Arminians, Laudians, Anglicans, and Revisionists: Back to Which Drawing Board?

Focusing on the impact of Revisionism upon the historical study of the non-Puritan “conformist” or “high-church” group in the Church of England, this essay argues that Revisionism’s influence was complex and also reflected divisions among Revisionists themselves. This was partly because Revisionists were engaging with a religious historiography that had already been in the process of rewriting our understanding of English Protestantism, leaving it unclear which approach required rejection—either the “Anglican/Puritan” paradigm or the more recent “Arminian/Calvinist” one. Different Revisionists adopted either ofthese paradigms in ways that continue to influence the writing of religious history.