The English Bible and the Seventeenth Century Revolution

by Christopher Hill

The translation of the Bible into English in the 16th century was one of the most important events in English history. Hill explores the influence the Bible had 100 years later on social, agrarian, foreign, and colonial policies during the 17th-century revolution. His enlightening text helps readers gain a better understanding of England's most controversial century.

Genres: History, Religion, Christianity, Nonfiction, British Literature, English Civil War, Church

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

John Edward Christopher Hill was the pre-eminent historian of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century English history, and one of the most distinguished historians of recent times. Fellow historian E.P. Thompson once referred to him as the dean and paragon of English historians.

He was educated at Balliol College, Oxford. During World War II, he served in the Russian department of the British Foreign Office, returning to teach at Oxford after the war.

From 1958-1965 he was University Lecturer in 16th- and 17th-century history, and from 1965-1978 he was Master of Balliol College. He was a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and of the British Academy. He received numerous honorary degrees over the course of his career, including the Hon. Dr. Sorbonne Nouvelle in 1979.

Hill was an active Marxist and a member of the Communist Party from approximately 1934-1957, falling out with the Party after the Soviet suppression of the Hungarian uprisings of 1956.

In their obituary, The Guardian wrote of Hill:

"Christopher Hill…was the commanding interpreter of 17th-century England, and of much else besides.…it was as the defining Marxist historian of the century of revolution, the title of one of the most widely studied of his many books, that he became known to generations of students around the world. For all these, too, he will always be the master." [http://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/...]

Reviews

[Julian Worker · Rating 5 out of 5]

The amount of research that Christopher Hill did for this book is truly astonishing. It's not only the reading he did but the understanding of the material and the referencing involved. I would say that on average around 15-20% of each page contains references. This is scholarly work.

The object in this book is to try and assess the part played by The Bible in the lives of English women and men in the 17th Century. This is the decade of the English Revolution, the first major revolution on the European continent. What shouldn't be forgotten is the role of the printing press starting in 1640 where anyone, either with funds or the ability to convince a printer they could make money from the idea, could publish pamphlets / books for distribution to people who could discuss the contents with their associates. This particularly applied to The Bible which was available in vernacular English instead of Latin and Greek.

The introduction of the printing press meant The Bible was no longer hidden away in clerical libraries and was no longer private property. It was in public and available for literate people to read. This led to unorthodox ideas circulating freely and allowing people to become parts of groups that might take a different line of thinking to the established church. You can see how this might lead to civil war and opposition to the monarchy.

The Bible was viewed as God's word whose authority couldn't be rejected. English people facing unexpected revolutionary situations in the 1640s and 1650s naturally turned to The Bible for guidance. There was no other option, no theoretical guidance such as that available via Rousseau and Marx to the French and Russian revolutions.

[Rick Goff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my two favorites from Christopher Hill, the other being The World Turned Upside Down. I’ll write more later.

[Michael Bully · Rating 4 out of 5]

he great strength of Christopher Hill's writing is that inspires people to look at the English Civil War in a new light. And in this book his terms of reference were wide, citing both literary giants such as Milton and Bunyan, along with figures who have been virtually forgotten such as John Cotton, George Wither, John Hall. and countless others. The Reformation encouraged people to read the Bible in their own language, the rise of printing and the breakdown in censorship gave many people, who were by no means scholars or had received much formal education the opportunity to publish their own ideas.
The books covers anti-Catholic feeling, how Scriptures were used to justify rebellion and deposing the King, the idea of England being some chosen nation, and challenging the very notion of hierarchy. It is well argued, huge amounts of source material offered-seems about half the kindle version is covered is taken up by footnotes that have become endnotes.
The only drawback to this book is that it turned into a Museum of Radical Ideas. Christoper Hill loved rebellion. The writings of Gerard Winstanley and various Levellers are given great prominence . There is little about Cromwell ,virtually nothing about Sir Henry Vane the Younger. Hardly anything about Royalists. Many of the major players are simply marginalised. For all its qualities , the focus of the book was restricted.

[Wayne]

My best and most communicative friend on Goodreads, Rayni,
is reading the Bible from cover to cover.
The WHOLE Bible!!!!
(And the Book of Mormon too.)
It is the wonderful King James Version.
I had Christopher Hill's book out several months ago
and Rayni's epic task reminded me that this was one book
I was really wanting to read before I died.
I have already read the original ie. the Bible,
sadly NOT the King James.
( I read the Jerusalem Bible while being a monk )
But I thought it would be absorbing to read
ABOUT the King James Version
and its social and political context
which included the English Civil War and the beheading of Charles I
...a tumultuous time for the English and their Favourite Book.

[Paul Gibson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an unfair review of the book "The English Bible and the 17th-century Revolution" by Christopher Hill. I only read about 10% of the book, containing the first chapter and part of the second chapter. I'm presuming the rest of the book will be the same.

The writing was pretty dry and I struggled to keep my attention focused on the book. Some days I couldn't even read a page before putting it down. More important, though, was the author's assumption the reader is well-educated in 17th-century British history. There were names of many people I'd never heard of, so I didn't know their religious or political views and how they're interrelated. I quickly got lost and confused trying to read the book.

This book is clearly intended for people who have extensive knowledge of 17th-century Britain and its religious and political views. For that select group of people (perhaps graduate students in history and professional historians), I could see this books contains a treasure trove of information, and it would probably be rated 4-5 stars. For a person without that historical knowledge, this book will be confusing and tedious.

[Mark Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christopher Hill is the historian in the 17th century for my money, the Bible was as he says in his introduction a kind of tombola,a 'huge bran-tub' from which different meanings could be drawn,the site on which different and often opposing ideological groups fought for meaning - accelerated and bought into focus by the publication of the Bible in English.

[Andrew Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comprehensive analysis that shows Hill's wide reading and astute understanding of the social, economic and political relationships with religion, both its radical and reactionary variants. Extensive knowledge of the bible isn't essential but is preferable, and at times I found myself hankering for a more narrative-based account.

[Paul Gibson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an unfair review of the book "The English Bible and the 17th-century Revolution" by Christopher Hill. I only read about 10% of the book, containing the first chapter and part of the second chapter. I'm presuming the rest of the book will be the same.

The writing was pretty dry and I struggled to keep my attention focused on the book. Some days I couldn't even read a page before putting it down. More important, though, was the author's assumption the reader is well-educated in 17th-century British history. There were names of many people I'd never heard of, so I didn't know their religious or political views and how they're interrelated. I quickly got lost and confused trying to read the book.

This book is clearly intended for people who have extensive knowledge of 17th-century Britain and its religious and political views. For that select group of people (perhaps graduate students in history and professional historians), I could see this books contains a treasure trove of information, and it would probably be rated 4-5 stars. For a person without that historical knowledge, this book will be confusing and tedious.

[Julaine]

DONE