Acton Institute Powerblog Archives

Post Tagged 'Presbyterianism'

John Williamson Nevin and the Revival of the Evangelical Mind

While the long 19th century gave birth to a variety of intellectual movements, it also saw its fair share of anti-intellectualism. The fallout from the Second Great Awakening was one such example; this era of American religious life witnessed the rise of pietism and biblicism, both of which called into question the value of both classical theological education and church history as a guide to biblical interpretation. Continue Reading...

Christianity and Liberalism: The Spirituality of the Church in a Politicized World

J. Gresham Machen’s book Christianity and Liberalism, published 100 years ago, was a curious mix of theology and politics. Readers and commentators commonly miss the political part if only because Machen, a Southern Presbyterian who labored in exile among Northern Presbyterians (the two communions were divided from the Civil War to 1983), was a proponent of the spirituality of the church, a hallmark doctrine of the Southern denomination. Continue Reading...

Saltiness and social justice

Does the theological conservatism of a church help or hinder its chances for growth? And what, if any, impact might that have on its social and political witness? In a new research study, sociologist David Haskell and historian Kevin Flatt explore the first of these questions. Continue Reading...