The Conventicle: The Conventicle, 95 Theses, and (!) my dissertation 'Wordled'

Who were the Puritans?

"A loosely organized reform movement originating during the English Reformation of the sixteenth century. The name came from efforts to 'purify' the Church of England by those who felt that the Reformation had not yet been completed. Eventually the Puritans went on to attempt purification of the self and of society as well."

(Mark Noll, "Puritanism", Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 1984)

Sunday, July 13, 2008

The Conventicle, 95 Theses, and (!) my dissertation 'Wordled'

Is there any question which puritan gets the most coverage here? (Admittedly though, there's more than one puritan named 'John', not to mention that we also have a prolific contributor by that name).

And just for fun, here's the English text of Luther's 95 Theses:

And last--and yes, least--my doctoral dissertation. It may explain things a little to share the title, which is "Puritanism's Ascetic Pedigree: Catholic Treatises and Protestant 'Counterpoysons' in Early Modern England" (then again, maybe that just confuses people more):