Abstract
The parable of the husbandman was of great significance to Protestants of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, for many early modern religious groups developed aspects of their beliefs and identities through its interpretation. This article considers the ways in which re presentations of the husbandman differed between Friends and other Protestants, and particularly evolved within Quakerism from the mid-seventeenth to mid-nineteenth centuries. It considers broad shifts, starting fr om the desire to cultivate the literal and spiritual wilderness described by George Fox, and culminating in the need for spiritual husbandmen to maintain the protective 'hedge' and keep the existing stock, particularly Friends' children, safe from intrusion.
Keywords
spiritual husbandry, husbandman, plain testimony, tithe testimony, Besse, hedge
How to Cite
Bell, E. A., (2014) “From Ploughing the Wilderness to Hedging the Vineyard: Meanings and uses of Husbandry among Quakers, C. 1650-C. 1860”, Quaker Studies 10(2).
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