Puritans

The Burden of Secret Sin

by Margarita Georgieva

Critical Insights: Nathaniel Hawthorne (ed. Jack Lynch), Salem Press Inc., 2009

A Biblical-Theological Study of the Relationship Between the Theme of Rest and the Sabbath

by Casey Hough

This essay explores the theme of rest in relationship to the Sabbath throughout redemptive history. This essay explores the theme of rest in relationship to the Sabbath throughout redemptive history.

"Vampire Meets Girl: Gender Roles and the Vampire’s Side of the Story in Twilight, Midnight Sun and The Vampire Diaries.”

by M. Carmen Gomez-Galisteo

NeoAmericanist: An Online Journal for American Studies. Vol. 5, no 2 (2011/2012).

Land for God

by Ken Oziah

The English Puritans were searching for a place they could freely practice their religion. The English Puritans were searching for a place they could freely practice their religion.

Of Puritans and Prophets: Cotton Mather’s Interpretation of Ezekiel in the Biblia Americana

by William Tooman

In After Ezekiel: Essays on the Reception of a Difficult Prophet. Paul Joyce and Andrew Mein, eds. (Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies 535; T & T Clark, 2010), 203–228

Despite his importance as a historical figure, despite the hundreds of studies of his life and his writings, Cotton... more Despite his importance as a historical figure, despite the hundreds of studies of his life and his writings, Cotton Mather’s greatest exegetical work, the Biblia Americana, remains unpublished. Preserved in the archives of the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Biblia Americana is an immense six volume commentary on the entire Protestant bible, spanning more than forty-five hundred eye-straining pages. To date, there have been few studies of this untapped treasure trove of Puritan exegesis. Fortunately, the manuscript is currently being edited for publication under the direction of Reiner Smolinski of Georgia State University.
This brief study examines Cotton Mather’s interpretation of Ezekiel in the Biblia Americana. It explores his presuppositions and practices as an interpreter, in particular focusing on the visions in Ezekiel 1–3 and 40–48. The image of Mather that appears is that of a man who is driven by competing influences. Within the pages of the Biblia Americana we see an orthodox, pious Puritan who is entranced by the new learning of the Enlightenment but fated to follow premodern mental habits of the Renaissance.

Edwards' Ezekiel: The Interpretation of Ezekiel in the "Blank Bible" and "Notes on Scripture"

by William Tooman

Journal of Theological Interpretation 3/1 (Spring): 17–38

The recent publication of Jonathan Edwards’s Blank Bible together with his previously published Notes on Scripture has... more The recent publication of Jonathan Edwards’s Blank Bible together with his previously published Notes on Scripture has provided historians of biblical interpretation for the first time with an unrestricted view of Edwards’s interpretation of individual biblical books. Utilizing these resources, this paper inductively examines Edwards’s dramatic and imaginative
reading of the book of Ezekiel to uncover the exegetical techniques and hermeneutical principles Edwards applied to it. As his interpretation of Ezek 1, 4–5, and 38–39 reveals, Edwards departed from traditional Puritan exegesis. He highlighted layers of meaning lying beyond the literal sense, layers that bridge the divide between the textual world and the ostensive world. Beneath Edwards’s complex exegesis, we
can observe a guiding principle at work, namely, the providential harmony of all things. For Edwards, similarities between things — whether biblical texts, natural phenomena, historical events, institutions, doctrines, or human experiences — revealed the unity that undergirds the created
order. Scriptural interpretation, in Edwards’s view, was much more than an exposition of words on a page. To him, it was a vast enterprise that set the interpreter to the extraordinary task of mapping the mind of God.

Pregnant Silences: Gender, Theology and Resistance in the Trials of Anne Askew and Anne Hutchinson

by David Parry

Moreana, 45.175 (2008), 161-87
(A copy of the article can be purchased from the Moreana website)

This article examines the texts recounting the trials of Anne Askew (c.1521- 1546) and Anne Hutchinson (c.1591-1643).... more This article examines the texts recounting the trials of Anne Askew (c.1521- 1546) and Anne Hutchinson (c.1591-1643). Anne Askew was burnt for eucharistic views contravening Henry VIII’s Six Articles, whilst Anne Hutchinson was a dissident exiled from the Puritan colony of New England. Scholarship on these two Annes usually focuses either on gender roles or on doctrinal controversy. This article proposes that gender and doctrine are intertwined in the concepts of activity and passivity invoked in these narratives and expressed through the metaphors of sowing seed, pregnancy and birth. These metaphors echo, in unsettling ways, Aristotle, Luther and the Bible.

Key words: heresy trials, female dissidents, Anne Askew, Anne Hutchinson

Separating Speech in Saussure and Sibbes: the Differentiating Function of Language

by David Parry

The Glass, 20 (2008), 27-36.

Jerome Zanchi, the Application of Theology, and the Rise of the English Practical Divinity Tradition

by Patrick O'Banion

published in Renaissance and Reformation/Renaissance et Réforme 29.2-3 (2005).

Cet article s’inscrit dans le débat récemment relancé sur la relation entre les théologiens scolastiques de la... more Cet article s’inscrit dans le débat récemment relancé sur la relation entre les théologiens scolastiques de la Réforme et les premiers réformateurs, mais propose également de l’amener dans une nouvelle direction. On y analyse d’abord la doctrine de Dieu, telle que développée par Jerome Zanchi (1516– 1590), en mettant en relief comment il fait passer des conclusions de théolo- gie systématique à des implications de théologie pratique, et en particulier, à travers son usage de la convention dite de l’usus doctrinae. L’article cherche ensuite à estimer l’impact de cette convention en dehors des milieux érudits en explorant la relation entre le discours de Zanchi et la tradition anglaise pratique de la divinité. On y met donc en lumière comment les pasteurs et les théologiens populaires ont emprunté à Zanchi dans leur charge d’âmes et de réforme de la nation anglaise.

The King James Bible at 400: Scripture, Statecraft, and the American Founding.

by Bernard M. Levinson

Co-authored with Joshua Berman, published as a special supplement in The History Channel Magazine, November 2010, pp. 1-11.

This short article addressed to a broader readership investigates the impact of the King James Bible upon the American... more This short article addressed to a broader readership investigates the impact of the King James Bible upon the American founding. In order to show that impact, the article's first half portrays the political context for the formation of the King James, charts the influence of the Bible upon early modern political thought, and then sketches the impact of the KJV upon the rhetoric and political thought of the Founders. The essay is accompanied by a timeline.

Key Words:
Authorized Version; King James Version; American Founding; Bible and political thought, religion and the founding, founders, Bible and intellectual history, Spinoza, Bible and constitution; Bible and democracy.