David W. Bebbington
David William Bebbington is a British historian who is a professor of history at the University of Stirling in Scotland and a distinguished visiting professor of history at Baylor University. He is a Fellow of the [Royal Society of Edinburgh] and the Royal Historical Society.
Biography
Bebbington was born in Nottingham, England, on 25 July 1949 and was raised in Sherwood, a northern suburb of Nottingham. An undergraduate at Jesus College, Cambridge, Bebbington began his doctoral studies there before becoming a research fellow of Fitzwilliam College. Since 1976 he has taught at the University of Stirling, where since 1999 he has been Professor of History.He was President of the Ecclesiastical History Society.
Bebbington quadrilateral
Bebbington is widely known for his definition of evangelicalism, 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
- Crucicentrism: a focus on the atoning work of Christ on the cross
- Conversionism: the belief that human beings need to be converted
- Activism: the belief that the gospel needs to be expressed in effort