Le Miroir obscur du salut : perception et assurance de l’élection dans le puritanisme anglais

The question of knowing whether one’s own or another person’s soteriological status (saved or damned) can be perceived, seen or felt, and whether such perceptions can be trusted sheds light on a number of major issues in puritan pietism and practical divinity of the type developed by puritan divines...

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Main Author: Cyril Selzner
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Centre de Recherche et d'Etudes en Civilisation Britannique 2023-01-01
Series:Revue Française de Civilisation Britannique
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/rfcb/9845
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author Cyril Selzner
author_facet Cyril Selzner
author_sort Cyril Selzner
collection DOAJ
description The question of knowing whether one’s own or another person’s soteriological status (saved or damned) can be perceived, seen or felt, and whether such perceptions can be trusted sheds light on a number of major issues in puritan pietism and practical divinity of the type developed by puritan divines from the late 1580s onwards and particularly during the first half of the seventeenth century. Turning the salvation problem into an issue of perception was of course made possible by the predestination dogma inherited from the Reformation, which could promote in turn the search for reliable marks or signs of election, with paradoxically opposite consequences for some puritans, depending on whether the focus was on oneself or others. This paper explores this issue through the analysis of three influential works published by Arthur Dent, Joseph Bentham and Thomas Goodwin, and their answer to this deceptively simple question: can we truly perceive whether someone is saved or damned?
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spelling doaj-art-d1ad3c99c7f04b1e8aee0e9e455a65d02024-12-09T15:26:02ZengCentre de Recherche et d'Etudes en Civilisation BritanniqueRevue Française de Civilisation Britannique0248-90152429-43732023-01-0127310.4000/rfcb.9845Le Miroir obscur du salut : perception et assurance de l’élection dans le puritanisme anglaisCyril SelznerThe question of knowing whether one’s own or another person’s soteriological status (saved or damned) can be perceived, seen or felt, and whether such perceptions can be trusted sheds light on a number of major issues in puritan pietism and practical divinity of the type developed by puritan divines from the late 1580s onwards and particularly during the first half of the seventeenth century. Turning the salvation problem into an issue of perception was of course made possible by the predestination dogma inherited from the Reformation, which could promote in turn the search for reliable marks or signs of election, with paradoxically opposite consequences for some puritans, depending on whether the focus was on oneself or others. This paper explores this issue through the analysis of three influential works published by Arthur Dent, Joseph Bentham and Thomas Goodwin, and their answer to this deceptively simple question: can we truly perceive whether someone is saved or damned?https://journals.openedition.org/rfcb/9845puritanismearly modern Englandcertaintysoteriologysociability
spellingShingle Cyril Selzner
Le Miroir obscur du salut : perception et assurance de l’élection dans le puritanisme anglais
Revue Française de Civilisation Britannique
puritanism
early modern England
certainty
soteriology
sociability
title Le Miroir obscur du salut : perception et assurance de l’élection dans le puritanisme anglais
title_full Le Miroir obscur du salut : perception et assurance de l’élection dans le puritanisme anglais
title_fullStr Le Miroir obscur du salut : perception et assurance de l’élection dans le puritanisme anglais
title_full_unstemmed Le Miroir obscur du salut : perception et assurance de l’élection dans le puritanisme anglais
title_short Le Miroir obscur du salut : perception et assurance de l’élection dans le puritanisme anglais
title_sort le miroir obscur du salut perception et assurance de l election dans le puritanisme anglais
topic puritanism
early modern England
certainty
soteriology
sociability
url https://journals.openedition.org/rfcb/9845
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