"God with Us"
No collection of images relating to the English Civil War would be complete without some reference to religious iconography. It would be fair to say that many of the victories of the New Model Army, for instance, could be attributed to the devastating self-confidence of its soldiers, which derived from their unwavering conviction that God was "on their side".
The conclusion I draw, from a historical perspective, is that God, by which I mean the loving, pleromatic God of Christian theology, is either with everyone or no one. The notion that an all-loving, all-merciful God would favour one side or another and indicate this through military prowess is absurd. God evidently does not take sides. Once the fighting starts, we're on our own.
This pietà from Franconia, in the style of Tilman Riemenschneider, dates from the early sixteenth century and was given to Peterhouse College in 1941.
"God with Us"
No collection of images relating to the English Civil War would be complete without some reference to religious iconography. It would be fair to say that many of the victories of the New Model Army, for instance, could be attributed to the devastating self-confidence of its soldiers, which derived from their unwavering conviction that God was "on their side".
The conclusion I draw, from a historical perspective, is that God, by which I mean the loving, pleromatic God of Christian theology, is either with everyone or no one. The notion that an all-loving, all-merciful God would favour one side or another and indicate this through military prowess is absurd. God evidently does not take sides. Once the fighting starts, we're on our own.
This pietà from Franconia, in the style of Tilman Riemenschneider, dates from the early sixteenth century and was given to Peterhouse College in 1941.