Petty France Church, The (Part 1)

The Particular Baptist Church that met in Petty France was at the heart of Baptist life in Londan and the country from the 1650s onward. Its pastors were trained, educated theologians whose literature remains in use to this day. However, perhaps its most enduring legacy will be its record book, beginning in 1675 and concluding in 1727, a book that opens a window into the life of the church and the lives of its members.

In this volume Dr. Renihan offers a complete transcription of the Petty France Church Book, transporting a book from the heart of London and its archives, with all its vivid stories, into the hands of everyone who wishes to read it. In addition to the Church Book itself, Dr. Renihan offers many chapters, full of new sources, that expand our view of this church and enliven our understanding of its Church Book.

 422 pages.

“Samuel Renihan’s latest work is an outstanding resource for everyone interested in the early history of the English Baptist movement – and in early modern religious history in general. His work of recovery provides unparalleled insight in the experience of religious dissent in late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century England. While describing the conditions of one of the most important of the London Baptist churches, Renihan focuses on the experience of its leading personalities and in particular on one of the most prominent families, whose fortunes he traces over three generations. This is a work of resurrection – a project of documentary recovery that is almost miraculous in scope.” - Crawford Gribben, Professor of Early Modern History, Queen’s University, Belfast

 “This is an impressive work of scholarship, part monograph, part critical edition. Its centrepiece is an edition of the ‘Church Book’ of the Petty France congregation, a text that in itself is worth the price of the book, such is its value to historians. What is particularly welcome here is the integrated treatment of persons and places, texts and ideas.” - John Coffey, Professor of Early Modern European History, University of Leicester