Bell, Mark R(obert) 1975-

PERSONAL: Born December 16, 1975, in Pasadena, CA; son of Mark (an accountant) and Patricia (a teacher; maiden name, Moffitt) Bell. Ethnicity: "White." Education: Stanford University, A.B. (history; with honors and distinction), 1998; Balliol College, Oxford, M.A. (history; with distinction), Ph.D. (history), 2002.

ADDRESSES: Home—2626 Howell Mill Rd. NW, Atlanta, GA 30327. Office—Balliol College, Oxford University, Oxford OX1 3BJ, England. E-mail—mark.bell@balliol.ox.ac.uk.

CAREER: Balliol College, Oxford Univeristy, Oxford, England, lecturer in modern history, 2001-. Consultant for InternationalAffairs.com and for Centre for Policy Alternatives. Member, Colloquium on Violence and Religion.

MEMBER: American Academy of Religion, American Catholic Historical Association, American Historical Association, American Studies Association, American Society of Church History, British Association for the Study of Religions, New England Historical Association.

AWARDS, HONORS: Fulbright scholarship, Institute for International Education, 1998; U.S. Marshall scholarship (United Kingdom), 1998, for academic achievement; Sam S. Hill Award for best student essay in the field of southern religious studies, Journal of Southern Religion, 1999.

WRITINGS:

Apocalypse How? Baptist Movements during the English Revolution, Mercer University Press (Macon, GA), 2000.

Also contributor to Religion in Revolutionary England, edited by C. Durston and J. Maltby, Manchester University Press. Contributor to journals, including Nova Religio: Journal of New and Emerging Religions, Journal of Presbyterian History, Journal of Millennial Studies, Journal of Southern Religion, and Religious Studies Review. Member of editorial board, Southern Historian and Journal of Southern Religion.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Writing about and researching the theology of violence, the history of humor, contemporary religious history, and religion and politics.

SIDELIGHTS: Mark R. Bell's book Apocalypse How? Baptist Movements during the English Revolution, considers the role of the Baptists during the mid-seventeenth-century in England. Focusing much of his attention on millenarianism—the idea that the Apocalypse was soon approaching—Bell discusses the different approaches of the General versus the Particular Baptists, and whether the members of these factions believed people needed to take an active, revolutionary part in the fight against the British monarchy or should instead prepare spiritually for the inevitable coming of Christ. Through his analysis, Bell offers insights into the evolution of proto-denominations among the Baptists into what would become full-fledged denominations. "Bell concludes," noted Galen Johnson in the Journal of Church and State, "that it was only after the English Baptists became less sectarian and apocalyptic that they could finally flourish denominationally."

While Journal of Religion critic Nigel Smith wrote that the author provides "sound explanation of the main aspects of Baptist theology, especially adult baptism and the predestination/free will divide," the reviewer complained that Bell's overly concise approach causes him to skim over or omit what Smith felt were important details. "There is a great deal to be gained from Bell's concise approach …," concluded Smith, adding that "what we gain in the clarity of exposition, we lose in the detail." Noting some problems with the book's copyediting and proofreading, Richard L. Greaves nevertheless asserted in his Catholic Historical Review assessment that Apocalypse How? "is an important contribution to Baptist studies."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Catholic Historical Review, July, 2001, Richard L. Greaves, review of Apocalypse How? Baptist Movements during the English Revolution.

Journal of Church and State, spring, 2001, Galen Johnson, review of Apocalypse How?, p. 361.

Journal of Religion, October, 2003, Nigel Smith, review of Apocalypse How?, p. 610.