Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Note on quotation, citation, and abbreviations
- Synopsis of apocalyptic scripture
- Introduction
- 1 Conventions in Restoration apocalyptic interpretation
- 2 The apocalypse, radicalism, and reaction in the early Restoration
- 3 The apocalypse and moderate nonconformity
- 4 The Anglican apocalypse
- 5 The Popish Plot and apocalyptic expectation
- 6 Apocalyptic thought and the Revolution of 1688–1689
- 7 Conclusion: the apocalypse to 1700
- Bibliography
- Index
- STUDIES IN MODERN BRITISH RELIGIOUS HISTORY
1 - Conventions in Restoration apocalyptic interpretation
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Note on quotation, citation, and abbreviations
- Synopsis of apocalyptic scripture
- Introduction
- 1 Conventions in Restoration apocalyptic interpretation
- 2 The apocalypse, radicalism, and reaction in the early Restoration
- 3 The apocalypse and moderate nonconformity
- 4 The Anglican apocalypse
- 5 The Popish Plot and apocalyptic expectation
- 6 Apocalyptic thought and the Revolution of 1688–1689
- 7 Conclusion: the apocalypse to 1700
- Bibliography
- Index
- STUDIES IN MODERN BRITISH RELIGIOUS HISTORY
Summary
In order to recognize the application of apocalyptic imagery and beliefs within the political and religious discourse of later seventeenth-century England, it is necessary to become acquainted with the interpretive structure within which ideas were expressed and contemporary events were framed. Debate over the meaning of the prophecies of Revelation and Daniel existed in the period after 1660 but there was widespread agreement on a number of essential principles of interpretation. These similarities across divergent religious traditions and backgrounds demonstrate where a shared understanding of apocalyptic beliefs existed. This common foundation provided a familiar language within which variations in interpretation and application of apocalyptic imagery became a meaningful commentary on religious and political context of later seventeenthcentury England.
The present chapter concentrates largely on the similarities in apocalyptic thought. It focuses primarily on what was agreed upon, deferring examination of domestic political, religious, and polemical contention to later chapters. Central to these generally accepted characteristics was a predominant historicist interpretation. This predicted that the prophecies of Revelation had been and would continue to be fulfilled in historical events. Included in this interpretive framework were strong elements of millenarian expectation, chronological speculation, and anti-papal sentiment that maintained Reformation confessional themes. The discussion of these attributes in this chapter will familiarize the reader with the structure and imagery of Revelation that is essential to understanding the nature of its application in the later seventeenth century. Evidence of this exegetical tradition is found in a wide variety of writings: more than 140 separate works are cited in this chapter.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Revelation RestoredThe Apocalypse in Later Seventeenth-Century England, pp. 23 - 66Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2011