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19 pages, 373 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Absence of God in J. M. Barrie’s Post-War Writings: Mary Rose (1920) and Courage (1922)

by John Patrick Pazdziora

Religions 2022, 13(8), 706; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13080706 - 31 Jul 2022

Viewed by 1405

J. M. Barrie (1860–1937) remains best known as the creator of Peter Pan (1904), celebrated as a whimsical eccentric who wrote sad stories about lost children. In his own day, however, he was respected as Scotland’s leading dramatist and a trenchant social critic. [...] Read more.

J. M. Barrie (1860–1937) remains best known as the creator of Peter Pan (1904), celebrated as a whimsical eccentric who wrote sad stories about lost children. In his own day, however, he was respected as Scotland’s leading dramatist and a trenchant social critic. His writings from the years following the First World War are much darker in tone than his earlier work, as a series of intense personal bereavements shook his aesthetic embrace of Christian Humanism. God exists in Barrie’s post-war works as the presence of absence, a vacancy where the divine ought to be but where an inexplicable experience of bereavement hangs instead. This paper considers the nature of God’s absence in two of Barrie’s major post-war works, the drama Mary Rose (1920) and the lecture Courage (1922), through the interrelated images of the crucified body of Christ and the absent λόγος. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Christianity in Scotland in the Long 20th Century)

17 pages, 270 KiB

Open AccessArticle

To Build the New Jerusalem: The Ministry and Citizenship of Protestant Women in Twentieth Century Scotland

by Lesley Orr

Religions 2022, 13(7), 599; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13070599 - 27 Jun 2022

Viewed by 1456

Abstract

The question of women’s ordination to offices within churches, and in particular to the ministry of word and sacrament, gave rise to one of the major ecclesiological debates of the modern era. In common with other contested issues during this period, different approaches [...] Read more.

The question of women’s ordination to offices within churches, and in particular to the ministry of word and sacrament, gave rise to one of the major ecclesiological debates of the modern era. In common with other contested issues during this period, different approaches to biblical interpretation and the doing of theology were at stake, but while the precise chronology, arguments and outcomes differed in particular denominations and locations, comparison across a range of churches—certainly within Britain—indicates that these were related predominantly to wider social and cultural changes, more than to internal theological debates. In Scotland, extensive discursive attention was devoted to the place and role of women in the church for over a century before the Church of Scotland extended eligibility for ordination to women. Questions about the ministry and authority of women have particularly exercised ecclesiastical institutions during heightened periods of campaigning for reforms to women’s status and rights in society. The first wave of feminist activism culminated in their enfranchisement (1918 and 1928). Many Protestant churchwomen were deeply engaged in the struggle to become equal citizens. They believed that it was a profoundly Christian obligation to exercise their citizenship to build a better world. They also contended that women should not be prevented from exercising the ordained ministry of word and sacraments, as a matter of justice and as a gospel imperative. This article considers the progress of efforts to that end in some Scottish Protestant churches between 1918 and 1968, and their framing in the contemporary discourses of citizenship and equality, particularly during the interwar years. It discusses factors which impeded or facilitated that innovation, and the major societal changes from the 1950s which created a conducive context for the Church of Scotland decision. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Christianity in Scotland in the Long 20th Century)

14 pages, 261 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Separatist Presbyterianism in 20th Century Scotland

by Angus Morrison

Religions 2022, 13(7), 571; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13070571 - 21 Jun 2022

Viewed by 1311

Abstract

This essay aims to give an account of separatist Presbyterian denominations in the context of Christianity in Scotland in the 20th century. After a brief introduction, attention is first given to the circumstances in which the denominations concerned were birthed. A second section [...] Read more.

This essay aims to give an account of separatist Presbyterian denominations in the context of Christianity in Scotland in the 20th century. After a brief introduction, attention is first given to the circumstances in which the denominations concerned were birthed. A second section looks at their current place within the wider Scottish context. In the third section, further attention is paid to the two most recent, late 20th century, divisions, those of 1989 and 2000. Concluding reflections seek to view the scene, thus sketched, through a wider lens and to look to the future with a degree of hope for reconciliation and healing. This paper is indebted to the invaluable insights, particularly in regard to the content of its third section, of the Revd Archie McPhail. Sincere thanks are also due to the Revd Martin Keane, Principal Clerk of the United Free Church, and the Revd David Meredith, Mission Director of the Free Church of Scotland, for their gracious and helpful responses to specific queries about their respective denominations. Any errors of fact or judgement are of course those of the author. In writing on a subject as difficult—and painful—as this, one inevitably brings personal perspectives to bear. Those of this writer have inevitably been formed, at least in part, in the context of an unusual ecclesiastical journey within the territory of three denominations—the Free Presbyterian Church, the Associated Presbyterian Churches and the Church of Scotland. Personal involvement in the history and denominational transfers of recent decades, together with long service as a parish minister and experience as a former Moderator, lend to the paper its distinctive angle of approach. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Christianity in Scotland in the Long 20th Century)

17 pages, 236 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Baptists in Scotland and Their Publications in the Long 20th Century

by Brian R. Talbot

Religions 2022, 13(6), 564; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13060564 - 17 Jun 2022

Viewed by 1574

Abstract

The impression is given in studies of theological books published in Scotland in the long twentieth-century that Scottish Baptists produced few significant works of academic scholarship. There is also no indication of any significant contribution made by more popular studies in theology or [...] Read more.

The impression is given in studies of theological books published in Scotland in the long twentieth-century that Scottish Baptists produced few significant works of academic scholarship. There is also no indication of any significant contribution made by more popular studies in theology or in church history. There is no doubt that only a very small number of scholars from this constituency have produced notable works in the fields of biblical studies missiology or theology, though a much larger number of works were produced for the benefit of the members of Christian congregations in this country. In the field of church history, very few works were published in the first half of the twentieth century, but by contrast, an increasing number of authors contributed to a flourishing area of studies in more recent decades. However, this study seeks to demonstrate that far more books were published than had been expected, and further studies are likely to increase this total in due course. It will be argued that Scottish Baptists, therefore, made a small but also significant contribution to both academic and more popular publishing in these fields in the long twentieth century. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Christianity in Scotland in the Long 20th Century)

15 pages, 242 KiB

Open AccessArticle

“Prayer, after All, Is but Thinking towards God” Philosophical Theology and Private Prayer in the Spirituality of John Baillie

by James M. Gordon

Religions 2022, 13(6), 506; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13060506 - 02 Jun 2022

Viewed by 1672

Abstract

John Baillie was a leading Scottish theologian during the middle third of the 20th Century. A son of the manse and a staunch Presbyterian, his intellectual journey engaged the disciplines of philosophical and systematic theology. Following 15 years in North America he returned [...] Read more.

John Baillie was a leading Scottish theologian during the middle third of the 20th Century. A son of the manse and a staunch Presbyterian, his intellectual journey engaged the disciplines of philosophical and systematic theology. Following 15 years in North America he returned to Edinburgh as Professor of Divinity in 1934. In the decade 1929–1939 Baillie published several substantial books of theology and a volume of prayers. While his theology during this period was speculative and liberal, the prayers reveal a piety which is biblically rooted, Christ centered, and theologically robust. By comparing the prayers with his theological publications of the same period, this essay explores the spirituality of John Baillie by examining the conversation between his philosophical theology and personal piety, with a particular focus on The Place of Jesus Christ in Modern Christianity (1929), A Diary of Private Prayer (1936), and Our Knowledge of God (1939). Each book is placed in context, and Baillie’s spirituality in the prayers is shown to be significantly indebted to his particular intellectual and conceptual understanding of knowledge of God, human experience of God as mediated immediacy, and the central place of Jesus Christ in his Christian piety. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Christianity in Scotland in the Long 20th Century)

18 pages, 322 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Brethren in Scotland: A Historical Overview during the Long Twentieth-Century

by Neil Dickson

Religions 2022, 13(6), 504; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13060504 - 02 Jun 2022

Viewed by 5948

Abstract

The Brethren were pervasive in Lowland Scottish society during the twentieth century. At the beginning of the century in Scotland, they had spilt into three main sections: the Open Brethren, the Exclusive Brethren, and the Churches of God. Schism was a recurring feature [...] Read more.

The Brethren were pervasive in Lowland Scottish society during the twentieth century. At the beginning of the century in Scotland, they had spilt into three main sections: the Open Brethren, the Exclusive Brethren, and the Churches of God. Schism was a recurring feature in the last two sections, and this paper traces the history of the various secessions and offers an account of why they were prone to division. Using the sociological typologies of sect and denomination, this paper examines the relationship between the Brethren and Scottish culture and society, including social class, use of leisure, and withdrawal and engagement in the cultural and business worlds, noting commonalities and variegations across the various streams. The final sections examine the growth and decline of the various streams and the reasons for both. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Christianity in Scotland in the Long 20th Century)

16 pages, 309 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Impact of the Great War on Scottish Christianity

by Kenneth Boyle Emery Roxburgh

Religions 2022, 13(6), 499; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13060499 - 31 May 2022

Viewed by 1517

Abstract

This paper explores the impact of the Great War (1914–1918) on Christianity in Scotland. This includes the attitudes of various denominations to the war, the rise and fall of religious attendance, and the impact of the war on Sabbatarianism, Sunday schools, church attendance, [...] Read more.

This paper explores the impact of the Great War (1914–1918) on Christianity in Scotland. This includes the attitudes of various denominations to the war, the rise and fall of religious attendance, and the impact of the war on Sabbatarianism, Sunday schools, church attendance, theology, and social and moral issues in Scottish society. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Christianity in Scotland in the Long 20th Century)

14 pages, 275 KiB

Open AccessArticle

George Calling: A Rhetorical Analysis of Four Broadcast Sermons Preached by the Rev. George F. MacLeod from Govan in 1934

by Stuart McLeod Blythe

Religions 2022, 13(5), 420; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13050420 - 06 May 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1662

Abstract

George F. MacLeod was one of the most significant Church leaders in twentieth-century Scotland. He advocated parish renewal and mission within the Church of Scotland and founded the Iona Community. His contributions to the Church received national and international recognition. His notable strengths [...] Read more.

George F. MacLeod was one of the most significant Church leaders in twentieth-century Scotland. He advocated parish renewal and mission within the Church of Scotland and founded the Iona Community. His contributions to the Church received national and international recognition. His notable strengths included the quality and popularity of his preaching. Be this as it may, there has been little detailed and systematic analysis of his sermons. This article provides an in-depth rhetorical analysis of four of his sermons. These four sermons were delivered in 1934 from Govan and broadcast on the radio. These sermons were chosen because Govan was a particularly formative context for MacLeod, 1934 was a significant year, and his radio preaching reflected and extended his wider popularity. This analysis drawing of the rhetorical codes of homiletician John S. McClure explores the nature of MacLeod’s popular radio preaching in terms of how he used Scripture, language, expressed theology, and interacted with culture. It demonstrates that MacLeod’s preaching was kerygmatic, image-driven, realistic but hopeful, and dialectically portrayed aspects of culture as sources of divine revelation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Christianity in Scotland in the Long 20th Century)

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