Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s

by David W. Bebbington

This is an historical study of the evangelical religion in its British cultural setting between the 18th century and the present day. It aims to provide an overall survey of the movement but in particular, it considers the influence of evangelicals on society and the ways in which the evangelical religion has been moulded by its environment. Although concentrating on developments in Britain, it does consider influences from overseas, especially America. Much of the material for the book was drawn from biographies and other monographs and the large number of periodicals generated by evangelicalism, as well as participant observation.

Genres: History, Theology, Religion, Church History, Nonfiction, Christianity, British Literature

364 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 1988

About the author

David W. Bebbington is a historian who is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Stirling in Scotland and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. An undergraduate at Jesus College, Cambridge (1968–71), Bebbington began his doctoral studies there (1971–73) before becoming a research fellow of Fitzwilliam College (1973–76). Since 1976 he has taught at the University of Stirling, where since 1999 he has been Professor of History. His principal research interests are in the history of politics, religion, and society in Great Britain from the eighteenth to the twentieth century, and in the history of the global evangelical movement.

Reviews

[Greg Mathis · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is said of more ancient cultures that in their quest to understand the foundations of the world, they concluded that the earth rested on a giant turtle. When contemplating upon what foundation the turtle itself rested, they decided "it's turtle all the way down." For David Bebbington, the history of evangelicalism in modern Britain is that of Romanticism's influence on religious development. Indeed, one would not be faulted for concluding that Bebbington sees evangelicalism as resting on a foundation of "Romanticism, all the way down."

The salient contributions of Bebbington's work here are legion. He first advanced his quadrilateral of evangelical definition in this 1989 work and proceeded to analyze the movement's contours with the acuity of an exceptional historian. A note of scholarly objectivity pervades the work, which is of course to be commended. But at times, Bebbington's zeal to remain neutral causes him to bend over backwards. Nearly groveling for recognition of his vaunted objectivity, Bebbington explained that in the conservative's mind, "it was feared that if humanity was not understood as fallen, there was no need for redemption" (208). The notion that logical coherence demands this conclusion was left untouched. Indeed, when he punches, he often punches toward the evangelicals with a tone that frequently seems superior. When J.I. Packer advanced a rather conservative viewpoint on Keswick doctrine and Pelagianism, Bebbington cast him in the role of the "angry young man of the time" (257). For Bebbington, the formulation of inerrancy's doctrinal articulation was couched with a "convenient proviso that made the hypothesis untestable" relative to its application to the autographs. Seldom did liberals catch the tip of Bebbington's wit; that was reserved for conservatives, Keswick adherents, and Pentecostals.

Little room is left for genuine religious or biblical motivations in analyzing the Evangelicals' developments; rather, it can all be traced back to cultural warp and woof as well as the prevailing sentiments of the age. The broad plurality of female involvement in the Keswick movement, for instance, cannot be traced to the providence of God; it was rather the result of "an age when female submission was axiomatic" (175). Local outbreaks of revival likewise were chalked up to the "tight-knit, often isolated" nature of fishing communities where the people were "well aware of the high risk of death at sea" (117).

Evangelicalism, for Bebbington, was merely the rather conservative expression of religious Romanticism waxing in the broader culture. He makes this point with a nearly comical repetition of the thesis at every viable opportunity. He attributes to Romanticism the movement's view of church involvement (95), Wesleyan perfectionism (168), and the genesis of evangelicalism's transformation in the 1830s (103). At least Bebbington evidenced some circumspection when noting that Romanticism - his Rosetta Stone for interpreting the era in question - equally animated both Conservatives and Liberals in the interwar disintegration of the movement (226-27).

Historiography is nearly as fascinating as the history itself, often times. David Bebbington's work represents a work of history and a unique specimen of historiography as well. He evokes more questions than those of evangelical history, though. The question that looms the largest when completing Bebbington's work involves what place bias has in the writing of religious history, and moreover, what costs are incurred when one becomes so consumed with avoiding bias that the history itself is influenced.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book for my masters. I found it extremely enlightening, full of fascinating details from evangelical history and how it’s development fits in with broader history and culture.

While interesting on true whole this book gets dull in places. It seems to be the go-to text for discussions surrounding evangelicalism, and probably fairly so, but I definitely don’t agree with some of the conclusions he draws.

A must read for those deeply interested in recent evangelicalism.

[Joshua Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A superb summary of the growth and diffusion of evangelicalism in Britain. I respect how well Bebbington kept his cards to his chest on his own positions and opinions on the various happenings although I thought there was a certain boldness in his claims that today's Evangelicalism comes as a child of the enlightenment, romanticism and modernity.

What was so fascinating to see is how eschatology has set the church's direction and sense of mission. The point seems clear: Friends don't let friends do premillennialism.

This book also cemented my view that evangelicalism needs neo-Calvinism.

[Nicholas Abraham · Rating 5 out of 5]

While this book is a little dated at this point, it still holds up very well as a primer for understanding evangelicalism in the British context. Bebbington certainly begins with the transatlantic evangelical movement, but his focus is increasingly British throughout the text. His quadrilateral continues to hold up as an historical lens to understand the movement as well as a definition for current evangelicals (though I think Thomas Kidd's addition of focus on the Spirit is warranted).

[T.C. Westminster · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book is fine, the ebook is terrible

I lost track of the number of transcription errors in this ebook. For example, frequently “e” has been reproduced as “c”. The resulting misspelled words proved a great distraction from the book’s argument.

[Anthony Rodriguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a light read! A slog of an assignment. Incredibly detailed, thorough work. Alternated between fascinating and horrifying and weighed down by too much detail. Glad I read it and glad I’m not reading it anymore!

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good

[Catfantastic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comprehensive, but also written with a dry wit that made me laugh loudly and often, which is not something I say about a lot of histories of evangelicalism.

[Chris Schutte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating account of Evangelicalism as a social force in the UK since Wesley and Whitefield. Bebbington has provided a working definition of Evangelicalism that has since been nearly universally adopted--conversionism, activism, biblicism, and crucicentrism--and convincingly argued that Evangelicalism has been transformed throughout its history by cultural trends, whether Enlightenment rationalism, Romanticism, or, more recently, Modernism.

[Elisabeth Robinson]

Surprising good read!

[Brian Kerr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is certainly the best book I've read on the history of evangelicalism in Britain.