Theology
Bearing Witness What the Church Can Learn from Early Abolitionists Daniel Lee Hill
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 tpractice 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. “Today’s Christians have a lot to learn from Hill. His thoughtful analysis of Ruggles, Stewart, Still, and what they teach us about God, ourselves, and our callings in the world shows—perhaps coun- terintuitively—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 “ Bearing Witness is a treasure. Read this book, listen, lament, and learn . . . and then imagine what could be.” —Darrell L. Bock, Hendricks Center, Dallas Theological Seminary “This is required reading for anyone grappling with the church’s mission, evangelical identity, and public witness. Hill skillfully re- trieves the antebellum witness of David Ruggles, Maria W. Stewart, and William Still by exploring their contributions to the abolitionist movement and extends their logic into the present to spark the contemporary Christian imagination into faithful prophetic action. A must-read!” —Walter R. Strickland II, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary; author of Swing Low: A History of Black Christianity in America
APRIL 2025 • 224 pp. • paper • $27.99 • 9781540965936
Daniel Lee Hill (PhD, Wheaton College) is assistant professor of Christian theology at George W. Truett Theological Seminary, Baylor University. He is the author of Gathered on the Road to Zion: Toward a Free Church Ecclesio-Anthropology.
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