Christian Nurture

Horace Bushnell's Christian Nurture (1847) critiqued the prevailing emphasis on conversion experiences in religious revivalism. Bushnell, a Congregational minister and theologian, argued for a more gradual, lifelong process of religious development within the family and community, rather than a sudden, dramatic conversion. He believed that children should be raised within a Christian environment that naturally instills faith, rather than needing a later, separate conversion event. This work challenged the dominant evangelical theology of his time and contributed to the development of more liberal theological thought in America.12