
T. E. Ruth (1875-1956)
Preacher and Controversialist
Ken R. Manley(Author)
Wipf & Stock Publishers
Published on 22. July 2021
Book
Hardback
368 pages
978-1-7252-9961-0 (ISBN)
Description
T. E. Ruth (1875-1956) was one of the most controversial Baptist ministers ever to serve in Australia. After a successful career in England as preacher, pastor, and writer, Ruth came to the significant Collins Street Baptist Church in Melbourne in 1914. During the tumultuous years of the World War, Ruth cared for the bereaved and bewildered people in his congregation and in the city. He also led public debates about conscription, engaging in intense platform clashes with his Catholic opponent, Archbishop Daniel Mannix. He later moved to the Pitt Street Congregational Church in Sydney where he was soon involved in public opposition to the Labor premier J. T. Lang as well as becoming a popular columnist in the secular press.
To his critics he was a ""sectarian bigot"" and was mocked as ""Ruthless Ruth""; to others, he was an ardent Empire loyalist, an admired and successful Protestant defender. Some critics accused him of being a Christian spiritualist and others have suggested that he formulated a theology for fascism. Ruth denounced millennial Adventism and hellfire eschatology as he affirmed universalism and a continuing spiritual development after death.
This fascinating study of a progressive thinker, public theologian, and controversialist illuminates one of the more divisive and formative periods in Australian religious and political life.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Eugene
United States
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
With dust jacket
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight
683 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-7252-9961-0 (9781725299610)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
07/2021
Wipf and Stock Publishers
€37.99
Available for download
Persons
Ken R. Manley, former Principal and Lecturer in Church History Whitley College, University of Melbourne, is author of From Here to ""Eternity"": A History of Australian Baptists (2006) and ""An Honoured Name"": Samuel Pearce Carey (1862-1953) (2016).