Required reading
The Protector: A vindication by J. H. Merle D'Aubigne (Available from Amazon or free here) - Read Chapter 10 (Religious liberty).
My summary
This week D'Aubigne focuses on Cromwell's contribution to religious liberty.
We heard:
(i) testimonies in support of Cromwell's contribution to religious liberty;
(ii) that Cromwell did not bring about complete separation of church and state;
(iii) Cromwell's support of Independents, Quakers, Presbyterians, Baptists, Episcopalians and Jews;
(iv) D'Aubigne's critique of Cromwell's unevenness in constraining the Episcopal church and favouring the Independent.
What grabbed me
Cromwell was most definitely a supporter of religious liberty.
This response to some Quakers serves as possibly the best illustration of his liberty: 'Many of the Friends at that time indulged in great excesses. Nayler in particular, who was called by his partisans The Everlasting Sun of Righteousness, the Prince of Peace, the Only-begotten Son of God, and to whom his disciples paid divine honors, crying before him : "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of Hosts," is a striking example. When parliament, after several sittings, had condemned the fanatical quaker, who at Bristol had parodied Christ's entry into Jerusalem, Cromwell felt a desire to interfere. He was doubtful, as it would appear, of the justice of the sentence passed upon him, and would have saved him.'
At that time, very few leaders would have even hesitated to condemn such a heretic.
Next week's reading
Read Chapter 11 (Morality, glory and antipopery of England).
Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
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