Providence, punishment and identity formation in the late-Stuart Quaker community, c.1650–1700
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Authors
Publication Date
2016-10Journal Title
The Seventeenth Century
ISSN
0268-117X
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Volume
31
Issue
4
Language
en
Type
Article
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Pullin, N. (2016). Providence, punishment and identity formation in the late-Stuart Quaker community, c.1650–1700. The Seventeenth Century, 31 (4) https://doi.org/10.1080/0268117x.2016.1246261
Abstract
For centuries, Englishmen and women believed that any misfortune, from the smallest malady to a natural catastrophe, signified divine “justice.” Scholarship on providence and miracles has shown that beliefs in divine intervention were enhanced by the political and religious conflicts of the mid-seventeenth century. This article seeks to refine our understanding of the role of providence in confessional identity formation through an examination of Quaker providential interpretation between 1650 and c.1700. It explores the ways in which Quakers appropriated accounts of divine judgement, circulated them within their community and memorialised them for the benefit of future generations. The discovery of an attempt to create a nationwide record of judgements to befall Quaker persecutors shows that providential stories had a significant role in uniting, and ensuring the survival of a disparate and heavily persecuted religious community.
Identifiers
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0268117x.2016.1246261
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/279587
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