The Presbyterian Story

Abstract

Chapter 2 explores the interplay between historical scholarship, church government, and Unionist identity politics. The chapter begins with the appropriation by evangelicals of the seventeenth-century origins of Presbyterianism in Ireland and how this was used to respond to theological and ecclesiological moderatism as well as the challenge of High Church Anglicanism. The second section examines how the High Church threat produced scholarship on the early church and the Celtic church, including St Patrick. Presbyterian writers remained concerned about Catholic claims and the final section considers their attitude to the Catholic Church in principle, the growing influence of Ultramontanism, and the threat of ‘Rome Rule’ in Ireland. The prospect of Home Rule introduced the Presbyterian story to a much broader audience and became a central component of Unionist identity politics, especially during ‘the Ulster Crisis’ of 1912 to 1914.