Andrew Kloes - Böcker

Historians of modern German culture and church history refer to "the Awakening movement" (die Erweckungsbewegung) to describe a period in the history of German Protestantism between the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 and the Revolution of 1848. "The Awakening" was the last major nationwide Protestant reform and revival movement to occur in Germany. This book analyzes numerous primary sources from the era of the Awakening and synthesizes the current state of German scholarship for an English-speaking audience. It examines the Awakening as a product of the larger social changes that were re-shaping German society during the early decades of the nineteenth century. Theologically, Awakened Protestants were traditionalists. They affirmed religious doctrines that orthodox Protestants had professed since the confessional statements of the Reformation-era. Awakened Protestants rejected the changes that Enlightenment thought had introduced into Protestant theology and preaching since the mid-eighteenth century. However, Awakened Protestants were also themselves distinctly modern. Their efforts to spread their religious beliefs were successful because of the new political freedoms and economic opportunities that the Enlightenment had introduced. These social conditions gave German Protestants new means and abilities to pursue their religious goals. Awakened Protestants were leaders in the German churches and in the universities. They used their influence to found many voluntary organizations for evangelism, in Germany and abroad. They also established many institutions to ameliorate the living conditions of those in poverty. Adapting Protestantism to modern society in these ways was the most original and innovative aspect of the Awakening movement.

Social Christianity in Scotland and Beyond explores the multifarious initiatives known variously as 'social Christianity', 'Christian socialism', or the 'social gospel', that spanned countries, continents, decades, and denominations. Building on the scholarship of Stewart J. Brown, to whom this volume is dedicated, fourteen leading and emerging scholars of the history of Christianity consider the varying social policies and initiatives that Christians have pursued in response to industrialisation, urbanisation, expanding global trade networks, and nascent democratic politics. With a particular focus on religious communities in Scotland, the essays provide comparative lenses with which to view sociological and theological developments through examinations of similar phenomena in England, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States. In adopting an international perspective that extends beyond Britain and the US, this volume encourages a more holistic understanding of social Christianity as part of a multifaceted and fluid belief system that evolved and shifted according to context.