Professor, thank you for the interesting feature about Mr. Ussher. I do think it’s unfair to call Mr. Ussher ignorant for getting creation’s time wrong when he got its year right.
Risible? Perhaps the Janus-faced "large-hearted" Ussher held a more subversive view than you've considered. Perhaps he, publicly of not, under-stood 'creation' (as have so many All Mighties) in purely political – rather than scientific – terms. In that case, both time and year would be defensible and Ussher's seventeenth century conclusion could both bring some peace to the ancient and acrimonious 'creation' debate and also redirect the misspent energies of both sides toward holding the Sovereign (however configured on Earth or in Heaven) accountable for the excesses of His/Her ministering angels. Peace, at least, was Ussher's pastoral and juridical wish for all, "[H]e worked hard to achieve reconciliation between churchmen and dissenters," Why the World Was Created in 4004 B.C., James Barr.
Fascinating piece on Ussher's timing paradox. The notion that national church autonomy in canon-making could've been seen as radical in 17th century Ireland but later became foundational to Anglican polity rlly captures something important about institutional evolution. I've been reading about how decentralized governance systems tend to look utopian or impractical in their early forms, but they can become standard operating procedure once power dynamics shift enough. The fact that Ussher was out of step with his moment yet prefigured future structues says alot about how legal ideas incubate.
I skimmed. For the Reduced Episcopacy, you should say what each level does compared to the existing system. A chart with the two side byside wuld be good. Maybe with Church of Scotland too .
I'm not clear on the English system, even. Can a bishop do much in the way of making a rector do something? Can he remove him?
Professor, thank you for the interesting feature about Mr. Ussher. I do think it’s unfair to call Mr. Ussher ignorant for getting creation’s time wrong when he got its year right.
Risible? Perhaps the Janus-faced "large-hearted" Ussher held a more subversive view than you've considered. Perhaps he, publicly of not, under-stood 'creation' (as have so many All Mighties) in purely political – rather than scientific – terms. In that case, both time and year would be defensible and Ussher's seventeenth century conclusion could both bring some peace to the ancient and acrimonious 'creation' debate and also redirect the misspent energies of both sides toward holding the Sovereign (however configured on Earth or in Heaven) accountable for the excesses of His/Her ministering angels. Peace, at least, was Ussher's pastoral and juridical wish for all, "[H]e worked hard to achieve reconciliation between churchmen and dissenters," Why the World Was Created in 4004 B.C., James Barr.
Fascinating piece on Ussher's timing paradox. The notion that national church autonomy in canon-making could've been seen as radical in 17th century Ireland but later became foundational to Anglican polity rlly captures something important about institutional evolution. I've been reading about how decentralized governance systems tend to look utopian or impractical in their early forms, but they can become standard operating procedure once power dynamics shift enough. The fact that Ussher was out of step with his moment yet prefigured future structues says alot about how legal ideas incubate.
Poor Ussher, it’s all those pesky unknown unknowns!
I skimmed. For the Reduced Episcopacy, you should say what each level does compared to the existing system. A chart with the two side byside wuld be good. Maybe with Church of Scotland too .
I'm not clear on the English system, even. Can a bishop do much in the way of making a rector do something? Can he remove him?