For the greater part of the history of the Christian Church the doctrines of baptism and predestination have been uneasy bed-fellows. At times, the former has gained the predominance and the latter has been relegated to the region of philosophical prolegomena to faith, having no immediate connection with the Christian life. In other periods, the doctrine of predestination has gained the ascendency and the importance of baptism has been minimized. Nevertheless, both these aspects of the Christian faith are strikingly present in the New Testament, and in no way do we find there premonitions of the tensions between them in the later history of the Church. Is this because of the unsystematic nature of the New Testament faith which evaded these difficulties through its own lack of order, or is there a deeper reason for the primitive harmony between these two aspects of Christian theology? [contined in text ...]

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Thesis (MA.(Church History)--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 135-142).

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After a two-decade hiatus, the English church courts were revived by an act of Parliament on 27 July 1661, to resume their traditional task of correcting spiritual and moral misdemeanours. Soon thereafter, parishioners across England's dioceses once more faced admonition, fines, excommunication, and even imprisonment if they failed to conform to the laws of the restored Church of England. Whether they were successful or not in maintaining orthodoxy has been the principal question guiding historians interested in these tribunals, and most have concluded that, at least compared to their antebellum predecessors, the restored church courts constituted little more than a paper tiger, whose censures did little to halt the spread of dissent, partial conformity and immoral behaviour. This thesis will, in part, question such conclusions. Its main purpose, however, is to make a methodological intervention in the study of ecclesiastical court records. Rejecting Geoffrey Elton's assertion that these records represent 'the most strikingly repulsive relics of the past', it argues that a closer, more creative study of the bureaucratic processes maintaining the church courts can considerably enhance not only our understanding of these rather enigmatic tribunals but also of the individuals and communities who interacted with them. Studying those in charge of the courts, the first half of this thesis will explore the considerable friction between the Church's ministry and the salaried bureaucrats and lawyers permanently staffing the courts. This, it argues, has important ramifications for our understanding of early modern office-holding, but it also sheds new light on the theological disposition of the Restoration Church. Using the same sources, coupled with substantial consultation of contemporary polemic, letters and diaries, the fourth and fifth chapters will argue that the sanctions of the restored church courts were often far from the 'empty threat' historians have tended to assume. Excommunication in particular could be profoundly distressing even for such radical dissenters as the Quakers, and this should cause us to reconsider how individuals and communities from various hues of the denominational spectrum related to the established Church.

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