Over the last few decades, there has been substantial research on the topics of early modern British politics, religion, and intellectual thought. These strands of interrogation have been particularly led by Professor Mark Goldie, whose work has shown that these research strands should be scrutinized together to fully appreciate early modern British history. Politics, Religion and Ideas in Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Britain is a festschrift which honors the innovative work that Goldie has done throughout his career in helping to shape our understanding about how religious debates, politics, and ideas were fostered in early modern Britain. The fifteen contributors in the collection include former students of Goldie, and their essays take inspiration from Goldie's principal research topics.

Many chapters touch upon the capricious debates surrounding religion and dissent. Hannah Smith's essay on the birthday ode dedicated to Queen Mary II in 1692 describes how Mary was conscious of the importance of public ceremonies to promote godly monarchy. Smith argues that the choice of reformed libertine Sir Charles Sedley to write the ode, repurposed to the tune of the crude ballad Cold and Raw, was a public critique of court immorality and signified that vice was being driven out of court after the hedonistic days of Charles II. Likewise, Warren Johnson's chapter discusses how thanksgiving sermons across the eighteenth century were written to celebrate the triumph of the Protestant cause against the “Antichrist” and foreign Catholic tyranny, topics which often featured in apocalyptic depictions in sermons. In Jacqueline Rose's chapter on politician and ambassador Bulstrode Whitelocke, she explores how Whitelocke's political experience shaped his ideas about godly rule in Restoration England. Rose argues that Whitelocke believed that the relationship between the monarchy and good government relied upon the monarch receiving good counsel, citing the Sanhedrin as his model. Comparatively, Justin Champion's essay describes the politician Andrew Marvell's efforts to defend dissenters John Jekyll and James Hayes after they had violently resisted against the clampdown of conventicles in 1670. Champion asserts that the attack on conventicles was part of a wider narrative about religion and dissent, dominating print and political debates over whether the attacks of conventicles was an infringement of liberties.

Political theories of power and authority are encompassed throughout Politics, Religion and Ideas. Tim Harris's chapter assesses royalist debates over absolute monarchy and constitutional monarchy after the Restoration, arguing that many royalists believed that monarchs could be held accountable if deemed to be acting against the constitution. Comparatively, Conal Condren's essay on the vicissitudes of innovation explains that while innovation was originally associated with tyranny and rebellion, it was seen positively in championing advancement of learning by the nineteenth century. Dmitri Levitin's chapter on theology disputations from the divinity faculty at Cambridge University reveals how late seventeenth-century political thought was taught in university, and how theologians debated civil law and the power of the episcopacy. In a similar vein, Sarah Irving-Stonebraker's chapter on the lineage of “useful knowledge” demonstrates how the social movement to improve human life intellectually, morally, and culturally was gradually de-secularized across the long eighteenth century.

The multifaceted career of John Locke plays a central focus in Politics, Religion and Ideas in recognition of Goldie's extensive work on the philosopher. S.-J. Savonius-Wroth's chapter on Locke's concept of civil philosophy describes how Two Treatises of Government argued that European society had become corrupted by greed and religious warfare, championing instead the uncorrupted society of America's native Indians. Equally, John Marshall's chapter on Locke's 1697 essay on the poor law asserts that Locke was influenced by his collaborative work with the Board of Trade, which supported sending beggars to colonial plantations as a way to socially reform the idle working poor. Comparatively, Geoff Kemp's analysis on Locke's role as a “censor” explains that Locke's essay “Printing 94” was written in vexation against the press licensing act. He argues that Locke believed that the printing monopoly held by English printers was a detriment to the advancement of learning, especially after foreign editions of scholarly texts, including Cicero's Opera, were blocked from entering the country. Delphine Soulard's chapter on the European reception of Locke's political essays in the Francophone world explains that because Locke's essays were originally published in Latin, European readers relied on reviews to provide summary accounts. She shows that once his essays were translated, this aided central European readers who were unable to access Locke's work in their mother tongues.

Scotland is given great attention in Politics, Religion and Ideas in acknowledgement of Goldie's work on Scotland's contribution to early modern politics, religion, and intellectual thought. Coffey's chapter focuses on the assassination of the Scottish archbishop James Sharp, explaining that because of Sharp's repression of conventicles in Restoration Scotland, Episcopalian and Presbyterian factions used his death to advance their own political agenda. Clare Jackson's chapter on Sir George Mackenzie and his concept of allegiance to the Stuarts in late seventeenth-century Britain argues that Mackenzie's loyalty stemmed from the family's ancient Scottish heritage, and that his writings showed skepticism toward the Anglo-Scottish union. Comparatively, Gabriel Glickman's essay on the origins of Scottish Catholic Enlightenment reveals how Scottish Catholics were influenced by French Gallicanism, asserting that Scottish Catholics developed their intellectual discussions over religion, toleration, and British national identity in dialogue with English Catholics.

In summary, Politics, Religion and Ideas provides a diverse and beneficial insight into religion, politics, and intellectual debates in early modern Britain. The essays have addressed Goldie's extensive research strands and have shown how these topics permeated within early modern British society. Overall, the collection reflects the importance of studying early modern religion, politics, and intellectual ideas from an interdisciplinary approach, and the collection will be relevant to anyone interested in expanding their research knowledge in these fields.