Book Review - Andrew Bradstock’s Radical Religion in Cromwell’s England
BRADSTOCK, Andrew, Radical
Religion in Cromwell’s England: A Concise History from the English Civil War to
the End of the Commonwealth London:
I. B. Tauris & Co Ltd, 2011, pp xxvi + 189. ISBN 978-1-84511-765-8,
Paperback, £15.99
In Radical Religion in Cromwell’s
England Andrew Bradstock aims to provide a concise and accessible history
of the most notable radical religious groups of the English Civil War and
Commonwealth periods. In addition to an introduction and conclusion, the book
is divided into seven chapters, one dedicated to each of the following groups:
Baptists, Levellers, Diggers, Ranters, Quakers, Fifth Monarchists and
Muggletonians. Bradstock writes in a clear and comprehensible way, making the
book suitable for students and general readers as well as the more serious
scholar. In handling the content, the author has achieved a good balance
between the big picture and smaller-scale detail and, because each chapter
stands alone, the book can be used selectively by those who wish to fill specific
gaps in their knowledge. Bradstock clearly has a real affection for these
radical religious groups, but he does not allow his obvious enthusiasm to
detract from the need to offer balanced
profiles. Throughout the book, a particular effort is made to address the
role of women within each movement, presumably in order to rectify omissions in
previous introductory sources.
The book offers a wide range of fascinating insights into the hopes,
fears, excitement and disappointment of this turbulent period. Established
structures of social control had broken down, apocalyptic expectations were running
high and the prospect of further revolutionary change was very real. First and foremost, the
radical religious groups under consideration here were regarded as dangerous
and threatening to those in power because they were intent on dismantling the
very basis of social order within a Feudal society: the church-state power
block. It was commonplace in seventeenth-century English radicalism to attribute
the country’s ills to the Norman Conquest and the Feudal system it established.
Within this system, established religion functioned as the principal agent of
social control. Bradstock quotes Charles I saying that “people are governed by
the pulpit more than the sword in times of peace” (p. xv). Not surprisingly, all
these radical religious groups faced persecution of one form or other at the
hands of the authorities. They were portrayed as what Stanley Cohen has called
‘folk devils’ and were linked in particular with the greatest religious folk
devils of the time, the violent Anabaptists of Munster from a century or so
before.[1]
In many ways, the first three groups considered (Baptists, Levellers and
Diggers) reflected the radical optimism generated by the Civil Wars of the1640s,
whereas the latter four groups (Ranters, Quakers, Fifth Monarchists and
Muggletonians) represented a variety of responses to the disappointment and
despondency caused when those hopes and expectations were not realised. In
particular, the crushing of the Levellers and the Diggers in 1649 appears to have
set the scene for the development of the four radical groups that emerged in
the 1650s. Of the ‘groups of hope’, the Baptists were ‘free church’ pioneers;
the Levellers were reformist proto-democrats and the Diggers utopian anarcho-communists.
Of the 1650s groups, the Ranters were nihilists raging against the system, the
Quakers offered an inward path to spiritual and social transformation, the Fifth
Monarchists were violent revolutionaries (the ‘paramilitary wing’ of the
radical Baptists and Independents) and the Muggletonians provided an undemanding
if slightly eccentric path to assured salvation.
Given Bradstock’s previous research interests and publications, it is not
surprising that the chapter dedicated to Gerrard Winstanley and the Diggers is
the strongest. He provides a clear and detailed explanation of the Digger
vision, in which the fall of humanity was understood in terms of the emergence
of private property, causing violence, inequality and injustice. It is
interesting to note that, apart from the belief that the earth should again become
a ‘common treasury for all,’ most other Digger ideas reappear in the emerging
Quaker movement. This includes a belief in Christ’s return inwardly and
spiritually, a commitment to non-violence and the rejection of social graces
such as hat honour.
Having outlined the many strengths of the book, it has to be said that
it contains a number of weaknesses. The level of theological analysis offered
for each group is quite variable. The attention given to the theological
foundations of the Digger movement is both rich and detailed; however, Quaker theology
is somewhat neglected in favour of a focus on the political impact of Friends
and the response they provoked from those in power. Bradstock notes that none
of the Quaker distinctives were entirely new and this may explain the limited
attention he gives to their theology. However, one might argue that it was the unique
combination of beliefs and practices and the way they were lived in the world
that made the early Quaker movement innovative and influential. The Levellers
receive the least theological attention and, although Bradstock debates the
point, he does seem to accept that this group was essentially a forerunner of
secular democratic movements. In his treatment of this period, Bradstock appears
to neglect the influence of socio-economic factors, arguing that the English
Civil War was essentially a war of religion (p xiv). However, in seventeenth-century
England,
religion and politics were inextricably bound together and could not be
separated in any meaningful way. Bradstock’s perspective is somewhat surprising,
given the obvious influence of Christopher Hill and other Marxist historians on
his thinking. Some consideration of the impact of the transition from Feudalism
to Capitalism on the emergence and development of these groups would have been useful.
Bradstock debates the appropriateness of applying the term ‘radical’ to the
groups outlined in the book. The etymology of the word ‘radical’ suggests a
‘return to the root’. In the case of both Baptists and Quakers, it is clear
that the desire to return to the purity and simplicity of the apostolic church
was a key preoccupation. Unfortunately, he pays little, if any, attention to
the ‘Christian primitivism’ evident in many of these movements.
Bradstock’s treatment of the Quakers also raises a number of concerns.
His profile of the group relies too heavily on Barry Reay’s account in The Quakers and the English Revolution
and his guidance on further reading is not well-balanced.[2]
Although he lists valuable works by Catie Gill and Phyllis Mack about Quaker
women, he excludes such essential references on early Quakerism as Douglas
Gwyn’s The Covenant Crucified and
Rosemary Moore’s The Light in their
Consciences.[3] Surprisingly,
Bradstock accepts uncritically the traditional account of James Nayler’s
re-enactment of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem at Bristol in 1656, asserting
that his behaviour confirmed people’s worst fears and brought the Quaker
movement into disrepute (p.111). This ignores the political machinations of a
Parliament intent on repression, the impact of internal leadership struggles
and the fact that Nayler’s conduct was non-violent and in line with the early
Quaker use of outward signs to represent inward spiritual experiences. As a
result, Bradstock adopts a perspective that appears to blame the victim for the
persecution he suffers. Finally, one or two questionable assumptions are evident.
In his description of Fox’s Pendle Hill vision, Bradstock suggests that this
convinced him of his calling to found a new church (p.96). However, it is clear
that Fox’s outlook at this time was far more eschatological than
denominational. Bradstock also refers to Quaker belief in the ‘inner light’; a
term that Rosemary Moore argues was not used by early Friends.[4]
Nevertheless, despite these reservations, Andrew Bradstock’s Radical Religion in Cromwell’s England
represents a valuable introductory reference for anyone interested in finding
out more about these intriguing groups and the turbulent religious and
political circumstances in which they emerged. As Christians begin to come to
terms with the circumstances of post-Christendom where the Church no longer
finds itself at the centres of power, the stories of radical religious groups
such as these provide valuable insights into the experience of living as
disciples at the margins of society.[5]
This book will wet the appetites of many readers who, in addition to exploring
the author’s recommendations for further reading, will want to seek out more
comprehensive bibliographies.
Stuart Masters
Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre,
England
[1] Cohen, Stanley (1973) Folk Devils and Moral
Panics (Harper Collins)
[3] Gill, Catie, (2005) Women in the Seventeenth-Century Quaker Community (Ashgate), Mack,
Phyllis, (1992) Visionary Women: Prophesy
in Seventeenth-Century England
(University of California Press), Gwyn, Douglas, (1995) The Covenant Crucified: Quakers and the Rise
of Capitalism (Pendle Hill Publications), Moore,
Rosemary, (2000) The Light in their
Consciences: The Early
Quakers in Britain,
1646-1666 (Pennsylvania
State University
Press).
[4] Moore,
Rosemary (2000) p.81
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