Required reading
The Protector: A vindication by J. H. Merle D'Aubigne (Available from Amazon or free here) - Read Chapter 8 (The protectorate).
My summary
This week we learn of Cromwell's actions after his return to England.
We hear about:
(i) the dissolution of the the Long Parliament;
(ii) establishment of the Little Parliament;
(iii) the establishment of the Protectorate with Cromwell as the Protector;
(iv) the death of Cromwell's mother;
(v) the Parliament's infringement upon religious liberty and Cromwell's censure of such actions;
(vi) Cromwell's dissolution of the parliament;
(vii) D'Aubigne's suggested causes for England's Protectorate.
What grabbed me
I appreciated D'Aubigne's critique of Cromwell's view of the Spirit's leading, particularly Cromwell's confidence that the Spirit was calling him to dissolve the Long Parliament: 'What he said to the Parliament was indeed the truth. It was well that this assembly was dissolved, and the General, by desiring another, looked really to the welfare of the people. Nevertheless, on this occasion, he not only violated the principles by which states are governed ; but he was misled with regard to those by which religion should guide men's actions. His mainspring, as he tells us himself, was again, in this as in other occurrences, certain impulses which he looked upon as the Spirit of God. No doubt the Holy Spirit leads men ; but we repeat, that it is by the precepts in the Word of God that he leads them, and not by inward illuminations, more or less vague, which they think to be the voice of the Almighty himself, but which may be merely the voice of their own passions. Nevertheless, whatever might have been the motive which influenced Cromwell's conviction, what he did was truly for the good of the commonwealth.'
If you want to hear the voice of the Spirit, look to the Scriptures!
Next week's reading
Read Chapter 9 (Organization of church and state).
Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
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