ABSTRACT

By 1632 Nicholas Ferrar had written what his biographer Francis Turner later described as a “Tract on Virginity”. In it Nicholas firmly defended marriage as God’s plan for most people but sharply criticised contemporaries who denigrated the single life possible for those to whom God had given the gift of continence. Within the family circle he used this concept of single life to defend Anna Collet’s choice of virginity. The Tract’s concept of virginity combined with “mothership of the soul” enabled the family to revive their Little Academy and entrust its leadership to Mary Collet as a “virgin mother”. Its Protestant vision of “chaste single life”, bound not by vow but by “resolve” was essential, if not particularly successful, in countering rumours that Gidding was an Arminian nunnery. New evidence suggests that Arminian label needs qualification; Nicholas’s personal beliefs included not only Arminian but also Calvinist ideas.

摘要

到 1632 年，尼古拉斯·费拉尔（Nicholas Ferrar）写了他的传记作者弗朗西斯·特纳（Francis Turner）后来描述的“童贞手册”。尼古拉斯在其中坚定地捍卫婚姻是上帝对大多数人的计划，但严厉批评了同时代的人诋毁那些上帝赐予他们节制礼物的人可能的单身生活。在家庭圈子里，他用单身生活的概念来捍卫安娜科莱特选择的童贞。Tract 的童贞概念与“灵魂之母”相结合，使这个家庭能够重振他们的 Little Academy，并将其领导权委托给 Mary Collet 作为“处女母亲”。它的“纯洁单身生活”的新教愿景，不受誓言约束，而是受“决心”的约束，即使不是特别成功，也很重要，它可以反驳有关吉丁是阿民念修道院的谣言。新的证据表明，阿民念主义标签需要资格；