Early Evangelicalism

A Reader

Edited by Jonathan M. Yeager

The most comprehensive anthology on early evangelicalism ever published, containing over sixty excerpts and biographical introductions chronologically arranged
A variety of genres are represented, including conversion narratives, devotionals, diaries and journals, history, hymns, poetry, ecclesiastical politics, revival accounts, satire, sermons, and theology

Early Evangelicalism

A Reader

Edited by Jonathan M. Yeager

Description

Early evangelicalism flourished during the transatlantic revivals of the eighteenth century, coinciding with the emergence of the Enlightenment in America and Europe. Today, most people associate it with only a few of its leaders-namely Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley, and George Whitefield-despite the fact that this religious movement crossed nations as well as different traditions within Christianity.

Those responsible for the growth of evangelicalism were Anglicans, Baptists, Congregationalists, Methodists, Moravians, and Presbyterians and could be found in America, Canada, Great Britain, and Western Europe. They published hymns, historical works, poems, political pamphlets, revival accounts, sermons, and theological treatises. There are also records of their conversion experiences, and diaries that chronicle their spiritual development. Jonathan M. Yeager's anthology introduces a host of important religious figures, providing biographical sketches of each author and over sixty excerpts from a wide range of well-known and lesser-known Protestant Christians. Early Evangelicalism: A Reader promises to be the most comprehensive sourcebook of its kind.

Early Evangelicalism

A Reader

Edited by Jonathan M. Yeager

Contents

Acknowledgments
1. A Selection of Hymns by Isaac Watts
2. Biography of a Moravian: A. G. Spangenberg's The Life of Nicolas Lewis, Count of Zinzendorf and Pottendorf
3. Justice for the Punishment of Sin: Jonathan Dickinson's The Reasonableness of Christianity
4. George Whitefield's Signature Sermon: The Nature and Necessity of Our New Birth in Christ Jesus
5. Calvinism under Fire: John Wesley's Free Grace
6. The Conversion of a Welshman: A Brief Account of the Life of Howell Harris
7. A Selection of Hymns by Charles Wesley
8. A Divisive Great Awakening Sermon: Gilbert Tennent's The Danger of an Unconverted Ministry
9. Revivals as a Means of Reform: Samuel Finley's Christ Triumphing and Satan Raging
10. Diary of Doubts: The Diary of Hannah Heaton
11. Racing to Hear Whitefield Preach: "The Spiritual Travels of Nathan Cole"
12. Revival at Cambuslang, Scotland: William McCulloch's The Glasgow-Weekly History
13. Overcome by the Power of the Spirit: Sarah Pierpont Edwards's "Uncommon Discoveries of the Divine Perfections and Glory"
14. Revival at Kilsyth, Scotland: James Robe's A Faithful Narrative of the Extraordinary Work of the Spirit of God, at Kilsyth
15. Jonathan Edwards Assesses a Revival: Thomas Prince's Christian History
16. Piety over Worldly Pleasures: The Life and Character of Miss Susanna Anthony
17. Satan's Strategies of Deception: Thomas Gillespie's A Treatise on Temptation
18. Spiritual Devotions for the Soul: Philip Doddridge's The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul
19. A Conversion Story: The Life of J. Cennick
20. A Missionary among Native Americans: David Brainerd's Mirabilia Dei inter Indicos
21. A Selection of Hymns by Benjamin Ingham
22. Summarizing God's Law: Joseph Bellamy's True Religion Delineated
23. Revival in the Low Countries: Hugh Kennedy's A Short Account of the Rise and Continuing Progress of a Remarkable Work of Grace in the United Netherlands
24. Satirical Revenge: John Witherspoon's Ecclesiastical Characteristics
25. Natural vs. Moral Necessity in the Will: Jonathan Edwards's Freedom of the Will
26. Open Letter to Commit Oneself to God: Sarah Prince Gill's "To All My Young Acquaintance, into Whose Hands These Lines May Come"
27. The Humiliation and Exaltation of the Cross: John Maclaurin's "Glorying in the Cross of Christ"
28. Determining Divine Grace: Sarah Osborn's The Nature, Certainty and Evidence of True Christianity
29. Eloquent Calvinism: James Hervey's Theron and Aspasio
30. Life as the Wife of a College President: The Journal of Esther Edwards Burr
31. Report on African American Religion in Virginia: Letters from the Rev. Samuel Davies
32. Praising the Ineffable: Anne Steele's Poems on Subjects Chiefly Devotional
33. Before Dartmouth College: Eleazar Wheelock's A Plain and Faithful NarrativeEL of the Indian Charity-School at Lebanon, in Connecticut
34. The Difference between True and False Religion: Henry Venn's The Complete Duty of Man
35. Salvation at Sea: John Newton's Authentic Narrative
36. An Anglican Minister Describes Faith: William Romaine's The Life of Faith
37. Faith Restricted to the Mind: John Erskine's Dissertation on the Nature of Christian Faith
38. Advice to Women on Chastity, Poverty, and Obedience: Mary Fletcher's Jesus, Altogether Lovely
39. Defending the Doctrine of Christian Perfection: John William Fletcher's First Check to Antinomianism
40. A Selection of Hymns by William Williams
41. Advice on Alcohol: Samson Occom's Sermon, Preached at the Execution of Moses Paul
42. An Argument for the Separation of Church and State: Isaac Backus's Appeal to the Public for Religious Liberty
43. A Selection of Poems by Phillis Wheatley
44. Practical Disinterested Benevolence: Samuel Hopkins's Dialogue, Concerning the Slavery of the Africans
45. Amazing Grace (How Sweet the Sound): John Newton's "Faith's Review and Expectation"
46. A Baptist's Beliefs: "A Confession of Faith delivered by John Ryland Junior of Northampton at his Ordination to the Pastoral Care of the Church in College Lane"
47. A Gospel Call to Sinners: Henry Alline's Sermon Preached on the 19th of Feb. 1783. At Fort-Midway
48. The Duty to Respond to the Gospel Message: Andrew Fuller's The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation
49. The Ideal Student: Charles Nisbet's Address to the Students of Dickinson College
50. The Unlawfulness of Enslaving Humans: Thomas Clarkson's Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species
51. An Appeal to the Higher Ranks of Society to Lead by Example: Hannah More's Thoughts on the Importance of the manners of the Great to General Society
52. Salvation Comes to a Sailor: The Interesting narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
53. Journal of an American Methodist: An Extract of the Journal of Francis AsburyEL 1771 toEL 1778
54. Guidelines for American Methodists: Francis Asbury's and Thomas Coke's Doctrines and Disciplines of the Methodist Episcopal Church in America
55. An Argument for Overseas Missionary Work: William Carey's An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians, to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens
56. The Necessity of Evil: Samuel Hopkins's System of Doctrines
57. Godly Living in a New England Town: Timothy Dwight's Greenfield Hill: A Poem, in Seven Parts
58. Debunking Racial Stereotypes: Richard Allen's "Address to Those Who Keep Slaves, and Approve the Practice"
59. An Anglican Evangelical's Sermon: Charles Simeon's Gospel Message
60. True and False Religion Exposed: William Wilberforce's Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians in the Higher and Middle Classes in this Country
61. Godly Government During a Time of Crisis: Lemuel Haynes's Influence of Civil Government on Religion
62. A Conspiracy Theorists Theory: Jedidiah Morse's Sermon, DeliveredEL May 9th, 1798
Index

Early Evangelicalism

A Reader

Edited by Jonathan M. Yeager

Author Information

Jonathan Yeager is Maclellan Visiting Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where he teaches courses in religious history and thought. He is the author of Enlightened Evangelicalism: The Life and Thought of John Erskine (2011).

Early Evangelicalism

A Reader

Edited by Jonathan M. Yeager

Reviews and Awards

"In recent days, a number of historians have lamented the path taken by evangelicalism, regarding it as a regrettable dumbing-down of the doctrinal richness of the Reformation. But Yeager's collection speaks better things -- it reveals a powerful movement, theologically rich with true affective interiority, that brought about a profound transformation of life and culture in the trans-Atlantic world." --Southern Baptist Journal of Theology

"This is a very encouraging read. It will no doubt find its place as a leading source book for students of the period but could equally be used as an edifying stimulant for spiritual meditation as part of a daily quiet time." --Churchman

"Jonathan Yeager's Early Evangelicalism is a definitive document collection on the broad sweep of eighteenth-century evangelical faith. The book's authors, who hailed from North America, Britain, and the Continent, range from learned theologians to lyrical hymnists and earnest diarists. Anyone interested in evangelical Christianity will profit from Yeager's wealth of resources." --Thomas S. Kidd, author of The Great Awakening: The Roots of Evangelical Christianity in Colonial America

"This helpful collection of works from those involved in the development of evangelicalism will be of interest to Baptist historians, especially those with an interest in the re-energising of Baptist life which took place in the mid to late eighteenth century." --Baptist Quarterly

"The purpose of this compact volume is to make as many texts as possible from early evangelical preachers, poets and memoirists available to a student, and wider, readership... it is helpful to have them assembled between one set of covers, especially with the simultaneous publication of a paperback edition, and this volume will be a convenient resource for teachers and students. Moreover, by illuminating the range and variety of evangelical thought, some of it relatively unfamiliar, it should prove a stimulus to further investigation into the history and mindset of early evangelicalism." --Journal of Eighteenth-Century Studies

"Anybody who is new to the historical background of early evangelicalism should certainly make this excellent anthology their first port of call."-- Wesley and Methodist Studies