Evangelicalism is a movement for the protection and promotion of vital piety in the modern world, with origins in the globalising eighteenth century, and as such embodies a vision for both the world and for the individual. It offered the “power of godliness,” as revivalists would summarize it. As a movement it has successfully travelled … Read more
In 1813, the Missionary Register of the Church Missionary Society published a translation of a letter from the Persian sovereign, Fath Ali Shah Qajar. After receiving a Persian New Testament from the British ambassador, the shah wrote that the New Testament “has been translated in a style most befitting Sacred Books.” Fath Ali assured that … Read more
The colonial revivalist, George Whitefield, preached thousands of times throughout his ministry. In contradistinction to pastors, Whitefield preached primarily to the unconverted. Therefore, his sermon themes naturally gravitated toward the Gospel message and the work of Jesus Christ. About one hundred of his sermons are extant for study and the texts of those sermons range … Read more
Historians such as Donald W. Dayton and George Marsden agree that the spread of holiness theology can largely be traced to Phoebe Palmer (1807-1874). The extensive reach of her revivals paved the way for a form of religious populism indicative of the democratization of American Christianity during the period. However, her holiness revivalism did not … Read more
This paper argues that local evangelical churches throughout the world are missionally obligated to bring gospel-centered responses to specific race-ethnic narratives around them. The argument describes why it is important for those responses to be shaped explicitly by the local context in which the church is planted. Further, the argument insists that those responses have … Read more
John R.W. Stott (1921-2011) stood as a towering figure in 20th century evangelicalism. His 1965 work, Basic Christianity, was designated by Christianity Today in 2006 as one of the top fifty books (ranked #16 of #50) that have shaped evangelicals. Yet in their book, A Short History of Global Evangelicalism, authors John Wolffe and March … Read more
The qualifications outlined in Leviticus 21:16-23 for the priesthood have unfortunately led to the formation of negative perceptions towards people with disabilities. This perspective portrays people with disabilities as flawed, impure, profane, sinful, cursed, or even immoral. These representations contribute to a distorted and unfair image of disability and those who are differently abled and … Read more
Wilfrido Sierra Castro (1909-1969) was a humble peasant from the tiny rural hamlet of Rio Verde, Esmeraldas, Ecuador, who might have been just another obscure evangelical believer hidden from public view, were it not for the fact that for a few years (1966-1968) he was the neighbor of the caustic, brilliant, acerbically humorous, bitterly agnostic … Read more
One of the unique primary sources that has come to the Spurgeon Library at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in the Heritage Collection acquisition from Spurgeon’s College UK is the set of Pastors’ College Discussion Minutes Books. These books contain records of the theological debates that Pastors’ College students had in 1867-1868, 1876, and 1881-1888. Charles … Read more
Margaret Emma Barber (1866–1930), a British female Anglican missionary, and Watchman Nee (1903–1972), a prominent leader of the churches in China, had a significant, yet largely unexplored, cross-cultural mentoring relationship in the early twentieth century. Despite Barber’s relative obscurity today, her profound influence on Nee’s spiritual and theological development warrants investigation. This paper aims to … Read more