The Evolution of the English Churches, 1500-2000
Cambridge University Press
Edition: Illustrated, 3/9/2010
EAN 9780521645560, ISBN10: 0521645565
Paperback, 416 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.6 cm
Language: English
This book tells the story of the English churches over a 500-year period from the Reformation to the present day. Unlike some general histories which concentrate on church leaders, it focuses upon the lives of ordinary church-goers and of the local clergy who ministered to them. The author traces changes in church life, charting the emergence and distinctive characteristics of different denominations. She gives full weight to recent developments, bringing the story up to date by examining the growth of new independent churches in the late twentieth century. The book will therefore be of value not only to students of church history but also to readers who want to understand the religious background of past societies. Church-goers curious about their heritage and anyone interested in the changing role of religion in English life will also find this account lucid and illuminating.
Preface
1. Buildings, beliefs and community life
2. From Catholic to Protestant
3. Moulding the character of the church
4. Conflict, coercion, and compromise
5. Dissenters, Catholics, and Anglicans
6. The eighteenth-century revival
7. Diversity, competition, and strife
8. The vigour of Victorian Christianity
9. Churches, chapels and Protestant worship
10. Perceptions of faith c.1850–2000
11. Church communities in the modern world
12. Churches together and churches apart.
'... quite simply one of the finest books your reviewer has ever read ... This magnificent book is highly recommended to everyone who enjoys a clear and well-crafted narrative, who is interested in knowing what impact the Churches have had on ordinary people during the last 500 years and who wants a reliable guide to the main (and many subsidiary) strands of religious thought in practice in England during that period.' The Methodist Recorder