Overview

William Perkins and the Making of Protestant England presents a new interpretation of the theology and historical significance of William Perkins (1558-1602), a prominent Cambridge scholar and teacher during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Though often described as a Puritan, Perkins was in fact a prominent and effective apologist for the established church whose contributions to English religious thought had an immense influence on an English Protestant culture that endured well into modern times. The English Reformation is shown to be a part of the European-wide Reformation, and Perkins himself a leading Reformed theologian. In A Reformed Catholike (1597), Perkins distinguished the theology upheld in the English Church from that of the Roman Catholic Church, while at the same time showing the considerable extent to which the two churches shared common concerns. His books dealt extensively with the nature of salvation and the need to follow a moral way of life. Perkins wrote pioneering works on conscience and 'practical divinity'. In The Arte of Prophecying (1607), he provided preachers with a guidebook to the study of the Bible and their oral presentation of its teachings. He dealt boldly and in down-to-earth terms with the need to achieve social justice in an era of severe economic distress. Perkins is shown to have been instrumental to the making of a Protestant England, and to have contributed significantly to the development of the religious culture not only of Britain but also of a broad range of countries on the Continent.

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9780199681525

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This is a masterly study of the most widely known English theologian of the last years of the reign of Elizabeth I and the reign of James I and VI. those of us who teach post-Reformation England have been saying for years that we need a first-rate study of Perkins. Now, at last, we have it Alec Ryrie, Times Higher Education Supplement

Patterson's volume is a valuable addition to the literature on this important English churchman ... it yields a rich portrait of a powerful thinker whose death in his mid-forties deprived the English church of one of its leading lights. Andrew Murphy, Journal of British Studies Because of its accessibility, erudition, and breadth, this book will be valued by undergraduates and scholars alike. Patterson does justice to William Perkins, the Cambridge don, scholar, theologian, preacher, teacher, and religious writer at the heart of this study and, as Patterson proves, at the heart of a Protestant England. This convincing reassessment of a figure most of us will feel we knew is a welcome addition to the field. Susan Royal, Bristish Catholic History Patterson's deft accounts of Perkins's pioneering and wide-ranging writings are revelatory on casuistry, preaching, and questions of social justice ... [this] book is a valuable addition to our understanding of the Protestant evangelization of England in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. J. Sears McGee, Renaissance Quarterly This is a masterly study of the most widely known English theologian of the last years of the reign of Elizabeth I and the reign of James I and VI. H. Gaston Hall, Cahiers Elisabethains those of us who teach post-Reformation England have been saying for years that we need a first-rate study of Perkins. Now, at last, we have it Alec Ryrie, Times Higher Education Supplement Patterson's succinct prose and delivery make this book easy to read for both scholars and students to become better acquainted with a man who was so committed to making a unified Church of England. Valerie Schutte, Sixteenth Century Journal Patterson's book effectively shows that Perkins sought to help English Christians live out their faith as members of the Church of England. ...it shows Perkins in a new light, providing excellent expositions of his main works. ... it raises new questions about Perkins, which will, I hope, inspire further examination of this fascinating figure. Angela Ranson, Church Times

those of us who teach post-Reformation England have been saying for years that we need a first-rate study of Perkins. Now, at last, we have it Alec Ryrie, Times Higher Education Supplement

Author Information

W. B. Patterson, Professor of History (Emeritus) at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, has written widely on British and European history and religion. His publications include King James VI and I and the Reunion of Christendom (Cambridge University Press, 1997), which won the Albert C. Outler Prize in ecumenical church history from the American Society of Church History. He is an active member of the Ecclesiastical History Society of Great Britain and a fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

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