Every Leaf, Line, and Letter: Evangelicals and the Bible From the 1730S to the Present

"I was filled with a pining desire to see Christ's own words in the Bible... . I got along to the window where my Bible was and I opened it and ... every leaf, line, and letter smiled in my face." -The Spiritual Travels of Nathan Cole, 1765 From its earliest days, Christians in the movement known as evangelicalism have had "a particular regard for the Bible," to borrow a phrase from David Bebbington, the historian who framed its most influential definition. But this "biblicism" has taken many different forms from the 1730s to the 2020s. How has the eternal Word of God been received across various races, age groups, genders, nations, and eras? This collection of historical studies focuses on evangelicals' defining uses-and abuses-of Scripture, from Great Britain to the Global South, from the high pulpit to the Sunday School classroom, from private devotions to public causes. Contributors: David Bebbington, University of Stirling Kristina Benham, Baylor University Catherine Brekus, Harvard Divinity School Malcolm Foley, Truett Seminary Bruce Hindmarsh, Regent College, Vancouver Thomas S. Kidd, Baylor University Timothy Larsen, Wheaton College K. Elise Leal, Whitworth University John Maiden, The Open University, UK Mark A. Noll, University of Notre Dame Mary Riso, Gordon College Brian Stanley, University of Edinburgh Jonathan Yeager, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga