| abstract | - The Muggletonians, named after Lodowicke Muggleton, were a small Protestant Christian movement which began in 1651 when two London tailors announced they were the last prophets foretold in the biblical Book of Revelation. The group grew out of the Ranters and in opposition to the Quakers. Muggletonian beliefs include a hostility to philosophical reason, a scriptural understanding of how the universe works and a belief that God appeared directly on this earth as Christ Jesus. A consequential belief is that God takes no notice of everyday events on earth and will not generally intervene until it is mete to bring the world to an end. Muggletonians have avoided all forms of worship or preaching and, in the past, met only for discussion and socializing amongst members. The movement has been egalitarian, apolitical, pacifist and has resolutely avoided evangelism. Members attained a degree of public notoriety by cursing those who reviled their faith. This practice, which proved uncannily effective, ceased in the mid-nineteenth century and one of the last to suffer was the novelist Sir Walter Scott. The faith attracted public attention in 1979 when Mr Philip Noakes left the entire Muggletonian archive of correspondence, general papers and publications to the British Library.
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