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Although the importance of Congregationalism in early Massachusetts has engaged historians' attention for generations, this study is the first to approach the Puritan experience in Congregational church government from the perspective of both the pew and the pulpit. For the past decade, author James F. Cooper, Jr. has immersed himself in local manuscript church records. These previously untapped documents provide a fascinating glimpse of lay-clerical relations in colonial Massachusetts, and reveal that ordinary churchgoers shaped the development of Congregational practices as much as the clerical and elite personages who for so long have populated histories of this period. Cooper's new findings will both challenge existing models of church hierarchy and offer a new dimension to our understanding of the origins of New England democracy. Refuting the idea of clerical predominance in the governance of colonial Massachusetts churches, Cooper shows that the laity were both informed and empowered to rule with ministers, rather than beneath them. From the outset of the Congregational experiment, ministers articulated--and lay people embraced--principles of limited authority, higher law, and free consent in the conduct of church affairs. These principles were codified early on in the Cambridge Platform, which the laity used as their standard in resisting infringements upon their rights. By neglecting the democratic components of Congregationalism, Cooper argues, scholars have missed the larger political significance of the movement. Congregational thought and practice in fact served as one indigenous seedbed of several concepts that would later flourish during the Revolutionary generation, including the notions that government derives its legitimacy from the voluntary consent of the governed, that governors should be chosen by the governed, that rulers should be accountable to the ruled, and that constitutional checks should limit both the governors and the people. By examining the development of church government through the perspective of lay-clerical interchange, Cooper comes to a fresh understanding of the sometimes noble, sometimes sordid, and sometimes rowdy nature of church politics. His study casts new light upon Anne Hutchinson and the "Antinomian Controversy," the Cambridge Platform, the Halfway Covenant, the Reforming Synod of 1679, and the long-standing debate over Puritan "declension." Cooper argues that, in general, church government did not divide Massachusetts culture along lay-clerical lines, but instead served as a powerful component of a popular religion and an ideology whose fundamentals were shared by churchgoers and most ministers throughout much of the colonial era. His is a book that will interest students of American culture, religion, government, and history. ... Read more

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Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free.This is an OCR edition with typos.Excerpt from book:878DR. STOUGHTON ON THE CHURCH HISTORY OF THE TIMESThese volumes, which are a narrative of the first half of the century, supplemented with a brief sketch of the leading events in the thirty-four years that have followed, complete what may be fairly regarded as the great literary wish of Dr. Stoughton. A careful and conscientious student of ecclesiastical history, he has spared no effort to understand the religious movements which have given the Church of Christ in England (using that term to describe not the State Church, but the aggregate of the various Christian communities in the country) its present character. The reader will find in his volumes an account of modern Christianity as fair and impartial as it is comprehensive and complete. The most severe critics would not venture to assert that Dr. Stoughton is a partizan. He is a Nonconformist, but he is never slow to recognize the virtues of the stoutest opponents of Dissent. His anxiety always is to look at all questions from the standpoint of the opposing parties, so that as far as possible he may do justice to the motives and views of each. This admirable quality he maintains where it is more difficult to do so, when he comes to deal with the controversies of our own time. This desire to be charitable is, indeed, pushed so far as to weaken to some extent the strength of the book. But its Christian courtesy, its liberal-minded judgments, its extreme considerateness for individuals, every one must acknowledge, however he may dissent from some of the opinions pronounced both on individual character and on the tendency of particular movements. These volumes, like those which preceded them, prove Dr. Stoughton to be a cultured and scholarly Christian gentleman, whose heart is full of sympathy for all good men, who is de... ... Read more

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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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Volume: v.3Publisher: London : Printed for the Congregational union of England and WalesPublication date: 1839Subjects: CongregationalismCongregational churchesNotes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be numerous typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there. ... Read more

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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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Chapters: New Zealand Anglicans, New Zealand Baptists, New Zealand Charismatics, New Zealand Congregationalists, New Zealand Methodists, New Zealand Pentecostals, New Zealand Plymouth Brethren, New Zealand Presbyterians, New Zealand Quakers, New Zealand Seventh-Day Adventists, New Zealand Evangelicals, New Zealand Members of the Churches of Christ, William Massey, Ray Comfort, David Lange, Howard Broad, Samoan Assemblies of God in New Zealand Incorporated, Paul Reeves, Paul Moon, Jack Marshall, Outhwaite Family, Auckland, George Fowlds, Thomas Kendall, Daniel Bedingfield, Bill Sutch, Adam Hamilton, James and Mary Wallis, Robin Cooke, Baron Cooke of Thorndon, Norman Mcleod, Samoan Assemblies of God Churches in New Zealand, Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton, Samani Pulepule, Brian Houston, William Joseph Jordan, Leonard Monk Isitt, Samoan Assemblies of God Churches in Mainland Usa, Thomas Brash, Heaton Rhodes, David Buddo, Alan Brash, Richard Barcham Shalders, Marian Hobbs, Roger Sowry, Max Taogaga, Ngaire Thomas, Bill Anderton, Henry Holland, Florence Young, Henry Monson, New Life Churches, New Zealand, Ian Wishart, Elise Kemp, Wayne Hughes, Russell Marshall, David Moxon, James George Deck, Reginald Herbert Owen, Phyllis Guthardt, Norman Alfred Lesser, Bobbie Houston, Joseph Kemp, Colin Scrimgeour, Clyde Carr, Campbell West-Watson, Ernest Aderman, Michael Chamberlain, Peter Tait, John Oswald Sanders, Charles Elliot Fox, Miriam Dell, William Downie Stewart, Frederick Thatcher, Bill Subritzky, James Thorn, Sidney Gething Caulton, James Alexander Mclean Roy, Robert Laidlaw, Pentecostal Church of New Zealand, Frederick Frost, John Manchester Allen, David Goldie, William H. Pettit, Vivienne Boyd, John Aitken, Associated Pentecostal Churches of New Zealand. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 276. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million bo...http://booksllc.net/?id=1109104 ... Read more

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The book has no illustrations or index. It may have numerous typos or missing text. However, purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original rare book from the publisher's website (GeneralBooksClub.com). You can also preview excerpts of the book there. Purchasers are also entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Title: The National Hymn-Book of the American Churches : Comprising the Hymns Which Are Common to the Hymnaries of the Baptists, Congregationalists, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, and Reformed, With the Most Usual Tunes; Original Publisher: Philadelphia : John D. Wattles; Publication date: 1893; Subjects: Hymns, English; Music / Religious / Hymns; Music / Religious / Christian; ... Read more

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Chapters: Jonathan Edwards, Lyman Abbott, John Stevens Cabot Abbott, Leonard Bacon, Henry Ward Beecher, Ezra Stiles, Blackleach Burritt, Increase Mather, Jonathan Leavitt, Antoinette Brown Blackwell, Ashley Day Leavitt, Dudley Leavitt, S. Parkes Cadman, John Lothropp, Leonard Woolsey Bacon, Lewis Sperry Chafer, Solomon Stoddard, George B. Bacon, Joshua Leavitt, C. I. Scofield, Samuel C. Damon, John Eliot, Edward Woolsey Bacon, Reuben Gaylord, Washington Gladden, Thomas Rutherford Bacon, Gordon Hugenberger, Peter Bulkley, Joseph Tracy, William Adams, Solomon Spalding, William Lee Bradley, Samuel Cooper, R. A. Torrey, Douglas Horton, James Strong, Joseph Lord, Jonathan Dickinson, Eleazar Wheelock, Elijah Kellogg, Charles Beecher, William Salter, John Wise, Asa Mahan, Joseph Barker, Edward Beecher, Aaron Bancroft, Amos Noë Freeman, Henry Martyn Field, Jeremiah Rankin, Edward Norris Kirk, Richard Mather, Howard Hyde Russell, Harvey Newcomb, Francis Edward Clark, Claudius Herrick, Charles Reynolds Brown, James Pierpont, David Dudley Field I, John Barnard. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 267. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Jonathan Edwards (October 5, 1703 March 22, 1758) was a preacher, theologian, and missionary to Native Americans. Edwards "is widely acknowledged to be America's most important and original philosophical theologian," and one of America's greatest intellectuals. Edwards's theological work is very broad in scope, but he is often associated with his defense of Reformed theology, the metaphysics of theological determinism, and the Puritan heritage. Recent studies have emphasized how thoroughly Edwards grounded his life's work on conceptions of beauty, harmony, and ethical fittingness, and how central The Enlightenment was to his mindset. Edwards played a critical role in...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=52057 ... Read more

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Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Isaac Watts (17 July 1674 25 November 1748), is recognised as the "Father of English Hymnody", as he was the first prolific and popular English hymnwriter, credited with some 750 hymns. Many of his hymns remain in active use today and have been translated into many languages. Statue of Isaac Watts in Southampton.Born in Southampton, England,in 1674, Watts was brought up in the home of a committed Nonconformist his father, also Isaac Watts, had been incarcerated twice for his controversial views. At King Edward VI School (where one of the houses is now named "Watts" in his honour), he learned Latin, Greek and Hebrew. He displayed a propensity for rhyme at home, driving his parents to the point of distraction on many occasions with his verse. Once, he had to explain how he came to have his eyes open during prayers. A little mouse for want of stairsran up a rope to say its prayers.Receiving corporal punishment for this, he cried O father, father, pity takeAnd I will no more verses make.Watts, unable to go to either Oxford or Cambridge on account of his non-conformity, went to the Dissenting Academy at Stoke Newington in 1690, and much of his life centred around that village, then a rural idyll but now part of Inner London. His education led him to the pastorate of a large Independent Chapel in London, and he also found himself in the position of helping trainee preachers, despite poor health. Taking work as a private tutor, he lived with the non-conformist Hartopp family at Fleetwood House, Abney Park in Stoke Newington, and later in the household of Sir Thomas Abney and Lady Mary Abney at Theobalds, Cheshunt, in Hertfordshire, and at their second residence, Abney House, Stoke Newington. Though a non-conformist, Sir Thomas practised occasional c... More: http://booksllc.net/?id=239143 ... Read more

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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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Chapters: Samuel Griffith, Gwynfor Evans, John Lewis, Lyn Harding, John Dyfnallt Owen. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 31. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Sir Samuel Walker Griffith GCMG QC, (21 June 1845 9 August 1920) was an Australian politician, Premier of Queensland, Chief Justice and a principal author of the Constitution of Australia. Griffith was born in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, the younger son of the Rev. Edward Griffith, a Congregational minister and his wife, Mary, second daughter of Peter Walker. Although of Welsh extraction, his forebears for at least three generations were natives of England. The family migrated to Queensland when Samuel was eight. He was educated at schools in Ipswich, Sydney, Maitland and Brisbane (from 1860), towns where his father was a minister, then at the University of Sydney, where he graduated B.A. in 1863 with first-class honours in classics, mathematics and natural science. During his course he was awarded the Cooper and Barker scholarships and other prizes. On his return to Brisbane he studied law and was articled to Arthur Macalister, in one of whose ministries Griffith afterwards had his first portfolio. In 1865 he gained the T. S. Mort Travelling Fellowship. Travelling to Europe he spent some of his time in Italy, and became much attached to the Italian people and their literature. Many years after he was to become the first Australian translator of Dante (The Inferno of Dante Alighieri in 1908). Griffith then studied law in Brisbane, where he was called to the bar in 1867. In 1870 Griffith returned to Sydney to complete an M.A.. In the same year he married Julia Janet Thomson. In 1872 Griffith was elected to the Queensland Legislative Assembly. Throughout his career he saw himself as a lawyer first and a politician second, and continue...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=327696 ... Read more

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Subtitle: With Special Reference to Congregationalists. Lectures Delivered on the Carew Foundation Before Hartford Theological Seminary in 1896General Books publication date: 2009Original publication date: 1897Original Publisher: Silver, BurnettSubjects: Congregational churchesNew EnglandCongregational churches in New EnglandHistory / United States / Colonial Period (1600-1775)History / United States / State ... Read more

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Chapters: Congregational Denominations and Unions Established in the 20th Century, Congregational Organizations Established in the 19th Century, Congregational Christian Churches, National Association of Congregational Christian Churches, Congregational Holiness Church, Conservative Congregational Christian Conference, Oberlin Congregational Church, First Congregational Church (Detroit, Michigan), Hudsonville Congregational United Church of Christ, Congregational Federation, Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches, Hampshire Colony Congregational Church, Congregational Federation of Australia, United Congregational Church of Southern Africa. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 49. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: The Congregational Christian Churches were a Protestant Christian denomination that operated in the U.S. from 1931 through 1957. On the latter date, most of its churches joined the Evangelical and Reformed Church in a merger to become the United Church of Christ. Others created the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches. During the forementioned period, its churches were organized nationally into a General Council, with parallel state conferences, sectional associations, and missionary instrumentalities. Congregations, however, retained their local autonomy and these groups were separate from the congregations. The body came into being in Seattle, Washington in 1931 by the merger of two American bodies that practiced congregational church governance, the General Council of Congregational Churches and the General Convention of the Christian Church. Initially using the word "and" between the words "Congregational" and "Christian," the new denomination decided to combine the predecessor churches' identities into one nationally, while its constituent...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=1274955 ... Read more