'Colonial Presbyterianism' is a collection of essays that tell the story of the Presbyterian Church during its formative years in America. The book brings together research from a broad group of scholars into an accessible format for laymen, clergy, and scholars. Through a survey of important personalities and events, the contributors offer a compelling narrative that will be of interest to Presbyterians and all persons interested in colonial America's religious experience. The clergy described in these essays made a lasting impact on their generation both within the church and in the emerging ethos of a new nation. The ecclesiastical issues that surfaced during this period have tended to be the perennial issues with which Presbyterians have been concerned ever since that time. Now at the three-hundredth anniversary of Presbyterian organization in America, 'Colonial Presbyterianism' is a timely reengagement with the old faith for a new day.

This book is a volume in the Penn Press Anniversary Collection. To mark its 125th anniversary in 2015, the University of Pennsylvania Press rereleased more than 1,100 titles from Penn Press's distinguished backlist from 1899-1999 that had fallen out of print. Spanning an entire century, the Anniversary Collection offers peer-reviewed scholarship in a wide range of subject areas.

Cornman, vice president and dean of the Undergraduate School at Moody Bible Institute, chronicles the conflict between anti-revivalist Presbyterians ("caterpillars") who sought to transfer Presbyterianism unaltered from Ireland and Scotland, and revivalists who wished to create a "newfangled" Presbyterianism to reach new groups of people in colonial America. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).