1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910149400203321

Autore

Oakes John S.

Titolo

Conservative revolutionaries : transformation and tradition in the religious and political thought of Charles Chauncy and Jonathan Mayhew / / John S. Oakes ; foreword by David D. Hall

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Eugene, Oregon : , : Pickwick Publications, , [2016]

©2016

ISBN

1-5326-0217-0

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (318 pages)

Disciplina

285.8092/2

Soggetti

Christian sociology - Massachusetts - History of doctrines - 18th century

United States History Revolution, 1775-1783 Religious aspects

United States

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Part 1. Transformation and tradition -- Earlier lives -- Reshaping the Calvinist heritage: the shift to Arminianism -- Challenging the boundaries of orthodoxy: unitarianism and universalism -- Maintaining tradition: consistent Puritan themes -- Part 2. Conservative revolutionaries -- Engaging the public square: ministers in politics -- Fighting the cause: languages of liberty -- Resolving the big issue: submission or revolution -- Mayhew, Chauncy, and revolutionary change.

Sommario/riassunto

Boston Congregationalist ministers Charles Chauncy (1705-87) and Jonathan Mayhew (1720-66) were significant political as well as religious leaders in colonial and revolutionary New England. Scholars have often stressed their influence on major shifts in New England theology, from traditional Calvinism to Arminianism and, ultimately, to universalism and Unitarianism. They have also portrayed Mayhew as an influential preacher, whose works helped shape American revolutionary ideology, and Chauncy as an active leader of the patriot cause. Through a deeply contextualized re-examination of the two ministers as "men of their times," John S. Oakes offers a fresh, comparative interpretation of how their religious and political views changed and interacted over



decades. The result is a thoroughly revised reading of Chauncy's and Mayhew's most innovative ideas. Conservative Revolutionaries also unearths strongly traditionalist elements in their belief systems, centering on their shared commitment to a dissenting worldview based on the ideals of their Protestant New England and British heritage. Oakes concludes with a provocative exploration of how the shifting theological and political positions of these two "conservative revolutionaries" may have helped redefine prevailing notions of human identity, capability, and destiny. -- back cover.