ABSTRACT
These imperfections were sufficient to deter a number of the most forward protestants from identifying themselves unreservedly with the new dispensation, even after the 1559 Parliament had settled the Church on a recognizably protestant basis; while some of the most radical spirits were to find that they had small hope of preferment or even of a welcome in the Church of the Elizabethan via media. Amongst these potential dissenters were several leading members of the English congregation in Geneva who lingered abroad, uncertain whether to support the new regime or to wait for a still more favourable day. These included the translators of the Geneva version of the Bible, William Whittingham and his collaborators. Not only the Genevans but many of the more forward men from other centres of exile were at first inclined to stand aloof from the Church, or at least to avoid incurring major responsibilities within it.
