Articles of Religion, Agreed Upon by The Archbishops, and Bishops...
A Scarce 1629 London Edition of the Calvinist Irish Articles of Religion with Contemporary Gift Inscription [Church of Ireland]. Articles of Religion, Agreed Upon by The Archbishops, and Bishops, and the rest of the Clergie of Ireland, in the Conuocation Holden at Dublin in The yeare of our Lord God 1615. for the auoyding of Diuersities of Opinions, And the establishing of Concent touching true Religion. London: Printed [by R. Young] for Thomas Downes, 1629. [40] pp. Quarto (6-3/4" x 5-1/4"; 17.1 x 13.3cm). Disbound stab-stiched pamphlet. Contemporary gift inscription "Ex dono Artichs/ historicall narration/ Canons/ Irish Artichs" to front leaf. Moderate shelfwear and handling to edges; heavy historic ink staining to the final leaf, slightly bleeding into the margin of the preceding leaf but entirely bypassing the text. Light, natural age-toning throughout, with negligible occasional spotting. Internally clean, taut, and crisp. Overall, a very good copy of a scarce pre-Laudian doctrinal text. $450. * This volume comprises the 104 theological articles adopted by the Church of Ireland during its historic Dublin convocation in 1615. Drafted primarily by the towering intellectual and theologian James Ussher (the future Archbishop of Armagh renowned for his Biblical chronology), these articles established a distinct doctrinal identity for the newly reformed, Protestant Church of Ireland. The Irish Articles were unapologetically Calvinist; starkly contrasting with the more ambiguous compromise of the Church of England's Thirty-Nine Articles. They explicitly incorporated the controversial Lambeth Articles of 1595, codifying high-Calvinist stances on absolute predestination and reprobation. This 1629 London reprint marks a highly contentious window in British ecclesiastical history. Published just as King Charles I and Archbishop William Laud began systematically suppressing Calvinist printing to enforce "Arminian" High-Church uniformity, copies of the Irish Articles printed in London served as a critical theological baseline for English Puritans resisting Laudian reforms. The Irish Articles remained the official standard of Ireland until 1635, when aggressive political pressure from Laud and Thomas Wentworth forced the Irish Convocation to formally adopt the English Thirty-Nine Articles, effectively sidelining Usher's robustly.
Price: $450.00
Book number 87291