Jewish Christians in Puritan England

Among the proliferation of Puritan sects across England in theseventeenth century, a remarkable number began adopting demonstratively Jewishritual practices. From circumcision to Sabbath-keeping and dietary laws, theiractions led these movements were labelled by their contemporaries as Judaizers,with various motives proposed. Were these Judaizing steps an excrescence ofover-exuberant biblicism? Were they a by-product of Protestant apocalyptictendencies? Were they a response to the changing status of Jews in Europe?In JewishChristians in Puritan England, Aidan Cottrell-Boyce shows that it wasinstead another aspect of Puritanism that led to this behaviour: the need to berecognised as a 'singular', positively distinctive, Godly minority. This questfor demonstrable uniqueness as a form of assurance united the Judaizing groupswith other Protestant movements, while the depiction of Judaism in Christianrhetoric at the time made them a peculiarly ideal model upon which to base themarks of their salvation. 

An original and innovative contribution to our understanding of a neglected tendency within Puritanism. A compelling work that has implications that go well beyond its subject matter and opens up new ways of thinking about Christian interpretations and appropriations of Judaism. Justin Meggitt, Senior Lecturer in the Study of Religion, University of Cambridge, and Visiting Researcher, Stockholm University Aidan Cottrell-Boyce takes his readers on a fascinating journey, exploring the significance of 'Judaizing' trends among English Puritans. Operating at the intersection of theological and sociological analysis, he presents an innovative and convincing account in which the adoption of 'Jewish' practices enabled individuals to take on a stance of distinctiveness and separation from the surrounding culture of the dominant majority. The book's argument has implications beyond its seventeenth-century focus, illuminating a broader historical pattern of scripturally shaped resistance-identity that can be traced through early Christianity, rabbinic Judaism, the rise of Protestantism, and the Radical Reformation. Daniel H. Weiss, Polonsky-Coexist Senior Lecturer in Jewish Studies, University of Cambridge  

Aidan Cottrell-Boyce is a research fellow at St Mary's University inLondon. He is the author of Israelism in Modern Britain (2020).