This book vividly recovers the lost world of the Victorians in which everyone thought, spoke, and argued through scripture. Larsen presents lively individual case studies of well known figures from different religious and sceptical traditions, including Florence Nightingale, T. H. Huxley, C. H. Spurgeon, and Catherine Booth.

• 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

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.