Religion in Romantic England ─ An Anthology of Primary Sources

Religion in Romantic England explores the ways that the literature of English Christianity shaped the social, cultural, political, and religious life of the nation in texts published between 1760 and 1832. From the accession of George III and the expansion of Methodism in the late eighteenth century to the Reform Bill and the beginning of the Oxford Movement of the early nineteenth, this anthology reveals how theological ideas and ecclesial movements influenced one of the most widely studied periods in English literature and history. These tumultuous decades brought religious revival in evangelical preaching and spirituality, controversial responses to the French Revolution, the abolition of the slave trade, the struggle over Roman Catholic emancipation, the proliferation of missionary societies, and intellectual battles over the nature of God, the Bible, faith, church authority, and religious pluralism. Religious writers in the Romantic period range from poets and preachers to pamphleteers and theologians. In ten thematic chapters tracing pivotal developments in belief and practice, Religion in Romantic England guides readers in understanding the major historical and theological issues that contributed to the literary, educational, and political movements of the era. These judicious selections, drawn from a diverse body of luminaries—including William Carey, Edmund Burke, Mary Wollstonecraft, Joseph Priestley, Hannah More, Percy Shelley, and William Wilberforce, among many others—introduce newcomers and established readers alike to the ideas, controversies, and hopes that continue to affect our common life to this day.

Jeffrey W. Barbeau is Professor of Theology at Wheaton College.