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Inward Baptism analyses the theological developments that led to the great evangelical revivals of the mid-eighteenth century. Baird Tipson here demonstrates how the rationale for the "new birth," the characteristic and indispensable evangelical experience, developed slowly but inevitably from Luther's critique of late medieval Christianity. Addressing the great indulgence campaigns of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, Luther's perspective on sacramental baptism, as well as the confrontation between Lutheran and Reformed theologians who fastened on to different aspects of Luther's teaching, Tipson sheds light on how these disparate historical moments collectively created space for evangelicalism. This leads to an exploration of the theology of the leaders of the Evangelical awakening in the British Isles, George Whitefield and John Wesley, who insisted that by preaching the immediate revelation of the Holy Spirit during the "new birth," they were recovering an essential element of primitive Christianity that had been forgotten over the centuries. Ultimately, Inward Baptism examines how these shifts in religious thought made possible a commitment to an inward baptism and consequently, the evangelical experience.
List of contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Chapter One: "Conversion" in Late Medieval Christianity
- Chapter Two: Luther Insists on Faith
- Chapter Three: Can One Turn to One's Outward Baptism for Assurance of Salvation?: The Colloquy at Montbéliard .
- Chapter Four: The "Conscience Religion" of William Perkins
- Chapter Five: Grace Resolved into Morality?
- Chapter Six: The Outbreak of Evangelicalism
- Concluding Remarks
- Appendix A: Decree and Execution in Theodore Beza's Doctrine of Predestination
- Appendix B: Reflections on Darkness Falls on the Land of Light
- Bibliography
About the author
Baird Tipson is Adjunct Professor of Religious Studies at Gettysburg College. After seventeen years as a faculty member, Tipson (AB Princeton University, PhD Yale University) became Provost of Gettysburg College (1987-1995), President of Wittenberg University (1995-2004) and President of Washington College (2004-2010). A student of Sydney Ahlstrom, he specializes in the European Reformation and the early history of Religion in America. He is the author of Hartford Puritanism: Thomas Hooker, Samuel Stone and Their Terrifying God.
Summary
What we know today as evangelicalism originated in a series of great revivals in the mid-eighteenth century. Inward Baptism demonstrates how the rationale for the "new birth," the characteristic and indispensable evangelical experience, developed slowly but inevitably from Luther's critique of late medieval Christianity.
Additional text
Inward Baptism would be useful in classes on historical theology or religious history and should be read by anyone interested in the history of Protestant doctrine.
