Abstract
In the Christian world picture of early modern Europe Truth was absolute and enjoyed rights of its own. Protestantism shattered the unity of Christianity but did not fester any ideal of religious tolerance. Instead, closely interwoven with the Henrician Reformation and consequent break with Roman Catholicism, and with the establishment of the Elizabethan state, Protestantism led to a widespread millenarian belief in the leading role God had chosen for England, thus sharpening the opposition between Good and Evil, Christ and Antichrist. In the heady atmosphere of the 1640’s Milton, Cromwell, and the Independents stood for liberty of conscience, while the Levellers and radical separatists argued for toleration and religious liberty. Toleration emerged and thrived in the Puritan Revolution, not as an ideal, but as a temporary, pragmatic measure in the long path to achieve cherished but elusive religious unity.
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