The Restoration of the Jews in Transatlantic Context, 1600-1680

Crome, AP (2016) The Restoration of the Jews in Transatlantic Context, 1600-1680. In: Prophecy and Eschatology in the Transatlantic World, 1550−1800. Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 127-150. ISBN 113752054X

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Abstract

Writing in 1615 from Harwich in Essex, Church of England minister Thomas Draxe was drawn to consider the future of the Jewish people. Would the Jews, he wondered, ‘bee restored into their countrey’? Considering the theological and logistical challenges of such a restoration, Draxe concluded that ‘It is very probable. First, all the Prophets seeme to speak of this returne. Secondly, they shall no longer bee in bondage. Thirdly, God having for so many ages forsaken his people shall the more notably shew them mercy.’1 For Draxe, the literal restoration of the Jews to their ancient homeland of Palestine was based on God’s mercy and justice, but most importantly on the stable foundation of unfulfilled Old Testament prophecy.