Predestination, Policy and Polemic: Conflict and Consensus in the English Church from the Reformation to the Civil War

Description

This important work refutes a currently fashionable consensus that maintains that the English Civil War can be seen as primarily the result of a Laudian and Arminian assault on a previously predominant Calvinism. According to this picture, the isolation of the court from Calvinist opinions, and the aggressive Arminian policies pursued during the reign of Charles I, ultimately drove previously law-abiding Calvinists into counter-resistance to the king and the church hierarchy. Arguing against sharp polarities, Peter White denies the existence of any sharply-defined "Calvinist consensus" into which "Arminianism" made deep and fateful inroads. The doctrinal evolution of the English Church is thus seen as a story to which theologians of contrasting churchmanship both contributed.

"...White takes the reader through an erudite, understandable, and thorough discussion of the various positions taken on the doctrine of predestination in all of its various nuances. Practically everything you ever wanted to know about predestination as it was discussed, particularly in England, between 1500 and 1640 is illuminated by the author...truly brilliant exposition of a complex theological subkect...His care and thoroughness are breathtaking. His writing is provocative fruitful dialogue. Old theses have been challenged and new discussions will begin. White has stirred the waters and must be reckoned with by anyone seeking to get into the territory of theological discourse during the Tudor and Stuart periods of English history...White's book is a "keeper," and it needs to be consumed and digested." Sixteenth Century Journal "White has given us a pioneering, scholarly, and admirable study of the academic polemics of predestinarianism." American Historical Review "...this is a useful and significant study, one which students of the English Reformed tradition must not take lightly." Sixteenth Century Journal "Peter White's first book, appearing shortly before his retirement, is an important contribution to the writing of English church history for the period it covers." Daniel W. Doerksen, Sixteenth Century News "...historiographically subtle...a fine book that will be a point of departure for future work in this field." Michael G. Finlayson, Journal of Modern History "White has done an impressive work in reading the Latin works of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century theologians and in analyzing them." John LaRocca, Church History "This is a landmark study in industrial relations and will be required reading for anyone interested in the causes of strikes in modern industrial societies." Lowell J. Satre, The Historian