Scripture beyond Common Sense: Sentimental Bible Study and the Evangelical Practice of the Bible Reading
This article examines the Bible study method known as the Bible Reading, which became popular among a segment of conservative evangelicals in the late nineteenth century. Scholars have closely identified it with the Common Sense approach to Scripture and have attributed its popularity to a conservat...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Wiley-Blackwell
[2017]
|
| In: |
Journal of religious history
Year: 2017, Volume: 41, Issue: 1, Pages: 60-80 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Evangelical movement
/ Bible reading
/ Devotion
|
| RelBib Classification: | AG Religious life; material religion CB Christian life; spirituality HA Bible KDG Free church |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | This article examines the Bible study method known as the Bible Reading, which became popular among a segment of conservative evangelicals in the late nineteenth century. Scholars have closely identified it with the Common Sense approach to Scripture and have attributed its popularity to a conservative response to attacks on this approach. This article argues, however, that the Bible Reading is best understood as a devotional exercise that should be examined independently of these controversies. Exploring the devotional aspects of the Bible Reading nuances the standard portrayal of evangelicals in this period as being reactionary in their use of Scripture. In particular, it sheds light on the use of sentimental Bible study in the revivals of the late 1850s as well as the transatlantic holiness movement in the decades that followed. Ultimately, it argues that the exercise's popularity was due not simply to changes in the Bible's cultural status, but to changing conceptions of the Christian life. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1467-9809 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of religious history
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1111/1467-9809.12366 |