Blown by the Spirit : Puritanism and the emergence of an antinomian underground in pre-Civil-War England /
David R. Como.
- Stanford : Stanford University Press, (c)2004.
- 1 online resource (xii, 513 pages)
Includes bibliographies and index.
1. Introduction -- 2. The Sinews of the Antinomian Underground -- 3. London's Antinomian Controversy -- 4. The Intellectual Context of Controversy: Law, Faith, and the Paradoxes of Puritan Pastoral Divinity -- 5. The Kingdom of Traske: The Early Career of John Traske and the Origins of Antinomianism -- 6. John Eaton, the Eatonists, and the "Imputatative" Strain of English Antinomianism -- 7. The Throne of Solomon: John Everarde and the "Perfectionist" Strain of English Antinomianism -- 8. The Grindletonians: Protestant Perfectionism in the North of England -- 9. Two Strains Crossed: Hybrid Forms of English Antinomianism -- 10. Ultra-Antinomianism? -- 11. Forging Heresy: Mainstream Puritans and Laudians on Antinomianism -- Epilogue: 1640 and Beyond -- App. A. The Influence of Familism in Seventeenth-Century England -- App. B. Familist Extracts from the Diary of Edward Howes (British Library, Sloane MS. 979) -- App. C. Truth and Fiction in the Archives: Sources, Source-Skepticism, and the Sport of Heresy-Hunting -- App. D. Schedule of Errors Alleged Against Roger Bearley, 1616/17 -- App. E. Letter of John Eachard, 1631.
This study explores the intersection of politics, religious thought, and religious culture in prerevolutionary England, using hitherto unknown or overlooked manuscript and printed material to reconstruct and contextualize a forgotten but highly significant antinomian religious subculture that evolved at the margins of the early seventeenth-century puritan community. By reconstructing this story, Blown by the Spirit offers a major revision of current understanding of Puritanism and the Puritan community. In the process, the author illuminates the obscure and tangled question of the origins of civil-war radicalism, thereby helping to explain the course, consequences, and ultimate failure of the English revolution.