The Church of England and Christian Antiquity
The Church of England and Christian Antiquity

Author: Jean-Louis Quantin

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2009-02-12

Total Pages: 525

ISBN-13: 0191565342

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Today, the statement that Anglicans are fond of the Fathers and keen on patristic studies looks like a platitude. Like many platitudes, it is much less obvious than one might think. Indeed, it has a long and complex history. Jean-Louis Quantin shows how, between the Reformation and the last years of the Restoration, the rationale behind the Church of England's reliance on the Fathers as authorities on doctrinal controversies, changed significantly. Elizabethan divines, exactly like their Reformed counterparts on the Continent, used the Church Fathers to vindicate the Reformation from Roman Catholic charges of novelty, but firmly rejected the authority of tradition. They stressed that, on all questions controverted, there was simply no consensus of the Fathers. Beginning with the 'avant-garde conformists' of early Stuart England, the reference to antiquity became more and more prominent in the construction of a new confessional identity, in contradistinction both to Rome and to Continental Protestants, which, by 1680, may fairly be called 'Anglican'. English divines now gave to patristics the very highest of missions. In that late age of Christianity - so the idea ran - now that charisms had been withdrawn and miracles had ceased, the exploration of ancient texts was the only reliable route to truth. As the identity of the Church of England was thus redefined, its past was reinvented. This appeal to the Fathers boosted the self-confidence of the English clergy and helped them to surmount the crises of the 1650s and 1680s. But it also undermined the orthodoxy that it was supposed to support.

The Practice of Reform in Health, Medicine, and Science, 1500–2000
The Practice of Reform in Health, Medicine, and Science, 1500–2000

Author: Scott Mandelbrote

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-07-05

Total Pages: 653

ISBN-13: 1351883607

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Histories of medicine and science are histories of political and social change, as well as accounts of the transformation of particular disciplines over time. Taking their inspiration from the work of Charles Webster, the essays in this volume consider the effect that demands for social and political reform have had on the theory and, above all, the practice of medicine and science, and on the promotion of human health, from the Renaissance and Enlightenment up to the present. The eighteen essays by an international group of scholars provide case studies, covering a wide range of locations and contexts, of the successes and failures of reform and reformers in challenging the status quo. They discuss the impact of religious and secular ideologies on ideas about the nature and organization of health, medicine, and science, as well as the effects of social and political institutions, including the professions themselves, in shaping the possibilities for reform and renewal. The Practice of Reform in Health, Medicine, and Science, 1500-2000 also addresses the afterlife of reforming concepts, and describes local and regional differences in the practice and perception of reform, culminating in the politics of welfare in the twentieth century. The authors build up a composite picture of the interaction of politics and health, medicine, and science in western Europe over time that can pose questions for the future of policy as well as explaining some of the successes and failures of the past.

Gilbert Sheldon
Gilbert Sheldon

Author: Victor D. Sutch

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2013-12-01

Total Pages: 239

ISBN-13: 9401763844

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The place of Gilbert Sheldon in seventeenth century history and his influence upon the events of the period have long presented a tantalizing problem. A historian exploring the archives of the time cannot help but be impressed by the ubiquitous appearances of the archbishop. Yet the frequent references too often provide little detail, so that what emerges is a wraith-like picture of the man and a very uncertain account of his activities. As a result it is difficult to know what to think of Sheldon. He has been termed a "Laudian," but Mathew Wren, Laud's loyal assistant and sharer of his imprisonment, was cempletely baffled by the initials "G. Sh." which appeared in a letter sent to him in the early 1650's. Also labeled a staunch Tory and a firm believer in the institution of monarchy, Shelden showed no compunction whatever about lecturing the king on his duties or in boldly epposing the royal wishes when his lectures were ignored. He has been described as a man of "iron character," yet he was invariably soft-spoken and gentle to those in his immediate presence. He is pictured as a ruthless persecutor, but he often offered assistance, material and otherwise, to those who had been his opponents. Supposedly he was avaricious, yet the record suggests that during the Interregnum he impoverished himself to assist needy friends and church acquainƯ tances, seme of whem he barely knew