A Protestant Purgatory: Theological Origins of the Penitentiary Act, 1779 [Hardcover]

How did the penitentiary get its name? Why did the English impose long prison sentences? Did class and economic conflict really lie at the heart of their correctional system? In a groundbreaking study that challenges the assumptions of modern criminal justice scholarship, Laurie Throness answers many questions like these by exposing the deep theological roots of the judicial institutions of eighteenth-century Britain. The book offers a scholarly account of the passage of the Penitentiary Act of 1779, combining meticulous attention to detail with a sweeping theological overview of the century prior to the Act. But it is not just an intellectual history. It tells a fascinating story of a broader religious movement, and the people and beliefs that motivated them to create a new institution. The work is original because it relies so completely on original sources. It is mystical because it mingles heavenly with earthly justice. It is authoritative because of its explanatory power. Its anecdotes and insights, poetry and song, provide intriguing glimpses into another era strangely familiar to our own. Of special interest to social and legal historians, criminologists, and theologians, this work will also appeal to a wider audience of those who are interested in Christianity's impact on Western culture and institutions.Contents: Preface; Introduction; The terror of the Lord; The intermediate state; Building the penitentiary; Adam's doom; The man in the wooden cage; The measure of sin; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.This book examines the role of protestant theology on the penal system of eighteenth-century England. While modern historians of crime admit that religion played an important role in the conception and practice of justice, relatively little work has been done to assess just how these two pillars of early modern society interacted. This study examines the theological background to the Penitentiary Act of 1779a deeply theological piece of legislation that conl£»