Radical and Evangelical: Origins of a Movement (CH9307B)

Content

This unit introduces students to the social and political activism of the nineteenth-century Holiness Movement and the theological ideas that underpinned the activism of the movement. The focus will be on the multidenominational and nondenominational Holiness Movement whose origins were Wesleyan, but which bridged denominational boundaries. Topics covered include abolitionism, pacifism, workers’ rights, women’s rights, anti-segregation and anti-trafficking. With contemporary Evangelicalism often situated at the conservative end of the political spectrum, this unit is designed to recover an earlier more radical past, trace the evolution of the movement over time, and provide resources for renewal in the present. Attention will be given to the theological grounds of historical religious activism and to the importance of context in historical and contemporary political theology.

Learning outcomes

Unit sequence

Prerequisite: 24 points in CH. It is designed as an MTh unit, though may be taken as a postgraduate elective within other awards.

Pedagogy

Learning resources are provided on Ark asynchronously, including lectures, videos, and podcasts, supported by synchronous weekly Zoom tutorials.

Indicative Bibliography

Bebbington, David. Holiness in Nineteenth Century England: The 1998 Didsbury Lectures. Carlisle: Paternoster Press, 2000.

Bundy, David, Geordan Hammond, and David Sang-Ehil Hahn, eds. Holiness and Pentecostal Movements: Intertwined Pasts, Presents, and Futures. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2022.

Butler, Anthea D. Women in the Church of God in Christ: Making a Sanctified World. Durham: University of North Carolina Press, 2007.

Dayton, Donald and Douglas M. Strong. Rediscovering an Evangelical Heritage: A Tradition and Trajectory of Integrating Piety and Justice. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2014.

Hamilton, Ovell. Sanctified Revolution: The Church of God in Christ: A History of African American Holiness. Itapira, SP, Brazil: UPBooks, 2021.

Kostlevy, William. Holy Jumpers: Evangelicals and Radicals in Progressive Era America. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.

Lennox, Stephen J. A Holiness Hermeneutic: Biblical Interpretation in the American Holiness Movement (1875-1920), Eugene: Pickwick, 2018.

Pope-Levison, Priscilla. Building the Old Time Religion: Women Evangelists in the Progressive Era. New York: NYU Press, 2013.

Rosell, Garth M. and Richard A.G. Dupuis, eds. The Original Memoirs of Charles G. Finney. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002.

Sanders, Cheryl J. Saints in Exile: The Holiness-Pentecostal Experience in African American Religion and Culture, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Assessment