The Realised Eschatology and Sweet Style of Jacob Bauthumley

In The Light and Dark Sides of God (1650), the Ranter Jacob Bauthumley presents his version of a realised eschatology in a generous style. His eschatology centres on God as the animating force in humanity. Bauthumley believes in sin but denies its true being. For him, most people live in the hell of their self‐being without recognising the divine being within them. At the end of the world, personal existence will end as God will return to being all in all within himself. In a style matching his theology, Bauthumley presents a self‐effacing persona, openly defines his theology, judges no person, and prefers a vocabulary of sweetness and joy to the harsher language so common in the theological discourse of his times.