Glad you found it interesting Andrew. You're absolutely right, of course, about the importance of scripture - both to the Ranters and their enemies. There were a few biblical allusions in this piece, e.g. Coppe's use of 'a more excellent way' probably alludes to 'yet shew I unto you a more excellent way' (1 Corinthians 12:31). But I omitted to mention them to make the topic more accessible - I hope! When we move on to look at the Ranters' own writings in the next installment there will be many more biblical allusions.
Glad you found it interesting Andrew. You're absolutely right, of course, about the importance of scripture - both to the Ranters and their enemies. There were a few biblical allusions in this piece, e.g. Coppe's use of 'a more excellent way' probably alludes to 'yet shew I unto you a more excellent way' (1 Corinthians 12:31). But I omitted to mention them to make the topic more accessible - I hope! When we move on to look at the Ranters' own writings in the next installment there will be many more biblical allusions.