The Evangelical Succession? Evangelical History and Denominational Identity

This article analyses changing Evangelical conceptions of history and their role in the developing denominational identity of Evangelicalism. It is argued that the concept of an Evangelical Succession was a response to the particular religious and cultural climate of the mid-nineteenth century. It grew out of a new form of providentialist history and provided the theological justification for an Evangelical commitment to the preservation of a narrowly conceived form of national Protestantism. It is also argued that the historical legitimation of Evangelical Anglicanism was an essential element in Evangelical responses to the development of the Evangelical Alliance. The article then concludes with a discussion of the implications of different interpretations of denominational identity for the maintenance of Evangelical unity.