This thesis analyses how and why the Westminster Assembly (1643-1653), the Long Parliament’s advisory committee for religious matters, attempted to suppress antinomianism, one of the fastest-growing radical religious movements of the early seventeenth century. The Assembly addressed antinomianism in its dual capacity as an arm of Parliament and, in its own self-understanding, as a body of theologians tasked with religious reformation. In the eyes of the Assembly, antinomianism presented a two-fold threat. Socially, antinomianism had the potential to bring anarchy and disorder: the Assembly responded to this threat by examining antinomian ministers, forming its own antinomian committee, and liaising with Parliament to determine whether antinomians should be branded as heretics with concomitant civil punishment. Theologically, for the Assembly, antinomianism encompassed more than simply the belief that obligation to the Ten Commandments had passed away; it contained a complex structure of soteriology that was fundamentally at odds with the Reformed tradition. Working in the overarching backdrop of the rise of English Arminianism, the divines debated soteriological questions raised by antinomianism, issues at the heart of the Reformation such as: the relationship between the Old and New Testaments, the continued effectiveness of the moral law, the nature of Christ’s propitiatory work of redemption, the role and timing of justifying faith, and the relationship between sanctification and justification. The Assembly’s 1643 debates over antinomian theology, conducted as it revised the Thirty-nine Articles, produced revised Articles, which formed the foundation for the Assembly’s 1646 Confession of Faith. The Assembly then used the Confession of Faith to present a concise but comprehensive refutation of antinomian theology. The study uncovers the significance of antinomianism for contextualising the Assembly’s debates, and thus advances and nuances current perception of both the Westminster Assembly and English antinomianism. Analysis of debates carried out on the floor of the Assembly provoked by antinomian theology reveals that, while the divines as a whole disagreed with antinomian tenets, they were far from united in their understanding of basic soteriological definitions and were also divided over the best way to thwart antinomianism. A detailed investigation of this state of affairs enhances interpretation of the Assembly’s documents, such as the Confession of Faith and Larger and Shorter Catechisms, which in and of themselves do not reveal the theological uncertainties and tensions present in the Assembly. The study also offers a new example of the Assembly functioning as a regulatory body. This thesis draws on a substantial new pool of primary material: The Minutes and Papers of the Westminster Assembly (edited by Chad van Dixhoorn, OUP 2012, 3200 pages), the first full critical edition of the Assembly’s debates; also, the first volume of Assembly member John Lightfoot’s journal, recently transcribed, which supplies the only record of crucial exchanges between the Assembly and antinomian theologians. A major contribution of this thesis, working with these new resources, is to demonstrate how the Assembly interacted far more with antinomianism than previous scholars have thought. The thesis breaks new ground by using both theological and historical methods to provide a fine-grained contextual account of the Assembly’s debates and actions against antinomianism.

John Owen's (1616-1683) four-volume commentary on the epistle to the Hebrews represents the apex of his literary career and exemplifies many of the exegetical methods of the post-Reformation. This thesis is the first detailed analysis of his introductory discourses, or "exercitations," on Hebrews. Owen's exercitations on the Messiah in particular are an ideal source for this examination, since they serve as the prolegomena for his exposition proper. More specifically, this thesis evaluates the hermeneutical function of Christological and covenantal patterns that arise from Owen's argument concerning the fulfilment of the messianic promise in the person and work of Christ. Therefore, this study is a descriptive analysis of the text and context of Owen's discourses on the Messiah. The topics considered in each chapter are based upon hermeneutical questions that are pertinent to Owen's promise-fulfilment scheme in general and to the relationship of Christology and covenant theology in particular. Chapter 1 examines scholarship on Owen's commentary and suggests possible reasons for its neglect. Chapter 2 places Owen's exercitations and exposition within the context of his life and times, and explains the central argument of his work. Chapters 3 and 4 provide the conceptual basis for this study, as they introduce two essential components of Owen's discourses on the Messiah. Chapter 3 establishes the importance of federal theology for Owen by examining his exegesis of Genesis 3:15, and its relationship to the covenant of redemption and covenant of grace. Chapter 4 considers the problem posed by a Christological reading of the Old Testament for those like Owen who are committed to the literal sense of Scripture. Chapters 5 and 6 consider aspects of continuity and discontinuity between the Old and New Testaments, and seek to illustrate the connection between Owen's exercitations and exposition. Chapter 5 considers the nature of faith in the Old Testament, noting especially the importance of the Abrahamic covenant for what Owen calls "the oneness of the church." In contrast, chapter 6 provides an extended analysis of the role of the law in the Mosaic covenant, considering in particular the highly problematic question of the recapitulation of the covenant of works and the nature of the old and new covenants. The conclusion summarises the findings of this study.

My dissertation, Agnostos Dei: Staging Catholicism and the Anti-Sectarian Aesthetic in Early-Stuart England, traces over four chapters the emergence of a literary counter-aesthetic to the increasingly violent sectarianism of Post-Reformation England. I focus primarily on popular plays that dramatize the destabilizing effects of radical beliefs on a society, whether small town or royal court, culminating in blood and exile. I argue that the plays' destructive conflicts and redemptive moments suggest the potential worth of cross-sectarian belief and ritual. In doing so, John Fletcher's The Faithfull Shepherdess (1608), William Shakespeare and John Fletcher's Henry VIII (1613), Dekker, Ford, and Rowley's The Witch of Edmonton (1621), and John Ford's `Tis Pity She's a Whore (1629) participate in an aesthetic that rejects the disunity promoted by radical sectarians and revises the rhetoric of English Protestantism. Kings James and Charles promoted, ultimately unsuccessfully, a via media (middle way) for the Church of England, seeking reunification of divergent Christian sects. At the same time, these works used the theatre as a space of free play to consider the possibility of ecumenical success in fictionalized worlds removed from the clashing rhetoric of real kings and clergy. My project responds to the revitalized return to religion in the scholarship of early modern England, which has included a renewed interest in the English Catholic experience and a reconsideration of the variety of believers within the nation, loosely grouped into categories like Puritans and High Church Anglicans. My work presents a correlative- and counter-narrative to these well-established readings. I consider the historical and literary analogues of the plays and the contemporary religiopolitical realities of the times of their staging. Rather than attempting to discover crypto-sectarian messages in the tales or intentions of the playwrights behind them, I argue that such categorizations can reduce and obscure the broader, ecumenical implications of these works. In speaking to a range of sectarian audiences, these playwrights exceed the limitations of clear affiliation to address a wider Christian possibility.