'A significant scholarly work. Its continuous assessment of different theories of social movement formation, its unique contentions concerning the mechanisms by which groups become politically mobilized, and its insightful comparative analysis make this an important study'.- C.Smidt, Calvin College

Excerpt from Religion in America: Or, an Account of the Origin, Progress, Relation to the State, and Present Condition of the Evangelical Churches in the United States, With Notices of the Unevangelical Denominations The reader will learn from the preface to the English edition of this work, that it was originally intended to meet the wishes of Christians on the Continent. Valued friends in Great Britain having, however, expressed the belief that it might be useful in that country, it was published there in the month of September last, being introduced to the Christian public by the very kind and flattering recommendation of the Rev. Drs. Welsh, Buchanan, and Cunningham, of Edinburgh. Upon his return to this country in November, the enterprising publishers who present this work to the American public having expressed their willingness to undertake its publication, the author at once applied himself to the task of giving it a thorough revision, in order to make it as useful as possible in this country. In doing so, he has availed himself of the aid of many excellent men of almost all our evangelical denominations, in order to give not only the most exact, but also the most recent information respecting our churches. And although the well-informed American reader will see many things in this book with which he is already familiar, yet it is presumed he will find some things, especially taken in the connexion in which they are presented, that may both interest and profit him. There is no work among us that goes over the whole ground which the author has attempted to survey and describe in this book. At first he thought of abridging certain portions, especially the first, fourth, and fifth books; but he was dissuaded from this by the publishers, who preferred to give it entire, and to put it at a price which would place it within the reach of all who might wish to have it. The reader will perceive that the work throughout, even in its American dress, bears the stamp of being written, as it really was, for the perusal, and the author would fain hope the benefit, of Europeans. To have altered this would have required the remodelling of the whole plan of the work; nor was it necessary, inasmuch as the information is just as well conveyed in the one form as in the other. In writing this work, the author, if he has not been self-deceived, has simply aimed at giving a faithful picture of the religious and moral state of his country. He has endeavoured to write in strict accordance with fact and truth. He trusts that in doing so he has not violated that Christian charity which ought to regulate our opinions as well as our actions in relation to others. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The focus of this book is on English and American evangelicals during the early and mid-19th century, examining the effect of aggressive conversion techniques used by American evangelicals upon the English revival movement.

In the mid-eighteenth century, Americans experienced an outbreak of religious revivals that shook colonial society. This book provides a definitive view of these revivals, now known as the First Great Awakening, and their dramatic effects on American culture. Historian Thomas S. Kidd tells the absorbing story of early American evangelical Christianity through the lives of seminal figures like Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield as well as many previously unknown preachers, prophets, and penitents.The Great Awakening helped create the evangelical movement, which heavily emphasized the individual’s experience of salvation and the Holy Spirit’s work in revivals. By giving many evangelicals radical notions of the spiritual equality of all people, the revivals helped breed the democratic style that would come to characterize the American republic. Kidd carefully separates the positions of moderate supporters of the revivals from those of radical supporters, and he delineates the objections of those who completely deplored the revivals and their wildly egalitarian consequences. The battles among these three camps, the author shows, transformed colonial America and ultimately defined the nature of the evangelical movement.

The Death of Christian Britain uses the latest techniques to offer new formulations of religion and secularisation and explores what it has meant to be 'religious' and 'irreligious' during the last 200 years. By listening to people's voices rather than purely counting heads, it offers a fresh history of de-christianisation, and predicts that the British experience since the 1960s is emblematic of the destiny of the whole of western Christianity. Challenging the generally held view that secularization has been a long and gradual process beginning with the industrial revolution, it proposes that it has been a catastrophic short term phenomenon starting with the 1960's. Is Christianity in Britain nearing extinction? Is the decline in Britain emblematic of the fate of western Christianity? Topical and controversial, The Death of Christian Britain is a bold and original work that will bring some uncomfortable truths to light.

A comprehensive study of theology and film that explores how the Christian faith is portrayed in film throughout history.