The Gospel and Religious Freedom

Historical Studies in Evangelicalism and Political Engagement

Edited by David W. Bebbington

Published by: Baylor University Press

Imprint: Baylor University Press

Sales Date: 2023-06-15

Hardcover
ISBN 9781481319300
240 Pages

$59.99

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Paperback
ISBN 9781481318860
240 Pages

$49.99

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Description
Contents
Authors
Praise

Religious freedom as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights remains a perennial concern across the globe. Over the centuries many evangelicals have not enjoyed this right in practice, but they have generally advocated its acceptance, especially to allow the spread of the gospel. Not always, however, have they supported freedom for religious groups besides themselves, and sometimes they have endorsed discrimination against other bodies.

The Gospel and Religious Freedom explores the complex relationship in theory and practice between evangelicals and religious freedom, covering periods from the eighteenth century to the present. The volume includes studies of the intellectual lineage of asserting the free exercise of religion, of evangelicals in the United States who endorsed religious liberty in the early twentieth century, and of recent American evangelical political pressure on behalf of freedom of religion at home and abroad. Other contributions address the evangelical defense of the cause in British territories in the age of William Wilberforce, the apparent threat to religious liberty by Roman Catholics throughout the world, an evangelical attempt to restrain Muslim laws in Nigeria, and the persecution of believers by Communists in Eastern Europe and China.

Evangelical Christians emerge as preeminently concerned with evangelism, but in other respects they are diverse in their responses to challenges in various global regions. This volume is designed to demonstrate something of the significance of the evangelical movement in the history of the modern world.

Foreword
David W. Bebbington

Introduction
Robert J. Joustra

Part One: America

1. Protestant Dissenters, a Second Magna Carta, and Religious Freedom
Nicholas P. Miller

2. William Jennings Bryan, the Round Table Club, and Religious Freedom
Jeffrey McDonald

3. George W. Truett and Religious Liberty
Todd D. Still

4. "Their Blood Cries Out": Religious Freedom and Persecution Politics
Melani McAlister

5. Principled Position or Interest Group Politics?: Evangelicals and Religious Liberty in the Trump Era
Barry Hankins

Part Two: The World

6. Evangelical Toleration in the Age of Wilberforce: Dissenters, Missionaries, and Colonial Others
John Coffey

7. "Totalitarianism in Religion": Roman Catholicism, Religious Liberty, and the British Evangelical Imagination before Vatican II
John Maiden

8. Norman Anderson, Islam, and Religious Freedom in Nigeria
Todd M. Thompson

9. Evangelicals and the Communist Regimes in Postwar East-Central Europe
Mary Heimann

10. An Open Door That No One Can Shut: Evangelicals under Repression in China, 1949-1982
Wai Luen Kwok

Afterword
Judd Birdsall

Contributors

David W. Bebbington is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Stirling in Scotland. He is the author of Baptists through the Centuries: A History of a Global People, Patterns in History: A Christian Perspective on Historical Thought, The Evangelical Quadrilateral: Characterizing the British Gospel Movement, The Evangelical Quadrilateral: The Denominational Mosaic of the British Gospel Movement, and The Gospel in Latin America: Historical Studies in Evangelicalism and the Global South.

While this volume’s contributors take varied positions on the highly contested relationship between evangelicalism and religious freedom, they transcend the political tribalism of our moment. The result is a meaningful dialogue, which also tells a tale wide-ranging in historical period, denominational tradition, and, most significantly, its global reach. Well-established protagonists in this story are seen through different lenses, socially as well as culturally, and new characters become part of an often-vexatious plot. This absorbing anthology of essays inspires me to reimagine the Dawson Institute’s work in sustaining the distance between Church and State and how it might better examine the concept and challenge of religious liberty in other parts of the world.
~Elizabeth Flowers, Associate Professor of Religion and Director of the J. M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies, Baylor University

This welcome book complicates and clarifies a subject of enduring significance. With contributions from both senior historians and younger scholars, and with coverage extending to many places in the world, it complicates by expanding attention beyond just the United States and its recent political controversies. Clarification comes as the chapters demonstrate that, while 'evangelical' does designate a recognizable religious position, it is imperative to examine local contexts carefully before trying to explain the relationship between evangelicals and religious freedom. It is a welcome book indeed.
~Mark Noll, author of America’s Book: The Rise and Decline of a Bible Civilization, 1794-1911