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A Body of Divinitie, or the summe and substantce of Christian religion, catechistically propounded, and explained, by way of question and answer: methodically and familiarly handled. Composed long since by James Usher…
Description
The fourth edition bound with the tract entitled The mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God. Engraved frontispiece full-page portrait of Usher by Marshall. Text in single column Roman font with questions in italics. Usher organizes the work around the classic division of Christian docrine: Scripture and the Knowledge of God, Creation and the Fall, Christ and Redemption, the Application of Redemption, The Church and the Means of Grace, and the Last Things. The text is pastoral in tone, firmly Reformed and Calvinist in content, and designed for instruction of both clergy and laity. It stands as one of the clearest summaries of early 17th-century English Reformed theology, sitting somewhere between the Heidelberg Catechism and the later Westminster standards in clarity and depth.
Collation
A-Z^6, Aa-Pp^6, Qq^4, (***)^6, (a)-(b)^6. Text complete with all titles.
Binding
Brown paneled calf. Covers with triple lines paneled border and corner fleurons. Spine with five raised bands, blind tooling to compartments and two red gilt-lined morocco labels with the words “A Body of Divinitie” and “Usher” lettered in gilt, date to foot of spine. Marbled endpapers. All edges red. Lightly rubbed with a few scratches.
Condition
Occasional lower marginal staining; A-R small pin-sized wormhole to lower margin; infrequent pencil marks to margin; clean and bright overall.
Note
J James Ussher (1581–1656) was an Irish Anglican archbishop, scholar, and one of the most learned Protestant theologians of the seventeenth century. A committed Reformed churchman within the Church of Ireland, he combined patristic scholarship, biblical chronology, and systematic theology — most famously calculating the date of creation as 4004 BC. This work is a catechetical systematic theology that summarizes Reformed doctrine in clear, pastoral form.
References
ESTC R23153.