The Covenant of Works and Predestination

This chapter examines how Ussher connected the doctrine of predestination to the covenant of works, and looks at how he shaped his predestinarian rhetoric in accord with the changing political climate in England, with its shift toward opposition to predestinarian theology. The examination of Ussher’s rhetorical changes over time highlights the way that he was able to use his unique position in Ireland to navigate anti-predestinarian policies coming from the English establishment. Older literature on covenant theology argued that there were competing strands of the Reformed tradition that emphasized either human responsibility or predestination. The covenant of works, however, was developed to bring those competing traditions together. Ussher’s connection of predestinarian theology and the covenant of works in conjunction with his hypothetical universalism makes him an important example of the flexibility of early modern theological categories that defies older assessments.