The 1595 Lambeth Articles and the so-called “Calvinist Consensus” (1)
John William Perkins
The aim of this study is to focus attention on a document called the Lambeth Articles to assess the level of consensus English Calvinism had achieved by 1595. The idea of a Calvinist consensus was highlighted by historians like Patrick Collinson. Collinson maintains that the doctrines of
Calvinism provided the Elizabethan church with a “theological cement” to unite various theologians on the issue of grace. As early as 1973, Nicholas Tyacke, using the same adhesive analogy described this union as an “ameliorating bond” which helped to give the Church of England a Calvinist “consensus.”1 This “consensus” thesis has much to commend it, not least
the support it has gained from other historians,2 although the concept of a late Elizabethan church united by a common respect for Calvinism predates Tyacke’s thesis.3 To be fair, Tyacke’s argument is not that the English church was uniformly Calvinist, but he does maintain it united most of the clergy and much of the educated laity. Indeed, in the last decade of Elizabeth’s reign, the universities of Oxford and Cambridge did become centres of Calvinist learning.4
For the rest, see:
http://britishreformedfellowship.org.uk/articles/Lambeth%20Articles%20(1).pdf
John William Perkins
The aim of this study is to focus attention on a document called the Lambeth Articles to assess the level of consensus English Calvinism had achieved by 1595. The idea of a Calvinist consensus was highlighted by historians like Patrick Collinson. Collinson maintains that the doctrines of
Calvinism provided the Elizabethan church with a “theological cement” to unite various theologians on the issue of grace. As early as 1973, Nicholas Tyacke, using the same adhesive analogy described this union as an “ameliorating bond” which helped to give the Church of England a Calvinist “consensus.”1 This “consensus” thesis has much to commend it, not least
the support it has gained from other historians,2 although the concept of a late Elizabethan church united by a common respect for Calvinism predates Tyacke’s thesis.3 To be fair, Tyacke’s argument is not that the English church was uniformly Calvinist, but he does maintain it united most of the clergy and much of the educated laity. Indeed, in the last decade of Elizabeth’s reign, the universities of Oxford and Cambridge did become centres of Calvinist learning.4
For the rest, see:
http://britishreformedfellowship.org.uk/articles/Lambeth%20Articles%20(1).pdf
No comments:
Post a Comment