Perfection proclaimed
Subtitle: language and literature in English radical religion, 1640-1660
By: Nigel Smith.
Publisher: Clarendon Press; Oxford University Press
Published: 1989
Place of publication: Oxford [Oxfordshire]; Oxford [Oxfordshire]; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 396
Subjects: English literature -- Early modern, 1500-1700 -- History and criticism.; English literature -- Protestant authors -- History and criticism.; English literature -- Puritan authors -- History and criticism.; Language and languages -- Religious aspects -- Christianity.; Religious literature, English -- History and criticism.; Dissenters, Religious -- England -- Intellectual life.; English language -- Early modern, 1500-1700 -- Style.; Radicalism -- England -- History -- 17th century.; Puritans -- England -- Intellectual life.; Puritan movements in literature.; Protestantism and literature.; Radicalism in literature.; England -- Church history -- 17th century.
Description: This compelling study traces the development of radical religious literature between 1640 and 1660 and offers a reorientation of how the sects are seen to rest in history. Introducing new evidence on religious individuals and groups, Smith argues that there are continuities between radicalism and the rest of mid-17th-century English society. He explores in detail such topics as the experiential and prophetic narratives in the "gathered churches," the centrality of the recounting of dreams and visions especially in the writings of women prophets, the reaction of radical Puritans to mystical and occult writings, and the theory and practice of radical religious language.
Notes: Bibliography: p. [349]-384.
Revised version of author's doctoral thesis.
Includes index.