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Conclusion

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Summary

We must not deny a great truth in Christianity, for fear of giving occasion to Popish consequents and misuse of it.

Richard Baxter's comment encapsulates the reformed attitude to angels throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, attesting to the positive assimilation of the concept into Reformed theology and mentalities. Although angels were by no means an unproblematic inheritance from late medieval religious cultures, this study has shown that for most reformers, the utility of belief in them far outweighed the more negative associations. Accordingly, angels were utilized for a wide range of purposes and intents in the post-Reformation era. The discussion has traced the course charted by the reformers in order to balance the usefulness of the angelic motif with the ‘Popish consequents’ that might result from its misuse. This has brought to the fore the continued ubiquity of angels in religious cultures, as they were consistently and persistently utilized as a device by clergymen seeking to convey doctrine and instruction to the laity. It has also located angels in a series of political, cultural and religious sites, focusing not on the development and mutation of a single idea, but rather on the transmission and adaptation of that idea by a diverse range of individuals in both the religious and secular realms, all with their own agendas and aspirations.

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Publisher: Pickering & Chatto
First published in: 2014

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  • Conclusion
  • Laura Sangha
  • Book: Angels and Belief in England, 1480–1700
  • Online publication: 05 December 2014
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  • Conclusion
  • Laura Sangha
  • Book: Angels and Belief in England, 1480–1700
  • Online publication: 05 December 2014
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Conclusion
  • Laura Sangha
  • Book: Angels and Belief in England, 1480–1700
  • Online publication: 05 December 2014
Available formats
×