Realizing Calvin's Radical Potential: Interpreting Jeremiah 48:10 during the English Revolution

Authors

  • William John Lyons

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11157/rsrr6-1-703

Abstract

In his Political Grace: The Revolutionary Theology of John Calvin (2009), Roland Boer asks “what if we let loose the revolutionary strain of Calvin’s theology and politics?” This article examines the impact of Calvin’s ideas on the English Revolution (1642--51), as exemplified in a sermon by Stephen Marshall on Judg 5:23. His much-repeated Meroz Cursed was first delivered to Parliament in 1641 and called for the execution of the King’s councillor, the Earl of Strafford. Picking up on Calvin’s written comments on Jer 48:10, the article examines Marshall's use of that text to argue that Parliament's choice was between taking divinely approved action or being judged for their inaction, echoing Calvin's usage. Calvin’s “revolutionary strain” was thus loosed to tumultuous effect in seventeenth-century England, culminating in the execution of Charles 1.

Downloads

Published

2016-08-31

How to Cite

Lyons, W. J. (2016). Realizing Calvin’s Radical Potential: Interpreting Jeremiah 48:10 during the English Revolution. Relegere: Studies in Religion and Reception, 6(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.11157/rsrr6-1-703

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 1 (2016)

Section

Articles

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

    1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal. The work may not be used for commercial purposes. The work may not be altered, transformed, or built upon.

    1. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

  1. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).