The tumultuous events that erupted in Scotland and England c.1637 – 1650 sparked tremendous interest in John Cotton. As a result he turned to two Biblical books, Canticles and Revelation, to determine whether those events that transpired across the Atlantic Ocean were of apocalyptic significance. Cotton’s exegetical findings concluded that prophetic fulfilment was indeed unfolding and more importantly that the glorious millennium foretold in Scripture was imminent. As the leading polemicist of New England’s Congregational way, Cotton infused his defence of this controversial church polity with apocalyptic importance. However, he did not make the case for the exclusive role of the colonies in the grand scheme of eschatological reformation but New England’s support for reform in his native country, England. This dissertation continues the revision of scholarship that moulded Perry Miller’s Errand into the Wilderness thesis into an exclusive selfconsciousness of divine intentions for the New England colonies by arguing for England’s prominence in Cotton’s eschatological vision. In the process, Cotton’s ecclesiology will be presented in an eschatological context. Moreover, this thesis demonstrates that Cotton understood New England’s experiment with non-separating congregational ecclesiology as contributing to English reformation. Chapter One examines the only pre-migration source that concentrated on prophetic themes, Cotton’s sermons on Canticles, which were preached sometime during the 1620s. Cotton presented an optimistic outlook on the church’s future based on the recognition of a godly remnant he believed existed in his own parish of St. Botolph’s as well as others scattered throughout England. Cotton recognized that a lingering presence of popery threatened England’s covenantal standing with God and that the faithful remnant upheld the nation’s covenantal commitment to Biblical purity and obedience. Chapter Two re-examines the events surrounding Cotton’s expulsion from England. A careful assessment demonstrates that Cotton’s only desire was to remain in England at any cost, particularly in fear of being cast a separatist. However, Cotton became convinced of the legitimacy of exile to New England through the belief that from America Cotton could continue in active service to the English church. Though Cotton did not reject England’s role in apocalyptic fulfilment, Cotton came to see Congregationalism as the primary agency through which Antichrist would be defeated and the millennial church ushered into history. This is clearly seen when Cotton returned to preach from Canticles a second time in the 1640s with the added accent on soteriology and piety. Chapter Three argues that Cotton used Scotland’s resistance against Charles I and prelacy to exhort England towards adopting Congregationalism. Cotton praised the Scottish Covenanters for their resistance against prelacy, which Cotton identified as the image of the beast from Revelation, in the Bishops’ Wars and the National Covenant. Through those events, Cotton demonstrated that God’s apocalyptic strategy for the Antichrist’s demise had resumed. However, Cotton also took the opportunity to demonstrate that the Kirk’s Presbyterianism resembled prelacy’s hierarchical and national structure and exhorted England to adopt New England’s Congregationalism. Chapter Four demonstrates that Cotton was overwhelmed with optimism in the early 1650s based upon the signs of apocalyptic providences in the purging of Parliament, Charles I’s execution and England’s victory over Scotland at Dunbar in September 1650. To Cotton, Cromwell’s victory at Dunbar was the indisputable sign that divine providence stood in favour of Congregationalism over Presbyterianism and that God’s presence endured with England.

This thesis is a historical study and evaluation of the form of church government practised by the Particular Baptists of the 17th and 18th centuries, from the years 1650 to 1750. This study is based on confessional statements, the ecclesiological literature, and the extant church books of the Particular Baptists. It is shown that the Particular Baptists practised a definitive form of church government known traditionally as Independency, similar to that expounded by John Owen, minus infant baptism. Under the principle of the autonomy of the church the Particular Baptists practised believer’s baptism, an explicit church membership, and upheld covenant theology. Under the principle of the headship of Christ, they practised the separation of church and state, upheld the divine right of the magistrate, and also believed in the liberty of conscience. Under the principle of rule by elders the majority of the Particular Baptists practised a plurality of elders in which there was a distinction made between the roles of the pastor or minister and the ruling elders, although they occupy the same basic office of rule. However, deviation from a plural eldership took place, leading to the singlepastor- and-multiple-deacons situation, accompanied by the disappearance of ruling elders and the practice of congregational democracy in governance. This arrangement is characteristic of modern Congregationalism. Under the principle of the communion of churches the regional associations of churches accomplished much good, while a number of issues remained unresolved, including open and closed communion, congregational hymn singing, and the training of ministers. In the final chapter, the study attempts to resolve some ecclesiological issues controverted among Reformed Baptists today by applying the lessons learned from the Particular Baptists. To the Particular Baptists, Independency was the jus divinum (divinely ordained) form of church government used by God as the vehicle to carry out the Great Commission with a view to establishing biblically ordered churches, which upheld the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith. These three components of church life − mission-mindedness, biblical church order, and the 1689 Confession of Faith − arose from the thorough biblicism of the Particular Baptists. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Church and Dogma History))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

Thesis (Th. M.)--Westminster Theological Seminary (Philadelphia, Pa.), 2007. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 142-153).

Thesis (Th. M.)--Westminster Theological Seminary (Philadelphia, Pa.), 2007. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 142-153).

The work focuses on the specification of the specificities of the thinking of some smaller evangelical churches in the territory of Bohemia in the period 1890-1940. Specifically, this is the Brethren Unity of Chelčický (Baptist), the Unity of Czech Brethren (formerly Reformed Free Church) and the Evangelical Methodist Church. The focus of the interpretation is to introduce the construction of confessional identity based on the relationship to the past and the specific interpretation of the personalities and events that shaped the tradition from which these churches were based. Another element forming the identity of the members of these churches was their attitude to the modern secularization tendencies against which they stood in opposition. Last but not least, their confessional consciousness determined their definition of other forms of piety. The aim of the work was to provide, based on the study of the published written sources left by the members of these three churches, a comparison and characterization of their way of viewing certain subjects through their religious beliefs.

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Submitted by Jorge Silva (jorgelmsilva@ufrrj.br) on 2018-05-11T19:55:56Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2017 - Ana Beatriz Borges Ramos Duarte.pdf: 1759179 bytes, checksum: 37d3ee18ff57bddf4fa63bfa0be0c3c8 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-05-11T19:55:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2017 - Ana Beatriz Borges Ramos Duarte.pdf: 1759179 bytes, checksum: 37d3ee18ff57bddf4fa63bfa0be0c3c8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-04-13 / This work presents a case study about volunteer works of social action related to the question of urban poverty at Brazilian Contemporary Society. The study was made both with theoric references and field research. The field research refers to a protestant group that assists people that live in streets in the west zone of Rio de Janeiro, in the Guaratiba neighborhood, doing a work called "Sop?o". The general Purpose of this work is to produce a reflection about the causes of religious volunteer assistencialist practices nowadays, in relation both to the insufficient public policies and to the historic context of the engagement of civil society. Therefore, the dissertation analyses the volunteer works of social action of protestant churches under two principal prospects, or two hypotheses. The first shows the volunteer work like assistentialist and philanthropic, that works like an answer to the insufficient public policies - in this case, we will appropriate of Welfare State conceptions. The second shows the volunteer work like an assistance provided by protestant religious associations that appear, in this case, like civil society associations, resultants of the movement of civil participation that grow up starting in the 90's with the new Constitution, and promoter of public policies. / A presente disserta??o apresenta um estudo sobre trabalhos volunt?rios de a??o social relacionados ? quest?o da pobreza urbana na sociedade contempor?nea brasileira. Trata-se de um estudo de caso, no qual a pesquisa foi feita tanto com base em referencial te?rico como em pesquisa de campo. A pesquisa emp?rica tem como refer?ncia um grupo protestante que assiste moradores de rua na Zona Oeste do Rio de Janeiro, mais especificamente no bairro de Guaratiba, realizando um trabalho denominado ?Sop?o?. O objetivo geral desse trabalho ? aprofundar a reflex?o sobre as motiva??es das pr?ticas assistenciais volunt?rias religiosas na contemporaneidade, relacionando-as tanto ao contexto de insufici?ncia das pol?ticas p?blicas do estado do Bem Estar Social, como ao contexto hist?rico do engajamento da sociedade civil para com a pobreza urbana no Brasil. Sendo assim, analisou-se os trabalhos volunt?rios de a??o social das igrejas protestantes sob duas principais perspectivas, que se desdobram em duas hip?teses a serem testadas. A primeira delas entende o trabalho volunt?rio como assistencialista e filantr?pico, que surge como resposta e alternativa ? insufici?ncia de pol?ticas p?blicas por parte do Estado ? nesse caso nos apropriamos das concep??es do Estado do Bem Estar Social para basear a hip?tese. A segunda entende o trabalho volunt?rio como uma assist?ncia fornecida por associa??es religiosas protestantes, que aparecem, nesse caso, como associa??es da sociedade civil, resultantes do desdobramento do movimento de participa??o civil que se aprofunda a partir da d?cada de 1990 com a nova Constitui??o, e promotoras de pol?ticas p?blicas.

Following the Evangelical Awakening, many of the Nonconformist traditions experienced an evolution in their ecclesiastical structure, resulting in the formation of new associations that frequently acted to establish pragmatic agencies like missionary societies, educational boards and social charities. The transition required new expressions of authority. Understanding the nature of this authority is the chief objective of this study. Chapter One introduces the various themes and goals of the study. Chapter Two explores the Hampshire Congregational Union. In addition to the Union’s structure, David Bogue and the Gosport Academy were central to this group’s identity. Chapter Three focuses on the Lancashire Congregational Union in the North West of England, home to William Roby, the central figure within Lancashire Congregationalism. Chapter Four covers the Lancashire and Yorkshire Baptist Association and the later Lancashire and Cheshire Baptist Association, where John Fawcett was the primary influence. The New Connexion of General Baptists, Chapter Five, was under the authoritative direction of Dan Taylor, a former Methodist and a zealous evangelist. Chapter Six analyses the Scotch Baptists. Peculiar among Baptists, it was created under the leadership of Archibald McLean. The British Churches of Christ, Chapter Seven, closely resembled the Scotch Baptists but were different in some fundamental ways. Finally, in Chapter Eight, patterns of associational authority among these associations will be compared and assessed. Authority among Nonconformist associations, particularly those denominations practising congregational polity, was exercised on the grounds of doctrinal purity and evangelistic expansion. As the nineteenth century continued, the organisational structures grew more complex. In turn, increased control was voluntarily granted to the organisations’ governing bodies so they might more efficiently minister. Following the Awakening, these voluntary bodies found new life as a pragmatic expression of Evangelical zeal.