Overview

James Ussher (1581-1656), one of the most important religious scholars and Protestant leaders of the seventeenth century, helped shape the Church of Ireland and solidify its national identity. 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. Perkins highlights the ecumenical premises that underscored Reformed doctrine and the major role that Ussher played in codifying this doctrine, while also shedding light on the differing perspectives of the established churches of Ireland and England. Catholicity and the Covenant of Works considers how Ussher developed the doctrine of a covenant between God and Adam that was based on law, and illustrates how he related the covenant of works to the doctrines of predestination, Christology, and salvation.

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9780197514184

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Reviews

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 * 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 * 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 *

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

Author Information

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.

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