In the following essay, Lamont explores several phases of the English Revolution in order to pinpoint the religious conflicts that fueled it. Lamont argues that liberty was "an unintended consequence of the activities of revolutionary Puritans," but that it was neither their cause, nor their inspiration.

In the following essay, Pennington examines the political issues surrounding the English Revolution, arguing that by the time King Charles I acknowledged the revolutionaries in 1642, a revolution had already taken place within the government: Parliament had already become the ruler of the country.

In the following essay, Davies examines the role played by English political sermons in forming public opinion about the country's government, and studies the "highly significant attempt by the crown to control pulpit utterances."

In the following essay Tyacke argues that the religious conflict that became a central issue of the English Revolution during the 1640s was largely due to the growth of Arminianism (the belief in God's universal grace) in the 1620s.

In the following excerpt, Bush surveys the work of several metaphysical poets who wrote as the revolutionary crisis in England developed. He notes their religious affiliations and the ways in which those beliefs influenced their poetry.

In the following essay, Prall reviews the explanations proposed by historians regarding the reasons for the English Revolution and argues that a combination of factors (including the struggle for power between the crown and Parliament, the religious schism between Anglicans and Puritans, and the division among the gentry class) contributed to England's Civil War.

In the following essay, Haller surveys the sources "from which the Puritan doctrine of liberty sprang." He also argues that in revolutionary pamphlets the doctrine of liberty was developed alongside modern English prose.

In the following essay, Lamont and Oldfield describe the literature of the 1640s as obsessed with religion and argue that the issues which inspired the poetry of that time period are still relevant today.