Theology of Catherine Booth (CT9311B)

Content

This unit introduces students to Catherine Booth and to core elements of her theology. It situates Booth in her historic context, and examines her theological and practical contributions to the emergent Salvation Army in relation to other key figures. It explores her approach to Scripture, and to theological categories such as salvation and holiness, as well as her understanding of church, ministry, and sacraments. Attention is given to her teaching on female agency in the church, its reception history, and her own experience of ministry with its attendant anxieties and demands. The question of the extent to which she may be understood as a feminist thinker, and the relevance of her ideas to the identity and mission of the church in the twenty-first century is also examined.

Learning outcomes

Unit sequence

24 points level 8 in Theology, or equivalent

Pedagogy

Readings, lectures, audio tools, tutorials, multi-media content.

Indicative Bibliography

Bennett, David M., ed. The Letters of William and Catherine Booth (Founders of the Salvation Army): Extracted from the Booth Papers in the British Library and Other Sources. Brisbane: Camp Hill, 2003.

Booth, Catherine. Female Teaching: or, the Rev. A.A. Rees Versus Mrs Palmer, Being a Reply to a Pamphlet by the above Gentleman on the Sunderland Revival. Second, enlarged edition. London, 1861.

Booth, Catherine. Female Ministry: Woman’s Right to Preach the Gospel. London: 1859.

Eason, Andrew M., Women in God’s Army: Gender and Equality in the Early Salvation Army. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2003.

Eason, Andrew M. and Roger J. Green. ed., Settled Views: The Shorter Writings of Catherine Booth. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2017.

Faragher, Christine I. "Challenging History and Telling Herstory: An Interdisciplinary Exploration of the Intersection of Claims for Equality and Women's Lived Experiences of Officership in The Salvation Army in Australia." PhD. Thesis., University of Divinity, 2023.

Green, Roger J. Catherine Booth: A Biography of the Co-Founder of the Salvation Army. Crowborough: Monarch, 1997.

Morgan, Sue, and Jacqueline R DeVries. Women, Gender and Religious Cultures in Britain, 1800-1940. 1st ed. London: Routledge, 2010.

Read, John. Catherine Booth: Laying the Theological Foundations of a Radical Movement. Eugene OR: Pickwick Publications, 2013.

Walker, Pamela. Pulling the Devil’s Kingdom Down: The Salvation Army in Victorian Britain. Berkley: University of California Press, 2001.

Assessment