Debating Perseverance: The Augustinian Heritage in Post-Reformation England

by Jay T Collier

Scholars disputing the identity of the Church of England during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries describe it as either forming a Calvinist consensus or partaking of an Anglican middle way steeped in an ancient catholicity. Debating Perseverance argues that these conversations have given insufficient attention to the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints (the belief that a person who is saved can never be lost), which became one of the most distinctive doctrines of the Reformed tradition. In this book, Jay Collier sheds light on the influence of the early church and the Reformed churches on the fledgling Church of England by surveying several debates on perseverance in which readings of Augustine were involved.

Collier begins with a reassessment of the Lambeth Articles (1595) and the heated Cambridge debates in which they were forged, demonstrating how readings of Augustine on perseverance influenced the final outcome of that document. He then investigates the failed attempt of the British delegation to the Synod of Dort to achieve solidarity with the international Reformed community on perseverance in a way that was also respectful of different readings of Augustine and the early church. The study returns to English soil to evaluate the Synod of Dort's effect on the supposedly Arminian Richard Montagu and his strategy to distance the Church of England from the consensus of the Reformed churches. It finishes by surveying a Puritan debate that occurred following England's civil war in which Augustine's teachings on perseverance continued to influence the way the English made policy and drafted confessional statements.

In surveying these debates, Collier uncovers competing readings and receptions of Augustine on perseverance within the English church-one favoring the perseverance of the saints and the other denying it. Debating Perseverance recognizes England's struggles with perseverance as emblematic of its troubled pursuit of a Reformed and ancient catholicity.

Genres: Theology

240 pages, Hardcover

Published January 2, 2018

Reviews

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really excellent. The 17th century debate over the perseverance of the saints was not a simple binary. Apart from those who denied it (Arminians) amongst the Reformed there were those, following Augustine, who taught that some who are truly justified may not persevere, whilst the elect always persevere. The Canons of Dort declined to affirm this view.

This is another volume that shows the reformed position took a variety of forms.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author argues that a primary Reformed distinctive is perseverance of the saints yet the Anglican church was slow to adhere to it given the various understandings in 17th century England of how perseverance works. Because both adherents and opponents of perseverance rely on Augustine, he argues that the English church had both a desire to be connected with the international Reformed community (especially as enshrined at the Synod of Dort) and the ancient church (hence Augustine). Collier compelling demonstrates that on the issue of perseverance of the saints there was clear diversity among the Reformed. An excellent historical theological monograph.