Dissenting Voices: Rediscovering the Irish Progressive Presbyterian Tradition

766 Pages·2014·3.26 MB·English

by  Roger Courtney

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Courtney, Roger. Dissenting Voices : Rediscovering the Irish Progressive Presbyterian Tradition, Ulster Historical
Foundation, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nottingham/detail.action?docID=2122493.
Created from nottingham on 2021-03-11 07:07:02.
Roger Courtney was born and brought up in a Presbyterian
family in Belfast. His mother was a daughter of the manse.
He was educated at Belfast ‘Inst’ (Royal Belfast Academical
Institution) and Queen’s University Belfast, where he studied
psychology and philosophy. Having trained as a community
and youth worker in Birmingham, he set up the Crescent Arts
Centre in south Belfast. For 16 years he was Chief Executive
of the Simon Community NI providing accommodation for
people who are homeless. For the past 15 years he has been
working as a freelance consultant, mentor, trainer and
lecturer. He has written extensively on the management of
voluntary organisations and fundraising. His main hobby is
music and he is the composer of the well-known peace hymn,
‘The Pollen of Peace’.
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Courtney, Roger. Dissenting Voices : Rediscovering the Irish Progressive P2resbyterian Tradition, Ulster Historical
Foundation, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nottingham/detail.action?docID=2122493.
Created from nottingham on 2021-03-11 07:07:02.
The Presbyterian is happiest when he is being a radical.
A.T.Q. STEWART
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Courtney, Roger. Dissenting Voices : Rediscovering the Irish Progressive P3resbyterian Tradition, Ulster Historical
Foundation, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nottingham/detail.action?docID=2122493.
Created from nottingham on 2021-03-11 07:07:02.
DISSENTING VOICES
REDISCOVERING THE IRISH PROGRESSIVE
PRESBYTERIAN TRADITION
PROFILES OF 300 PROGRESSIVE PRESBYTERIANS
OVER FOUR CENTURIES
ROGER COURTNEY
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Courtney, Roger. Dissenting Voices : Rediscovering the Irish Progressive P4resbyterian Tradition, Ulster Historical
Foundation, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nottingham/detail.action?docID=2122493.
Created from nottingham on 2021-03-11 07:07:02.
This book has received financial support from the Northern
Ireland Community
Relations Council which aims to promote a pluralist society
characterised by
equity, respect for diversity and recognition of
interdependence. The views
expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the Council.
Ulster Historical Foundation is pleased to acknowledge
support for this publication
provided by the Northern Ireland Community Relations
.d Council
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02 Published 2013
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49 Malone Road, Belfast BT9 6RY
Courtney, Roger. Dissenting Voices : Rediscovering the Irish Progressive P5resbyterian Tradition, Ulster Historical
Foundation, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nottingham/detail.action?docID=2122493.
Created from nottingham on 2021-03-11 07:07:02.
www.ancestryireland.com
www.booksireland.org.uk
Except as otherwise permitted under the Copyright, Designs
and
Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced,
stored or transmitted in any
form or by any means with the prior permission in writing of
the publisher or, in the case
of reprographic reproduction, in accordance with the terms of
a licence issued by The
Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning
reproduction outside those terms
should be sent to the publisher.
© Roger Courtney
ISBN: 978-1-909556-06-5
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Courtney, Roger. Dissenting Voices : Rediscovering the Irish Progressive P6resbyterian Tradition, Ulster Historical
Foundation, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nottingham/detail.action?docID=2122493.
Created from nottingham on 2021-03-11 07:07:02.
Contents
FOREWORD
(by Very Rev. Dr John Dunlop)
THE IRISH PROGRESSIVE PRESBYTERIAN
TRADITION
(by L.S. Kirkpatrick)
INTRODUCTION
BIOGRAPHIES OF DISSENTERS IN CHRONOLOGICAL
ORDER
SOURCES
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gir llA Alphabetical index of biographies
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Courtney, Roger. Dissenting Voices : Rediscovering the Irish Progressive P7resbyterian Tradition, Ulster Historical
Foundation, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nottingham/detail.action?docID=2122493.
Created from nottingham on 2021-03-11 07:07:02.
Foreword
This book is a reminder that all institutions, including
churches, are led, or indeed misled, by people like ourselves.
The church is like a ship on the sea in all kinds of weather;
sometimes all seems calm, sometimes the wind is from
behind and progress is steady and at other times the wind is
contrary and the seas are rough.
Here is a fascinating book about individuals who have served
God within the Presbyterian Churches in Ireland and their
Synods for more than 400 years. The historical conditions
were constantly changing, the seas were frequently turbulent,
the future unpredictable and courage was frequently required.
One of the best ways into history is through the lives of
individuals, and here are hundreds of them. Happily, not all of
.d them were, or are, ministers or men. The historical
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oC the uncertain political environment in which the church has
frequently found itself has encouraged an unhelpful and
Courtney, Roger. Dissenting Voices : Rediscovering the Irish Progressive P8resbyterian Tradition, Ulster Historical
Foundation, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nottingham/detail.action?docID=2122493.
Created from nottingham on 2021-03-11 07:07:02.
inhibiting defensiveness, not least with the ‘Troubles’ of the
latter part of the twentieth century. Roger Courtney is correct
when he writes that the public image of the church is
conservative but behind that exterior there are found radical
voices. Perhaps this book will encourage some of us to follow
that radical tradition more faithfully.
This book is the end product of widespread research. As I
read through parts of it, for it is not a book one can read at
one sitting, I kept wondering how the author could have
discovered all these people and the details of their lives. This
book will add much which is distinctive to the already
existing
volumes of Presbyterian history. Within and without the walls
of many familiar buildings convictions were shaped and lives
were lived for which we have every reason to give thanks to
God.
VERY REV. DR JOHN DUNLOP
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Courtney, Roger. Dissenting Voices : Rediscovering the Irish Progressive P9resbyterian Tradition, Ulster Historical
Foundation, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nottingham/detail.action?docID=2122493.
Created from nottingham on 2021-03-11 07:07:02.
The Irish Progressive Presbyterian
Tradition
It is an often neglected fact that the Protestant Reformation of
the early sixteenth century was birthed amidst an emergent
atmosphere of increasing instability. The mainstream
reformers steered a middle course between the stagnant
corruption of the old church and the turbulent effervescence
of the new radical groupings; they established themselves as
magisterial reformers. Unable to reform the old church on
their own, and wary of the apocalyptic vision of charismatic
leaders, Luther and Calvin et al consciously co-operated
closely with rulers and councils in order to manage mutually
beneficial reforms. While the theological watchword of the
Protestant Reformation was sola scriptura, the reality was a
creative working relationship, reformer and magistrate
striving together to enact the reality of a godly community.
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.n active intervention of Elector Friedrich the Wise at key
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declared a convicted heretic.
Courtney, Roger. Dissenting Voices : Rediscovering the Irish Progressive1 P0resbyterian Tradition, Ulster Historical
Foundation, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nottingham/detail.action?docID=2122493.
Created from nottingham on 2021-03-11 07:07:02.