The Restoration of the Jews: Early Modern Hermeneutics, Eschatology, and National Identity in the Works of Thomas Brightman

251 Pages·2014·2.57 MB·English

by  Andrew Crome (auth.)

International Archives of the History of Ideas 213
Archives internationales d'histoire des idées
Andrew Crome
The Restoration of the
Jews: Early Modern
Hermeneutics, Eschatology,
and National Identity in the
Works of Thomas Brightman
The Restoration of the Jews: Early Modern
Hermeneutics, Eschatology, and National
Identity in the Works of Thomas Brightman
ARCHIVESINTERNATIONALESD’HISTOIREDESIDÉES
INTERNATIONALARCHIVESOFTHEHISTORYOFIDEAS
213
THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS: EARLY
MODERN HERMENEUTICS, ESCHATOLOGY,
AND NATIONAL IDENTITY IN THE WORKS
OF THOMAS BRIGHTMAN
Andrew Crome
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Andrew Crome
The Restoration of the Jews:
Early Modern Hermeneutics,
Eschatology, and National
Identity in the Works
of Thomas Brightman
123
AndrewCrome
SchoolofArts,LanguagesandCultures
UniversityofManchester
Manchester,UK
ISSN0066-6610 ISSN2215-0307(electronic)
ISBN978-3-319-04761-4 ISBN978-3-319-04762-1(eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-3-319-04762-1
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Acknowledgements
Itisapleasuretobeabletoacknowledgesomeofthemanywonderfulpeoplewho
havehelpedandsupportedmeduringthewritingofthisbook.Thisworkisamuch
expanded and revised version of my Ph.D. thesis, and with that in mind, I would
liketoexpressmydeepgratitudeto Prof.GrahamWardforhissupervisionofmy
work.Combiningincisivecriticismwithencouragement,hewasamodelsupervisor.
ProfessorJeremyGregory’sencouragementafterservingasexternalexaminer,and
laterasacolleague,isalsogratefullyrecalled.
Iwasabletoconductadditionalresearchandsubsequentlyexpandandrevisemy
thesis, due to a veryenjoyable1-yearlectureshipat the Universityof Manchester.
The book was fully revised at the start of a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Trinity
College Dublin, generously funded by the Irish Research Council for Humanities
and Social Sciences (IRCHSS). I would like to thank all of my colleagues in
Manchester and Dublin for creating congenial and friendly working atmospheres
and the IRCHSS for their support and funding. Now that I have returned to the
UniversityofManchester,Iamgratefultomycolleaguesandstudentsformakingit
suchawonderfulplacetowork.
Intermsofthisbook,IamindebtedtolibrariansattheBritishLibrary,University
of Edinburgh, John Rylands Library Manchester, and the National Library of
Scotland for their help. Crawford Gribben read an earlier draft of this manuscript
andofferedadviceand encouragement.The commentsof two anonymousreaders
forSpringerwereextremelyencouragingandhelpfulandpointedoutareaswhich
neededreworking.Theyhaveallhelpedmetoavoidsomeembarrassingmistakes.
Needlesstosay,anyremainingerrorsareentirelymyown.MythanksalsotoAnita
vanderLinden-RachmatatSpringerforhereditorialguidance.Iamalso thankful
forthepatienceoftheLayReaderwhobumpedintomeatHawnesChurch,where
I turned up in 2009 clutching a picture of Thomas Brightman like some sort of
obsessedfan.Shewasverykindinshowingmethebuilding,andevenapologising
for areas that Brightman would not approveof (an unnecessary gesture given the
beautyofthechurch).
Somepartsofthisbookhaveappearedinless-developedformselsewhere.Earlier
elements of Chaps. 5 and 6 appeared in ‘“The Proper and Naturall Meaning of
vii
viii Acknowledgements
theProphets”:TheHermeneuticRootsofJudeo-centricEschatology’,Renaissance
Studies 24:5 (2010), pp. 725–741. I am grateful to Wiley-Blackwell and current
editor Jennifer Richards for permission to reuse them here. Parts of the final
section of Chap. 7 appeared as “Friendship and Enmity to God and Nation: The
ComplexitiesofJewish-GentileRelationsintheWhitehallConferenceof1655”in
Friendship in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Age, eds Albrecht Classen and
Marilyn Sandidge (Berlin: de Gruyter Press, 2011), pp. 749–777. I would like to
thankdeGruyterandtheeditorsfortheirpermissiontoreusetheminthisbook.
Finally,onapersonalnote,Iwouldliketothankallofthosefriendsandfamily
members who have supported me outside of the academy. In Manchester, Sam
Carey,JonAinscough,DanRozday,TimWickham,StefEsltub,AnnaGreen,Helen
Hardwick, Alison Pimblott, Lizzie Slingsby, Dave Woodbridge, Jason Whitt and
Sonke Enkelgen deserve special mention. In Dublin, special thanks to all of the
membersof“EarlyModernTavernSoc”,aswellasTimandClareRoulson,Adam
Fleming,IanandJenniferHornerandPaddyGriffin,allofwhomgaveme a great
welcome to Irish life. There are countless others I have forgotten to mention and
Ioffermyapologiesifthecurrentreaderisamongstthem.
Myfinalthanksmustgotomyparents,whosupportedmebothemotionallyand
financially throughoutmy Ph.D. and have constantly encouragedmy work. I owe
themmorethanIcansay–andIhopethatthisbookengagesthem(andallreaders)
withthewonderfulworldofearlymoderneschatology.
Contents
1 Introduction .................................................................. 1
1.1 ReturningtothePuritanApocalypse................................... 9
1.2 ThomasBrightman...................................................... 13
1.3 Brightman:ABriefBiography......................................... 16
References..................................................................... 24
2 HermeneuticsandtheJewsinProtestantThought ...................... 29
2.1 TheLiteralandAllegoricalSensesofScripture....................... 30
2.2 Hermeneutics,EschatologyandtheJewsintheMiddleAges........ 36
2.3 HermeneuticsandtheBookofRevelationintheReformation....... 39
2.4 Hermeneutics,EschatologyandtheJewsinEarly
ModernEngland ........................................................ 42
References..................................................................... 55
3 Historicising Allegory: Thomas Brightman
andtheHistoricisingCommentary ........................................ 59
3.1 RecastingtheHistoricalSense ......................................... 60
3.2 The Seven Letters to the Churches: Dealing
withHistoricalTension................................................. 69
3.3 TheMillenniumandtheOpeningofHistory.......................... 76
3.4 HistoricisingAllegory:TheSongofSongs
andtheJewishPromises................................................ 81
References..................................................................... 93
4 ConsistentLiteralismandtheRestorationoftheJews.................. 97
4.1 TheRoleoftheJews.................................................... 98
4.2 TheJewishPromises:“Consistent”Literalism........................ 107
4.3 TheRe-createdSelf:Emphasising“Englishness”..................... 118
References..................................................................... 127
5 ThomasBrightmanandJudeo-Centrism1610–1640.................... 131
5.1 SeparatistReadingsofBrightman...................................... 132
5.2 TheEarlyReceptionofBrightman’sWork............................ 137
ix