Nash - Blasphemy in the Christian World

A History

DAVID NASH

Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP

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David Nash 2007

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First published 2007
First published in paperback 2010

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ISBN 9780199255160 (Hbk.)

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It is one of the paradoxes of the world of publishing that the responsibility for the authorship of books is located in one individual. Most books these days are not the product of a single lone scholar who has renounced the world for research. The reality can be more fragmented and pragmatic. Parts of this work would not have been completed without assistance in all areas of life from skilled librarianship through to trustworthy childcare.

My first debt is to my colleagues and institution. The former have all contributed in various supportive ways. I am especially indebted to Donal Lowry for extensive discussions on matters religious, doctrinal, and political. Detlef Mhlberger assisted with invaluable translations from the German. Anne-Marie Kilday provided a constant range of incisive comment and analysis and was an especially astute reader and critic of two of the most important chapters. She has also proved a continual source of encouragement, ensuring I tackle research with a questioning mind and a sense of humour. I am grateful to my institution, Oxford Brookes University, for a sabbatical semester in which the book was launched and for the award of a year-long Research Fellowship which enabled the completion of the book. This also gave me the opportunity to take up visiting professorships in Utrecht and Buffalo and a Research Fellowship at the Center for Inquiry, Amherst. I am also grateful to the British Academy for provision of a small grant which enabled the commencement of this work.

My stay in Utrecht was made comfortable and idyllic by the kindness of Bert and Ina Gassenbeek, whose wonderful converted apple store became my cosy retreat and study for nearly a month. (Aan Bert en lna Gasenbeek. Heel hartelijk dank voor jullie gastvrijheid. Dankzij jullie weet ik nu wat het is om in Nederland een verjaardag te vieren!) My stay in Holland was also a fruitful source of European material, and for the wealth and breadth of this I have to thank Peter Derkx, Betteke Tordoir (for her immense help in translating from the Dutch), August Hans den Boef, and Paul Cliteur.

Buffalo History Department made me especially welcome (even allowing an untried guitarist into their regular music jam!). For this and more I am indebted to Sasha-David Patrick, Pat McDevitt, Claire Schen, Erik Seeman, Markus Dubber, Lynn Mather, Tamara Thornton, Gloria Paveljack, Susan Cahn, Jim Gardner, and David Gerber.

I am also indebted for the thoughts and comments of audiences in Oxford, Nottingham, London, Reading, Rouen, Buffalo, Amsterdam, Berlin, Austin, and Canberra.

The book has involved two diligent and wise commissioning editors. Although attimes they mayhavethought the commissioning of the book was not necessarily the product of wisdom, my response to their comments illuminated this quality in their suggestions. Ruth Parr encouraged the initial proposal and enabled it to reach the contract stage. Her enthusiasm and diligence are a deep loss to the world of publishing. Christopher Wheeler enabled it to progress and pass into print, and his perceptive suggestions have improved the finished piece immeasurably. I also have to thank skilled and patient copy-editors for their work on what must sometimes have appeared to be unpromising and/or untidy raw material.

I also owe thanks to a range of people who have all made contributions to my thoughts and progress: these include Michael and Joy Meadows, Barry Doyle, Tony Benn, Keith Porteus-Wood, Jim Herrick, Shirley Mullen, Chris Williams, Clive Emsley, Gerd Schwerhoff, Soili-Maria Olli, Francisca Loetz, Peter Edge, Chara Bakalis, Chris Braddock, Terry Sanderson, Callum Brown, Harold Perkin, Marie Boulton, Jennifer Jeynes, Laura Schwarz, Ted Royle, Kathleen Turner, John Taylor, David Manning, Martine Spensky, David Cohen, Cassie Watson, Kees Windland, Evan Harris, Daniel Bee, Kevin Quinn, Nick Page, John Cryer, Justin Champion, Selina Rashid, Christy Davies, David Cannadine, Peter Tatchell, Elizabeth Coleman, Kingsley Baird, Geoffrey Robertson, John Mortimer, Lord Eric Avebury, Sean McEvoy, Stephen McEvoy, Robert Colls, and Ian Bryan.

My Colleagues in SOLON (Society, Order, Law, Offences, Notoriety) researching all aspects of bad behaviour have provided an enduringly catalytic environment for this work to flourish in. I am indebted to Judith Rowbotham and Kim Stevenson for the invitation to join this illustrious organization. Judith in particular has always taken an interest in the work that is indicative of a true scholar, enthusiast, and devotee of the big picture. Others from the SOLON stable who have offered assistance and encouragement include Shani DCruze, Lesley Abdella, Michael Salter, Bev Baker, Lorie Charlesworth, Sarah Wilson, and Paul Baker.

I am indebted for the help and constant professionalism of individuals working in the following libraries: Oxford Brookes University Library, the Bodleian Library Oxford, the Oxford University History Faculty Library, the British Library, the British Library Newspaper Collection (Colindale), the Library of the institute for Historical Research, the University Libraries of ANU, Buffalo, Utrecht, University for Humanistics (Utrecht), Amsterdam Free University, the National Archives (Kew), and the Institute for Social History (Amsterdam).

My research at the Center for Inquiry, Amherst, was especially rewarding and I would like to thank Paul Kurtz, Matt Cravatta, Joe Hoffman, and Tom Flynn for their hospitality. I also have much to thank the librarians and archivists of this still relatively undiscovered cornucopia of good things. Tim Binga and Leanna Jones guided me through the archives, helped in locating works, and assisted me to curate a small exhibition on the subject for the Center during my stay. Others at the CenterDavid Koepsel and Lauren Beckerassisted with broader research questions and offered incisive analysis that greatly aided my progress. I am also grateful to the Center for allowing me to reproduce illustrations from their extensive collection.