ABSTRACT
The Socinian renunciation of the doctrine of the Trinity was particularly useful for those seeking a rapprochement with Judaism. Such rationalistic approaches intersected with millenarian and spiritualistic ones to encourage creativity in both theology and ecclesiology, and the greater participation of laypeople in religious debate. Millenarian expectations elevated the Dutch Republic, especially Amsterdam, to a central role in the divine plan for all three peoples of the faith. Chiliastic dreams such as Jan Zoet’s were popular among the “hotter sort” of Protestants across Europe and joined currents of millenarian thought flowing within the Jewish community of Amsterdam. Expectations of the soon fulfilment of biblical prophecies escalated to fever pitch around the middle of the seventeenth century, encouraged by England’s Interregnum and the end to the long war between the Dutch and Spain.
