In In the Name of God biblical scholars and historians begin the exciting work of deconstructing British and Spanish imperial usage of the Bible as well as the use of the Bible to counteract imperialism. Six essays explore the intersections of political movements and biblical exegesis. Individual contributions examine English political theorists' use of the Bible in the context of secularisation, analyse the theological discussion of discoveries in the New World in a context of fraught Jewish-Christian relations in Europe and dissect millennarian preaching in the lead up to the Crimean War. Others investigate the anti-imperialist use of the Bible in southern Africa, compare Spanish and British biblicisation techniques and trace the effects of biblically-rooted articulations of nationalism on the development of Hinduism's relationship to the Vedas. Contributors include: Yvonne Sherwood, Ana Valdez, Mark Somos, Andrew Mein, Hendrik Bosman and Hugh Pyper.

This book explores why English Christians, from the early modern period onwards, believed that their nation had a special mission to restore the Jews to Palestine. It examines English support for Jewish restoration from the Whitehall Conference in 1655 through to public debates on the Jerusalem Bishopric in 1841. Rather than claiming to replace Israel as God’s “elect nation”, England was “chosen” to have a special, but inferior, relationship with the Jews. Believing that God “blessed those who bless” the Jewish people, this national role allowed England to atone for ill-treatment of Jews, read the confusing pathways of providence, and guarantee the nation’s survival until Christ’s return. This book analyses this mode of national identity construction and its implications for understanding Christian views of Jews, the self, and “the other”. It offers a new understanding of national election, and of the relationship between apocalyptic prophecy and political action.