271:, who were often falsely accused of direct association with them. In the American colonies, there is evidence that Ranters were actually breakaway Quakers who did not agree with the standardization of belief that occurred in the late 1670s. Although the Quakers retained their loose, sect-like character until the 1660s, they began to formalize their worship practices and set of beliefs in order to gain some stability in the New World; this in turn pushed out those who did not fall in line, creating a group of people referred to as Ranters. (Whether these people were directly inspired by the Ranters in England or if the moniker was simply imported via anti-Ranter pamphlets that were so popular during this era is debatable.)
94:
be deemed
Ranters "the Mad Crew" instead. There is also a confluence between the term "Ranter" with the verb rent, as in to be rent away from God. Most written evidence points to the use of "Ranter" as an insult by the enemies of the sect and not a self-designated moniker. By the 1660s, the term became attached to any group that promoted theological deviance but since most of the literary evidence we have was created by those opposed to Ranters in general, it is difficult to determine their exact creed.
93:
The origin for the term "Ranter" seems to come from an anonymous pamphlet titled "A Justification of the Mad Crew", where the word rant was used in reference to the enemies of those espousing this particular view, equating ranting with hypocrisy. The anonymous author calls those who would eventually
81:
and seem to have been regarded by the government as a threat to social order. The quote "...the bishops, Charles and the Lords have had their turn, overturn, so your turn shall be next...", published in a Ranter pamphlet, no doubt caused some concern in the halls of power. The
Ranters denied the
278:
has suggested that the
Ranters were a myth created by conservatives in order to endorse traditional values by comparison with an unimaginably radical other. Richard L. Greaves, in a review of Davis' book, suggests that though a very radical fringe existed, it was probably never as organized as
139:"My most excellent Majesty (in me) hath strangely and variously transformed this form. And behold, by mine own Almightiness (in me) I have been changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the sound of the trump."
161:, rejecting the very notion of obedience. They held that believers are free from all traditional restraints and that sin is a product only of the imagination. The Ranters revived the Brethren of the Free Spirit's
73:
gave rise to many sectarian groups that attempted to make sense of their society and place within that society. The
Ranters were one such group. They were regarded as
238:, commented on Ranter principles in characterizing them by their "general lack of moral values or restraint in worldly pleasures". However, another prominent Digger,
97:
There are few primary sources actually written by
Ranters, but those that do exist give us a clearer picture of what they believed. The most famous English member,
456:
McConville, B. (1995). "Confessions of an
American Ranter." Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies, 62(2), 238-248. Retrieved March 8, 2021, from
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is widely believed to have been inspired by this dissenting group and directly reflects their views. Other less well known members of the Ranter cohort included
169:“...for indeed sin hath its conception only in the imagination; therefore; so long as the act was in God, or nakedly produced by God, it was as holy as God...”
564:
124:"If God be in all things, then in all creatures that hath live whatsoever, so that wherein is man better than these, or hath any pre-eminence above these?"
198:
They denied the authority of the church, of accepted religious practice and of
Scripture. In fact, they denied the power of any authority in general.
49:(1649–1660). They were largely common people, and the movement was widespread throughout England, though they were not organised and had no leader.
86:, of the current ministry and of services, instead calling on men to listen to the divine within them. In many ways they resemble the 14th century
90:. In fact, they were causing such controversy, that by the early 1650s multiple anti-Ranter pamphlets were circulating throughout Britain.
357:
536:
101:
or
Claxton, joined the Ranters after encountering them in 1649. Although he does not mention them directly, his 1650 tract called
315:
202:“No matter what Scripture, Saints, or Churches say, if that within thee do not condemn thee, thou shalt not be condemned.”
689:
665:
715:
525:
Chiara
Ombretta Tommasi, "Orgy: Orgy in Medieval and Modern Europe", Encyclopedia of Religion, no. 10 (2005).
620:
Greaves, R. L, (1988). "Review: Fear, Myth and
History: The Ranters and Their Historians by J. C. Davis",
242:, was, some time after the failure of the Digger communes, imprisoned as a Ranter, and later confined to
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239:
184:"I can if it be my will, kiss and hug ladies, and love my neighbour's wife as myself, without sin."
58:
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46:
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17:
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252:
31:
695:
8:
540:
320:
283:
469:
629:
429:
351:
231:
78:
42:
562:
Hessayon, Ariel (October 2009). "Everard, William (bap. 1602?, d. in or after 1651)".
30:
This article is about the seventeenth-century religious movement. For other uses, see
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and believed that Christians are freed by grace from the necessity of obeying
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and "stressed the desire to surpass the human condition and become godlike".
154:
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677:
672:
The World Turned Upside Down: Radical Ideas During the English Revolution
275:
247:
682:
The World of the Ranters: Religious Radicalism in the English Revolution
361:. Vol. 22 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 895.
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457:
433:
158:
409:
217:"Kings, Princes, Lords, great ones, must bow to the poorest Peasants."
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117:
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In England, they came into contact and even rivalry with the early
120:, that God is essentially in every creature, including themselves.
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268:
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235:
74:
350:
410:""Not Heretofore Extant in Print": Where the Mad Ranters Are"
674:. London: Maurice Temple Smith, 1972. Reprinted by Penguin.
286:, with reference to their crude and often noisy preaching.
282:
In the mid-19th century, the name was often applied to the
234:, a leader of another English dissenting group called the
611:, Cambridge University Press, 1986/Revised edition, 2010
696:
A Glorious Liberty : Bristol Radical History Group
658:
Sexing the Millennium: Women and the Sexual Revolution
609:
Fear, Myth and History: The Ranters and The Historians
65:, and the animosity between the Presbyterians and
702:
452:
450:
260:, that he had encountered Ranters prior to his
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568:(online ed.). Oxford University Press.
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684:, London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1970.
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365:
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596:Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners
565:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
258:Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners
27:17th-century English religious movement
14:
703:
407:
332:
316:17th-century denominations in England
279:conservatives of the time suggested.
499:
458:http://www.jstor.org/stable/27773805
45:that emerged about the time of the
24:
650:
25:
727:
535:ExLibris staff (1 January 2008).
378:
660:. Grove Press. pp. 19–25.
614:
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588:
414:Journal of the History of Ideas
555:
528:
519:
474:Encyclopædia Britannica Online
462:
256:, wrote in his autobiography,
13:
1:
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582:UK public library membership
7:
289:
88:Brethren of the Free Spirit
63:execution of King Charles I
10:
732:
539:. ExLibris. Archived from
82:authority of churches, of
52:
29:
59:Second English Civil War
41:were one of a number of
694:Morton, Arthur Leslie,
408:Gucer, Kathryn (2000).
358:Encyclopædia Britannica
116:Their central idea was
47:Commonwealth of England
656:Grant, Linda. (1994).
574:10.1093/ref:odnb/40436
229:
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69:during the era of the
678:Morton, Arthur Leslie
381:"A Fiery Flying Roll"
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32:Rant (disambiguation)
716:Christian radicalism
500:Clarkson, Laurence.
284:Primitive Methodists
670:Hill, Christopher.
543:on 1 September 2012
321:Christian anarchism
224:A Fiery Flying Roll
207:Laurence Clarkson,
191:A Fiery Flying Roll
174:Laurence Clarkson,
146:A Fiery Flying Roll
129:Laurence Clarkson,
628:(3), pp. 376–378.
470:"Laurence Claxton"
253:Pilgrim's Progress
232:Gerrard Winstanley
79:established Church
580:(Subscription or
99:Laurence Clarkson
57:The chaos of the
43:dissenting groups
16:(Redirected from
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594:Bunyan, John,
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502:"A Single Eye"
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349:, ed. (1911).
347:Chisholm, Hugh
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545:. Retrieved
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420:(1): 75–95.
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264:conversion.
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71:Commonwealth
67:Independents
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506:Ex-Classics
385:Ex-Classics
306:John Robins
276:J. C. Davis
248:John Bunyan
118:pantheistic
705:Categories
584:required.)
327:References
159:Mosaic Law
537:"Ranters"
163:amoralism
84:Scripture
75:heretical
290:See also
220:—
205:—
187:—
172:—
142:—
127:—
711:Ranters
634:3166599
511:9 March
439:8 March
434:3654043
390:9 March
311:Seekers
269:Quakers
262:Baptist
236:Diggers
226:(1649).
193:(1649).
148:(1649).
133:(1650).
77:by the
53:History
39:Ranters
688:
664:
632:
578:
547:1 July
480:13 May
476:. 1998
432:
211:(1650)
178:(1650)
61:, the
18:Ranter
630:JSTOR
430:JSTOR
686:ISBN
662:ISBN
549:2012
513:2021
482:2019
441:2021
392:2021
109:and
37:The
638:doi
570:doi
422:doi
707::
680:,
636:.
626:57
624:,
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20:)
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