9 Edward Reynolds and the making of a presbyterian bishop
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Christy Wang
Abstract
Edward Reynolds (1599–1676), once vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford (1648–50) and later Bishop of Norwich (1661–76), has been largely neglected by scholarship and, consequently, is often misunderstood. Due to Reynolds’s conformity, some have labelled him a Laudian, a description he would have found absurd. Others, as early as the ultra-royalist historian Anthony Wood, have portrayed Reynolds as an opportunistic presbyterian and his return to episcopacy in 1660 as a self-seeking pursuit of power. The reality is, Reynolds’s career defies the old puritan or conformist dichotomy and instead demonstrates how godly sentiments and advocacy for presbyterianism did not necessarily make individuals anti-episcopalian or anti-royalist. Reynolds’s conscious pursuit of moderation neither fitted the political climate of his day nor satisfies the scholarly urge to taxonomise clear ideological divides in early modern England. This chapter explores Reynolds’s career leading up to his acceptance of the bishopric of Norwich. It starts with his puritan leadership in Northamptonshire before 1642, focusing on how his godly concerns and criticisms of the Laudian reform are frequently misread by scholars. The chapter then demonstrates how Reynolds’s support of iure divino presbyterianism in the 1640s, his accommodation of independent concerns, and even his political alliance with conservative Cromwellians in the late 1650s all foreshadowed his return to episcopacy in 1660. Reynolds’s tactics and changes of alliance revealed a consistent and distinctively English presbyterian commitment to a national, unified government that maintained mainstream Protestant beliefs, which eventually enabled him to re-embrace the Stuart monarchy and episcopacy.
Abstract
Edward Reynolds (1599–1676), once vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford (1648–50) and later Bishop of Norwich (1661–76), has been largely neglected by scholarship and, consequently, is often misunderstood. Due to Reynolds’s conformity, some have labelled him a Laudian, a description he would have found absurd. Others, as early as the ultra-royalist historian Anthony Wood, have portrayed Reynolds as an opportunistic presbyterian and his return to episcopacy in 1660 as a self-seeking pursuit of power. The reality is, Reynolds’s career defies the old puritan or conformist dichotomy and instead demonstrates how godly sentiments and advocacy for presbyterianism did not necessarily make individuals anti-episcopalian or anti-royalist. Reynolds’s conscious pursuit of moderation neither fitted the political climate of his day nor satisfies the scholarly urge to taxonomise clear ideological divides in early modern England. This chapter explores Reynolds’s career leading up to his acceptance of the bishopric of Norwich. It starts with his puritan leadership in Northamptonshire before 1642, focusing on how his godly concerns and criticisms of the Laudian reform are frequently misread by scholars. The chapter then demonstrates how Reynolds’s support of iure divino presbyterianism in the 1640s, his accommodation of independent concerns, and even his political alliance with conservative Cromwellians in the late 1650s all foreshadowed his return to episcopacy in 1660. Reynolds’s tactics and changes of alliance revealed a consistent and distinctively English presbyterian commitment to a national, unified government that maintained mainstream Protestant beliefs, which eventually enabled him to re-embrace the Stuart monarchy and episcopacy.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- Notes on contributors vii
- Acknowledgements ix
- List of abbreviations x
- Introduction 1
- I Ecclesio-political and liturgical contests 19
- 1 Contests, contexts, and the boundaries of conformity in early modern England 21
- 2 Protestant jurisdictionalism and the nature of Elizabethan puritan nonconformity 44
- 3 Cathedrals, the Reformed, and the Elizabethan Church 71
- 4 Sir Francis Hastings, Jacobean nonconformity, and the House of Commons, 1604–10 97
- 5 Zachary Crofton, the Restoration Church of England, and the dilemmas of partial conformity, 1662–65 117
- II Reformed conformist theology and ecclesiology 139
- 6 Justifying faith and faith as a virtue in the theology of Richard Hooker 141
- 7 The best religion? The revived ambitions of the Reformed conformist establishment, 1637–40 157
- 8 The Reformed conformist tradition, 1640–62 179
- 9 Edward Reynolds and the making of a presbyterian bishop 199
- 10 The Reformed theology of Thomas Hobbes 222
- 11 Reformed orthodoxy as conformity in the post-Restoration Church of England 245
- Afterword 263
- Index 271
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- Notes on contributors vii
- Acknowledgements ix
- List of abbreviations x
- Introduction 1
- I Ecclesio-political and liturgical contests 19
- 1 Contests, contexts, and the boundaries of conformity in early modern England 21
- 2 Protestant jurisdictionalism and the nature of Elizabethan puritan nonconformity 44
- 3 Cathedrals, the Reformed, and the Elizabethan Church 71
- 4 Sir Francis Hastings, Jacobean nonconformity, and the House of Commons, 1604–10 97
- 5 Zachary Crofton, the Restoration Church of England, and the dilemmas of partial conformity, 1662–65 117
- II Reformed conformist theology and ecclesiology 139
- 6 Justifying faith and faith as a virtue in the theology of Richard Hooker 141
- 7 The best religion? The revived ambitions of the Reformed conformist establishment, 1637–40 157
- 8 The Reformed conformist tradition, 1640–62 179
- 9 Edward Reynolds and the making of a presbyterian bishop 199
- 10 The Reformed theology of Thomas Hobbes 222
- 11 Reformed orthodoxy as conformity in the post-Restoration Church of England 245
- Afterword 263
- Index 271
