Lecture Six - Movements

The concluding instalment of this series draws together the threads woven through the previous ones by examining the religious movements that drove the successive phases of Reformation itself. It provides a snapshot of three moments in early modern Christian history in which individuals driven by strong convictions coalesced into groups intent upon achieving radical social and spiritual goals. It progresses from the Anabaptist kingdom of Munster of 1534-5 to the explosion of sects in Civil War Britain, before turning to Methodism as the epitome of eighteenth-century evangelical heart religion. By teasing out further links between motion and emotion, it hopes to open a window into when religious movements emerge and why people unite to transform the present and reshape the future.

This article was published on 2025-07-09