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All Outputs (20)

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.

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.

Protestants (2019)
Book Chapter
Ryrie, A. (2019). Protestants. In A. French (Ed.), Early Modern Childhood: An Introduction. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315177380

Some pioneering works have looked at the role of Protestantism in certain exceptional categories of children, such as martyrs, those involved in cases of witchcraft or possession, or—a category which embraced almost all children at some point—those f... Read More about Protestants.

Facing Childhood Death in English Protestant Spirituality (2017)
Book Chapter
Ryrie, A. (2017). Facing Childhood Death in English Protestant Spirituality. In K. Barclay, C. Rawnsley, & K. Reynolds (Eds.), Death, emotion and childhood in premodern Europe (109-127). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57199-1_6

This chapter examines seventeenth-century English Puritan discussions of childhood death, notably those of Nehemiah Wallington and James Janeway, in order to argue that Puritan and Calvinist theology offered important resources to parents and childre... Read More about Facing Childhood Death in English Protestant Spirituality.

Reformations (2017)
Book Chapter
Ryrie, A. (2017). Reformations. In K. Wrightson (Ed.), A social history of England, 1500-1750 (107-128). Cambridge University Press

Religion and religious change (2016)
Book Chapter
Ryrie, A. (2016). Religion and religious change. In L. Sangha, & J. Willis (Eds.), Understanding early modern primary sources (170-186). Routledge

The Nature of Spiritual Experience (2016)
Book Chapter
Ryrie, A. (2016). The Nature of Spiritual Experience. In U. Rublack (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of the Protestant Reformations (47-63). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199646920.013.3

This article surveys the question of how early Protestantism was experienced by its practitioners, using the perspective of the history of emotions. It argues that justification by faith derived its power from its emotional impact, and that the Calvi... Read More about The Nature of Spiritual Experience.

Sleeping, waking and dreaming in Protestant piety (2012)
Book Chapter
Ryrie, A. (2012). Sleeping, waking and dreaming in Protestant piety. In J. Martin, & A. Ryrie (Eds.), Private and domestic devotion in early modern Britain (73-92). Ashgate Publishing

The Afterlife of Lutheran England (2010)
Book Chapter
Ryrie, A. (2010). The Afterlife of Lutheran England. In D. Wendebourg (Ed.), Sister reformations : The Reformation in Germany and England = Schwesterreformationen : die Reformation in Deutschland und in England (213-234). Mohr Siebeck

The slow death of a tyrant: learning to live without Henry VIII, 1547-1563 (2009)
Book Chapter
Ryrie, A. (2009). The slow death of a tyrant: learning to live without Henry VIII, 1547-1563. In M. Rankin, C. Highley, & J. N. King (Eds.), Henry VIII and his afterlives : literature, politics and art (75-93). Cambridge University Press

Henry VIII stopped breathing on 28 January 1547, but although his body died, his political power did not. When such a political colossus finally topples, the resulting vacuum is disorientating to his allies and enemies alike. Politics cannot swiftly... Read More about The slow death of a tyrant: learning to live without Henry VIII, 1547-1563.

Les îles Britanniques et l'Irlande (2008)
Book Chapter
Ryrie, A., & Ó hAnnráchain, T. (2008). Les îles Britanniques et l'Irlande. In W. Kaiser (Ed.), L'Europe en conflits: les affrontements religieux et la genèse de l'Europe moderne vers 1500-vers 1630 (287-319). Presses Universitaires de Rennes