert Wright, St. Mark's Professor of Ecclesiastical History at The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church, who has been an inspiration to a generation of students and colleagues. The Most Reverend Frank T. Griswold, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, has written a foreword that complements the work of contributors such as S. W. Sykes, Richard A. Norris Jr., and George Tavard, among others. Though these articles differ in individual subject, they cohere in their relation to Dr. Wright's expertise as a theologian, a historian, a medievalist, an ecumenist, and above all a man of the church. Contributors: Victor Lee Austin Walter R. Bouman Joseph Britton Marsha L. Dutton E. Rozanne Elder C. Christopher Epting John V. Fleming R. William Franklin Patrick Terrell Gray Petra Heldt Joanne McWilliam Robert Bruce Mullin Jon Nilson Richard A. Norris Jr. Robert W. Prichard Michael Root William G. Rusch S. W. Sykes Mary Tanner George Tavard Ellen K. Wondra
According to surveys, most Americans today believe in miracles. For many others, however, a belief in miracles seems incompatible with a modern world view. Why does interest in miracles persist even in a secular era? Why are miracles such a controversial part of Western religious thinking? In this fascinating book, Robert Bruce Mullin traces the debate about miracles from the Reformation to the twentieth century, focusing particularly on the years from 1860 to 1930. He examines the way preachers, faith healers, psychic researchers, scientists, historians, philosophers, and literary figures have grappled with issues of the miraculous. Before the mid-1800s, the author contends, Catholics had defended post-biblical miracles, while Protestants insisted true miracles were limited to the biblical era. By the end of the nineteenth century, however, the Protestant position had largely collapsed, and two opposing views emerged in its wake. Some Protestants wished to jettison all miracles - even those recorded in the Bible. Others took a new interest in modern miracles, believing that the presence of miracles could help ground contemporary religious faith. This transformation in attitudes toward miracles not only changed the Anglo-American religious landscape and created a new focus of debate, Mullin says, it also opened up a new basis for accord between Protestants and Catholics.
Church historians have long known and appreciated Christianity's global history. Until recently, however, introductory textbooks on the history of Christianity focused almost exclusively on Europe and North America. Robert Bruce Mullins's A Short World History of Christianity, by contrast, offers a panoramic picture of the history of Christianity in its Western and non-Western expressions. It tells the story of the early church in the Greek East as well as the Latin West; of Christianity's spread into Asia as well as Europe during the Middle Ages; and its explosion around the world during the modern period. Mullins's highly readable narrative explores why global perspectives have emerged so strongly in our understanding of the story of Christianity and how they have impacted Christianity's perspective on its place in the world. This newly revised edition adds information on such global phenomena as early Syriac-speaking Christianity; the growth of Pentecostalism around the world, especially in the southern hemisphere; and recent trends in Christianity, including the elevation of the first pope born in the Americas. A time line of key dates, call-out boxes, and other helpful study materials are also provided. Beginning students will appreciate this memorable introduction to the most important events in the history and development of Christianity.
This thorough, carefully researched history sets church events against the background of social changes. This third revised edition will be up-to-date through the events of the 2012 General Convention of the Episcopal Church.
The Episcopal Church has long been regarded as the religion of choice among America's ruling elite, helping to set the tone for the moral and social life of the nation during the twentieth century. Shaped by their experiences of the Great Depression and World War II, a new generation of Episcopal leaders emerged after 1945, eager to place their church in the vanguard of social reform and reconciliation. These liberal activists came to dominate the church's national structures during the 1960s and shaped its response to the civil rights and anti-war movements. They sought to reposition the Episcopal Church as a catalyst for progressive change. Even so, these leaders routinely neglected black, female, and working-class Episcopalians, even as they espoused the causes of equality and liberation in the wider society. This study focuses on forms of social activism and theological innovation pursued by members of the war generation. Attending to the development of such activities among the WASP elite provides crucial insight into their underlying assumptions about social and theological authority and helps explain their ambivalent response to the challenges faced in the 1960s and 1970s. Drawing upon extensive archival research, this book not only offers a group portrait of Episcopalianism's leading post-war figures but documents the ways in which their individual pursuits influenced the direction of the church as a whole.
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