Description
A new analysis of the phenomenon of Judaizing Christianity in seventeenth-century England
An original and innovative contribution to our understanding of a neglected tendency within Puritanism. A compelling work that has implications that go well beyond its subject matter and opens up new ways of thinking about Christian interpretations and appropriations of Judaism. Justin Meggitt, Senior Lecturer in the Study of Religion, University of Cambridge, and Visiting Researcher, Stockholm University Aidan Cottrell-Boyce takes his readers on a fascinating journey, exploring the significance of 'Judaizing' trends among English Puritans. Operating at the intersection of theological and sociological analysis, he presents an innovative and convincing account in which the adoption of 'Jewish' practices enabled individuals to take on a stance of distinctiveness and separation from the surrounding culture of the dominant majority. The book's argument has implications beyond its seventeenth-century focus, illuminating a broader historical pattern of scripturally shaped resistance-identity that can be traced through early Christianity, rabbinic Judaism, the rise of Protestantism, and the Radical Reformation. Daniel H. Weiss, Polonsky-Coexist Senior Lecturer in Jewish Studies, University of Cambridge
Aidan Cottrell-Boyce is a research fellow at St Mary's University in London. He is the author of Israelism in Modern Britain (2020).