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"As Shee Preachers Hold Forth Christ": Sara Jones's Challenge to Episcopacy, The Relation of a Gentlewoman (1642)

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"As Shee Preachers Hold Forth Christ": Sara Jones's Challenge to Episcopacy, The Relation of a Gentlewoman (1642) Thumbnail


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Abstract

When Sara Jones spoke in front of her separatist congregation in 1632, she was opening herself up to criticism for going against scriptural precedents: it was not divinely sanctioned that women should speak in church. Perhaps deriving confidence from having defended herself in front of the High Commission Court, led by William Laud, Jones supported women's liberty to speak so that they could be edified and then contribute to justifying and upholding their congregation's doctrines. This essay examines Jones's developing arguments in The Relation of a Gentlewoman (1641) and ‘To Sions Lovers’ (1644) and compares them with some accounts of women preaching within their separatist congregations. Women's words were considered, by Jones, as a major weapon in the fight against the Laudian bishops of the established church, and she would write to prove not only their validity, but also their importance.

Acceptance Date Jul 21, 2011
Publication Date Jul 21, 2011
Journal Prose Studies: history, theory, criticism
Print ISSN 0144-0357
Publisher Taylor and Francis Group
Pages 1 -18
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/01440357.2011.568778
Keywords Sara Jones, gathered churches, separatist congregations, Court of High Commission, women preachers, women and the Bible
Publisher URL https://doi.org/10.1080/01440357.2011.568778

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