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English Dissenters
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English Dissenters were English Christians who separated from the Church of England. They opposed State interference in religious matters, and founded their own communities in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. Having hoped for a more Protestant Reformation in the Church of England, many individuals were disappointed that political decisions were made by the monarchs in order to control the Established Church.
The Dissenters triumphed for a time under Oliver Cromwell.
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Encyclopedia
English Dissenters were English Christians who separated from the Church of England. They opposed State interference in religious matters, and founded their own communities in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. Having hoped for a more Protestant Reformation in the Church of England, many individuals were disappointed that political decisions were made by the monarchs in order to control the Established Church.
The Dissenters triumphed for a time under Oliver Cromwell. King James I had said "No bishop, no king"; Cromwell made good on that, abolishing both.
After the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 the episcopacy was reinstalled and the rights of the Dissenters were limited. The Act of Uniformity 1662 required Anglican ordination for all ministers. Many clergymen instead withdrew from the state church, the Church of England.
These Dissenters were also known as Nonconformists, though originally this term referred to refusal to use certain vestments and ceremonies of the Church of England, rather than separation from it.
Rational Dissenters
In the eighteenth century, one group of Dissenters became known as "Rational Dissenters". In many respects they were closer to the Anglicanism of their day than other Dissenting sects; however, they believed that state religions impinged on the freedom of conscience. They were fiercely opposed to the hierarchical structure of the Established Church and the financial ties between it and the government. Like moderate Anglicans, they desired an educated ministry and an orderly church, but they based their opinions on reason and the Bible rather than on appeals to tradition and authority. They rejected doctrines such as the Trinity and original sin, arguing that they were irrational. Rational Dissenters believed that Christianity and faith could be dissected and evaluated using the newly emerging discipline of science, and that a stronger belief in God would be the result.
List of Dissenting groups
Historical Dissenting groups
In existence during the English Interregnum (1649 - 1660):
Adamites
The Adamites took their name and practises from a North African Christian sect that first existed between the 2nd and 4th centuries. The Adamites that emerged in the 17th century had similar beliefs to this sect, believing that they existed in a state of grace, claiming to have regained the innocence that Adam and Eve possessed prior to the Fall.
The Adamites were said to have associated with each other in the nude, professing that a person could reattain the innocence and purity held by Adam through being unburdened by clothing.
Very little is known about these English Adamites, as most information on them comes from their critics, who believed them to be radicals.
Anabaptists
Barrowists
Behmenists
The Behmenists religious movement began on continental Europe and took its ideas from the writings of Jakob Böhme (Behmen being one of the translations of his name used in England), a German mystic and theosopher who claimed Divine Revelation. In the 1640s, his works appeared in England and English Behmenists developed. Eventually, some of these merged with the Quakers of the time.
Böhme's writings primarily concerned the nature of sin, evil, and redemption. Consistent with Lutheran theology, Böhme believed that humanity had fallen from a state of divine grace into a state of sin and suffering, that the forces of evil included fallen angels who had rebelled against God, and subsequently that God's goal was to restore the world to a state of grace.
However, in some ways, Behmenist belief deviated significantly from traditional Lutheran belief,. For example, Böhme rejected the concepts of sola fide and sola gratia.
Brownists
Diggers
Familists
The Family of Love, or the Familists, were a religious sect that began in continental Europe in the 16th century. Members of this religious group were devout followers of a Dutch mystic named Hendrik Niclaes. The Familists believed that Niclaes was the only person who truly knew how to achieve a state of perfection, and his texts attracted followers in Germany, France, and England. .
The Familists were extremely secretive and wary of outsiders. For example, they wished death upon those outside of the Family of Love, and re-marriage after the death of a spouse could only take place between men and women of the same Familist congregation. Additionally, they would not discuss their ideas and opinions with outsiders and sought to remain undetected by ordinary members of society: they tended to be members of an established church so as not to attract suspicion and showed respect for authority.
The group were considered heretics in 16th century England. Among their beliefs were that there existed a time before Adam and Eve, heaven and hell were both present on Earth, and that all things were ruled by nature and not directed by God.
The Familists continued to exist until the middle of the 17th century, when they were absorbed into the Quaker movement.
Fifth Monarchists
Grindletonians
Levellers
The Levellers (so called because of their belief in the importance of equality) were not a distinct religious group, but believed that all men were equal in the eyes of God, and as such supported religious freedom for dissenting groups. The Leveller movement was active in the 17th century, coming to prominence during the English Civil Wars.
As part of their campaigns, the Levellers circulated pamphlets and petitions, and the movement had support in the City of London (primarily amongst middle-ranking members of society such as trades people and shop-keepers) and in some regiments in the New Model Army.
Whilst they functioned as a political movement, they initially had no coherent agenda, and prior to 1649 there are no records of them attempting to draw up a manifesto. However, they were committed broadly to the abolition of corruption within the Parliamentary and judicial process, toleration of religious differences, the translation of law into the common tongue, and some kind of expansion of the suffrage, and their beliefs in popular sovereignty, an extended franchise, equality before the law, and religious toleration were expressed in the Agreement of the People.
By the middle of the 17th century the Levellers no longer formed a significant threat to the establishment, having been marginalised by those in power.
Muggletonians
Puritans
Philadelphians
Ranters
Sabbatarians
Seekers
The Seekers were not a distinct religion or sect, but instead formed a religious society. Like other Protestant dissenting groups at the time, they believed the Roman Catholic Church to be corrupt, which subsequently applied to the Church of England as well through its common heritage.
Seekers considered all Churches and denominations to be in error, and believed that only a new Church established by Christ upon His return could possess His grace. Their anticipation of this event was found in their practises. For example, Seekers held meetings as opposed to religious services, and as such had no clergy or hierarchy. During these gatherings they would wait in silence and speak only when felt that God had inspired them to do so.
Furthermore to this, the Seekers denied the effectiveness of external forms of religion such as the sacraments, baptism, and the Scriptures as a means of salvation.
Socinians
Present-day Dissenting groups
See also
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