The early 17th century was a period of tremendous political upheaval in England. A Civil War was fought, a King was executed, and a monarchy was restored; all within 18 years. The turmoil is evident in the literature of the time and more explicitly in the non-fiction writing. However, the same time period was also a time of religious uncertainty. The creation of the Church of England by Henry VIII had occurred in the previous century, but its legacy of disunity and confusion continued to pervade England into the 17th century and can be seen in texts of every genre.
As is to be expected the overthrow of the King occasioned a swell of political theorizing in England. Robert Filmer, John Milton, and Gerrard Winstanley all wrote on the nature of government. Their ideas were radically different; the only constant was the presence of Christianity in their writing. Filmore argued that human’s have no natural liberty; it was Adam’s desire for liberty that “was the first cause of the fall.” He went on to use the biblical history of the patriarchs to prove that man is naturally subordinated to rulers. Milton, by contrast, used biblical history to prove the God does not support the rule of Kings, after all God wasn’t pleased when the Israelites asked for a King. Winstanley also used religion to argue that while God was a righteous King, Parliament was not living up to God’s demands.
While all of these examples of Christianity influencing political argument are significant in that they show the pervasiveness of religion in 17th century, English society, they are all simply examples of differing interpretations. Even more interesting is the more contentious religious conflict that these texts hint toward, division not only of interpretation but also of practice and structure. When discussing the misplaced logic of human liberty Filmer wrote, “This tenet was first hatched in the schools, and hath been fostered be all succeeding Papists for good divinity.” Clearly there was a division with the community of believers if Filmer could take such a position regarding the beliefs of the clergy. Gerrard Winstanley makes his anti-clerical position clearer in his essay; he explains that the “tithing priests” are part of the problem facing common Englishmen since they horde land and refuse to provide the fair share to public. Of course the essential distinction to be made is between the Church and “true religion.” While the clergy was part of the problem, “Surely the earth was never made by God that the younger brother should live in the earth unless he would work for and pay his elder brother rent for the earth.”
The fractioning that the Protestant Reformation helped to bring about, in which many people lost loyalty to the clergy of any kind (Catholic or Church of England) is also evident in the writings of Lucy Hutchinson. For Hutchinson, part of the King and Queen’s weakness was their close ties to the Episcopal power structure. Although she too, like all the writers examined here, maintained Christian beliefs she disapproved strongly of the organized Church in England.
A professed belief in Christ and the Bible was essentially a given in 17th century England, but how those beliefs manifested themselves and how they were framed in political arguments varied greatly.
Very interested post. What I find most interesting and kind of odd is that there was a female writer during that time period, who even made a difference with her writing. At least to us students now. But still, it's very rare to see women writers, especially women writing about current affairs, religious reformation, etc. rather than fiction. It's also interesting that all of these writers had firmly different beliefs and views in Christianity. I would think that most people back then would have just believed in it, and not really questioned anything else like most everybody does today. Interesting.
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