Church Life: Pastors, Congregations, and the Experience of Dissent in Seventeenth-Century England addresses the rich, complex, and varied nature of 'church life' experienced by England's Baptists, Congregationalists, and Presbyterians during the seventeenth century. Spanning the period from the English Revolution to the Glorious Revolution, and beyond, the contributors examine the social, political, and religious character of England's 'gathered' churches and reformed parishes: how pastors and their congregations interacted; how Dissenters related to their meetings as religious communities; and what the experience of church life was like for ordinary members as well as their ministers, including notably John Owen and Richard Baxter alongside less well-known figures, such as Ebenezer Chandler.
Moving beyond the religious experience of the solitary individual, often exemplified by conversion, Church Life redefines the experience of Dissent, concentrating instead on the collective concerns of a communally-centred church life through a wide spectrum of issues: from questions of liberty and pastoral reform to matters of church discipline and respectability. With a substantial introduction that puts into context the key concepts of 'church life' and the 'Dissenting experience', the contributors offer fresh ways of understanding Protestant Dissent in seventeenth-century England: through differences in ecclesiology and pastoral theory, and via the buildings in which Dissent was nurtured to the building-up of Dissent during periods of civil war, persecution, and revolution. They draw on a broad range of printed and archival materials: from the minutes of the Westminster Assembly to the manuscript church books of early Dissenting congregations.
Industry Reviews
The essays in this useful volume collectively treat the "experience" of seventeenth-century English Dissent with an eye to both socio-political context and the dynamic involvement of "the unknown Dissenters"...Specialists, graduate students, and precocious undergraduates are well served by this needed engagement with the complicated factors that comprised and informed the "experience" of Dissent in seventeenth-century England. * Jonathan Baddley, Vanderbilt University, Church History *
Compelling and ultimately persuasive, scholars and students interested in early modern religion and identity, community and controversy, or an alternate view of parish life, will find much of value in this erudite yet accessible work. * Robert W. Daniel, Bunyan Studies: A Journal of Reformation and Nonconformist Culture *
A significant addition to the study of seventeenth-century Dissent, theology and practice, considering the ways in which church life was shaped by an extraordinary variety of political and social concerns. It succeeds on every level in bringing Dissenting experiences, and the records and writings documenting them, to life. * Rachel Adcock, The English Historical Review *
[A] welcome opening up of new perspectives on seventeenth-century religious nonconformity. It strikes this reviewer as essential reading for anyone with an interest in that field. * Jason A. Kerr, Reformation *
Well researched throughout, and encompassing a broad chronological span, Church Life is a welcome addition to the existing literature on dissenting churches. * Rosalind Johnson, Journal of British Studies *
Miltonists who are interested in seventeenth-century religious history will want to have a look at this collection of essays about his period... this collection demonstrates a range of issues that could trigger further research into Milton's own idealized considerations of how the church should operate. * Jameela Lares, University of Southern Mississippi, Milton Quarterly *
Church Life provides scholars with a much-needed, deeper, and more nuanced look at the experience of Dissenting church life and is particularly strong when it comes to scholarship about changes in ecclesial structure and authority. * Autumn Reinhardt-Simpson, Reading Religion *
This book is to be commended. It is not intimidatingly large, as so many recent, if useful, 'handbooks' have been. Yet it presents many pertinent issues in accessible language from a number of leading scholars. It is clearly encouraging for readers of this magazine to see a wider interest in the history of their own churchmanship. A good book on such subjects, well presented, is always welcome. * Susan Matthews, Congregational History Society Magazine *
The essays here offer valuable insights into the forces that helped to determine the content and direction of the differing streams through changing ecclesiastical and political times. * Stephen Copson, Baptist Quarterly *
