Anti-Calvinists The Rise of English Arminianism c.1590-1640

This is a study of the rise of English Arminianism and the growing religious division in the Church of England during the decades before the Civil War of the 1640s. The widely accepted view has been that the rise of puritanism was a major cause of the war; Nicholas Tyacke argues that it was Arminianism - suspect not only because it sought the overthrow of Calvinism but also because it was embraced by, and imposed by, an increasingly absolutist Charles I - which heightened the religious and political tensions of the period. Almost all English Protestants were members of the established church. Consequently, what was a theological dispute about rival views of the Christian faith assumed wider significance as a struggle for control of that church. When Arminianism triumphed, Puritan opposition to the established church was rekindled. Politically, Charles and his advisers also feared the consequences of Calvinist predestinarian teaching as being incompatible with `civil government in the commonwealth'. For this paperback edition, Dr Tyacke has written a new Foreword taking into account recent scholarly debate on the subject.

List of plates and map; Abbreviations and symbols; Introduction; The Hampton Court conference and Arminianism Avant la lettre; Cambridge University and Arminianism; Oxford University and Arminianism; The British delegation to the synod of Dor; Bishop Neile and the Durham house group; Richard Montague, the House of Commons, and Arminianism; The York house conference; Arminianism during the personal rule and after; Conclusion; Appendix I: From Calvinist to Arminian: the doctrinal tenor of the Paul's Cross sermons 1570-1638; Appendix II: The Arminianism of Archbishop Laud; Select bibliography; Index.