A collection of stories relating to the sins of famous and historical figures, including an account of the death of Marlowe.

Divine retribution, Robert Reed argues, is a principal driving force in Shakespeare's English history plays and three of his major tragedies. Reed finds evidence of the playwright's growing ingenuity and maturing skill in his treatment of the crime of political homicide, its impact on events, and God's judgment on the criminal. Reed's analysis focuses upon Tudor concepts that he shows were familiar to all Elizabethans—the biblical principle of inherited guilt, the doctrine that God is the fountainhead of retribution, with man merely His instrument, and the view that conscience serves a fundamentally divine function—and he urges us to look at Shakespeare within the context of his time, avoiding the too-frequent tendency of twentieth-century critics to force a modern world view on the plays. Heaven's power of vengeance provides an essential unifying theme to the plays of the two historical tetralogies, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, and Macbeth. By analyzing these plays in the light of values held by Shakespeare's contemporaries, Reed has made a substantial contribution toward clarifying our understanding of the plays and of Elizabethan England.

How can a God of love also be a God of judgment? If God loves everyone, what is the point of judgment? Does God change from being wrathful in the Old Testament to loving in the New Testament? Can we discern God's judgments in current events, such as hurricanes and personal tragedies? Is it ever right for humans to judge? These are not just daunting issues for theologians to ponder. They are urgent questions for everyone. Our answers profoundly affect how we relate to God and how we live with one another. Coming to grips with these issues is vital for our spiritual journeys. Many people today emphasize God's love and downplay his judgment. The problem with this approach is that God's judgment is taught in Scripture from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation, and it is a core part of the gospel preached by Jesus and his apostles. There are problems at the other end of the spectrum too, when we believe in a God of judgment who is not also a God of love. It is impossible for us to find spiritual peace when we live in constant dread of God pictured as a harsh judge whom we can never please. This book calls us to embrace a more full, biblical image of God---one that joins his love and judgment together. Additionally, the book shows that, as those who are made in God's image, we can fuse love and judgment together constructively in our own daily lives. "To a world of smiley-faced bumper stickers assuring us that God is love, Stephen Moroney bravely asks: What do we do with the judgment, justice, and wrath of God, all occurring in rather impressive numbers throughout scripture? His well crafted and engaging answer is that we do a disservice to God as well as to ourselves when we try to have one---either a God of love or a God of judgment---without the other."

A look at 17th-century New England religion as it was practiced by the vast majority of the population, not by the clergy. This work offers insight into Puritan rituals, attitudes toward the natural word, and the creative tension between Puritan laity and clergy.

This is an extensive study of the 16th and 17th century belief that God actively intervened in human affairs to punish, reward, warn, try and chastise. It seeks to shed light on the reception, character and broader cultural repercussions of the Reformation.

Focusing upon Marlowe the playwright as opposed to Marlowe the man, the essays in this collection position the dramatist's plays within the dramaturgical, ethical, and sociopolitical matrices of his own era. The volume also examines some of the most heated controversies of the early modern period, such as the anti-theatrical debate, the relations between parents and children, Machiavaelli1s ideology, the legitimacy of sectarian violence, and the discourse of addiction. Some of the chapters also explore Marlowe's polysemous influence on the theater of his time and of later periods, but, most centrally, upon his more famous contemporary poet/playwright, William Shakespeare.

Bunyan's works re-evaluated, and considered in their Restoration and non-conformist context. This book undertakes a major reassessment of the works of John Bunyan [1628-88], the nonconformist author of The Pilgrim's Progress, who was imprisoned for preaching his beliefs. Through a reading of each of his narratives, and many of his pastoral writings, both in textual detail and in relation to the various traditions - such as Reformed spirituality and the nonconformist trial - within which he lived, preached, and wrote, the author offers a systematic re-evaluation of Bunyan's development as an author. She presents new perspectives on his most popular works, Grace Abounding and The Pilgrim's Progress, whilst arguing that the significance of the lesser-known Life and Death of Mr Badman and The Holy War has been severely underestimated; and she shows how overall the works offer a candid document of nonconformist experience in the Restoration period.

First performed by Shakespeare’s rivals in the 1590s, Christopher Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta was a trend-setting, innovative play whose black comedy and final tragic irony illuminate the darker regions of the Elizabethan cultural imagination. Although Jews were banished from England in 1291, the Jew in the form of Barabas, the play’s protagonist, returns on the stage to embody and to challenge the dramatic and cultural anti-Semitic stereotypes out of which he is constructed. The result is a theatrically sophisticated but deeply unsettling play whose rich cultural significance extends beyond the early modern period to the present day. The introduction and historical documents in this edition provide a rich context for the world of the play’s composition and production, including materials on Jewishness and anti-Semitism, the political struggles over Malta, and Christopher Marlowe’s personal and political reputation.