Books in the Cambridge Library Collection - Religion series

Holliday Bickerstaff Kendall (1844-1919) was a Methodist minister and a social historian. Born into a family of Primitive Methodist ministers, Kendall himself served as a minister between 1864 and 1903. This volume, written during his retirement and first published in 1919, contains Kendall's history of the origins and development of the Primitive Methodist movement. The movement originated with Hugh Bourne (1772-1852) and William Clowes (1780-1851), who attempted to restore the mass evangelism they thought had been lost in the Wesleyan Church after 1810. Kendall explores the social and political context of this period, and discusses Bourne's and Clowes' influence on the origins of the movement. He then describes the growth and development of the movement in the nineteenth century, discussing the expansion of the church until 1918. This clear and concise volume is considered the definitive work on the history of the movement.

This volume was published in 1911 for the New York Bible and Common Prayer Book Society to celebrate the three hundredth anniversary of the King James Bible. The Rev. Henry Barker, described in the preface as 'a late presbyter of this church' but about whom little is known, gives a full historical account of the manuscript origins of the Bible, the development of the biblical canon and the early efforts, made by reformers such as Wyclif in the fourteenth century and Tyndale in the sixteenth, to translate the Bible into the vernacular and thus make its content more accessible to the laity. Barker provides a clear and factual account not only of the evolution of the Bible in English but also of the background of social and political change that fostered the various early translations.

Hugh Bourne (1772-1852) was a Methodist preacher who is best known as the co-founder of the Primitive Methodist movement. After converting to Methodism in 1799, Bourne became influenced by the evangelical American Lorenzo Dow (1777-1834) and together with William Clowes held an open-air evangelical meeting in 1807. Such gatherings were prohibited by the Methodist Conference, and the two were expelled by the Methodist Society in 1808. They formed the Primitive Methodist Connexion in 1810, with Bourne assuming a leading role in the movement. This volume, first published in 1854 and written by Bourne's nephew John Walford, contains a detailed biography of Bourne. Using private papers inherited on Bourne's death, his childhood, conversion and the founding of the movement are described, with his leadership of the Connexion also discussed. This biography provides valuable information concerning Bourne's life and motivations during and after the founding of the movement.

Methodist missionary Thomas Birch Freeman (1809-1890) was one of the most successful missionaries of his day, founding churches in Nigeria and the Gold Coast. The son of an African father and English mother, he possessed great diplomatic skills in dealing with colonial administrators and native rulers, and Methodist churches spread rapidly using literate converts as lay preachers, particularly among freed and repatriated slaves. His resignation was caused by financial problems due to poor accounting. His Journal was serialised in a Methodist periodical between 1840 and 1843, published as a book in 1843, and revised the following year. His attempts to get the slave trade and the practice of human sacrifice abolished in Dahomey were frustrated, but he was much more successful in founding missions. The book is a fascinating picture of life in West Africa in the mid-nineteenth century.

George Augustus Selwyn (1809-1878) was the first Anglican Bishop of New Zealand, with Selwyn College, Cambridge later named in his honour. New Zealand was declared an independent British colony in 1841 and the Diocese of New Zealand was established in the same year. After graduating from St. John's College, Cambridge in 1831, Selwyn had been ordained priest in 1834 and consecrated as the first Bishop of New Zealand in 1841. This volume, first published in 1844, contains a series of journals and letters written by Selwyn during his first two years in New Zealand. He provides an intimate and detailed description of the organisation and society of the new colony and the growth of new settlements including Auckland and Wellington. He also describes the landscape and lives of the Maori in remote areas mostly untouched by colonisation, providing a fascinating account of the early history of colonial New Zealand.

St Paul's conversion to Christianity transformed a vicious persecutor of Christians into one of the most important and influential figures in the foundation of the early church. Paul's broad theological knowledge and his ambitious vision for the faith made him a major force in the development of Christianity from its origins as an obscure Jewish sect. W. L. Knox's 1925 biography examines what influenced Paul's theological ideas and how his desire to extend the church's reach to gentiles and the wider world put him in opposition with other early church figures like St Peter. Placing Paul's work in the social and religious context of Jerusalem following the death of Jesus, Knox evokes the atmosphere of persecution in Jerusalem and the inner social dynamics of the early Christian sect, evaluating Paul's impact on the growing church and the particular ideas and elements of doctrine that prevailed as a result of his involvement.

John Henry Newman (1801-1890) was an English priest and theologian, whose highly publicised and controversial conversion to Catholicism helped to dispel prejudice towards Catholics in Victorian society. After graduating from Trinity College, Oxford, Newman was ordained as an Anglican deacon in 1824. He gradually became more conservative in his beliefs, becoming a member of the Oxford Movement before converting to Catholicism and being received into the Roman Catholic Church in 1845; he was made a cardinal in 1879. This volume, first published in 1864, contains Newman's classic religious autobiography. Writing in response to a perceived attack on Catholicism by historian and novelist Charles Kingsley, Newman describes his changing religious beliefs between 1833 and 1845 and discusses his spiritual motivations for converting. Newman's emotional sensitivity and clear style ensured the popularity of this volume, which was extremely influential in establishing him as the leading exponent of Catholicism in Victorian England.

Rabi'a, a female Sufi saint, was born in 717 CE and released from slavery to lead a life in pursuit of purity and perfect union with God. Her teachings and the numerous miracles attributed to her have made her an influential and revered figure in Sufi theology. This authoritative 1928 biography of the saint was written by Margaret Smith, who mastered numerous eastern languages, travelled extensively, and published a number of translations of important Arabic texts. Smith's linguistic skill and her immersion in the culture she studied has produced a book still considered an important account of Rabi'a's life. Smith also includes an incisive discussion of the role of women in early Islamic mysticism and an examination of Sufi doctrine, and examines the issues of celibacy and sainthood in Islam. A biography of one exceptional woman written by another.

This account of the life of the missionary John Williams (1796-1839), first published in 1843, celebrates his character and his achievements in evangelizing the South Sea islands. Williams believed that the spread of Christianity, 'civilization', and commerce went hand-in-hand, and his work in and around Tahiti and Rarotonga from the time of his first posting there by the London Missionary Society in 1817 was largely well received. In 1830 he became the first person to introduce Christianity to Samoa and, after returning to England in 1834 to raise money and support for the cause, he returned to the Pacific as a celebrity. His final voyage was to Eromango in the New Hebrides, where he was killed and eaten. This violent death combined with the success of his earlier missions caused him to be regarded as a heroic figure and inspired much popular literature.

This memoir, compiled from the journals of Hannah Kilham, traces the life of this remarkable woman (1774-1832). It was prepared for publication in 1837 by her stepdaughter, Sarah Biller, who emphasises those aspects of her stepmother's life that support the representation of her as an independent and pioneering women in order to make further claims for women. In 1796 Hannah Kilham joined the Society of Methodists and became an advocate for the poor, for exploited children and for Irish immigrants. She voyaged to Sierra Leone wishing to bring Christianity to its inhabitants and on her third visit to the country she established a school there. Hannah Kilham fought for the rights of slaves and former slaves and against the practices of colonialism and colonial trade. She also produced textbooks for the study of African languages and established herself as a politically astute chronicler of missionary and educational activities.

James Hudson Taylor (1832-1905), the founder of the large and respected China Inland Mission, wrote the pamphlet China's Spiritual Need and Claims in 1865. It was subsequently published as a book and reprinted in numerous editions. This volume contains the seventh edition, first published in 1887. The work is both a survey of Protestant missionary activity in China since the treaty of Tientsin in 1858 and a recruitment pamphlet that inspired many English men and women to travel to China as missionaries. It provides a wealth of demographic and cultural information about nineteenth-century China and about the western missionaries stationed there. As one of the most popular works on Protestant missions during the nineteenth century, it is an essential source for understanding the motivations of Victorian missionaries in general as well as Taylor's own beliefs. It is an indispensable source for researchers in mission history.

Reginald Heber (1783-1826), second bishop of Calcutta, was appointed to the role in 1823, and had for a long time been interested in the Church of England's overseas missions. His diocese in the subcontinent had been established less than a decade before, in 1814, and included India, southern Africa and Australia. Heber travelled extensively throughout, visiting remote Anglican communities and later publishing journals about his travels. In addition, he was well-known as a hymn-writer. Sermons Preached in India, however, was published posthumously in 1829, and edited by his widow, Amelia. This volume also illustrates Heber's zeal to carry out his work across his diocese, the location of his sermons range from Delhi to Dum Dum. Missionaries would have been a significant part of his diocese, and these homilies reflect many of the difficulties faced by Anglicans living in a place that had its own strong religious beliefs.

Medieval historian G. G. Coulton relinquished his own holy orders in 1885 but remained firmly engaged with Christianity. This 1919 collection of lectures is a radical and impassioned discussion of how Christianity must change to meet the needs of post-war society as soldiers return from the trenches. Drawing parallels between the lives of Jesus Christ and St Francis of Assisi, Coulton highlights how ambiguities in the surviving accounts of both men have diverted the original course of their ministry and, with it, the objectives and outlook of the church. The author also takes on the weaknesses in both Catholic and agnostic arguments and advocates a simplifying and democratisation of Christianity and the resolving of denominational differences. Included alongside the lectures is the author's comprehensive response to a number of questions raised by the original lecture series which provides a useful conclusion to the controversial anti-Catholic's plea for religious modernisation.

David Brainerd dedicated much of his short life to preaching the gospel to Native American peoples. Josiah Pratt's 1834 biography uses Brainerd's own journal and letters to examine the character of an extraordinary man and expose the discrepancy between Brainerd's self-lacerating writings and the exceptional fortitude made evident by his deeds. It includes Brainerd's moving and eloquent account of his own conversion, his chronic illness and the privations he suffered during a life he described as 'a constant mixture of consolations and conflicts'. This fascinating insight into the private thoughts and struggles of a remarkable figure charts his ceaseless pursuit of God and the battle between his inexhaustible religious fervour and his chronic physical infirmity. The book also includes Brainerd's reflections on the process of conversion and the signs of godliness, and his description of the difficulties he faced in converting Native Americans.

Captured by slavers as a boy, freed by the Royal Navy, and raised at a mission, Samuel Crowther in 1864 became the first African to be ordained as an Anglican bishop. As a priest, he accompanied the Scottish merchant MacGregor Laird on his expedition to West Africa in 1854, and celebrated Sunday services in a variety of bizarre locations and perilous conditions. This 1855 book is Crowther's detailed record of his journey aboard the steamboat Pleiad. Written from the unusual perspective of an African-born, London-educated clergyman, it is a congenial and evocative account of the day-to-day difficulties confronting the explorers, their interactions with native peoples, and encounters with slavery and civil war. Crowther, a keen linguist, went on to publish several books on African languages including Nupe, Igbo and Yoruba. This book includes a substantial appendix comparing the grammar and vocabularies of the languages he encountered.

The Reverend Henry Venn (1725-1797) was an Anglican clergyman who became a central figure in the English evangelical revival movement of the late eighteenth century. This book, containing a substantial selection of his letters and a biography written by his son John, was edited for publication in London in 1834 by his grandson Henry (who himself became an influential clergyman and missionary). The elder Henry Venn, after studying at Cambridge and being ordained priest, had ministered in parishes including Clapham, Huddersfield and Yelling. He was famous for his preaching, which attracted large congregations, and was remembered especially for his work among the urban and rural poor. He also published several books, including The Whole Duty of Man (1763), which reveal the development of his theological views over the course of his life. They are listed in the bibliography of this volume.

A leading British intellectual of the Victorian era, William Whewell (1794-1866) was a contemporary and adviser of Herschel, Darwin and Faraday. A geologist, astronomer, theologian and Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, he was best known for his works on moral philosophy and the history and philosophy of science, and for coining, among others, the term 'scientist'. This book, originally published in 1833, is one of a series of treatises published with the help of a legacy from the Earl of Bridgewater (d.1829), intended to contribute to an understanding of the world as created by God. Though an advocate of religion, Whewell accepts that progress in science leads to an understanding of the laws and processes of the natural world. He argues, however, that ultimately the scientific understanding of creation, astronomy, and the laws of the universe only serves to confirm the idea of a divine designer.

Edited by the church historian and Benedictine monk Cuthbert Butler (1858-1934), this two-volume edition of Palladius' Lausiac History combines the Greek text with scholarly analysis. Volume 1 (1898) discusses the various manuscripts of the History, Palladius' theology and sources, and the history of Egyptian monasticism more broadly.

This monumental five-volume history of early Christian literature, published between 1902 and 1932 by Munich professor Otto Bardenhewer (1851-1935), was acclaimed for its thoroughness, clarity and sound judgment, and remains a standard work of reference. Volume 1 focuses on the second century, from the Didache to Ignatius of Antioch.

Prepared by Benjamin Thorpe (1781/2-1870) and first published in 1844-6, this two-volume collection contains transcriptions and translations of the Sermones Catholici of AElfric of Eynsham (c.950-c.1010). Volume 1 (1844) contains sermons for the first year of a two-year cycle, and focuses on the important events in the calendar.

Reginald Heber (1783-1826), Bishop of Calcutta from 1823 to 1826, spent his episcopate travelling widely throughout India. His widow published this two-volume biography in 1830, as well as editions of his sermons and journals. Volume 1 deals with his early life and career, and includes letters and unpublished writings.

In 1834 Congregational Ministers Reed (1787-1862) and Matheson (1766-1840) were sent to sister churches in the United States, to promote peace and friendship between the two communities. In Volume 2 of this two-volume work of 1835, the focus is on theological issues, though education is also discussed.

George Augustus Selwyn (1809-78) was the first Anglican bishop of New Zealand, and later bishop of Lichfield. His ministry helped to shape the form of the Anglican Communion and the relationship of the colonial churches to the Church of England. This 1879 biography was written by his chaplain.

In this two-volume 1896 work, Alan E. Brooke (1863-1939) edited the revised Greek text of Origen's landmark Commentary on John, a work originally written to rescue the gospel from the divergent interpretations of the Gnostics. Volume 1 discusses the manuscript tradition and provides some of the extant chapters.

Strauss' highly controversial The Life of Jesus applied strict historical methods to the gospel narratives and caused scandal by concluding that all miraculous elements were mythical and ahistorical. Volume 1 introduces the idea of 'de-mythology' and applies modern historical methods to the narratives of Jesus' birth and early life.

In this lively three-volume account first published in 1843, the British adventurer and agent of the Bible Society, George Henry Borrow, describes his travels in Spain during the 1830s distributing the scriptures. The book's mixture of exotic travelogue and anti-Catholic sentiment proved very popular with early Victorian readers.

Between 1878 and 1902, Constance E. Plumptre championed some of the most fascinating philosophical theories of the Victorian age. Volume 1 of her history of Pantheism (1878) tackles periods and theories as diverse as Brahminism and Scholasticism to provide an erudite but accessible introduction to Oriental, Greek and modern Pantheism.

Laurence Austine Waddell (1854-1938) served in the Indian Medical Service, which took him to Darjeeling, Burma and Tibet. He carried out original field research at Buddhist temples and among the lay population. Highly illustrated, this landmark study of Tibetan Buddhism, its history, doctrine, temples and rituals, first appeared in 1895.

In the fourth century, Arianism asserted that Christ was not truly divine but a created being. St Athanasius (c.296-373) vigorously defended the Christian orthodoxy. This 1873 publication reproduces his orations in the original Greek. Also included is a biography of Athanasius by the ecclesiastical historian William Bright (1824-1901).

Volume 5 of Pahlavi Texts was published in 1897 and includes texts from the Dinkard and Selections of Zad-sparam relating legendary marvels from creation to resurrection. West's translations of these texts offer easy access to the most valuable sources for Zoroaster's life and a prophetic chronology of the faith.