John Reeve

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John Reeve (1608-1658) was an English prophet. In his book A Transcendent Spirituall Treatise (1652) he reported that on "February the 3. 4. and 5. 1651" (the dates were afterward to be subject to some uncertainty):

Jesus from the throne of his glory, by voice of his words, spake unto me John Reeve, saying; I have given thee understanding of my mind in the Scriptures, above all men in the world.[1]

According to the book, God commanded Reeve to take as his priest his cousin Lodowicke Muggleton, who would later claim co-authorship of A Transcendent Spirituall Treatise. A number of other books and pamphlets came out of their partnership, most notably A Divine Looking-glass (1656). After Reeve's death, Muggleton was the sole leader of their acolytes, who came to be known as Muggletonians. The relationship between the two has been subject to some recent debate among historians. William Lamont has argued that Muggleton had been the first to experience divine revelations and that Reeve was envious.[2] Christopher Hill, on the other hand, has argued that Muggleton recast the events of 1651-1652 after Reeve's death to put himself in a better light.[3]

[edit] References

  1. ^ The book is available in facsimile from Kessinger Publishing (2003), ISBN 0766167666.
  2. ^ Lamont, "The Muggletonians 1652-1979: A "Vertical" Approach," Past and Present, No. 99 (1983), 22-40.
  3. ^ Hill, "The Muggletonians," Past and Present, No. 104 (1984), 153-159.

[edit] External links