Tuesday 5 October 2010

New Book: Bebbington on Baptists

CHF members will be delighted to learn that Prof David Bebbington has a new book out. Baptists through the Centuries: A History of a Global People (Baylor UP, 2010) provides a panoramic overview of Baptist history from its Reformation roots to its global spread. As one would expect, it combines the big picture with rich detail, starting with a wonderful vignette about the Castle Donington General Baptists who in 1864 bought their pastor a pair of waterproof boots to be worn during baptisms. It's a reminder, for Bebbington, that Baptists were always 'accommodating themselves to their time and circumstances', in this case by becoming more decorous to reflect their rising social status. Like Bebbington's now classic work, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain (1989), this is a study of cultural adaptation. Alongside its chronological overview, there are fascinating thematic chapters on race, women, ecclesiology, religious liberty and foreign mission.

Bebbington has been at the forefront of Baptist history for several decades, and this is the first general history of the Baptists to harvest the wealth of recent research on Baptist communities through the centuries, including those of Eastern Europe. It's a great gift to Baptist themselves, for nowhere else will they find an account of their past as rich, rounded, critical and fair-minded as this one. But it ought to be read by anyone interested in the history of Christianity since the Reformation.

John Coffey
University of Leicester

Readers can get a sneak preview here:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=bebbington+baptists

Christian Roots of Modern Science - CiS Day Conference (30 October 2010)

The CHF Oxford day conference on 'The Dark Side of Church History' has been postponed to the new year, but Christians in Science are holding a day conference on 'Christian Roots of Modern Science - Learning from the Past'

Date: Saturday 30th October 2010, 9.30–17.00
Venue: St Paul’s Church, Robert Adam Street, London W1U 3HP
(off Baker Street between Marylebone Road and Oxford Street. Nearest tube stops – Baker Street or Bond Street)

The line-up of speakers is impressive:
Prof Peter Harrison: Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion, Oxford
Prof John Hedley Brooke: President of International Society for Science and Religion
Prof David Livingstone: Professor of Geography & Intellectual History, Belfast
Dr Allan Chapman: Historian of Science, Oxford
Dr Denis Alexander: Director of The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, Cambridge

Further details available on the CiS website:
http://cislondon.eventwax.com/christian-roots-of-modern-science--learning-from-the-past