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Canadian Baptist Fundamentalism, 1878–1978
Edited by Taylor Murray and Paul R. Wilson
Series: McMaster General Studies Series
Imprint: Pickwick Publications
As the first single-volume work to present a national picture of Baptist engagement with the fundamentalist movement in Canada in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Canadian Baptist Fundamentalism fills an important gap in the historiography. It explores the contributions of well-known fundamentalists, such as T. T. Shields, William "Bible Bill" Aberhart, and J. J. Sidey, while also introducing the reader to several lesser-known figures, including Joshua Denovan, E. J. Stobo, and T. A. Meister. Together, these studies demonstrate the diversity of the fundamentalist movement as it emerged and developed across Canada. By drawing on material from across the country, Canadian Baptist Fundamentalism addresses old themes in new ways--and, in the process, raises a variety of questions and possibilities for new avenues of study.
Taylor Murray is an Instructor of the History of Christianity and Creative Producer of Distributed Learning at Tyndale University in Toronto. He is co-author of Baptists in Canada: Their History and Polity (2020) and co-editor of Atlantic Baptists and Their World: A Festschrift in Honour of Dr. Robert S. Wilson (2020).
Paul R. Wilson is a former professor and pastor, and he is currently the President of the Canadian Baptist Historical Society. He holds a PhD in history from the University of Western Ontario. He is co-editor of Baptists and Public Life in Canada (2012) and has published various articles, conference papers, and chapters about the rich history of Canadian Baptists.
“These fine studies on various aspects of Baptist fundamentalism in Canada fill a great need. . . . This book is also necessary reading for understanding the status and identity of Canadian Evangelicalism at the present. For like it or not, many modern-day Evangelicals in Canada are the spiritual and theological children and grandchildren of the believers discussed in these pages. Well conceived and superbly executed!”
—Michael A. G. Haykin, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
“Murray and Wilson have done yeoman’s work for those interested in a more nuanced and scholarly view of fundamentalism in Canada. This edited volume is well researched, deftly edited, and a must-read for those interested in a much-maligned though highly influential movement among Canadian Baptists.”
—Gordon L. Heath, McMaster Divinity College
“This book offers a carefully researched, well-argued, and accessible account of Canadian Baptists during a tumultuous century. For this American reader, it succeeds especially in showing the many ways in which Canadian Baptists resembled American fundamentalists, but also significant areas where being a Canadian made a difference. For pushing back against stereotypes and making good use of first-order research, editors Murray and Wilson have made a significant contribution to historical knowledge and theological understanding.”
—Mark Noll, author of A History of Christianity in the United States and Canada
“Understanding the role of fundamentalism among Canadian Baptists explains much about their life, ministry, and fragmentation in the twentieth century. This significant volume adds new perspectives on those who thought they were defending indispensable doctrines and demonstrates how Baptist congregational autonomy allowed them to have such a wide impact.”
—Robert S. Wilson, Acadia Divinity College, emeritus
“The fundamentalist Baptists of Canada were not a small coterie of militant obscurantists but a varied set of conservative Protestants with diverse institutions and shifting priorities. In a volume that covers the whole of Canada and extends over an eventful century, eight authors ably portray the contours of a movement with strong but changing Christian convictions.”
—David Bebbington, University of Stirling, emeritus
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