Publisher's Synopsis
This work poses the question: why did evangelism become so important to certain leading Quakers in the early nineteenth century? The work is set against the background of fear of revolution spreading to Britain, the industrial boom and population explosion in manufacturing towns, and religious revival among a cross-section of society. The problem of an extreme form of evangelism overturning the embedded traditions of Quakerism came to a head with the unfolding of the Beacon controversy. This book represents the first comprehensive study of the Beacon controversy, which may be seen as a milestone in nineteenth-century Quaker history. This book is not only a historical and sociological study of Quakers in two locations at a critical time for Society of Friends, but it also reflects on and dissects the ongoing theological questions for Quakers and other Christian believers.
