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The Reinvention of Devotion in the British Reformations*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2016

Alec Ryrie
Alec Ryrie*
Affiliation:
Durham University
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Extract

The ideal Protestant life was built around two critical events: conversion and death. At the first, the believer received justification and the assurance of salvation; at the second, the promise once received came into its fullness. This pattern was implicit from the earliest days of the Reformation, and when the English Puritans of William Perkins’ school mapped out a schematic for the Protestant life they made it explicit. Theologically, this pattern made a great deal of sense. However, it created a practical problem. Many believers had to endure a tediously long interval between these two high points. How was the good Protestant supposed to pass the time?

Type
Research Article
Information
Studies in Church History , Volume 44: Revival and Resurgence in Christian History , 2008 , pp. 87 - 105
Copyright
Copyright © Ecclesiastical History Society 2008

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Footnotes

*

Earlier versions of this paper were read at the University of Birmingham and the University of Durham, and I am grateful to colleagues there for their comments and suggestions.

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