Religious Tolerance in the Atlantic World Early Modern and Contemporary Perspectives

What does it mean to be tolerant? Does tolerance entail open-mindedness or grudging forbearance? How is it possible to accommodate those who appear themselves to be intolerant, or who profess loyalty to an alien set of laws? And how can tolerance be reconciled with both religious 'truth' and secularity? These essays, by leading scholars of history, English literature and political science, address such questions in the context of both early modern England and America and contemporary Britain and the US. Placing highly topical debates in vital historical perspective, the essays explore issues of difference and diversity, inclusion and exclusion, and the relationship between faith and the state, with reference to a variety of Christian groups, Jews and Muslims. They examine how far concepts of religious liberty have really evolved from that foundational era; the relative merits
of comparative historical and teleological approaches to the history of tolerance; and how enduring problems of religious disharmony can be illuminated by comparisons and contrasts with the early modern period.

Eliane Glaser is a writer and Associate Research Fellow in the Department of English and Humanities at Birkbeck, University of London, UK. Her books include Judaism Without Jews: Philosemitism and Christian Polemic in Early Modern England (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007).

Introduction; Eliane Glaser
1. Scripture and Toleration between Reformation and Enlightenment; John Coffey
2. Some Forms of Religious Liberty: Political Thinking, Ecclesiology and Religious Freedom in Early Modern England; Justin Champion
3. Moral Logics of Enmity: Indians and English in Early America; Ingrid Creppell
4. Law and Civil Interest: William Penn's Tolerationism; Andrew R. Murphy and Sarah A. Morgan Smith
5. John Milton and Religious Tolerance: The Origins and Contradictions of the Western Tradition; Nicholas McDowell
6. Conformity, Loyalty and the Jesuit Mission to England of 1580; James E. Kelly
7. Commonwealth, Chosenness, and Toleration: Reconsidering the Jews' Readmission to England and the Idea of an Elect Nation; Achsah Guibbory
8. Present at the Creation: Diaspora, Hybridity and the Place of Jews in the History of English Toleration; Jacob Selwood
9. Tolerating 'Mahomet': Or, Thinking About Then, Now; Matthew Dimmock
10. A Feminism of Convenience: Roger Williams, Egyptian Salafists, and Liberty of Conscience for Women; Feisal G. Mohamed