Table of Contents

Introduction
1: Anglo-Catholics: E. B. Pusey and Holy Scripture
2: Roman Catholics: Nicholas Wiseman and Sacred Scripture
3: Atheists: Charles Bradlaugh, Annie Besant, and 'this indictable book'
4: Methodist and Holiness: Catherine Booth, William Cooke, and the Scriptures
5: Liberal Anglicans: Florence Nightingale and the Bible
6: Unitarians: Mary Carpenter and the Sacred Writings
7: Quakers: Elizabeth Fry and 'Reading'
8: Agnostics: T. H.Huxley and Bibliolatry
9: Evangelical Anglicans: Josephine Butler and the Word of God
10: Orthodox Old Dissent: C. H. Spurgeon and 'the Book'
Conclusion: Spiritualism, Judaism, and the Brethren - A People of One Book

About the Author

Timothy Larsen is McManis Professor of Christian Thought, Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and has been a Visiting Fellow, Trinity College, Cambridge. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books including Crisis of Doubt: Honest Faith in Nineteenth-Century England (Oxford University Press), which was named Book of the Year by Books & Culture.

Reviews

`Review from previous edition The contemporary lack of biblical knowledge in Western societies is not fully appreciated until contrasted with another era when familiarity with the Bible was commonplace even among the fiercest critics of religion. In this insightful and well-researched volume, Larsen provides such a vantage point by exploring the prominence of the Bible in the cultural milieu of nineteenth-century Great Britain... Larsen elucidates the place
of the Bible in the lives of both believers and nonbelievers, and he convincingly argues that the biblical text functioned as the dominant cultural reference point for the Victorians.'
Religious Studies Review
`Larsen's book brilliantly and engagingly illuminates the extent to which the Victorians were 'a people of one book' by exploring the hold of the Bible in the lives and writings of 12 representative figures. Commendably and refreshingly more than half his case studies are of women.'
Ian Bradley, History Today
`an exceptionally rich and nuanced account... In addition to deepening our understanding of the Victorians - and briskly deflating widely held misconceptions left and right - Larsen's chronicle implicitly prompts us to ask questions about the presence of the Bible in our own place and time'
John Wilson, Christianity Today Review
`This adroitly constructed work demonstrates the centrality of Scripture to nineteenth-century England, tracing this through the representatives of the rival traditions of Victorian Christianity and its critics, with a particular emphasis on women... Here is a salutary reminder to historians of the Victorian era that they may know little about the Bible which was the very foundation of the culture that they are studying: a little like researchers of ancient
Rome not knowing Latin.'
Sheridan Gilley, Journal of Theological Studies
`In this superb book [Timothy Larsen]... challenges our assumptions, breathes new life into a stale historiographical orthodoxy and paves the way for important future research. That's quite a hat-trick but even more impressive is the fact that his book is sufficiently witty and accessible to appeal to a very broad readership... This is an outstanding book. The biographical studies are pithy, the learning is worn lightly, and many lazy assumptions are
punctured.'
Catholic Herald
`These chapters not only shed fascinating light on the people considered, together they provide a valuable overview of the religious history of 19th century Britain... Larsen has something fresh and original to say about everyone he discusses.'
Church of England Newspaper
`This splendid volume on the religious thought of the Victorians... is hardly less extraordinary than the Book of which it speaks and the people who derived 'their common cultural currency' from the Book.'
Heythrop Journal
`A People of One Book is far-ranging. Larsen has chapters on what a vital role the Bible played among Evangelicals, Roman Catholics, Anglo-Catholics, Methodists, Quakers, Unitarians, Dissenters, Agnostics, even Atheists. And what is more impressive, he manages to show each of these different traditions true critical sympathy.'
Weekly Standard
`A People of One Book issues a compelling call not to ignore the Bibles role in shaping the thought and expression of Victorians of all persuasions from devout to skeptical. Presenting deeply informed but not pedantic close readings of archival as well as published material, it asks us not to set aside their Bible reading as ancillary, unsophisticated, and unimportant to their public and private lives. Rather, Larsen invites us to let the figures speak
for themselves, to hear them as they give emphatic pride of place to the Bible in their thought and lives.'
Fides et Historia
`In this excellent study the author succeeds in displaying the sheer variety of ways in which the Bible permeated Victorian life and thought. His chosen methodology is to provide case studies of representative figures from a wide range of religious and sceptical traditions, and the results are hugely rewarding ... Larsen has given us a rich work which shows how Victorian culture and society was characterised by its sustained engagement with this singular
text.'
Journal of Ecclesiastical History
`This book will be much appreciated by anyone interested in the religious world of nineteenth-century Britain.'
The Historian
`Larsen's research is impressively detailed, and this, combined with a genuine skill in writing his subjects, makes Larsen's study a fascinating personal account of Victorian public and religious figures.'
New Blackfriars
`Larsen's book provides a well-researched study of the range of Victorian approaches to the Bible, enabling readers to grasp its centrality in private devotions, family worship, preaching, and public life.'
International Bulletin of Missionary Research
Larsen's book reinforces the view that students of western history need to develop a working knowledge of the Bible. Our age is comparatively ignorant of the Bibles contents. If students do not become familiar with that book, they risk misunderstanding historical texts ... This book is a very serviceable introduction to the religious life of Victorian Britain, and it makes an appropriate plea for greater care in the study of this aspect of Victorian lives.
Australian Journal of Politics and History
`this excellent study ... The uniqueness of Larsen's book is its engagement with the diversity of Victorian thought'
John G. Maiden, Journal of Ecclesiastical History
`This is a powerful book, engagingly and often amusingly written.'
Brian Stanley, Expository Times
`Larsen's study of the Bible in Victorian England defends a compelling thesis with professional historical research and meticulous detail.'
Dale B. Martin, Journal of the American Academy of Religion