RELG 330 - History of Christianity
Course Notes
Chapter 25
Page 355 - Schleitheim is pronounced SHLITE-hime. It is a town near Schaffhausen (pronounced Shaff-how-zen). The statement of faith produced by the meeting of Anabaptists at Schleitheim in 1537 is known as the 'Schleitheim Confession'
Page 334 - the swearing of oaths did not mean uttering curse words, but of confirming a promise by saying "By God . . . " or "By Saint . . . "
Page 356 - the 'Bruderhof' means the 'courtyard of the Brothers'
Page 357 Oliver Cromwell - it is misleading to have the picture of Oliver Cromwell under the title of "The First English Baptists".
Oliver Cromwell was an English Puritan with Independent or Separatist views, who became a member of Parliament in 1628, during the reign of Charles I.
Charles I was the son of James I of England (who was also James VI of Scotland). James had inherited the throne of England when Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603. James was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and had been brought up as a Presbyterian when his mother abdicated and fled to England. When he became King of England James developed ideas that he was divinely appointed (the Divine Right of Kings), although he did arrange for a new translation of the Bible into English, which was "authorized to be read in churches". James tried to steer a middle course in the Anglican Church, between a 'catholic' and a 'reformed' position - he had his son Charles marry a Roman Catholic princess, and his daughter Elizabeth marry a Lutheran prince.
Charles I was more extreme in his views than his father about the Divine Right of Kings, and was a more inept ruler; he tried to rule without calling Parliament, and eventually provoked civil war (1642-1648).
When the English Civil War broke out in 1642, Oliver Cromwell organized and trained a most efficient fighting force - the New Model Army - and won the Battles of Marston Moor (1644), Naseby (1645), and Preston (1648). Charles I was captured, and promised to abolish bishops and to make Presbyterianism the state Church in England. However, Charles proved to be unreliable in his promises, and Cromwell was one of the leaders who voted to bring Charles to trial. Charles I was beheaded in 1649, and parliament declared that England was now a Commonwealth. Cromwell and his army took control of parliament, and Cromwell was made "Lord Protector of England" in 1653.
Charles I's son (also named Charles) escaped to Holland, where he lived until he was recalled to England as King Charles II in 1660
Oliver Cromwell reorganized the Church in England along Presbyterian lines, although he was somewhat tolerant towards Independents, Separatists, Baptists, and to some extent Anglo-Catholics and even Jews.
When Oliver Cromwell died in 1658 parliament appointed his son Richard Cromwell as "Lord Protector", but Richard was not fitted for the position. He really wanted to be a farmer, and resigned within a year.
In 1660 Parliament invited Charles II to return to England under the conditions of a constitutional monarchy. One of the conditions of the Restoration of the monarchy was the restoration of the Anglican Church as the Church of England.
Page 359 - John Bunyan was imprisoned in Bedford jail from 1660 until 1672, and again for six months in 1676. After release from jail he spent the rest of his life as an Independent preacher in Bedford and around the country of England
Copyright © 2005 Shirley J. Rollinson, all Rights Reserved
