{"id":20377,"date":"2006-04-30T21:09:21","date_gmt":"2006-04-30T21:09:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/the-rise-of-evangelicalism-the-age-of-the-edwards-whitefield-and-the-wesleys\/"},"modified":"2006-04-30T21:09:21","modified_gmt":"2006-04-30T21:09:21","slug":"the-rise-of-evangelicalism-the-age-of-the-edwards-whitefield-and-the-wesleys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/the-rise-of-evangelicalism-the-age-of-the-edwards-whitefield-and-the-wesleys\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rise of Evangelicalism: The Age of the Edwards, Whitefield, and the Wesleys"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"9780830838912_p0_v1_s260x420[1]\"<\/a>Mark A. Noll, The Rise of Evangelicalism: The age of the Edwards, Whitefield, and the Wesleys<\/i><\/a>, A History of Evangelicalism, People, Movements and Ideas in the English-Speaking World I (Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity Press, 2003). <\/b><\/p>\n

This is a splendid book that I found to be very rewarding reading. It is well thought out and it is presented in a way that makes for easy reading, yet challenges the reader to think and reflect on how the era covered in the book relates to today\u2019s challenges in evangelicalism. Noll is able to cover the first three hundred years of English-speaking evangelicalism by capturing landmark events in such a way that readers will feel as if they were present in the shaping of these events. The book is divided into nine chapters, which are well integrated so that the book flows from one important event and\/or leader to another.<\/p>\n

The world of evangelicalism is not easy to define. Noll begins his book with an over view of the \u201cLandscapes: Political, Ecclesiastical, Spiritual\u201d that shaped the evangelical movement. By the time the reader reaches the third chapter, \u201cRevival, 1734-1738\u201d and the fourth chapter, \u201cRevival, Fragmentation, Consolidation, 1738-1745\u201d the reader understands why the revival became the centerpiece of the movement. Noll writes, \u201cThe evangelical revivals were unusual, however, in their frequency, their publicity and their function as a replacement for discarded aspects of traditional religion. They never, however, charted a simple course.\u201d Noll captures the greatest challenge of today\u2019s evangelical movement; how to replace the discarded aspects of traditional religion (revival is rarely practiced in mainstream religion, but is now rarely practiced in evangelical circles), yet not become the very thing (institutionalized religion) which the movement is attempting to replace.<\/p>\n

Noll makes the point that, \u201cOver time it became clear that for evangelicalism to take root, the longing for revival was more important than revival itself.\u201d Through out the book Noll underscores the importance of this point. The preaching featured in the awakenings, \u201cwas a preaching aimed directly at popular affections, expecting life-changing results, emphasizing the message of divine grace as the God-given remedy for sin and often (though not always) dispensing with elaborate ratiocination.\u201d Leaders into today\u2019s evangelical movement should pay particular attention to this point. Rather than becoming preoccupied with doctrines, rules, prohibitions, and developing a \u201cclosed mind,\u201d the movement needs to seek to appeal to people\u2019s affections and help draw closer to Christ. In helping to explain the growth of the movement; Noll observes that, \u201cevangelical Christianity coexisted with the Enlightenment.\u201d The movement did not agree with all aspects of the Enlightenment; however, it was able to effectively dialogue with it. Noll does not shy away from critical reflection of the movement and its leaders. He notes that John Wesley was in many ways a tyrant, yet Wesley helped the evangelical movement to grow by expanding the role of laymen and to some degree challenged the stratified social order.<\/p>\n

Noll points out one of the major pitfalls of the movement; he quotes a Marxist historian who on commenting about William Wilberforce observed, \u201cWilberforce was familiar with all that went on in the hold of the slave ship but ignored what went on at the bottom of the mineshaft.\u201d The evangelical movement has historically and continues to overlook many social problems. One of the most important insights by Noll is observed about intellectual effort. \u201cThe emphasis on conversion and on the active presence of the Holy Spirit has led at least some evangelicals to deny the value of intellectual effort itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

The book is rich with critical insights and I gained greater respect for the beginnings of the evangelical movement. I look forward to the upcoming volumes in this series.<\/p>\n

Reviewed by John R. Belcher<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mark A. Noll, The Rise of Evangelicalism: The age of the Edwards, Whitefield, and the Wesleys, A History of Evangelicalism, People, Movements and Ideas in the English-Speaking World I (Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity Press, 2003). This is a splendid book that I found to be very rewarding reading. It is well thought out and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2896,"featured_media":20378,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10,1,5308],"tags":[3864,5332,5333,5334,5335],"ppma_author":[4616],"class_list":["post-20377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-history-2","category-pneuma-review","category-spring-2006","tag-edwards","tag-evangelicalism","tag-rise","tag-wesleys","tag-whitefield","author-johnrbelcher"],"authors":[{"term_id":4616,"user_id":2896,"is_guest":0,"slug":"johnrbelcher","display_name":"John Belcher","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/JohnRBelcher-150x150.jpg","url2x":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/JohnRBelcher-150x150.jpg"},"0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2896"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20377\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20377"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/km7.a6a.mytemp.website\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=20377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}