Politicians in the Pulpit

Christian Radicalism in Britain from the Fall of the Bastille to the Disintegration of Chartism

Eileen Groth Lyon

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781138327139
• eBook ISBN: 9780429830631
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: History

First published in 1999, the world of Christian radicalism in the first half of the nineteenth century is reconstructed here with thorough research by Eileen Groth Lyon. Christian radicals, during this period, sought to incite political action through the use of Scripture, using such themes as the rights of man as founded in God's gift of creation, the deliverance of oppressed peoples, and the perceived favour towards the poor shown in the Gospels. The author tracks the origin and fate of the movement for the first time, from its beginnings in the eighteenth century, through its implementation in the major politic agitations of the early and mid-nineteenth century, to its fruition in the achievements of the campaigns for parliamentary, factory and poor law reform. By focusing on the Christian radical programme, Politicians in the Pulpit advances a new understanding of the most important political initiatives of early Victorian Britain.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of figures
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1 ‘Rendering unto Caesar’: religion and the socio-political order in the 1790s
• 2 ‘The politics of the Bible’: Christian radicalism in the post-Napoleonic period
• 3 ‘Rights most dear and sacred’: Christian radicalism and parliamentary reform
• 4 ‘In the sweat of thy brow’: work, oppression and slavery in the factories
• 5 ‘To do justly and to love mercy’ in the debate over the Poor Laws
• 6 ‘To Your Tents O Israel’: radical action during the Chartist period
• Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Index