English Dissenters
In 1580, Robert Browne stood in Norwich, Norfolk, England, and declared the Church of England too corrupted by Roman Catholic relics to be saved from within. He attempted to establish a separate Congregational Church that year, but authorities arrested him shortly after. King James I later warned that no bishop meant no king, linking church hierarchy directly to royal power. Browne moved his followers to Middelburg in the Netherlands in 1581, seeking refuge abroad while still hoping to return. He eventually came back to England in 1585 and re-entered the established church as a schoolmaster and parish priest. This early struggle set the pattern for decades of dissenters who refused state control over their worship.
During the English Civil War years between 1649 and 1660, radical sects like the Fifth Monarchists found space to operate openly. These men took their name from a prophecy in the Book of Daniel about four ancient monarchies preceding Christ's return. They pointed to the year 1666 and its connection to the biblical Number of the Beast as evidence of coming judgment. Oliver Cromwell abolished both bishops and kings when founding the Commonwealth of England, creating conditions where groups like the Levellers could argue for natural rights at the Putney Debates in 1647. Colonel Thomas Rainsborough defended these rights as coming from God's law expressed in scripture during those debates. When the monarchy returned in 1660, episcopacy was reinstated and dissenting rights were sharply limited by new laws.
The Act of Uniformity passed in 1662 required all clergy to receive Anglican ordination or lose their positions. Many ministers chose to withdraw from the state church rather than comply with this requirement. These ministers and their followers became known as Nonconformists, though originally the term only meant refusal to use certain vestments and ceremonies. The Diggers began as True Levellers in 1649 under Gerrard Winstanley, trying to reform society through agrarian communism based on passages in the Book of Acts. They leveled real property to create small egalitarian rural communities. By the late 1680s, the last known Grindletonian had died, showing how some radical groups faded after legal pressure mounted against them.
Brownists founded the Plymouth Colony in North America, establishing a community far from English interference. Some Dissenters emigrated to the Thirteen Colonies and Canada, seeking religious freedom unavailable at home. Their presence greatly diversified the religious landscape of what would become the United States. Puritanism originated among Marian exiles shortly after Queen Elizabeth I's accession in 1558, creating an activist movement within the Church of England that later influenced colonial settlements. These groups carried their ideas across the Atlantic, shaping American religious history through their insistence on congregational independence and separation from established authority.
The Baptists emerged as a distinct group when a proto-Baptist congregation in London began practicing immersion baptism in 1640, learning this ritual from an Arminian sect in Holland. This practice became standard across all Baptist churches despite early tensions with Anabaptist organizations. The Quakers began as a loosely knit group of preachers in the mid-17th century, with George Fox often regarded as their father. A judge called them Quakers in 1650 because they trembled before the Lord during meetings. Methodism arose as a movement started by Anglican priest John Wesley in the 18th century, teaching works of grace including the New Birth and entire sanctification. The Plymouth Brethren originated in Dublin in 1827, adding another branch to the growing dissenting tradition.
In the 18th century, one group of Dissenters became known as Rational Dissenters who based opinions on reason rather than appeals to tradition. They believed Christianity could be dissected using science and that stronger belief in God would result from such analysis. These thinkers rejected doctrines like original sin or the Trinity, arguing they were irrational compared to biblical evidence. The Swedenborgian church emerged at the end of the 18th century, originating in London in 1780 when groups reading Emanuel Swedenborg's writings formed the General Conference of the New Jerusalem. Swedenborg died before his Swedish heresy inquiry concluded, leaving his theological critiques about salvation and the Trinity unresolved within orthodox churches.
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Common questions
When did Robert Browne declare the Church of England too corrupted to be saved from within?
Robert Browne made this declaration in 1580 while standing in Norwich, Norfolk, England. He attempted to establish a separate Congregational Church that same year before authorities arrested him shortly after.
What happened to dissenters when the monarchy returned in 1660?
Episcopacy was reinstated and dissenting rights were sharply limited by new laws when the monarchy returned in 1660. The Act of Uniformity passed in 1662 required all clergy to receive Anglican ordination or lose their positions.
Who founded the Plymouth Colony and what group established it?
Brownists founded the Plymouth Colony in North America as a community far from English interference. Some Dissenters emigrated to the Thirteen Colonies and Canada seeking religious freedom unavailable at home.
Why were Quakers called Quakers in 1650?
A judge called them Quakers in 1650 because they trembled before the Lord during meetings. George Fox is often regarded as the father of this loosely knit group of preachers who emerged in the mid-17th century.
When did the Swedenborgian church emerge and where did it originate?
The Swedenborgian church emerged at the end of the 18th century, originating in London in 1780. Groups reading Emanuel Swedenborg's writings formed the General Conference of the New Jerusalem that year.