The Restoration Church of England, 1646-1689

This book is a comprehensive account of the Church of England, Anglicanism and religious life in England during the Restoration period that shaped all three. While much has been written about the Church of England in the century before the Civil War, this history focuses on Anglicanism in the second half of the 17th century, a period when it began to establish a distinct indentity, to recognize and explain how it differed from both the Church of Rome and the Protestant Reformed churches of Europe. John Spurr tells how Anglicanism was born of the soul searching of the 1640s and 1650s, when the Church of England was officially banned by the Puritan authorities. He describes how Restoration clergymen developed a distinctive Anglicanism by creating a clerical consensus about pastoral priorities and the dangers of apathy, sin, and various forms of religious dissidence. Spurr gives a lengthy account of the political fortunes of the church, exploring lay-clerical relations, the effectiveness of the church's administration and courts, the rise of atheism and religious apathy, tensions over the role of bishops and the nature of schism, the clergy's pastoral strategy, and the Anglican preoccupation with divine providence. Having described Restoration Anglicanism, Spurr assesses its appeal to the laity and places it in the larger context of the history of Anglicanism. He shows that a comprehension of Restoration Anglicanism is important for an understanding of Tory and Anglican opposition to religious toleration for Protestant Dissenters - the crucial political problem between 1660 and 1689. Thus this book should interest those concerned with the political, cultural, social and religious history of 17th-century England. A comprehensive account of the Church of England, Anglicanism and religious life in England during the Restoration period that shaped all three. The author shows how Anglicanism began to establish an identity distinct both from Rome and the Protestant Reformed churches of Europe during this period. xvii, 445 pages ; 25 cm Includes bibliographical references (pages 402-426) and index John Spurr. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [402]-426) And Index.