Accusations of Blasphemy in English Anti-Quaker Polemic, c.1660-1701

Citation

Manning D (2009) Accusations of Blasphemy in English Anti-Quaker Polemic, c.1660-1701. Quaker Studies, 14 (1), pp. 27-56.

Abstract
This paper investigates the conviction amongst zealous English Protestants, living between 1660 and 1701, that Quakerism constituted a form of blasphemy. Through an analysis of the accusation of blasphemy in anti-Quaker polemic it develops a cultural history of blasphemy as representation, illuminating a spiritual critique of Quakerism as enthusiastic antitrinitarianism and a sense of blasphemy commensurate with Thomistic theology. In so doing, this paper provides an insight into the contemporary theological anxiety that Quakerism was fundamentally wicked and anti-Christian.

Keywords
blasphemy; anti-Quaker; polemic; theology; antitrinitarianism; enthusiasm

Journal
Quaker Studies: Volume 14, Issue 1