Cambridge Library Collection - Religion
3 total works
John Venn (1834-1923), a leading British logician, moral scientist and historian of Cambridge, came from a noted family of clerics, although he resigned from the clergy as his philosophical studies led him away from Anglican orthodoxy. This family memoir, published in 1904, covers the careers of three centuries of Venn clergy, together with an outline of the family origins and pedigrees. The family came from Devon, where William Venn was ordained in 1595, and two of his sons followed him. Richard Venn was displaced and jailed during the Commonwealth. The author's father, John, was the founder of an evangelical sect at Clapham (where his father Henry had also been curate), and of the Church Missionary Society, an organisation in which the author's brother, Henry, played a leading role. The study provides a microcosmic history of the Anglican Church from the Reformation to the end of the nineteenth century.
The Missionary Life and Labours of Francis Xavier Taken from His Own Correspondence
by Henry Venn
Published 4 January 2010
A founding member of the Jesuit order, Francis Xavier (1506-1552) travelled as a missionary to India, Japan and China in the mid-sixteenth century. He is traditionally associated with legends of miraculous works and the conversion of tens of thousands of people. This controversial 1862 biography by the Anglican missionary clergyman Henry Venn (1796-1873) uses Xavier's own words to examine the future saint's character and private thoughts. Xavier's correspondence reveals a sensitive, energetic and occasionally vengeful man who was not averse to employing aggressive means. Containing numerous letters printed in full, Venn's chronicle provides an analysis of Xavier's mission, methods and achievements from a non-Catholic perspective. Venn also explores Xavier's close friendship with the Jesuits' founder Ignatius Loyola, and probes the facts behind previous biographers' tales of miracles. The book ends with a detailed and challenging appraisal of the overall success of the worldwide Roman Catholic mission since the sixteenth century.
Life and a Selection from the Letters of the Late Rev. Henry Venn, M.A.
by Henry Venn and John Venn
Published 20 May 2010
The Reverend Henry Venn (1725–1797) was an Anglican clergyman who became a central figure in the English evangelical revival movement of the late eighteenth century. This book, containing a substantial selection of his letters and a biography written by his son John, was edited for publication in London in 1834 by his grandson Henry (who himself became an influential clergyman and missionary). The elder Henry Venn, after studying at Cambridge and being ordained priest, had ministered in parishes including Clapham, Huddersfield and Yelling. He was famous for his preaching, which attracted large congregations, and was remembered especially for his work among the urban and rural poor. He also published several books, including The Whole Duty of Man (1763), which reveal the development of his theological views over the course of his life. They are listed in the bibliography of this volume.