Dutch Puritanism A History Of English And Scottish Churches Of The Netherlands In The Sixteenth And Seventeenth Centuries

The Discourse of Legitimacy is a wide-ranging, synoptic study of England's conflicted political cultures in the period between the Protestant Reformation and the civil war.

This volume describes English Puritan book printing and publishing at Amsterdam and Leiden in the early seventeenth century. The book deals with the connection between Puritan religion and the history of printing through a study of the Dutch-English network of authors, printers, and booksellers.

A work of major importance for the economic history of both Europe and North America.

This book presents the first modern in-depth study of the theology of one of the most influential figures in post-Reformation Scotland, Samuel Rutherford (c. 1600-1661). Although much has been written over the years about Rutherford's political thought or about his nearly mystical piety, very little actually has appeared in print about his theology. Among those hwo have written Rutherford's theology in the past, none have done so in a comprehensive, systematic manner, and none have devoted any attention at all to examining Rutherford's Latin treatises. The current work seeks to fill both lacunae, by presenting Rutherford's theology, beginning with the doctrine of assurance, and by drawing chiefly upon what is arguably his magnum opus theologiae, the Examen Arminianismi. The Examen, which consists of lectures Rutherford delivered to his divinity students at St. Andrews University, is the closest thing he has to a proper systematic theology text. But because it is also a polemical treatise, aimed primarily against the Arminians, the Examen provides a context for us to engage not only with the seventeenth-century dispute over Arminianism, but also with the more contemporary debate of Calvin vs. the Calvinists.

Unity in Diversity presents a fresh appraisal of the vibrant and diverse culture of Stuart Puritanism, provides a historiographical and historical survey of current issues within Puritanism, critiques notions of Puritanisms, which tend to fragment the phenomenon, and introduces unitas within diversitas within three divergent Puritans, John Downame, Francis Rous, and Tobias Crisp. This study draws on insights from these three figures to propose that seventeenth-century English Puritanism should be thought of both in terms of Familienähnlichkeit, in which there are strong theological and social semblances across Puritans of divergent persuasions, and in terms of the greater narrative of the Puritan Reformation, which united Puritans in their quest to reform their church and society.

This book contributes to the ongoing revision of early modern British history by examining the apocalyptic tradition through the life and writings of Joseph Mede (1586-1638). The history of the British apocalyptic tradition has yet to undergo a thorough revision. Past studies followed a historiographical paradigm which associated millenarianism with a revolutionary agenda. A careful study of Joseph Mede, one of the key individuals responsible for the rebirth of millenarianism in England, suggests a different picture of seventeenth-century apocalypticism. The roots of Mede's apocalyptic thought are not found in extreme activism, but in the detailed study of the Apocalypse with the aid of ancient Christian and Jewish sources. Mede’s legacy illustrates the geographical prevalence and long-term sustainability of his interpretations. This volume shows that the continual discussion of millenarian ideas reveals a vibrant tradition that cannot be reconstructed to fit within one simple historiographical narrative.