David William Bebbington (born 25 July 1949) is a British historian who is a professor of history at the

University of Stirling The University of Stirling (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals; ) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by a royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built within the walled Airth ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and a distinguished visiting professor of history at

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

. He is a

Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

and the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society (RHS), founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the H ...

Biography

Bebbington was born in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

, England, on 25 July 1949 and was raised in Sherwood, a northern suburb of Nottingham. An undergraduate at

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Jesus College was established in 1496 on the site of the twelfth-century Benedictine nunnery of St Radegund's Priory, Cambridge, St ...

(1968–1971), Bebbington began his doctoral studies there (1971–1973) before becoming a research fellow of

Fitzwilliam College Fitzwilliam College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college has origins from 1869, with the foundation of the Non-Collegiate Students Board, a venture intended to offer academically excellent students of all ...

(1973–1976). Since 1976 he has taught at the

, where since 1999 he has been Professor of History. He was President of the Ecclesiastical History Society (2006–2007).

Bebbington quadrilateral

Bebbington is widely known for his definition of

evangelicalism Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

, referred to as the ''Bebbington quadrilateral'', which was first provided in his 1989 classic study ''Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s''. Bebbington identifies four main qualities which are to be used in defining evangelical convictions and attitudes: * Biblicism: a particular regard for the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

(e.g. all essential spiritual truth is to be found in its pages) * Crucicentrism: a focus on the atoning work of

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

on the cross * Conversionism: the belief that human beings need to be converted * Activism: the belief that

the gospel The gospel or good news is a theological concept in several religions. In the historical Roman imperial cult and today in Christianity, the gospel is a message about salvation by a divine figure, a savior, who has brought peace or other benefi ...

needs to be expressed in effort Bebbington (along with

Mark Noll Mark Allan Noll (born 1946) is an American historian specializing in the history of Christianity in the United States. He holds the position of Research Professor of History at Regent College, having previously been Francis A. McAnaney Professor o ...

and others) has exerted a large amount of effort in placing evangelicalism on the world map of religious history. Through their efforts they have made it more difficult for scholars to ignore the influence of evangelicals in the world since the movement’s inception in the eighteenth century.

Works

Thesis

Books

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

David W. Bebbington's academic faculty page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bebbington, David 1949 births 20th-century British historians 21st-century British historians Academics of the University of Stirling Alumni of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge British Baptists Fellows of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Historians of Christianity Living people People from Nottingham Presidents of the Ecclesiastical History Society