A Third Way: Recent Interpretations of Protestantism’s Role in English National Identity in the Eighteenth-Century

Abstract

If national identity is a sociological construct, then what role did Protestantism play in the formation of English identity during the Eighteenth-century? This paper surveys the scholarship surrounding this debate since 1985 and identifies the general trends of the arguments. In particular, two primary views developed: a traditionalist view and a revisionist view. This development revealed a disagreement over fundamental questions, which continues to plague the debate.