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The Pastoral Use of the Book of Revelation in Late Tudor England

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 August 2006

PATRICK J. O'BANION
Affiliation:
Department of History, St Louis University, 3800 Lindell Boulevard, St Louis, MO 63108, USA; e-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Over the past forty years historians have demonstrated continued interest in tracing the development of radical early modern English apocalypticism. The Tudor and Stuart eschatological scene, however, encompassed more than just millenarian activism. This article emphasises the pastoral ends to which Revelation was used by a group of late sixteenth-century writers as they sought to make it accessible to the ‘common sort’ of Christian. Viewing interest in the Last Days through this pastoral lens highlights both the tense complexities present in the Elizabethan Church and the usefulness of eschatological themes in studying ordinary and normative aspects of religious experience.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
2006 Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

The author wishes to express his thanks to Richard Kieckhefer for introducing him to George Gifford; to Charles H. Parker, James Hitchcock and Diarmaid MacCulloch who offered advice at various stages; to the helpful staff of the Folger Shakespeare Library where much of the research for this project was carried out; and to the members of the Folger Institute's 2004 English Reformation seminar for their criticism and encouragement.