The Reformation of the Heart

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Abstract This book offers a fresh assessment of the relationship between radical theology and gender radicalism in the English Revolution. In doing so, it addresses together two themes which have long fascinated historians of the period: the intellectual formation of religious radicalism; and the prominence of women as prophets and preachers in the radical sects. The Reformation of the heart centres on the remarkable ideas and reforming visions of a levelling and highly mystical network in the period of civil conflict, the regicide and its aftermath; a network which linked military chaplains with inspired women and congregations across England. Drawing on both known printed works, and unexamined manuscript evidence, this study suggests that the revolutionary radicals were both more theologically daring, and more unified in their support for women’s participation, than we have thought. On one side, the army chaplains and radical preachers developed a highly original theology of gender, conceiving of a female principle in the Godhead. They were also explicit advocates of women’s preaching, to an extent previously unacknowledged. Concomitantly, this book argues that women’s involvement in preaching and publishing during the crisis fostered innovative thinking on the incarnation; universal salvation; free grace; eschatology; and the nature of the church. The book also offers a contribution to feminist epistemology, showing how the involvement of women in reform and the formation of ideas, as a group with distinctive experiences, priorities, and cultural identities, can be transformative.