Introduction

“I had rather see coming toward me a whole regiment with drawn swords, than one lone Calvinist convinced that he is doing the will of God.” These words, attributed to an anonymous seventeenth-century English writer, 1 will likely meet with two opposite responses: On the one hand recognition by those who have themselves experienced situations in which someone was so convinced to be guided by God that no further discussion was possible. But on the other hand a sense of bewilderment on the part of those who think the guidance of God is a crucial aspect of Christian spirituality and who are sincerely trying to discern God’s will in their lives. For what could be more important and fitting than to know and do the will of God, even when opposed by a whole regiment with drawn swords?