Failure of the Presbyterian Experiment of the 1640’s and 1650’s
‘The years 1640-60 witnessed the most complete and drastic revolution
which the Church of England has ever undergone’[1].
With the ending of the civil war, institutions of State collapsed with
leading figures put on trial and executed. The 1640’s was a time of
immense political upheaval and saw the emergence of a myriad of
independent or semi- independent sects. The Presbyterian movement
gained its strength from a union between the laity and the church of
those who believed that Presbyterian Puritanism was the only way to
guarantee religious stability. With the price of War having been
exacted in human suffering, the Presbyterians, with the backing of the
Government, were intent that peace should prevail under Presbyterian
values. However, although around seventy classes of Presbyterian
churches had been initially formed, by the 1650’s only a few remained
active. This essay looks to explain what factors contributed to this
demise.
There are two salient arguments advocated by scholars for this.
Firstly the existing and deep rooted allegiance of many lay people to
the Church of England and secondly with diversity of belief allowed to
flourish; there was a loss of national identity therefore engendering
no national loyalty to the Presbyterian cause. So were the
Presbyterians ‘undone by an unlimited Christian liberty’[2]? Or did
the strength of the Anglican Church win through? What seems certain
is that by the mid 1650’s those that had welcomed revolution were
‘appalled by the Pandora’s box which they had unwittingly opened’[3]
and were socially, politically ...
... middle of paper ...
... The Godly Nation’’ in John Morrill
(ed) Oliver Cromwell and The English Revolution. pg
[6] J.F McGregor. ‘’The Baptists: Font of all Heresy’’ in J.F McGregor
and B.Reay (ed) Radical Religion in the English Revolution. Pg 24-27
[7] M,Goldie. Pg 295
[8] B.Capp. ‘’The Fifth Monarchists and popular millenarianism’’ in
J.F McGregor and B.Reay (ed) Radical Religion in the English
Revolution. Pg 165.
[9] B.Reay. ‘’Quakerism and society’’ in Radical Religion in the
English Revolution. Pg 164
[10] B.Reay ‘Radicalism and Religion in the English Revolution: an
Introduction’ in Radical Religion in the English Revolution. Pg 9.
[11] J.Morrill ‘The Church in England 1642-9’ in Reaching to the
English Civil War 1642-1649. Pg 90
[12] M.Goldie. Pg 295
[13] Morrill. The impact of the English Civil War. Pg 66
Gary B. Nash argues that the American Revolution portrayed “radicalism” in the sense on how the American colonies and its protesters wanted to accommodate their own government. Generally what Gary B. Nash is trying to inform the reader is to discuss the different conditions made by the real people who were actually fighting for their freedom. In his argument he makes it clear that throughout the revolution people showed “radicalism” in the result of extreme riots against the Stamp Act merchants, but as well against the British policies that were implemented. He discusses the urgency of the Americans when it came to declaring their issues against the British on how many slaves became militants and went up against their masters in the fight
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1. To what extent was Parliament to blame for the outbreak of the English Civil War in 1642?
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Pettegree, Andrew. "The English Reformation." BBC History. BBC, 17 Feb 2011. Web. 1 Oct 2013.
Burns, Julia. "Notes MLA 6318". Church and State in Early Modern England. Fall 2013. Dr. D. David.