With our American Philosophy and Religion series, Applewood reissues many primary sources published throughout American history. Through these books, scholars, interpreters, students, and non-academics alike can see the thoughts and beliefs of Americans who came before us.

The proposal of this book is to guide the reader to the contrastive ministries of the two most dominant preachers of the eighteen-century evangelical revival. In a wonderful comparative approach the author draws John Wesley and George Whitefield's portraits and explores their life and practice, as well as their relationship. Committed to the principle that the 'whole world was their parish', Wesley and Whitefield manifested their singular desire to be men of one book through preaching ministries that were equally committed to the spread of the gospel throughout the transatlantic world.

Explorations of the English Baptist reception of the Evangelical Revival often--and rightfully--focus on the work of the Spirit, prayer, Bible study, preaching, and mission, while other key means are often overlooked. Useful Learning examines the period from c. 1689 to c. 1825, and combines history in the form of the stories of Baptist pastors, their churches, and various societies, and theology as found in sermons, pamphlets, personal confessions of faith, constitutions, covenants, and theological treatises. In the process, it identifies four equally important means of grace. The first was the theological renewal that saw moderate Calvinism answer "The Modern Question," develop into evangelical Calvinism, and revive the denomination. Second were close groups of ministers whose friendship, mutual support, and close theological collaboration culminated in the formation of the Baptist Missionary Society, and local itinerant mission work across much of Britain. Third was their commitment to reviving stagnating Associations, or founding new ones, convinced of the vital importance of the corporate Christian life and witness for the support and strengthening of the local churches, and furthering the spread of the gospel to all people. Finally was the conviction of the churches and their pastors that those with gifts for preaching and ministry should be theologically educated. At first local ministers taught students in their homes, and then at the Bristol Academy. In the early nineteenth century, a further three Baptist academies were founded at Horton, Abergavenny, and Stepney, and these were soon followed by colleges in America, India, and Jamaica.

Revival is the arguable heartbeat of evangelical Christianity. Though a theologically diverse and globally diffused phenomenon, evangelicalism originated in a distinctly Calvinistic milieu. Many Puritans in the seventeenth century, "evangelicals before the revivals," emphasized the work of the Holy Spirit, including the importance of personal conversion. Unlike theologically Arminian proponents of revival such as Charles G. Finney, many Puritans and early evangelicals believed and taught that the absolute sovereignty of God was compatible with human responsibility. Calvinistic Baptists in the early eighteenth century who rejected this tension declined numerically, yet a new generation of pastors led their denomination through this impasse. Andrew Fuller (1754-1815) defended Reformed doctrine in the Particular Baptist tradition while emphasizing the importance of human response in his preaching, writing, and fundraising for the Baptist Missionary Society. The fruit of Fuller's ministry included growth of churches in England, conversions among people groups in the Global South, and the preservation of Reformed theology in a challenging Enlightenment context.

List of members in v. 4-5, 7-10.