Christy Wang

My thesis shows that the history of the Church of England is characterised by confessional conflict and diversity rather than a definite triumph of specific strains of piety. To break through the puritan/conformist antithesis still prevalent in current scholarship, this thesis adopts a biographical approach to investigate a wide range of puritan contributions to the shaping of Anglican identity. The careers of the four protagonists, William and Thomas Gouge, John Davenport,and Edward Reynolds, demonstrated that not only were the boundaries between conformity and dissent ever-changing, but both conformists and dissenters were active, self-conscious reformers of the Church of England.

 

While scholars in the past often narrate a story of dissent when they explore transatlantic congregationalism and presbyterianism, the four protagonists in this story show that they considered themselves active participants in, rather than opponents of, the national Church, and that even their dissenting activities, in both Old and New England, were tireless attempts to reshape the orthodoxy of the English Church. Pre-war and post-1662 puritan conformity feature prominently in this story as well, especially in William Gouge’s and Edward Reynolds’ lives. Both their conformity to the Laudian Church as well as Reynolds’ return to episcopacy as Bishop of Norwich in 1660 urge scholars today to rethink puritans’ view of episcopacy and better appreciate puritans’ legacy on the emerging Anglican identity.

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I am currently turning my thesis into a monograph, tentatively titled 'Subversive Conformity'.