Need help on dissertation

[Waiting for the Verdict]

I'm not a Calvinist (though I've gone to Calvinist churches), but I figured this would be o.k. to post here. Could anyone tell me of some Calvinist novels that deal with social issues (abortion, gay rights, welfare, gun control, poverty, etc.)? I'm interested in any viewpoint within the novels - a.k.a. liberal or conservative. I'm also interested in Calvinist romance novels that talk about gender roles.

Lastly, does anyone know of any major (or minor) fundamentalist\evangelical\conservative Calvinist novelists from the early 1900's? Any major evangelical novelists from pre 1970? Particularly if they are Americans.

I'd be particularly interested in novels that look at social issues from a distinctly Calvinist perspective, though this is not neccessary. Any suggestions on fundamentalist or Penecostal novels would also be greatly appreciated.

Look forward to hearing from you. And I promise, my dissertation tries hard to be objective. I'm not out on a witch hunt or anything.

God bless!

 

[heymikey80]

I'm not sure what you're looking for.

If you check, the liberal protestant movement in America has a long history among Presbyterians. This has had a decidedly damaging impact on the Gospel, but the fact of the Gospel's social impact is not to be omitted (as Derek Webb shows in his music, today). While most modern conservative Presbyterians don't associate with that heritage, they are often still Calvinists in some respects. Harriet B. Stowe from the 1800's comes to mind. I'm not certain of Charles M. Sheldon's actual theology, being in the social gospel camp of the early 1900's, but I remember he was a congregational preacher. I don't know if Louisa Woosley was a novelist either but it brings something to mind. The Cumberland Presbyterian Church has an interesting history in some movements from the early 1900s. You might find novelists along that line, but I'm not sure.

 

[Waiting for the Verdict]

I'm not sure what you're looking for.

If you check, the liberal protestant movement in America has a long history among Presbyterians. This has had a decidedly damaging impact on the Gospel, but the fact of the Gospel's social impact is not to be omitted (as Derek Webb shows in his music, today). While most modern conservative Presbyterians don't associate with that heritage, they are often still Calvinists in some respects. Harriet B. Stowe from the 1800's comes to mind. I'm not certain of Charles M. Sheldon's actual theology, being in the social gospel camp of the early 1900's, but I remember he was a congregational preacher. I don't know if Louisa Woosley was a novelist either but it brings something to mind. The Cumberland Presbyterian Church has an interesting history in some movements from the early 1900s. You might find novelists along that line, but I'm not sure.

Thanks for the info. It will be of great help to me. I'm basically just looking for any evangelical novels that reflect the social views of evangelicals during that time period. I'm not looking for specific views. I realize that not all Calvinists classify themselves as evangelical, but for the purposes of this dissertation, I felt I had to include them. Thanks a lot.

 

[McWilliams]

Francine Rivers always addresses a cultural issue in her wonderful novels; as in,
Atonement child: addressing the issue of pregnancy, rape
And the Shofar Blew: addressing the impacting difficulties of the seeker sensitive church growth movement.

Check Amazon and read reviews of her many novels, each of which address some social concern.

Leota's Garden: intolerance of geriatric patients and euthanasia. Excellent book!

 

[heymikey80]

Hm. You may run into a different problem, that the term "evangelical" wasn't well-defined at the time. CS Lewis for instance might be termed "broadly evangelical". I don't think he'd really be attracted to the term because "evangelicalism" is getting stereotyped a certain way.

Me, I'll accept the technical terms "evangelical" (that is, Gospel centrality) and even "fundamental" (I hold specific positions in theology). But the -isms that have grown up from them and variously been spun out of their original meanings by their opposition -- it's unlikely many would hold to such narrow views. They're inherently narrowly-defined -- often I can't even find someone who says they believe "what fundamentalists believe".

It's easier to control the fire when you burn a narrow strawman.

This has happened before too, with deists and unitarians.

So ... evangelical would need to be defined fairly strongly before we got into any representatives.

The Presbyterians in the 18-19th Century were subdivided into "Old School" and "New School" views. Both would have some aspects of Calvinism, though "Old School" would break toward Confessionalism and "New School" would break toward experientialism. Both would be considered "evangelical" in terms of an embrace of the Gospel, only by defining a "social gospel" that starts to exclude faith in Christ did the church ultimately liberalize.

 

[Waiting for the Verdict]

Hm. You may run into a different problem, that the term "evangelical" wasn't well-defined at the time. CS Lewis for instance might be termed "broadly evangelical". I don't think he'd really be attracted to the term because "evangelicalism" is getting stereotyped a certain way.

Me, I'll accept the technical terms "evangelical" (that is, Gospel centrality) and even "fundamental" (I hold specific positions in theology). But the -isms that have grown up from them and variously been spun out of their original meanings by their opposition -- it's unlikely many would hold to such narrow views. They're inherently narrowly-defined -- often I can't even find someone who says they believe "what fundamentalists believe".

It's easier to control the fire when you burn a narrow strawman.

This has happened before too, with deists and unitarians.

So ... evangelical would need to be defined fairly strongly before we got into any representatives.

The Presbyterians in the 18-19th Century were subdivided into "Old School" and "New School" views. Both would have some aspects of Calvinism, though "Old School" would break toward Confessionalism and "New School" would break toward experientialism. Both would be considered "evangelical" in terms of an embrace of the Gospel, only by defining a "social gospel" that starts to exclude faith in Christ did the church ultimately liberalize.

Yea, I totally agree with you about definitions. I come out of the evangelical movement, even if I'm technically not evangelical now, so I realize that terms get thrown around without a lot of emphasis on meaning. For me, their is a big diffrence between a fundamentalist and an evangelical. A fundamentalist, almost by definition, has to believe in biblical inerrancy. An evangelical, by contrast, often believes in inerrancy, but is not neccessarily obligated to (particularly if they are left wing). Usually, too, an evangelical tends to be somewhat more open to metaphorical or symbolical readings of biblical texts, something many fundamentalists are unwilling to do. Fundamentalists tend to be young earth creationists, with an occasional old earth creationist thrown in. Evangelicals, by contrast, tend to vary more widely on inerrancy issues. Then, there is the traditional distinction between fundamentalist and evangelical: Fundamentalists seek to seperate themselves from culture, while evangelicals seek to engage culture, though I think that definition is slowly becoming more problematic as time moves on.

That's where I'd start anyways. As far as specifically Calvinist novels go, I am mainly looking for novels from churchs\authors like the OPC, Reformed Presbyterians, Reformed Baptists. In the 1800's, I am interested in both liberal and conservative Presbyterians, since both during that time could be considered broadly evangelical.

Anyway, thanks for the info.

 

[Waiting for the Verdict]

Francine Rivers always addresses a cultural issue in her wonderful novels; as in,
Atonement child: addressing the issue of pregnancy, rape
And the Shofar Blew: addressing the impacting difficulties of the seeker sensitive church growth movement.

Check Amazon and read reviews of her many novels, each of which address some social concern.

Leota's Garden: intolerance of geriatric patients and euthanasia. Excellent book!

Yea, I have Atonement Child. Leota's Garden i don't have, so I'll have to check that out. Do you know of any other evangelical\fundamentalist\Calvinist writers who write on social issues? I'd be interested in female writers who deal with gender roles, particularly in evangelical romance novels. However, they don't have to be right-wing (or left-wing) on that issue. I'm trying to get a balanced perspective.

 

[HiredGoon]

As with most celebrities, it's often very difficult to understand what an author's true religious beliefs are, especially after the fact. Sometimes an author is affiliated with a certain religion or denomination simply out of tradition or culture, while others have deeply held religious convictions that they keep private, others write about religious beliefs that they don't personally hold. We are left only to speculate. That being said, the following authors have been associated with Presbyterianism or Reformed traditions in some way. I'm no expert on the religious beliefs of novelists, so the actual personal beliefs of these authors, remain largely unkown.

Daniel Defoe, Protestant dissenter in late 17th-early 18th century England, from a Presbyterian family, and supported William during the Glorious Revolution.

Harriet Beecher Stowe, Congregationalist

Mark Twain, raised as a Presbyterian

William Faulkner, Presbyterian

 

[GrinningDwarf]

I'm not a Calvinist (though I've gone to Calvinist churches), but I figured this would be o.k. to post here. Could anyone tell me of some Calvinist novels that deal with social issues (abortion, gay rights, welfare, gun control, poverty, etc.)? I'm interested in any viewpoint within the novels - a.k.a. liberal or conservative. I'm also interested in Calvinist romance novels that talk about gender roles.

Lastly, does anyone know of any major (or minor) fundamentalist\evangelical\conservative Calvinist novelists from the early 1900's? Any major evangelical novelists from pre 1970? Particularly if they are Americans.

I'd be particularly interested in novels that look at social issues from a distinctly Calvinist perspective, though this is not neccessary. Any suggestions on fundamentalist or Penecostal novels would also be greatly appreciated.

Look forward to hearing from you. And I promise, my dissertation tries hard to be objective. I'm not out on a witch hunt or anything.

God bless!

I wasn't aware that any Calvinists had ever done anything so frivolous as write a novel...especially a romance novel!!

(BTW....just kidding!! )

 

[cygnusx1]

A Journey in Grace: A Theological Novel by Richard P. Belcher; 1990, 154 pp. Crowne Publications,

 

[erin74]

How about LM Montgomery - not sure what her actual persuasion was though. But I seem to remember she was a ministers wife (or was that someone else...).

 

[Waiting for the Verdict]

Thanks for all the suggestions, guys. A Journey in Grace sounds particularly intriguing. Anything else, anyone? I need as many books, particularly pre-60's novels, that you can think of!