William Jay (1769-1853) was an Independent minister of the Argyle Chapel in Bath for sixty-two years. His career bridged the time between the Evangelical Revival of the eighteenth century and the formal Congregational denominationalism of the nineteenth century. Jay’s autobiography is used among historians for its first-hand accounts of other notable evangelical figures such as William Wilberforce (1759-1833), Hannah More (1745-1833) and John Newton (1725-1807). Too often his own influence has been overlooked, but at the time he was regarded as one of the foremost Dissenting preachers of his era. His ministry within a fashionable spa city increased the respectability of evangelical religion among the growing middle classes in Bath. This thesis examines the evangelicalism of William Jay in the context of his times. The scope of Jay’s life and popularity will be examined in six chapters. Following the introduction, chapter two will examine his direct impact through the Argyle Chapel upon Bath. Chapter three will review the early life of William Jay that was much neglected by his biographers. It will demonstrate the formation of his evangelicalism first introduced to him by Joanna Turner (1732-1784) and instilled in his training by Cornelius Winter (1742-1807). The social composition of the Argyle Chapel will be evaluated in the fourth chapter. Those that Jay attracted to the chapel not only promoted his cause to advance the gospel, but also increased the prestige of the minister and his place of worship. In chapter five, Jay’s preaching, which attracted celebrity and commoner alike, will be analyzed for form, style, content, delivery and the receptivity of his audience. Likewise, the spirituality of the man, which will be reviewed in chapter six, induced similar qualities to stimulate evangelical religion. Finally, the polity and ecclesiology of William Jay will be examined in the seventh chapter. The Argyle Chapel was under strong pastoral guidance for the vast majority of the minister’s service until Jay lost that influence shortly before his retirement in 1852. The biography will conclude with an appraisal of R.W. Dale’s (1829-1895) categorization of Jay and his chapel as representative of older evangelical religion and criticism of the early participants of the revival found in Dale’s sermon The Old Evangelicalism and the New (1889). William Jay promoted a religious perspective that exhorted the individual to dwell on the self yet sought to do so through a united Christian movement that crossed denominational barriers.

Text in German / The present work deals with the historical and theological foundations of radical evangelicalism and places it within the context of theologies which influenced it and are similar to it. Radical evangelicalism integrates insights from various theological roots into a evangelical basal concept. Radical theology succeeded, through its contextual outworking, in overcoming the narrow focus of European evangelical theology and yet it remains genuinely evangelical. It is in the position of breaking through the sterility of academic theology and the dualistic worldview which is peculiar to wide parts of the evangelical movement by a world view that is turned towards the world. Thus it is proving itself to be a highly relevant theology for the needs of a divided world. The work develops in three steps. First of all the historical development of radical evangelicalism will be traced, from its beginning at the Congress for world evangelism in Lausanne in 1974 to the present day. Thus it will become clear that in the 30 years since Lausanne radical theology has entered the mainstream of evangelicalism. There follows in a detailed section a setting out of the theology of radical evangelicalism by means of several chosen themes. It will deal with radical hermeneutics, eschatology, salvation, the meaning of mission and evangelism and the relationship between Gospel and culture. Finally the social action of radical evangelicalism will be set out and it will be demonstrated that its energetic theology is at its basic level in fact a driving sprituality. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D.Th. (Missiology)

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Thesis (DTh (Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2008. / This study offers an overview and critique of the growing movement in American evangelicalism of what is popularly known as “inclusivism.” The mounting uneasiness expressed in many evangelical circles in North America concerning the fate of the unevangelised, and how that may square with the traditional evangelical view of their lostness, has produced a vigorous Soteriology which means to address what is viewed as inadequacies in the traditional model of salvation found in the American evangelical community.

Thesis (MTh)--Stellenbosch University, 2004 / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The worldwide phenomenal growth of Pentecostalism is a well-acknowledged fact, which no one can deny. Research shows that much of the growth is in the neo- Pentecostal or charismatic wing of the movement. Ghana is not left out of this. One phenomenon that has become so pronounced in the charismatic movement in Ghana is the practice of the so-called "deliverance". This phenomenon purports to let Christians attain to the abundance of life that Christ offers as part of God's salvation package to humankind. Most of the deliverance ministries, to a large extent, attribute situations such as sicknesses, poverty, late marriage, denial of visa to travel abroad and even some natural disasters among others to supernatural causes. These supernatural causes, which are said to hinder Christians from achieving the abundance of life, are mainly identified as demonic contamination, demonic influence, demon-possession, witchcraft or ancestral curses. The prescribed antidote to these is to be taken through deliverance by a special person of God. Due mainly to a very bad economic situation which has made many Ghanaians live below the poverty line; it makes it very difficult for many people to afford the cost of western medical care. Many Ghanaians are also daily looking for avenues to go and better their lot in other countries. The traditional Ghanaian like many Africans has a worldview, which believes in a supernatural dimension to every physical occurrence including difficulties in the acquisition of visa to travel abroad. The emergence of the deliverance ministries has therefore provided a legitimate haven to which people who would otherwise have gone to the traditional shrines to seek solutions to their problems can now go. The challenge that this phenomenon poses to evangelical Christianity is highlighted in this research. A critical assessment of the phenomenon as it pertains in Ghanaian Christianity has been done from the perspective of a specific definition of evangelicalism. Much as the fact cannot be denied that some of the deliverance ministries are meeting real felt needs of people in biblically unquestionable ways, there are obviously, some who are for various reasons employing anti-Christian and superstitious principles. The purpose of this research therefore, is to inform evangelical Christians on what the whole phenomenon is about in the light of Scripture so that practices that are not in line with the whole truth of the word of God can be avoided. On the other hand, evangelical Christian ministers can find ways of inculcating some of the useful practices of the phenomenon into their ministry for the benefit of their congregations and all people who might need such assistance. This is very necessary because the people from these congregations are patronizing the services of the deliverance ministries anyway. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die wereldwye fenomeniese groei van die pinksterbeweging is 'n welbekende feit wat niemand kan ontken nie. Navorsing toon dat die meerderheid van die groei binne die "neopinkster" of charismatiese deel van die beweging plaasvind. In Ghana is dit geen uitsondering nie. Een verskynsel wat so prominent geword het in die charismatiese beweging in Ghana is die beoefening van die sogenaamde "bevryding". Hierdie verskynsel beweer dat die Christene lewe in oorvloed sal he wanneer hulle Christus aanbid, as deel van God se verlossingsplan vir die mens. Meeste van hierdie bevrydingsbewegings, in 'n groot mate, skryf situasies soos siekte, armoede, die weiering van 'n visum vir ander lande en selfs sommige natuurlike rampe, onder andere toe aan bonatuurlike oorsake. Hierdie bonatuurlike oorsake waarvan gepraat word wat die Christene daarvan weerhou om die lewe in oorvloed te geniet, word hoofsaaklik geidentifiseer as demoniese kontaminasie, demoniese invloed, demoniese heksery of bloedlynvloeke. Die voorgeskrewe teenmiddel hiervoor is om deur bevryding te gaan deur mid del van 'n spesiale persoon in God. Hoofsaaklik as gevolg van 'n haglike ekonomiese situasie, leef baie Ghanese onder die broodlyn en is dit werklik moeilik vir baie mense om Westerse medisyne te bekostig. Ghanese soek ook daagliks 'n ander heenkome en probeer hulle lot verander in ander lande. Die tradisionele Ghanees, soos meeste Afrika inwoners, het 'n werelduitkyk wat glo in die bonatuurlike dimensie vir elke fisiese verskynsel, insluitend die probleem om 'n visum te kry. Die verskyning van die bevrydingsbedienings, het gevolglik 'n legitieme toevlugsoord gebied aan mense wat andersins na tradisionele heiligdomme sou gaan, om antwoorde op hulle probleme en vrae te soek. Die uitdaging wat hierdie verskynsel aan die Evangeliese Christendom bied, is onderstreep in hierdie navorsing. 'n Kritiese evaluering van die fenomeen, soos dit voorkom in Ghanese Christendom, is vanuit die perspektief van 'n spesifieke definisie van evangelisasieleer gedoen. Net soos die feit dat sommige bevrydingsbedienings werklik die mens se egte behoeftes op 'n onbetwisbare, bybelse manier aanspreek, net so is dit duidelik dat sommige mense om verskeie redes anti-Christelike en bygelowige beginsels implementeer. Die doel van hierdie navorsing is dus om Evangeliese Christene in te lig waaroor hierdie verskynsel handel, in die lig van die Woord. Sodoende kan praktyke wat nie ooreenstemend met die waarheid van God se Woord is, me vermyword. Aan die anderkant, kan Evangeliese Christen predikers maniere vind om die nuttige praktyke van hierdie verskynsel in hul eie bedienings te integreer tot voordeel en opbou van die gemeente en aIle mense wat sulke bystand mag benodig. Dit is noodsaaklik omdat die mense van hierdie gemeentes in elk geval die bevrydingsbedienings ondersteun.

The relationship between Lowell Mason (1792–1872) and the Boston Handel and Haydn Society (est. 1815) has long been recognized as a crucial development in the history of American music. In 1821, Mason and the HHS contracted to publish a collection of church music that Mason had edited. While living in Savannah, GA, Mason had imported several recent British collections that adapted for church tunes works by Franz Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Ignaz Pleyel. His study with German émigré Frederick L. Abel allowed him to harmonize older tunes in standard counterpoint. In the historiography of American music, the collection has ever since been named as one of the chief forces establishing standard counterpoint in the mainstream of American music. The collection’s profits also helped the HHS survive the next several years, and the prestige of eventually being known as the collection’s editor helped launch Mason’s influential career in church music, music education, and music publishing. In 1827, that career took a dramatic turn when Mason returned to Boston to assume the presidency of the HHS and the care of music in several churches. This project shows that the social ties between Mason and the HHS begin earlier and are far more indebted to Calvinist orthodox Christianity than previous studies have shown. With special attention to Mason’s personal papers housed at Yale University, to the HHS records held at the Boston Public Library, and to newly indexed Savannah newspapers, it shows that Mason’s relationship with the Society grew from relationships begun before he left his native Massachusetts in 1812. The depth of the relationship grew steadily until 1827, marked at first by indirect contact and in 1821 by Mason’s trip to Boston. Mason’s 1827 return to Boston, often surprising to scholars, appears here as a logical consequence of the support given by the Society’s previous president, Amasa Winchester, for Mason’s work in church music. Mason’s departure from the Society seems to be based on his zeal, closely related to his evangelical goals, for universal music education.

This dissertation is an intellectual biography of John Charles Ryle, the first Bishop of Liverpool. Chapter 1 focuses on Ryle’s intellectual, theological, and spiritual formation. Special attention is given to his home, education at Eton and Oxford, conversion, religious opinions, and unexpected entrance into ministry. Chapter 2 discusses Ryle’s preaching, based primarily on the sermons he preached at Helmingham (1844-1861). It begins by tracing his homiletical development, which culminated in the development of a more simple and direct style of preaching that brought him national acclaim. This “crucified style” will then be analyzed in light of his classical rhetorical training as well as Victorian homiletical theory. The chapter will conclude with a rhetorical comparison of sermons preached by J. C. Ryle, John Henry Newman, and Charles Haddon Spurgeon on John 11. Chapter 3 examines Ryle’s pastoral theology by looking at a series of pastoral writings he began publishing at Helmingham. These include evangelical tracts, practical (devotional) commentaries on the four canonical gospels, and a series of less well-known hymn-books. Chapter 4 focuses on Ryle as a theological controversialist and champion of the Evangelical party. His writings against ritualism, neologianism, and Keswick spirituality are examined, and his role in these various debates are discussed. Chapter 5 discusses the role Ryle played as a nationally recognized leader of the Church of England. Attention is given to his attempts to unify the Evangelical party, his defense of the establishment, and his proposals for church reform. Chapter 6 examines Ryle’s episcopacy in Liverpool from 1880 to 1900. The chapter begins with a discussion of the state of the diocese before his appointment. This is followed by an analysis of his diocesan strategy to reach the “masses.” The chapter is concluded by considering Ryle’s major concerns for the Church of England in the closing decades of the nineteenth century.

Based largely upon popular periodicals, archival materials, conference addresses, and mass-market books, this thesis combines intellectual and cultural history to explore how the meaning behind the evangelical commonplace, "God has a plan for your life," changed in post-World War II America, ultimately exchanging an ethos of self-denial for self-fulfillment by the early 1980s. The term "Personalized Life Providence" (PLP) is proposed for the integration of three Reformation-rooted ideas-vocation, providence, and discernment-into the discussion of finding God's plan for one's life. Chapter one sketches the Anglo- American development of these concepts from the Puritan era to the early twentieth century, as they intersected with Common Sense philosophy, "Higher Life" teaching, the student-missionary movement, and inter-war fundamentalism. Chapter two begins the analysis of PLP's dissemination throughout Chicago-centered evangelical student-parachurch organizations in the 1940s. InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and Youth for Christ conflated PLP with personal holiness and, after the war, a resurgent American foreign-missionary movement, as displayed particularly in the texts of IVCF's Urbana conferences. Chapter three focuses on Henrietta Mears, Christian Education Director of First Presbyterian Church in Hollywood, California. Mears's Sunday-School publications and college ministry reveal PLP's embrace of irenic neo-evangelicalism in the 1950s, coupled with a revised discernment process. Chapter four identifies the emergence of the "gospel of God's plan" from Mears's protégés, specifically Campus Crusade for Christ founder Bill Bright, Presbyterian minister Richard Halverson, and evangelist Billy Graham. Epitomized by the phrase, "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life," the first of Bright's Four Spiritual Laws, this gospel resonated with the religious revival, anti-Communist rhetoric, and psychological emphasis on self-actualization pervading American culture from 1947 to 1965. Chapter five argues that anti-Western sentiments in the1960s eroded PLP's evocation of missionary sacrifice in neo-evangelical circles. YFC encouraged teenagers to pursue culturally influential professions rather than traditional evangelism, while IVCF promulgated inconsistent teaching on discerning a foreign-missionary call in revolutionary times. Chapter six explores PLP's relationship to the widespread cultural shift toward self-fulfillment in the 1970s, as reflected both in evolving teaching on women's roles, career choice, and missionary service, and in PLP books styled after mass-market, self-help literature.

In my personal experience, I have discovered notable aesthetic problems that face many contemporary evangelical churches. In spite of these churches’ best efforts, they fail to bridge the culture gap and foster a meaningful worship service. But John Dewey’s aesthetic philosophy understands the shifting nature of our environment and the value of aesthetic experience, providing beneficial insights to assist unhealthy churches. To better understand the applicability of his philosophy, Chapter II is an exposition of John Dewey’s aesthetics that revolves around four central questions: What is Dewey’s starting point for aesthetics? What distinguishes aesthetic experiences from others? What is his criticism of the “museum conception of art”? What is the significance for Dewey of our activities having or not having aesthetic quality? Chapter III is a Deweyan investigation of four real churches: the elite church, which promotes an aesthetic that is reserved for its members; the broken church, which is divorced from community; the humdrum church, which is preoccupied with the routine; and the sensational church, which is characterized by indulgence. Chapter IV is a description of two recent attempts to bridge the culture gap and offer meaningful worship activities: the seeker-sensitive movement which contends that the church must be “culturally inviting” to the community, and the emerging movement(s), which seeks to dismantle traditional churches using deconstructionism and reconstructing worship services that are experiential, pluralistic, and sensory. My Deweyan argument in Chapter V is that both the “seeker-sensitive” and the “emerging” movements fail to adequately understand the shifting character of our environment and our relation to it. If problem churches acknowledge that discontinuity with environment is inevitable, seek to meet the needs of others, embrace adjustment as a core component, and value aesthetic experience, they will be in a better position to bridge the culture gap and offer an enriching worship experience in their services. Three Deweyan lessons are gleaned from this inquiry: value aesthetic experience and its contribution in bridging the culture gap, implement Deweyan insights drawn from our examination of traditional churches, and contribute to society by generating artproducts that will benefit the community.