11th Sep, 2019 10:30 GMT/BST

Books, Maps & Ephemera

 
Lot 216
 

216

Ball, John; Ash, Simeon (ed.) A Treatise of the Covenant of Grace. Printed by G. Miller for...

Ball, John; Ash, Simeon (ed.)
A Treatise of the Covenant of Grace. Printed by G. Miller for Edward Brewster on Ludgate hill neer Fleet-bridge at the Signe of the Bible, 1645. 8vo, half leather over marbled boards (leather corner-pieces lacking); pp. [8], 350, [14].
The Covenant of Grace is that made between God and Man, that Eternal Life is offered unto Man through the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. The righteousness of Christ is given to Man through Man's Faith. The nature and importance of that Faith - specifically in respect to the similar question on Man's Works - was a central and divisive element of the argument between the Catholic Church and the Protestant - and further, between the Puritan and Anglican wings of the Church of England.

This text was originally written by the Puritan Divine John Ball, who was deprived of his curacy for his views. Ball died in 1640 and this work was published posthumously by his friend Ash in 1645. By 1645 the Civil War was going badly for Charles, so when Ash writes in his preface of the current Reformation, he means not Luther's stand against the Catholic Church, but rather the Parliamentary, and by extension, Puritan Reformation of the Episcopalian, Monarchical, Anglican Church of Charles.

Whilst doctrinal points, such as the insistence that Faith and Works are mutually exclusive, seem antiquated to the modern eye, at the time they drove international conflict, civil war, and ultimately Regicide. This text takes the plain position that the performance of good deeds and Christian works is not enough for salvation, but rather the person can only be justified by the gift of God's Grace. The argument is that seeking God's mercy for sin is not included under the law given to Adam - which is why the new Covenant was necessary. If mercy cannot be sought for sin, then only Grace can justify. This is contrary to the acts of Contrition and Forgiveness present in the Anglican mass, which allow for a continual process of renewal similar to that of the Catholic Church. This states that Grace is given, or it is not, and thus Works (in this case obedience to Confession) are irrelevant, as they cannot buy God's mercy. Such critical questions decided not only the nature of English governance, but the fate of souls.

Sold for £400
Estimated at £80 - £100


 

Binding worn with some loss to spine, corner-pieces lacking, internally variably marked and toned with water staining to margins, loss to upper margin of Ee4 with slight affect to text, worming to inner margin and foot of Ee4 continuing to Ii1 with occasional traces elsewhere, obvious restoration to outer margins of final two leaves, a good copy.

 


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Auction: Books, Maps & Ephemera, 11th Sep, 2019

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