"A young man's brow and an old man's beard": the rise and fall of Joseph of Arimathea in English Reformation thought
Although the accounts of Joseph of Arimathea's mission to England have their origins in the medieval era, it was during the early modern period that they began to provide a polemical purpose. The English had for centuries used Joseph as proof positive that their Church had been founded in apost...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
SPCK Publishing
2009
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| In: |
Theology
Year: 2009, Volume: 112, Issue: 868, Pages: 251-259 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Joseph of Arimathaea
/ Legend
/ England
/ Reformation
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| IxTheo Classification: | KAG Church history 1500-1648; Reformation; humanism; Renaissance KBF British Isles KCD Hagiography; saints |
| Summary: | Although the accounts of Joseph of Arimathea's mission to England have their origins in the medieval era, it was during the early modern period that they began to provide a polemical purpose. The English had for centuries used Joseph as proof positive that their Church had been founded in apostolic times. In the Reformation this usefulness only increased as Joseph could now be used to demonstrate that the English Church had been founded independently of Rome. What emerged was something of a theological oddity. This article discusses how the British Reformed writers used exactly the type of myths that the Reformation had set its face against, and how ultimately these legends fell from grace. |
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| ISSN: | 0040-571X |
| Contains: | In: Theology
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