Women Prophets and Radical Protestantism in the British Atlantic World, 1640–1730

This book analyzes how women negotiated and shaped ideas about community in the British Atlantic world through claims of revelation.

Elizabeth Bouldin (Author)

9781107095519, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 12 November 2015

216 pages
23.5 x 15.9 x 1.7 cm, 0.45 kg

'This monograph will be of interest to anyone engaged in research into the female prophetic voice, radical and dissenting religious networks, the role of the body in religious worship, radical groups such as the Quakers and Philadelphians, and the continuing engagement with millenarianism in the early eighteenth century. Clear and informative, it will undoubtedly prove to be of use to both the seasoned researcher and eager undergraduate. Bouldin should be praised for producing a work that is both well researched and well written.' Liam Peter Temple, The History of Women Religious of Britain and Ireland (www.historyofwomenreligious.org)

This book examines the stories of radical Protestant women who prophesied between the British Civil Wars and the Great Awakening. It explores how women prophets shaped religious and civic communities in the British Atlantic world by invoking claims of chosenness. Elizabeth Bouldin interweaves detailed individual studies with analysis that summarizes trends and patterns among women prophets from a variety of backgrounds throughout the British Isles, colonial North America, and continental Europe. Highlighting the ecumenical goals of many early modern dissenters, Women Prophets and Radical Protestantism in the British Atlantic World, 1640–1730 places female prophecy in the context of major political, cultural, and religious transformations of the period. These include transatlantic migration, debates over toleration, the formation of Atlantic religious networks, and the rise of the public sphere. This wide-ranging volume will appeal to all those interested in European and British Atlantic history and the history of women and religion.

Introduction
1. Female prophecy and election during the Civil Wars and Interregnum
2. Female prophecy, election, and the transatlantic Quaker community
3. 'Clothed with the sun': Ann Bathurst, Behmenism, and gendered prophecy
4. The problem of prophetic authority, c.1706–15
5. 'Peculiar people in all parts and denominations of Christendom': dissenters and transconfessional exchange
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Gender studies: women [JFSJ1], Theology [HRLB], Quakers [Religious Society of Friends HRCC97], Protestantism & Protestant Churches [HRCC9], Church history [HRCC2], Religion & beliefs [HR], English Civil War [HBWE], British & Irish history [HBJD1], European history [HBJD], History [HB]