«The Glorious Revolution» and the Toleration Act (1689): Consolidating the New, Post-Confessional or Multiconfessional Status of Presbyterianism

Abstract

The study of Britain’s religious policy in the early modern period is impossible without a thorough analysis of the events of the Glorious Revolution of 1688–1689, which radically transformed the nature of church–state relations and the trajectory of the development of European political theology. It was precisely during this period, in the crucible of political crisis, that new mechanisms of social compromise were forged, enabling a historic transition from a model of coercive confessional uniformity to a system of institutionalized coexistence among different religious groups within a single state. The article provides a comprehensive analysis of the fundamental transformation of the legal, institutional, and social status of Presbyterianism resulting from the events of the Glorious Revolution (1688–1689) and the adoption of the Toleration Act (1689). The author examines the historical transition of British religious policy from a rigid model of enforced confessional uniformity to a more complex system of legislatively regulated coexistence among different Protestant groups. The study highlights the significant asymmetry between the English and Scottish scenarios of religious settlement: whereas in England the failure of the idea of comprehension, that is, incorporation into the established church, led to the denominationalization of Presbyterianism as a legally recognized yet politically limited dissenting community, in Scotland the Claim of Right Act (1689) enabled Presbyterianism to recover its status as the sole national established church. On the basis of a politico-theological analysis, the author argues that the post-revolutionary period did not mark the beginning of a «post-confessional» era, since the state retained mechanisms of discrimination and Anglican hegemony. It is demonstrated that the most relevant term for describing the new order is «limited multiconfessionalism», that is, a hierarchical system in which the legalization of religious diversity served as a pragmatic instrument of the political consolidation of the nation. The article also elucidates the significance of these transformations for the formation of transatlantic religious pluralism and the modern concept of the separation of church and state.