The Birthpangs of ‘Deist’ Historiography

Abstract

In late seventeenth-century England, Presbyterian ideals of Church government were diffuse amongst the several Nonconformist tendencies resulting from the splintering of Puritanism in the Civil War and Interregnum period. The breakup of Puritanism has been understood as a diminution in the influence of their religious ideas. This was the case to some extent, but it was not so with their opposition to traditional hierarchical forms of Church government. As anti-Catholicism was the one feature uniting most Protestants, so the Presbyterian ideal of a simple non-hierarchical Christian ministry served to unite the very numerous and varied army of Dissenters. The influence of Presbyterian thought upon conceptions of Church history in the post-Restoration period has thus been considerably underestimated. Presbyterian ideals provided a powerful theological paradigm from within which to launch devastating attacks on all established Church hierarchies. Another reason for the endurance of the Presbyterian ideal was its ability to express political opposition — in good part class-orientated — to the perceived oppressive state-Church status quo.