Early Evangelicalism: A Reader as a Course Text

This semester I am teaching a new course that I am calling, "The History of Evangelicalism." This is a 400-level elective. Besides using the History of Evangelicalism series published by IVP, I am also incorporating my own Early Evangelicalism: A Reader and Barry Hankins's Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism: A Documentary Reader.

I welcome hearing from other professors who are using Early Evangelicalism: A Reader for current courses that they are teaching. Most recently, I heard from a professor at Southern Baptist Seminary, who is requiring the book for a course in cooperation with the Andrew Fuller Conference on George Whitefield and the Great Awakening. This looks like an exciting conference with speakers such as Tommy Kidd, Bruce Hindmarsh, and David Bebbington. 

Andrew Fuller Center Blog Posting on Early Evangelicalism

There is a nice posting about Early Evangelicalism: A Reader on the Andrew Fuller Center blog by Dustin Bruce, a PhD student at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. In his posting entitled, "Understanding Ourselves Through Understanding Our Past: Two Recent Publications," Bruce recommends Timothy George's Theology of the Reformers and my edited volume.

Below is Bruce's posting:

Despite what it may seem, your local Baptist church didn’t appear out of thin air. It falls within a long line of Christian history, much of which has shaped the way you understand your Bible and gather as a church, in ways that are hard to overestimate.
Baptists have been shaped by a number of individuals, institutions, and movements. Of the many, perhaps no movements have shaped us so much as the 16^th century Reformation and the 18^th century revivals that formed early Evangelicalism.
If you would like to know more about these movements, I recommend two recent publications.
First, the recent appearance of the 25^th Anniversary Edition of Timothy George’s Theology of the Reformers marks the revising and republication of a treatise that serves as a great introduction to the key leaders and theological contributions of the Reformation. If you want to know more about the 16^th century Reformation, I heartily recommend this volume. Read it and you may be surprised how much you learn about why you do the things you do.
Second, the publication of Early Evangelicalism: A Reader, edited by Jonathan M. Yeager, comes as a great service to those interested in exploring the roots of the Evangelical movement. This work features a short introductory piece on over 60 persons of key influence, followed by a sampling of their work. This book also comes highly recommended as a helpful guide to exploring the roots of the larger movement of which we are a part.
I don’t believe it to be a stretch to say that you can’t understand yourself as a 21^st century Baptist (or Evangelical) without understanding these two key movements. Whether you know little or much about these movements, these two volumes will undoubtedly be of service to you.
Pick up and read!


After thanking Bruce for his kind posting, he informed me that Michael Haykin is currently leading his PhD students through Early Evangelicalism: A Reader. I am very grateful to Dr. Haykin as well as professors at Biola, Duke Divinity School, Regent College, Liberty University, UNC-Chapel Hill, and Wheaton College for expressing interest in using the anthology in future courses. I truly hope that the book proves to be useful.