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Outputs (51)

Two Ways to Read the Bible in the (Very) Long Reformation (2023)
Book Chapter
Ryrie, A. (2023). Two Ways to Read the Bible in the (Very) Long Reformation. In A. French (Ed.), Reading the Reformations: Theologies, Cultures and Beliefs in an Age of Change (308-326). Brill Academic Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004521247

In the 1630s, William Chillingworth famously and misleadingly claimed that ‘the Bible only is the religion of Protestants’. This chapter asks: in what sense? Plainly the Bible was central to Protestantism, but in what way? Against the positions advan... Read More about Two Ways to Read the Bible in the (Very) Long Reformation.

Seven conceptualisations of the English Reformation (2022)
Book Chapter
Ryrie, A. (2022). Seven conceptualisations of the English Reformation. In K. von Greyerz, & A. Schubert (Eds.), Reformation und Reformationen: Kontinuitäten, Identitäten, Narrative. Gütersloher Verlag (De Gruyter)

Acknowledging that ‘the English Reformation’ was a composite event without a single master-narrative, this essay offers seven different perspectives which collectively may be used to provide a rounded view of religious change in sixteenth-century Eng... Read More about Seven conceptualisations of the English Reformation.

The Ecumenical Council of Dordt (2022)
Book Chapter
Ryrie, A. (2022). The Ecumenical Council of Dordt. In H. van der Belt, K. W. de Jong, & W. van Vlastuin (Eds.), A Landmark in Turbulent Times: The Meaning and Relevance of the Synod of Dordt (1618–1619) (23-36). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht

This article examines the Synod of Dordt by comparing it to the historic model of General or Ecumenical Councils. This was a category of church assembly which Reformed Protestants venerated and often aspired to, but which also posed vexing ecclesiolo... Read More about The Ecumenical Council of Dordt.

The Myth of the Church of England (2021)
Book Chapter
Ryrie, A. (2021). The Myth of the Church of England. In E. Gebarowski-Shafer, A. Null, & A. Ryrie (Eds.), Contesting Orthodoxies in the History of Christianity: essays in honour of Diarmaid MacCulloch. Boydell & Brewer

This essay considers an example of how shifting orthodoxies can be disguised as continuities by the use of linguistic ambiguities, and also at how the universal claims of orthodoxy can clash with the particular claims of nationalism. Henry VIII legit... Read More about The Myth of the Church of England.

Seeking the Seekers (2021)
Journal Article

The Seekers, a supposed sect which flourished in late 1640s England, have been generally neglected by historians, with the exception of Quaker historiography, in which the Seekers play a pivotal but supporting role. This article argues that the Seeke... Read More about Seeking the Seekers.

The Liturgical Commemoration of the Reformation, 1534-1625 (2020)
Book Chapter
Ryrie, A. (2020). The Liturgical Commemoration of the Reformation, 1534-1625. In A. Walsham, B. Wallace, C. Law, & B. Cummings (Eds.), Memory and the English Reformation. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108900157

This chapter considers how the English Reformation was, or, mostly, was not recalled in official liturgical documents. The first section surveys the evolution of calendars of saints from the 1530s to the version that became fixed in the Book of Commo... Read More about The Liturgical Commemoration of the Reformation, 1534-1625.

The Missionary Problem in Early Modern Protestantism: British, Irish and Scandinavian Perspectives (2020)
Book Chapter
Ryrie, A. (2020). The Missionary Problem in Early Modern Protestantism: British, Irish and Scandinavian Perspectives. In J. E. Kelly, H. Laugerud, & S. Ryan (Eds.), Northern European Reformations: Transnational Perspectives (377-403). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54458-4_15

Alec Ryrie considers why, despite rhetorical commitment to the enterprise, British and Scandinavian Protestants were so slow to engage in cross-cultural mission. After surveying the lacklustre efforts made, the chapter briefly considers the theologic... Read More about The Missionary Problem in Early Modern Protestantism: British, Irish and Scandinavian Perspectives.