Rising Tide

We cannot understand the history of any society without considering its spiritual beliefs. In New Zealand, evangelical Christianity has always played a significant role. This book explores the fascinating story of the resurgence of evangelical Protestantism in the 1950s and 60s, and its pre-war origins. The story focuses especially on evangelicals in the mainline churches, in the universities, and in evangelical organisations. It is not about fundamentalism or Pentecostalism (movements that overlap with evangelicalism, but are also different). It is about the leading personalities, and the ideas that moved them, during a period when a moderate British-style evangelicalism was paramount (though this was also the time of the Billy Graham crusades). The story of evangelical Protestantism has been extensively written about by historians in Britain and the US. This important book helps tell the New Zealand part of that story. STUART LANGE teaches history as a Senior Lecturer in the School of Theology, Ministry and Mission at Laidlaw College in Auckland.