On the Nature and Kingdom of God: The Theological Manuscripts of James Ussher

by James Ussher, Todd Rester (Editor)

469 pages, Hardcover

Published August 15, 2025

About the author

James Ussher (1581 – 1656) was the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland between 1625 and 1656. He was a prolific scholar and church leader, who today is most famous for his identification of the genuine letters of the church father, Ignatius, and for his chronology that sought to establish the time and date of the creation.

Reviews

[Zack Hudson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best index ever!

[Creeds, Confessions, and Catechisms · Rating 5 out of 5]

Westminster Seminary Press sent me a copy of "On the Nature and Kingdom of God: The Theological Manuscripts of James Ussher" in exchange for an honest review.

There are few theologians so significant yet underappreciated today as James Ussher, especially for English-speaking confessional Christians. Few today know his name, yet many probably feel his impact. Ussher was a Reformed archbishop in Ireland who worked to bring Reformed theology to the Irish church. He was a contemporary of the Westminster Assembly, and though he was a Royalist, his work was greatly respected and emulated by the Assembly (for more on this see "The Westminster Assembly's Probable Appropriation of James Ussher's Theology," pp. 381-425). This book is a gem because it takes key works by Ussher and makes them available to the modern English-speaker for the first time. The publisher sets the Latin text on the left page and the new English translation on the right. Thus, in this book we have a volume that is accessible to the laity while also providing a valuable resource to the study of 16th-century Reformed Scholasticism.

The content of this book is invaluable. There are several prefaces and introductions that give a lot of helpful information essential to understanding Ussher and his work. They give you a solid foundation for understanding the meat of this volume. The works of Ussher contained in this volume are his writings on the fundamentals of the Christian faith. This is nothing short of amazing. We know from Ussher's own pen what he thought was essential for every Christian to know and how he articulated these things. The essays at the back are not essential for the primary sources, but they are great points from which to launch further study. While the book would still be great without them, they nonetheless contribute great value to the book.

I strongly recommend this book. This is a fantastic resource for study of theology (in general) and British Reformed theology (in particular).