Like the other volumes in the four-volume series of which it is a part, this book breaks new ground in gathering and introducing texts relating to the origins of English and Welsh Dissent. Through contemporary writings it provides a lively insight into the life and thought of early Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Baptists, and Quakers, as well as of smaller groups no longer extant.

The is the first of four volumes in a series which illustrates the origins, polities, theologies, worship and socio-political aspects of the several nonconformist traditions of Britain over the period 1550 to 1700.

This book is one of four substantial volumes designed to demonstrate the range of interests of the several Protestant Nonconformist traditions from the time of their Separatist harbingers to the end of the twentieth century. In this volume we are concerned with the eighteenth century. It was a period in which Old Dissent--the Congregationalists, Baptists, Presbyterians, and Quakers--had to face challenges from Enlightenment thought on the one hand and Evangelical Revival enthusiasm on the other. Largely in their own words, though with introductions contributed by the editors, we enter into the philosophical world of Isaac Watts, Richard Price, and others; we overhear doctrinal disputes over the doctrine of the Trinity; we meet such new arrivals on the religious scene as the Moravians, Sandemanians, Swedenborgians, and Methodists (Calvinistic and Arminian). We consider the Nonconformists' views on the Church, the ministry, and the sacraments; on Church, state, and society; and on Christian nurture, piety, and church life. From philosophical tomes to hymns, from sacramental questions to prison reform, from the most strait-laced Presbyterian to the most enthusiastic Jumper, this volume will remind scholars of the intellectual excitements, the practical witness, and the worship of the eighteenth-century Nonconformists.

Contemporary texts are used in this volume to illustrate key themes in the history of Nonconformity in England and Wales. Although the twentieth century was in many ways a century of decline, this book shows that there was still much life in the Nonconformist tradition. It also looks at contemporary issues such as racism and the place of women. Through contemporary writings it provides an insight into the life and thought of the English Free Churches in a century in which they expected to come into their own, only to discover that they faced new challenges and the problems of decline.

This volume gathers and introduces texts relating to English and Welsh Nonconformity. Through contemporary writings it provides a vivid insight into the life and thought of the Methodists, Congregationalists, Baptists, Quakers, Unitarians, and other groups that formed pieces in the diverse mosaic of the nineteenth-century chapels. Each aspect of Nonconformity has an introductory discussion, which includes a guide to the secondary literature on the subject, and each passage from a primary source is put in context.

This is the final volume in a four-volume series, using contemporary texts to illustrate key themes in the history of Nonconformity in England and Wales. Although the twentieth century was in many ways a century of decline, this book shows that there was still much life in the nonconformist tradition. It also looks at contemporary issues such as racism and the place of women.