The Church of England, Sources of Identity, and Theological Distinctives -- Cambridge Aflame with Controversy : Reassessing the Lambeth Articles -- Dilemmas at the Synod of Dort : The Conciliatory British Delegation -- Troubles after Dort : The Case of the "Arminian" Richard Montagu -- A Further Dilemma for British Divines : Baptism's Effect on Infants -- Lingering Reluctance among Reformed Englishmen : Puritans and Confessionalism -- Perseverance, Augustine, and England's Struggling Identity

"Scholars describe the Church of England during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries as forming either a Calvinist consensus or an Anglican middle way steeped in an ancient catholicity. Debating Perseverance sheds light on the influence of both the early church and the Reformed churches on the Church of England by surveying several debates on perseverance in which readings of Augustine were involved. The book begins with a reassessment of the Lambeth Articles and the heated Cambridge debates in which they were forged. It then investigates the failed attempt of the British delegation to the Synod of Dort to achieve solidarity with the international Reformed community on perseverance in a way that was also respectful of minority opinions. The study evaluates the supposedly Arminian Richard Montagu and the turmoil he caused by challenging the Reformed consensus and the Synod of Dort. The book then surveys a debate after Englands civil wars when the pro-Dort party had triumphed. It uncovers competing readings and receptions of Augustine on perseverance within the English churchone favoring the perseverance of the saints and the other denying it. It shows how both theological options were valid within the Reformed tradition before the Synod of Dort and how that synods rejection of one as an error created difficulties for England in retaining its Reformed identity. This study recognizes Englands struggles with perseverance as emblematic of its troubled pursuit of a Reformed and ancient catholicity" -- University Press Scholarship Online