ABSTRACT
The more radical - Familists, Ranters and Diggers - were soon silenced, but there remained a belief in individual freedom of conscience and a commitment to spiritual equality, that men and women were 'all one in Christ Jesus'. The personal morality which was at the heart of Christian concerns in the nineteenth century accorded well with the situation of most middle-class women, locked as they were into a world of family and friends, while groups such as prayer societies offered a woman's subculture of validation and support. The religious influence associated with serious Christianity opened novel opportunities for men. If a man's ability to support and order his family and household lay at the heart of masculinity, then a woman's femininity was best expressed in her dependence. As the professional exponent of Christian doctrine, the clergyman or minister was situated at the heart of Christian practice.
