Ranters facts for kids

The Ranters were a group of people in England who had different religious ideas during the time of the Commonwealth of England (1649–1660). They were mostly ordinary people. Their ideas spread across England, but they didn't have a main leader or a strong organization.

The Ranters: A Look Back in Time

The time after the Second English Civil War and the death of King Charles I was very confusing. Many new religious groups appeared. People were trying to understand their place in society. The Ranters were one of these groups.

The main church at the time thought the Ranters' ideas were wrong. The government also worried they might cause trouble. A Ranter writing once said, "...the bishops, Charles and the Lords have had their turn, overturn, so your turn shall be next...". This kind of statement likely made those in power very concerned.

The Ranters didn't believe in the authority of churches, the scripture (holy writings), or regular church services. Instead, they felt people should listen to the "divine" or God within themselves. They were similar in some ways to a group from the 1300s called the Brethren of the Free Spirit. Their ideas caused so much debate that by the early 1650s, many writings against the Ranters were being passed around Britain.

What's in a Name?

The name "Ranter" likely came from a writing called "A Justification of the Mad Crew." In this writing, the word "rant" was used to describe the enemies of this group, meaning they were being fake. The author called those who would later be known as Ranters "the Mad Crew." The word "Ranter" might also be linked to "rent," meaning to be pulled away from God. Most writings show that "Ranter" was used as an insult by those who didn't like the group, not a name they used for themselves. By the 1660s, the name "Ranter" was used for any group with unusual religious ideas. Since most of what we know comes from their opponents, it's hard to know exactly what they believed.

Key Ranter Thinkers

There are not many original writings by the Ranters themselves. But the ones we have give us a clearer idea of their beliefs. The most famous English member was Laurence Clarkson, also known as Claxton. He joined the Ranters in 1649. His 1650 writing, A Single Eye, is thought to show their views, even though he doesn't name them directly. Other less known Ranters included Abiezer Coppe and Joseph Salmon.

What the Ranters Believed

Their main idea was a form of pantheism. This means they believed God was in everything and everyone, including themselves.

"If God be in all things, then in all creatures that hath live whatsoever, so that wherein is man better than these, or hath any pre-eminence above these?"

"My most excellent Majesty (in me) hath strangely and variously transformed this form. And behold, by mine own Almightiness (in me) I have been changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the sound of the trump."

They also believed in antinomianism. This idea suggests that Christians are freed by God's grace from needing to follow the old Mosaic Law (rules from the Bible). They thought believers were free from all traditional rules. They believed that "sin" was only something people imagined. The Ranters brought back the idea of "amoralism" from the Brethren of the Free Spirit. They wanted to go beyond being just human and become more like God.

“...for indeed sin hath its conception only in the imagination; therefore; so long as the act was in God, or nakedly produced by God, it was as holy as God...”

"I can if it be my will, kiss and hug ladies, and love my neighbour's wife as myself, without sin."

They didn't believe in the power of the church, common religious practices, or the Bible. In fact, they didn't believe in the power of any authority at all.

“No matter what Scripture, Saints, or Churches say, if that within thee do not condemn thee, thou shalt not be condemned.”

"Kings, Princes, Lords, great ones, must bow to the poorest Peasants."

Ranters and Other Groups

Gerrard Winstanley, a leader of another English group called the Diggers, said that Ranter ideas meant "a general lack of moral values or restraint in worldly pleasures." However, another Digger, William Everard, was later put in prison as a Ranter. He was then sent to Bethlem Hospital. John Bunyan, who wrote Pilgrim's Progress, said in his life story that he met Ranters before he became a Baptist.

In England, the Ranters met and sometimes disagreed with the early Quakers. Quakers were often wrongly accused of being directly linked to the Ranters. In the American colonies, some evidence suggests that Ranters were actually Quakers who left the group. This happened because the Quakers started to make their beliefs more standard in the late 1670s. The Quakers wanted more stability in the New World. This pushed out those who didn't agree, creating a group called Ranters. It's debated if these American Ranters were directly inspired by the English Ranters. It's also possible the name was just used because of the popular anti-Ranter writings.

Were the Ranters a Myth?

Historian J. C. Davis has suggested that the Ranters might have been a made-up story. He thinks conservatives created them to make traditional values look good by comparing them to an extremely radical group. Richard L. Greaves, who reviewed Davis's book, thinks that while a very radical group might have existed, it was probably not as organized as people at the time suggested.

In the mid-1800s, the name "Ranter" was often used for the Primitive Methodists. This was because of their simple and often loud way of preaching.

See also

• Jacob Bauthumley
• Abiezer Coppe
• John Robins
• Seekers
• 17th-century denominations in England
• Christian anarchism