Of Intense Brightness
The Spirituality of Uncommon Christian James Brainerd Taylor

Book cover for Of Intense Brightness

Edited and introduced by Dr. I. Francis Kyle III

Foreword by James M. Houston
Epilogue by Peter Adam: A Special Word to University and Seminary Students

Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, June 2008

168 pages, paper ~ 41 photos ~ Index ~ Map
Select bibliography ~ 17 international endorsements

ISBN (10 digit) 0761839704
ISBN (13 digit) 9780761839705

Content Summary & Table of Contents

"Be uncommon Christians . . . that is, eminently holy, self-denying, cross-bearing, Bible, everyday Christians." So James Brainerd Taylor (1801–1829) encouraged others to be, and so he strived to be himself.

Of Intense Brightness reveals aspects of Taylor's uncommon Christianity by allowing the forgotten New England evangelist to speak for himself. By means of forty-five selected and edited letters and journal entries of Taylor's, readers will obtain a unique glimpse into the inner workings of an evangelical Protestant spirituality that was, according to nineteenth-century Princeton Seminary professor Samuel Miller, "so uniform, that we had only, as it were, one face, and that of intense brightness, to behold."

In addition to a biographical sketch on the Princeton graduate and Yale Seminary student, editor Francis Kyle's introductory essay also describes six major aspects of Taylor's deep scriptural spirituality. Indeed, the reason why the recently rediscovered Second Great Awakening evangelist was often compared to his cousin David Brainerd (1718–1747), Scotland's Robert Murray M'Cheyne (1813–1843), England's Henry Martyn (1781–1812), and other prominent eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Protestant ministers who died young should be readily apparent.

With forty-one photos, historical chronology, select bibliography, recommended reading list, index, and a mix of Taylor's letters and journal entries from ages fourteen to twenty-seven, Of Intense Brightness can serve as a companion volume to Kyle's exhaustive biography on Taylor (An Uncommon Christian, University Press of America, 2008) or as a stand-alone biography. Either way, "common" and aspiring "uncommon" readers—including university and seminary students—will be instructed, inspired, and challenged by the intensely bright spirituality of J. B. Taylor.

Table of Contents

Foreword by James M. Houston

Preface

"Of Intense Brightness": The Life and Spirituality of Uncommon Christian James Brainerd Taylor [Introductory essay by I. F. Kyle III]

Chronology of the Life and Ministry of James Brainerd Taylor

Selections from James Brainerd Taylor's Letters and Journal Entries

(41 photos)

Epilogue by Peter Adam: A Special Word to University and Seminary Students

Select Bibliography: James Brainerd Taylor

Recommended Reading: Evangelical Protestant Spirituality

Index

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