Overview
In an era when the label "evangelical" is hotly contested and often entangled with political agendas, Daniel Lee Hill's Bearing Witness offers a timely reexamination of what it means to live out the gospel in public life.
Drawing on the rich legacy of nineteenth-century abolitionists David Ruggles, Maria Stewart, and William Still, Hill constructs a compelling evangelical framework for public witness, anchored in Scripture and the practice of lament and burden-bearing. Hill challenges evangelicals to rediscover their roots in a tradition that speaks powerfully to contemporary debates over church, culture, and the call to social justice.
Bearing Witness will be an indispensable guide for professors, students, pastors, and laypeople committed to a faith that speaks to the public square.
Drawing on the rich legacy of nineteenth-century abolitionists David Ruggles, Maria Stewart, and William Still, Hill constructs a compelling evangelical framework for public witness, anchored in Scripture and the practice of lament and burden-bearing. Hill challenges evangelicals to rediscover their roots in a tradition that speaks powerfully to contemporary debates over church, culture, and the call to social justice.
Bearing Witness will be an indispensable guide for professors, students, pastors, and laypeople committed to a faith that speaks to the public square.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part 1: Giving the Faithful Dead a Vote
1. Freedom in the Time of Slavery
2. David Ruggles: Learning to Read and Reimagine the World
3. Maria Stewart: Nurturing the Seeds of Change
4. William Still: Preserving, Renewing, Anticipating, and Inspiring
Part 2: The Twofold Work of Public Witness
5. Lament as Public Witness
6. Burden Bearing as Public Witness
Conclusion: Remembering the Dead
Indexes
Part 1: Giving the Faithful Dead a Vote
1. Freedom in the Time of Slavery
2. David Ruggles: Learning to Read and Reimagine the World
3. Maria Stewart: Nurturing the Seeds of Change
4. William Still: Preserving, Renewing, Anticipating, and Inspiring
Part 2: The Twofold Work of Public Witness
5. Lament as Public Witness
6. Burden Bearing as Public Witness
Conclusion: Remembering the Dead
Indexes
Endorsements
“Today’s Christians have a lot to learn from Daniel Lee Hill. His thoughtful analysis of Ruggles, Stewart, Still, and what they teach us about God, ourselves, and our callings in the world shows—perhaps counterintuitively—that righteousness in public life depends to a large extent on evangelical witness (grounded in the Bible) to the Lord’s will with respect to social ethics. Let us learn to live and die well in service of God and neighbor as we make good use of the models and theological wisdom in this book.”
Douglas A. Sweeney, Beeson Divinity School, Samford University
Author
Daniel Lee Hill
Daniel Lee Hill (PhD, Wheaton College) is assistant professor of Christian theology at George W. Truett Theological Seminary, Baylor University, in Waco, Texas. He is the author of Gathered on the Road to Zion: Toward a Free Church Ecclesio-Anthropology.