Catholicity and the Covenant of Works: James Ussher and the Reformed Tradition

by Harrison Perkins

Overview

A noted religious scholar and leader of Protestant thought, James Ussher (1581-1656) helped shape the Church of Ireland and solidify its national identity in the seventeenth century. In Catholicity and the Covenant of Works, Harrison Perkins addresses the development of Christian doctrine in the Reformed tradition, paying particular attention to the ways in which Ussher adopted various ideas from the broad Christian tradition to shape his doctrine of the covenant of works, which he utilized to explain how God related to humanity both before and after the fall into sin.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780197514207
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	08/01/2020
Series:	Oxford Studies in Historical Theology
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Harrison Perkins is Assistant Minister at London City Presbyterian Church, Lecturer in Christian Doctrine at Cornhill Belfast, and Visiting Lecturer in Systematic Theology at Edinburgh Theological Seminary.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements Abbreviations Introduction Chapter One: James Ussher, Covenant Theology and Theological Contexts Chapter Two: The Content of the Covenant of Works Chapter Three: Developing and Debating the Covenant of Works Chapter Four: The Covenant of Works and Predestination Chapter Five: The Covenant of Works and Christology Chapter Six: The Covenant of Works and the Doctrines of Salvation Conclusion Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

"Harrison Perkins has written a significant book that not only presents a convincing account of Ussher's theology but also offers clear instruction in how to distill and analyze complex and multi-language theological and historical sources. As scholars of early modern British religious history think about how to research and write in a more interdisciplinary manner, this study of James Ussher points a way forward." — Bruce Gordon, Church History

"Catholicity and the Covenant of Works is a landmark contribution to the study of post-reformation Reformed dogmatics. In this ground-breaking and pointed account of the work of James Ussher, the Renaissance polymath and Protestant polemicist who became Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh, Harrison Perkins uncovers the significance of the covenant of works for the thinking of one of the most significant seventeenth-century theologians." — Crawford Gribben, Professor of Early Modern British History, Queen's University Belfast

"The covenant of works may seem one of the more parochial of Reformed theological doctrines. However, Harrison Perkins examines its exposition in the work of Archbishop James Ussher and shows its development as a reformed fruit of several very catholic roots, ranging from natural law to Christology." — Michael Allen, John Dyer Trimble Professor of Systematic Theology, Reformed Theological Seminary

"In this fine study Dr. Perkins deploys his varied training and many years of study to advance our understanding of James Ussher, establishment Ireland's most innovative archbishop. Along the way, Perkins adeptly dismantles polarities constructed by previous scholars and leaves us with a richly complicated and true-to-life portrait of the impossible: a time when people could maintain both conformist and 'Calvinist' loyalties, patristic and post-Reformation commitments, and predestinarian and covenantal theologies." — Chad Van Dixhoorn, Professor of Church History, Westminster Theological Seminary

From the Publisher