Understanding the resurrection in restoration England

Understanding the resurrection in restoration England

This paper studies the nuances of meaning attached to the idea of resurrection in late-seventeenth century England. After 1660, both the house of Stuart (although not Charles I himself) and the episcopate experienced revivals in influence and fortunes which theologians interpreted as forms of resurrection and which were explicitly compared to the miracle of Christ’s resurrection. Theological understanding of the supernatural processes of resurrection was shaped and defined by adaptations of biblical narratives and by the political circumstances of Restoration England. In this period the preservation of the tactile apostolic succession was widely interpreted in printed sermons and tracts as a providential preservation of an episcopate on the verge of extinction. This paper will examine the different meanings attached to royal and episcopal resurrection in theological literature in the post-1660 period, when monarchy and episcopate both experienced providential resurrection but in which the resurrection of the episcopate conveyed a less triumphalist emphasis than the royal resurrection.