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This title was first published in 2001. 'An age of faith or an age of doubt?'- the question has dominated study of Christianity in the Victorian era. Reinventing Christianity offers a fresh analysis of the vitality and variety of Christianity in Britain and America in the Victorian era. Part One presents an overview of some of the main varieties of Christianity in the west ranging from the conservative - Protestant evangelicalism and 'fortress' Catholicism - to the radical - Theosophy, Swedenborgianism and Transcendentalism; Part Two reviews negotiations between Christianity and the wider culture. The conclusion reflects on general trends in the period, showing how many of these prefigured later developments in religion. This book highlights the creativity and diversity of 19th century Christianity, showing how developments normally associated with the late 20th century - such as the reassertion of tradition and the rise of feminist theology and alternative spirituality - were already in train a century before.
List of contents
Introduction, Linda Woodhead; Part 1: Varieties: Transcendent Christianity: Evangelical certainties: Charles Spurgeon and the sermon as crisis literature, Andrew Tate; Fortress Catholicism: the art of ultramontanism at Notre Dame de Fourvière, Nancy Davenport; Anglican controversies: debating private confession, Anne Hartman; Liberal Christianity and alternative spiritualities: The world’s parliament of religions and the rise of alternative spirituality, Linda Woodhead; The Swedenborgian church in England, Ian Sellers; Transcendentalists and Catholic converts in Emerson’s America, Shannon Cate; Part 2: Negotiations: Christianity and literature: Rewriting Genesis: The 19th-century roots of D.H. Lawrence’s religion, Terence R. Wright; Wordsworth and the sacralization of place, Deeanne Westbrook; Reactionary and Romantic: Joseph de Maistre and Shelley, Arthur Bradley; The religion of Thomas Carlyle, Trevor Hogan; Christianity and gender: The feminization of piety in 19th-century art, Jane Kristof; Women’s theology and the British periodical press, Julie Melnyk; The feminist theology of Florence Nightingale, Hilary Fraser and Victoria Burrows; Elizabeth Gaskell, gender and the apocalypse, Robert Kachur; Christianity and science: Science and secularization, John Hedley Brooke; Contextualising the ’war’ between science and religion, Gowan Dawson; Philip Gosse and the varieties of natural theology, Jonathan Smith; Conclusion
Summary
This title was first published in 2001. 'An age of faith or an age of doubt?'- the question has dominated study of Christianity in the Victorian era. Reinventing Christianity offers a fresh analysis of the vitality and variety of Christianity in Britain and America in the Victorian era.
