Review of A Body of Divinity
by Archbishop James Ussher
by
Riley Fraas
March 20, 2010 Archbishop James Ussher, A
Body of Divinity: Being the Sum and Substance of the Christian Religion,
Birmingham, AL: Solid Ground Christian Books, 2007. This short, 450 something page
systematic theology book comes with impressive accolades. A. A. Hodge regarded it as the most important
book for understanding the theology of the Westminster Assembly, noting that it
was available to all of the Westminster divines. I can easily see why one would say this. Ussher’s doctrine as expressed throughout the
book reminds me greatly of the Westminster standards, including its main points
of emphasis, its ordering, its language and terminology, and its style. This is an invaluable resource for understanding
the theology of the Westminster Assembly for all of us who look back to the Westminster
Assembly as a formative event in the doctrine of the church (especially we Presbyterians,
Congregationalists, and Baptists.)
Although Ussher did not attend the Westminster Assembly due to his
political loyalty to the King as primate of the Church of Ireland, he was
invited more than once. The book is a question and answer
format which enthralls the mind and begs not to be put down. This format reminds me of the Larger
Catechism. It is very readable. At the same time, it is absolutely packed
with sound doctrinal truth in such a way that instead of making for hard
reading (like some other theologians who are too concise and do not explain
their points thoroughly,) Ussher makes theological points easy. Yet he says much in a few words. His phrases strike to the root of matters
which he addresses and make deep truths appear self-explanatory. I find Ussher’s quality of making hard
doctrines simple for the reader similar to the effect I felt when I first read
Calvin’s Institutes. Ussher’s theology is warm and
overflowing with praise to God. It has a
devotional quality to it which elicits true piety rather than simply engaging
the mind in a scientific fashion. One of
his strengths is that he expertly provides the biblical basis for nearly all of
the doctrines he asserts, going to great lengths not only to assert points of
doctrine but to show that they are based on God’s revelation in the Bible. Therefore this book is very useful to explain
the biblical basis for the doctrines expressed in the Westminster Standards,
which echo Ussher’s theology but only provide a few proof texts as references
without illustrating how those Bible texts prove the doctrine which they
express. A high point in Ussher is his
discussion of the external and internal evidences that the Holy Scriptures are
God’s inspired word. This section has the
effect of fleshing out and proving the truth of the Westminster Confession of
Faith’s most magisterial summary of the evidences of God’s inspiration of the
Bible. Ussher has an experiential emphasis
which applies the system of doctrine taught in Scripture to the main duties of
the Christian life. He answers not only
what a Christian is to believe, but what he should do in light of these
beliefs. He therefore gives a lot of coverage
to practical matters of the church and the Christian life, explaining in
greater detail those Christian duties which are set forth in the Larger
Catechism. This book deserves to be considered a
must-read by all Reformed Christians who have attained a little more than the
most basic understanding of the truths God’s word, along with Calvin’s Institutes and the Westminster
Confession of Faith, and Larger and Shorter Catechisms. I am almost inclined to think that this book
would be even better than A. A. Hodge’s commentary on the Westminster
Confession of Faith as a text for elder training in churches. It is not strictly speaking a commentary on
the Westminster Confession, since it predates the Westminster Assembly by a few
decades. However by reading this book
one would get an excellent grasp of the theology in the background of the
Westminster Assembly which became framed in the great confessional documents
which that body produced. One assertion which has been made
about Ussher is that he was a “hypothetical universalist” in the vein of Moise
Amyraut or Richard Baxter. However,
Ussher’s Body of Divinity proves that
this assertion is false. For example, in
speaking of Christ’s office of priest, p. 150 reads, “What is his
Priesthood? It is the first part of his
Mediation, whereby he worketh the means of Salvation in the behalf of Mankind;
and so appeaseth and reconcileth God to his Elect”, and on p. 153 we find, “What
profit cometh by his Sacrifice? By his
most painful Sufferings he hath satisfied for the Sins of the whole World of his
Elect, and appeased the Wrath of his Father.”
Without a doubt Ussher places the decree of Christ’s Mediatorship
logically after God’s decree of election, so that God’s intention in Christ was
to save his elect and no one else. That
Ussher asserts on the other hand that Christ suffered “the whole Wrath of God
due to the Sin of Man[1]”
is a common understanding in Reformed orthodoxy. Expressed in other words it is to say that Christ’s
death was sufficient to expiate the sins of all of humanity, but effective only
for the elect, as Heppe notes, “That the satisfaction of Christ would be
sufficient to atone for sin-guilt in all men, if the Father would let it
benefit them all, is generally recognized.
Cf. e. g., Riisen (XXII, 11): ‘…the satisfaction of Christ might be said
to be sufficient for the redemption of one and all, if it had seemed good to
God to extend it to the world[2].’” Ussher is manifestly in line with Reformed
orthodoxy both before and after his time on this point, and so the assertions
that he was a hypothetical universalist
are unfounded. Ussher’s Body of Divinity is
recommended with heartfelt thanks to Solid Ground Christian Books for making it
yet again available to the general public (notwithstanding one or two
disagreeably baptistic footnotes by the editor who takes issue with Ussher on the
usual predictable subjects.) Please do
pick up a copy and read it for yourself.
Buy
Ussher's Body of Divinity here 