AccessMyLibrary provides FREE access to over 30 million articles from top publications available through your library.

The English Bible and the Seventeenth-Century Revolution.

The Journal of Ecclesiastical History

| July 01, 1996 | Daniell, David | COPYRIGHT 1996 Cambridge University Press. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)Copyright

Thirty years ago, while I was working on a writer at the time of the English Civil War, I turned for guidance to one of the standard aids, the Pelican guide to English literature (1956, 1962). Under 'Bible' the index to the relevant volume pointed only to three tiny and dismissive references, as a book seen from a great distance when discussing Milton, Donne or Bunyan. The longish introductory chapter on the history of that time (ignored in the index) did slightly better, suggesting that Bible-reading did affect some individuals or sects; but little more.

The fact that study of English life in the mid-seventeenth century now looks very different is in large part thanks to Christopher Hill. In a dozen rightly-admired books and scores of articles related to 'the English Revolution' he has brought the Bible centre-stage. In accessing that time, as the latest jargon puts it, 'The Old and New Testaments' are no longer files to be called up after 'economics' or 'politics' or 'astrology' or whatever. We now understand that the Bible, which by then had been in the vernacular for several generations, permeated every part of life: particularly the Geneva Bible in its various forms, as Professor Hill makes splendidly clear. Just as those Testaments came out of upheaval, so in English they turned the world upside-down - a biblical phrase (Acts xvii. 6). Professor Hill's huge range of reading in the pamphlet literature of the time and elsewhere makes the central position of the Bible unmistakeable. It is an indictment of English Christian historians that it has taken a Marxist to right that wrong. In fact some Christian historians are now busy denying the Bible any place at all even in the English Reformation: Eamon Duffy in his popular, and partisan, The stripping of the altars (1992), finds the Bible irrelevant to the Christian religion, and ignores it.

The English bible and the seventeenth-century revolution is a collection of essays of breathtaking erudition - the result of what he calls 'many years of desultory general reading in and around the subject': only in him could desultoriness produce such richness. Here are large sections on 'Fast sermons and politics, 1640-1660', or on the power of 'Metaphors and programmes' - he is particularly good on use of the symbols of high trees, mountains and gardens, and the ambivalences of 'wilderness'. The long central part of the book, seven essays under' International Catholicism and national politics', shows England pointing upwards - to the imminent millennial consummation - but also, more strikingly, downwards: to fear of retribution for the execution of the monarch, or for backsliding, or for the failure to do much for the Protestant cause in Europe, even for the failure of the revolution. As he remarks, '"That stupendous year" 1656 came and went.... But nothing in particular happened. Four years later Charles II was sitting on the throne, not King Jesus.'

Professor Hill has been here before, for example in his studies of Milton and Bunyan, authors of 'the two great epics of Biblical Puritanism in defeat'. There is in this book, for all the scholarly brilliance, the most attractive courtesy of manner (and wit), and the sense of triumph at the defeat of the absolute authority of the Bible after 1660, a detectable tone of depression. He feels that he should have had the Old Testament, and not the whole Bible, in the title. (In this he is, I think, wrong. My own reading suggests that more fodder for oppositional politics came from the New Testament than he allows.) Then he remarks, 'If one reads the Bible straight through, the remarkable tolerance of the gospels comes as a shock.' The surprise in that points to one of the two things most strikingly missing from this ...

Related articles from newspapers, magazines, journals, and more
The English Bible and the Seventeenth Century Revolution.
Magazine article from: Contemporary Review Bridge, Tony August 1, 1993 700+ words
...trying to review the Bible on a single sheet of paper. Professor Hill has already written...it was not in the Bible'. Meanwhile...protestant whore".' Professor Hill is careful not to...its dangers, the Bible -- especially the...
In God's Time: The Bible and the Future. (Religion).(Brief Article)
Magazine article from: Publishers Weekly September 30, 2002 700+ words
...embarrassment over what the Bible and its various interpreters...guide to exploring what the Bible says about the future. Hill...an informed reading of the Bible, particularly the New Testament...well-prepared and practiced professor, Hill leads his readers through this...
A Bible for everybody: the niche phenomenon.(Special Report: Bible Selling)
Magazine article from: Publishers Weekly October 9, 1995 700+ words
...a parade of niche Bibles with impressive sales...Women's Devotional Bible, with sales of more...successful niche Bibles from Zondervan have included the Adventure Bible, a study Bible for...with the veterans' Bible--and Bibles that are thoroughly...
Bible publishers get real: growth outside CBA stores requires new looks and a...
Magazine article from: Publishers Weekly Farrington, Debra K. October 31, 2005 700+ words
...and publisher for Bibles at Zondervan. But...recent innovations by Bible publishers to broaden...development for Bibles, reports that Bible sales are up 11...trust also help sell Bibles beyond the CBA environment...Inspirational Study Bible, with text by Max...
Bible companion.
Magazine article from: The Christian Century Taylor, Barbara Brown February 6, 2007 700+ words
...was ready for the Bible to speak its own...a whole shelf of Bibles. Working from left...faith through the Bibles that have sustained...After the Scofield Bible and the RSV come...who created all my Bibles. In the end, I...HarperCollins Study Bible (NRSV) for his...
Bible Sellers Report Sales Boom for Christmas in North Port, Fla., Area.
News wire article from: Sun (Port Charlotte, FL) December 24, 2001 700+ words
...not one but three Bibles. She prays with...24, and uses the Bible as a tool. She was...to gauge whether Bible sales increased after...we sell a lot of Bibles and prayer books...English-language Bibles, produced a red...Extreme Word" youth Bible just after the terrorist...
Bibles: the investment that yields.(Sacred Texts 2008)
Magazine article from: Publishers Weekly Nelson, Marcia Z. October 13, 2008 700+ words
...between dueling study Bibles based on two recent...market. The ESV Study Bible (Crossway, Oct...stylist, says study Bibles aren't redundant...popular NIV Study Bible and found only 30...with the NLT Study Bible in topics covered...use multiple study Bibles because you get a...
Bibles in the classroom? It's OK, but be sure to teach, not preach.(right watch)
Newspaper article from: NEA Today Simpson, Michael D. February 1, 2008 700+ words
It certainly is a growing trend: Bible classes in the public schools. A 2004...schools sponsor elective courses on the Bible. One publisher claims 423 school districts in 37 states have adopted its Bible curriculum, reaching over 220,000...
Bible mania.(average Bible consumer owns nine or more)(Brief Article)
Magazine article from: The Christian Century Marty, Martin E. November 15, 2000 700+ words
...that the average Bible consumer owns nine Bibles, but that he or...out devotional Bibles once ruled, the study Bible is now out front...until the study Bible and its companions...niched-out. "Bibles for children are...
Bibles today customized to every style and taste.
Newspaper article from: Chattanooga Times/Free Press (Chattanooga, TN) February 3, 2007 700+ words
...Today, you can have the Bible practically any way you...Guys who are making the Bibles are pulling out all the...manager of Lanham's Bible Bookstore on Lee Highway...beyond the cover of the Bible, they might want it...officials said. As such, Bibles are available tailored...
For more facts and information, see all results
©2009 Gale, a part of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
About us | FAQs | Contact us | Privacy policy | Terms and conditions
Other Gale sites: Encyclopedia.com | HighBeam Research | Acquire Content | Books & Authors | Goliath | MovieRetriever | Smart QandA