The Patience of the Saints, the Apocalypse, and Moderate Nonconformity in Restoration England

Abstract

The persistence of apocalyptic ideas within Restoration religious and political thought demonstrates that the accomplishment of the restoration of monarchical and episcopal government did not suspend the application of prophetic interpretation to the political and religious circumstances in England. In examining the apocalyptic literature of the Restoration, it is necessary to distinguish between the ideas expressed by radicals and those advocated by more moderate religious nonconformists. Although moderate nonconformists did confront and defy the policies of civil and ecclesiastical authorities, their opposition was distinguished by an advocacy of non-violence and passive defiance directed at determining the appropriate response among the godly, rather than turning outward to violently assail the church and government of England. The way in which this resignation to the political reality forced the adaptation of apocalyptic expectations and expression provides an important insight into the nature of moderate dissent in the second half of the seventeenth century. Moderate nonconformist apocalyptic thought was a product of requisite abidance to temporal authority, and the experience of religious persecution. The prophecies of Revelation provided solace for their compliance, as well as a language particularly suited for voicing discontent with civil and ecclesiastical government.