Book contents
- Front matter
- Contents
- List of figures and tables
- Acknowledgements
- Notes on contributors
- List of abbreviations
- 1 Introduction: Church polity and politics in the British Atlantic world, c. 1635–66
- 2 ‘From the Apostles’ time’: The polity of the British episcopal churches, 1603–62
- 3 Peers, pastors and the particular church: The failure of congregational ideas in the Mersey Basin region, 1636–41
- 4 ‘One of the least things in religion’: The Welsh experience of church polity, 1640–60
- 5 Polity, discipline and theology: The importance of the covenant in Scottish presbyterianism, 1560–c. 1700
- 6 Presbyterian ecclesiologies at the Westminster assembly
- 7 ‘They agree not in opinion among themselves’: Two-kingdoms theory, ‘Erastianism’ and the Westminster assembly debate on church and state, c. 1641–48
- 8 The New England way reconsidered: An exploration of church polity and the governance of the region’s churches
- 9 The association movement and the politics of church settlement during the interregnum
- 10 Polity and peacemaking: To what extent was Richard Baxter a congregationalist?
- 11 ‘Promote, protect, prosecute’: The congregationalist divines and the establishment of church and magistrate in Cromwellian England
- 12 The Restoration episcopate and the interregnum: Autobiography, suffering and professions of faith
- Index
7 - ‘They agree not in opinion among themselves’: Two-kingdoms theory, ‘Erastianism’ and the Westminster assembly debate on church and state, c. 1641–48
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 March 2026
Book contents
- Front matter
- Contents
- List of figures and tables
- Acknowledgements
- Notes on contributors
- List of abbreviations
- 1 Introduction: Church polity and politics in the British Atlantic world, c. 1635–66
- 2 ‘From the Apostles’ time’: The polity of the British episcopal churches, 1603–62
- 3 Peers, pastors and the particular church: The failure of congregational ideas in the Mersey Basin region, 1636–41
- 4 ‘One of the least things in religion’: The Welsh experience of church polity, 1640–60
- 5 Polity, discipline and theology: The importance of the covenant in Scottish presbyterianism, 1560–c. 1700
- 6 Presbyterian ecclesiologies at the Westminster assembly
- 7 ‘They agree not in opinion among themselves’: Two-kingdoms theory, ‘Erastianism’ and the Westminster assembly debate on church and state, c. 1641–48
- 8 The New England way reconsidered: An exploration of church polity and the governance of the region’s churches
- 9 The association movement and the politics of church settlement during the interregnum
- 10 Polity and peacemaking: To what extent was Richard Baxter a congregationalist?
- 11 ‘Promote, protect, prosecute’: The congregationalist divines and the establishment of church and magistrate in Cromwellian England
- 12 The Restoration episcopate and the interregnum: Autobiography, suffering and professions of faith
- Index
Summary
This chapter seeks to analyse the debates between presbyterian political theology and the Long Parliament in the mid-1640s. It sets the background of this debate in continental Reformed theology and argues that the clash between parliamentary ‘Erastianism’ and the presbyterian perspective of two-kingdom theory reveals some of the underlying contradictions within the parliamentarian project of godly rule. The slightly different version of two-kingdom theory held by the congregationalists is also explored. The chapter shows how the Long Parliament grasped its way to an ‘Erastian’ solution by reference to differing ideas of the church–state relationship found within the Reformed tradition. In conclusion, the chapter looks at how the presbyterian clergy conceded to Parliament and how interregnum governments retreated from a fully Erastian position.
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- Publisher: Manchester University PressFirst published in: 2026
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