"Hindmarsh's erudite and graceful book will become an indispensable guide for the perplexed." -- John Coffey, University of Leicester, Eighteenth-Century Studies
"[this book] does not disappoint. It should be essential reading for religious and nonreligious students alike who are interested in understanding evangelicalism and the eighteenth-century Anglo-American World." -- Karl Koop, New Direction
"This remarkable book ... places Hindmarsh in the highest echelon of scholars writing on evangelical history today. Experts on Christianity in the English-speaking world simply must contend with Hindmarsh's brilliant assessment of the reasons for evangelicalism's emergence in tandem with modernity." -- Thomas S. Kidd, American Baptist Quarterly
"This is a remarkable book. One is impressed by the breadth of figures discussed, the depth of analysis, and skill in integrating it all intro a clear and readable account. But more than this, Hindmarsh takes us into new territory, giving us a far richer understanding of evangelical spirituality than we have had before." -- Harold H. Knight, III, Methodist History
"offering what is perhaps the most complete and far-ranging assessment of early evangelical spiritual life as it relates to contemporary developments in science, law, art, and literature ... this new work offers a more expansive cultural account of the practical implications that flowed from making "true religion" a matter of transformative personal religious experience." -- Brett Malcolm Grainger, Harvard Divinity Bulletin
"[a] magnificent new book ... Hindmarsh's wide frame of methodological reference is exceptionally stimulating" -- Gareth Atkins, Covenant
"Hindmarsh broadens and reconfigures our understanding of the early stages of the evangelical movement, laying out fresh avenues of research for future scholars." -- Adrian Chastain Weimer, The Journal of Religion
"There could scarcely be a more satisfying perspective on North Atlantic evangelicalism than Hindmarsh's triple play: full definition, demographic sweep, and interdisciplinary skill....Hindmarsh excels at engaging a range of disciplines outside his formal academic ex-pertise. A church historian who can sometimes read language as closely as a literature professor, he observes just how far eighteenth-century aesthetics intersect with, and pro-ceed from, evangelical creativity." -- Richard E. Brantley, The Scriblerian and the Kit-Cats
"The work as a whole is a brilliant synopsis of Christian belief and cultural engagement (especially in its Reformed and Wesleyan expressions) during the eighteenth century." -- James M. Garretson, The Banner of Truth
"The Spirit of Early Evangelicalism weaves together an amazing breadth of scholarship with depth of knowledge in detail. Its analysis is subtle and suggestive, as well as comprehensive in synthesis. The thesis presented-that evangelicalism represents 'a distinctive form of traditional Christian spirituality that emerged in the eighteenth century highly responsive to the conditions of the modern world' (276)-is made persuasively and elegantly. This is a lucid and beautifully written book, and an important one." -- Martin Wellings, Wesley and Methodist Studies
"Based on deep knowledge of Whitefield's and especially the Wesleys' reading and vast output of writings and of the contemporary context, this book throws brilliant new light on the emergence and development of Evangelicalism, whose flame still burns bright. For anyone seeking to explore Evangelicalism, this is an admirable book and, at this price in hardback, a bargain." -- Dr William Jacob, Church Times
"This fascinating and meticulously researched book explores facets of early evangelicalism that have hitherto been underexplored in the literature. Hindmarsh, who is a specialist in evangelical spirituality, presents fresh perspectives on that spirituality as it relates to George Whitefield, the rise of modernity and science, the natural world, issues of conscience and conversion, and various forms of artistic expression. His style is pleasant to read and the prose is pregnant with historical richness." -- Randall J. Pederson, Journal of Reformed Theology
"The Spirit of Early Evangelicalism is a brilliant examination of the historical forces that shaped the rise of the evangelical movement. No one writes about evangelicals with greater sensitivity than Hindmarsh, who never loses sight of the spiritual hopes of both leaders and ordinary people. This is a beautifully written, deeply learned book."--Catherine Brekus, Harvard University
"Early evangelicals like John Wesley and George Whitefield spoke much about 'true religion.' But no one before Bruce Hindmarsh has explored in such comprehensive detail what evangelical spirituality actually meant. Deep research into sources from the evangelicals--but interpreted in light of the art, science, legal reasoning, and philosophy of the age--makes this book an extraordinary tour de force. The result is a treasure trove of historical, psychological, and (yes) spiritual insight."--Mark Noll, author of The Rise of Evangelicalism: The Age of Edwards, Whitefield and the Wesleys
"Bruce Hindmarsh shows that the spirit of early evangelicalism did not drop from the sky (as partisans liked to suppose) or burst from the ground (as debunkers liked to claim) but emerged from a vibrant coalescence of medieval Catholic spirituality and modern notions of art, law, science, and communications. This is a work of deep research, luminous prose, and interdisciplinary dexterity. Hindmarsh swings for the fences, asking serious questions about serious issues that mattered then and continue to matter today."--Grant Wacker, author of America's Pastor: Billy Graham and the Shaping of a Nation
"An artfully written, insightful, and sometimes brilliant account of evangelicalism in its original eighteenth century forms. I highly recommend The Spirit of Early Evangelicalism to anyone who wishes to understand the essence of the movement."--George Marsden, author of Jonathan Edwards: A Life
