Synopses & Reviews
A chronological survey of Congregationalism throughout the course of its history and a collection of biographies of significant Congregationalists form the core of this reference/volume. J. William T. Youngs demonstrates how the Puritan way of seeing God, humanity, and salvation has continued to influence Americans and how the unique spiritual sensibility of the early Puritans endured throughout the Colonial period and long afterwards.
The volume is divided into two parts. Part One contains a ten-chapter historical essay that summarizes basic information about the Church and also provides original interpretations of particular episodes in Church history or on Congregationalism as a whole, offering new insights and ideas about such issues as the genesis of the idea of visible saints and the significance of Horace Bushnell. The continuity of Congregationalism from colonial times through the 19th and 20th centuries is stressed. Part Two, the biographical dictionary, emphasizes the personal experiences of Congregationalists, and several score representative lives, both ministers and lay persons, famous and ordinary, illustrate and amplify points made in Part One. This exploration of the personal spiritual experiences of John Winthrop, Jonathan Edwards, Horace Bushnell, and others, based on autobiographies, funeral sermons, books, and journals, conveys a feeling for the religious life of Congregationalists. To enhance further study, the volume includes a separate bibliographic essay. As both a reference work and an interpretive essay, The CongregationalistS≪/i> provides a useful introduction to the Church for the general reader and will also provoke fellow scholars to consider new ways of exploring Puritan history.
Synopsis
A chronological survey of Congregationalism throughout the course of its history and a collection of biographies of significant Congregationalists form the core of this reference volume. Youngs demonstrates how the Puritan way of seeing God, humanity, and salvation has continued to influence Americans and how the unique spiritual sensibility of the early Puritans endured throughout the colonial period and long afterwards. The volume contains a ten-chapter historical essay as well as a biographical dictionary of leading Congregationalists. To enhance further study, a bibliographic essay is also included.
Synopsis
Youngs demonstrates how the Puritan way of seeing God, humanity, and salvation has continued to influence Americans and how the unique spiritual sensibility of the early Puritans endured throughout the colonial period and long afterwards.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [343]-366) and index.
About the Author
J. WILLIAM T. YOUNGS is Professor of History at Eastern Washington University, Cheny, Washington.
Table of Contents
Series Foreword
Preface
The Congregationalists: A History
The Congregationalists: A Summary Overview
The English Background
The New England Way
Declension and Awakening
Revivalism and Rationalism
New Divinity and a New Nation
Expansion and Reform
Progressive Orthodoxy
The Social Gospel
The Twentieth Century
A Biographical Dictionary of Congregationalist Leaders
Abbreviations for Standard Reference Sources
Bibliographic Entries
Appendix: Chronology
Biographical Essay
Index