Christianity under the Ancien Régime, 1648-1789 by W. R. Ward (review)

340BOOK REVIEWS Christianity under the Ancien Régime, 1648-1789. ByW R.Ward. [New Approaches to European History series, 14.] (New York: Cambridge University Press. 1999. Pp. xii, 270. $54.95 hardback; $1995 paperback.) Christianity under the Ancien Régime, the latest instaUment in the Cambridge series "New Approaches to European History," is written by the able W R. Ward, Emeritus Professor of Modern History in the University of Durham and author of many books, including The Protestant Evangelical Awakening (1992). His most recent volume aims at a readership of both students and nonspecialists by offering a "sampling [of] various aspects of religious IUe" as well as a "sketch of the main outlines of its history on a regional basis" with an emphasis placed on describing religious belief and experience and not on the political or institutional history of the Christian Churches. Ward's historical survey adheres to its series' general format: being concisely written without footnotes, with each chapter subdivided into topical headings, concluding with a suggestive bibliographical essay; additionally, it is prefaced by a short glossary of terms. Such efforts have merit and this one has several,whUe unavoidably suffering from those limitations imposed by sponsoring editors. The major disadvantage derives from having to cover significant events and developments from the aftermath of the ThirtyYears' War to the outbreak of the French Revolution in a volume of restricted length. This century and a half was far from being an "heroic age," an observation made by historians who might stUl recognize the important antecedents to modern reUgious beliefs and practices . Few would deny that there were powerful as weU as subtle, even contradictory currents flowing through popular Christianity during this critical time span. Significantly,Ward sees no Christian retreat before the Enlightenment; nor does he observe a radical shifting of Christian belief and activities whUe science and reason appeared to march confidently forward. Ward's emphasis is on the renewed vigor of evangelical Protestanism through its more intensely personal expressions of faith and the formation of new organized bonds. These developments owed much to the same forces behind the unfolding, secular EnUghtenment—namely, spreading literacy and the printing press. ReUgious orthodoxy and governing establishments not withstanding, Christian Europe remained dynamic, Lf fractious; creative, if zealous. The reader wiU appreciate Ward's balanced and comprehensive presentation , combining wit with an obvious talent for popular distiUation. A minor caveat: the author may focus on subjects most dear to his own scholarly interests , resulting in greater attention given to Protestanism than Catholicism, but this book is not heavUy weighted toward England and France as is sometimes the case in other historical surveys pubUshed by British and American scholars. What may be lost to topical fragmentation is compensated by incisive judgment . Ward is at his best when he punches holes in standard textbook interpretations . Not surprisingly, his commanding knowledge of EngUsh religious life,Anglican poUtics as weU as German Pietism, is always in full evidence. As an authority onJohnWesley, he feels obliged to correct many stories: including the BOOK REVIEWS341 reformer's Tory background, the impact of the Georgia mission, his differences with Whitefield, his relations with the Moravians. Some readers wUl no doubt find his assessments of Dutch and German Pietists to be informative; others may find them provocative—as in how Pietists derived their inspiration almost exclusively from their reading such classics as Thomas à Kempis and other "preReformation spiritual writings" (p. 129). German and Scandinavian readers may find his contentions about the widespread influence of Puritan tracts (already considered dated in England by the late seventeenth century) on their eighteenth-century ancestors to be somewhat exaggerated. (A Puritan influence , addsWard,greatly facilitated by the Hanoverian monarchy.) Elsewhere the author offers succinct analyses of developments within the CathoUc Church, being especiaUy good at describing the Habsburgs and their ecclesiastical poUcies by placing in proper economic context the concerns as weU as the lasting achievements (mainly in education and parish reorganization) of both Maria Theresa andJoseph II. Those attracted to French history wiU find his treatment of the GalUcan Church too brief. But the sheer volume of topics from Russian Orthodoxy under Peter and his successors to the labyrinthine history of southeastern Europe...