Orthodox Radicals
Baptist Identity in the English Revolution
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Oxford University Press Inc
Published:7th Feb '19
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
In the seventeenth century, English Baptists existed on the fringe of the nation's collective religious life. Today, Baptists have developed into one of the world's largest Protestant denominations. Despite this impressive transformation, those first English Baptists remain chronically misunderstood. In Orthodox Radicals, Matthew C. Bingham clarifies and analyzes the origins and identity of Baptists during the English Revolution, arguing that mid-seventeenth century Baptists did not, in fact, understand themselves to be a part of a larger, all-encompassing Baptist movement. Contrary to both the explicit statements of many historians and the tacit suggestion embedded in the very use of "Baptist" as an overarching historical category, the early modern men and women who rejected infant baptism would not have initially understood that single theological stance as being in itself constitutive of a new collective identity. Rather, the rejection of infant baptism was but one of a number of doctrinal revisions then taking place among English puritans eager to further their on-going project of godly reformation. Orthodox Radicals complicates our understanding of Baptist identity, setting the early English Baptists in the cultural, political, and theological context of the wider puritan milieu out of which they arose. The book also speaks to broader themes, including early modern debates on religious toleration, the mechanisms by which early modern actors established and defended their tenuous religious identities, and the perennial problem of anachronism in historical writing. Bingham also challenges the often too-hasty manner in which scholars have drawn lines of theological demarcation between early modern religious bodies, and reconsiders one of this period's most dynamic and influential religious minorities from a fresh and perhaps controversial perspective. By combining a provocative reinterpretation of Baptist identity with close readings of key theological and political texts, Orthodox Radicals offers the most original and stimulating analysis of mid-seventeenth-century Baptists in decades.
This provocative study will be of interest to those who research Baptist history or religion in early modern England. * Taylor Murray, Tyndale University, Religious Studies Review *
This book rightly calls us to think more carefully, theologically, and contextually about religious groups of the revolution. It also proves how challenging that task can be. * Joel Halcomb, University of East Anglia, Milton Quarterly *
Bingham's knowledge and pertinent use of both primary and secondary source material is impressive. In the space of 157 pages he includes 649 foot notes. He ties together sources and personal narrative in an artistic way care fully constructing his argument with literary grace. * Tom J. Nettles, The Journal of Andrew Fuller Studies *
a bold, necessary, and highly valuable study ... Orthodox Radicals is a highly engaging work that no student of the period should go without reading very closely indeed. * Pierre Le Duff, Journal of British Studies *
This fascinating study in the spiritual and ecclesiastical taxonomy of those typically called 'Particular Baptists' is well worth your thoughtful consideration ... historians and others wishing or needing to rethink their casual labelling will find this a most helpful book. Baptists in particular will find much both to instruct and to prompt re ection, not least because of the abiding relevance of these questions to our own sense of identity and our practice in relation not only to others more of our own mind, but also to brothers of differing persuasions. * Jeremy Walker, The Banner of Truth *
This is an important book, but not one I would recommend for casual reading. Bingham's claims here are carefully and thoroughly laid out. ... There are extensive notes and bibliography that scholars will surely be debating for some time. * Chuck Ivey, Things Above Us *
Bingham's research will help students both situate individual Baptist authors more accurately in this historical context and place the movement as a whole more accurately in the context of seventeenth-century British Reformed orthodox theology. * Ryan M. McGraw, Theology and History *
Bingham's book makes an important contribution to the wider argument about the identity of early Particular Baptists and their links with the Reformed movement more generally. * Robert Strivens, Evangelicals Now *
Bingham's argument is well-documented ... But Bingham's theological acumen is also on display in this book. He grasps not only the historical record but the soteriological, ecclesiological, and sacramental issues at stake in these seventeenth-century debates.This book is highly recommended... * R. Lucas Stamps, The Centre for Baptist Renewal *
This study is important for many reasons. It broadens our understanding of the bounds of toleration in Cromwellian and post- Restoration England. It also challenges historians and theologians to rethink how they apply the term "Reformed orthodox" in relation to Baptist Congregationalists. ... Bingham's research will help students both situate individual Baptist authors more accurately in this historical context and place the movement as a whole more accurately in the context of seventeenth-century British Reformed orthodox theology. * Ryan M. McGraw, Theology & History *
This is an excellent, engaging, illuminating book. I warmly commend it to all who are in any way interested in who Baptists are and where they came from. * Bobby Jamieson, 9Marks *
In Orthodox Radicals, Bingham offers a clear and compelling reinterpretation of the early history of those came to be identified as Particular Baptists (as distinguished from General Baptists). * L.H. Hoyle, CHOICE *
ISBN: 9780190912369
Dimensions: 239mm x 163mm x 31mm
Weight: 454g
248 pages