Thinker, scholar and archbishop. Short biography and "Pointers for Prayer".

James Ussher 1580-1656

James Ussher was described by Doctor Johnson as "the great luminary of the Irish Church, and a greater no Church could boast of, at least in modern times".

Ussher was born to a well-to-do Anglo-Irish family in Dublin in 1580; the son of Arland (or Arnold) Ussher and Margaret, daughter of James Stanihurst. . He was one of the first students of Trinity College, Dublin which was founded in 1591. He was a remarkable scholar who wrote in English, Latin and Irish. A tireless collector, at one time he had possibly the largest collection of books in Western Europe. He discovered the long lost “Book of Kells,” an illustrated manuscript of the four Gospels, which is the finest specimen of Irish illuminated art in existence. He bequeathed it with the rest of his books and manuscripts to Trinity College in 1661 forming the nucleus of its great library. His researches amongst unpublished manuscripts laid foundations on which succeeding generations of scholars were to build, and his writings are still recognised in modern times as of primary value. Ussher was one of the first scholars to identify the links of the Church of Ireland with the early Celtic Patrician church.

Ussher entered Trinity College when he was just thirteen years of age. He graduated in 1601 and was ordained in Trinity College Chapel in 1602 by his uncle, Henry Ussher, the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland. He became a Fellow and Professor of Theology at TCD in 1607 and served two terms as Vice-Chancellor. In 1614 he married Phoebe (d.1654), daughter and heiress of Luke Challoner. In 1621 he was appointed Bishop of Meath and in 1625 was appointed Archbishop of Armagh.

Ussher lived in difficult times. He often went to England, where he enjoyed association with noted scholars and statesmen. He was there when the Irish rebellion of 1641 broke out, and this was followed by the English Civil War (1642) and Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth regime. He never returned to Ireland and spent the last sixteen years of his life in England. During the Irish troubles of 1641 most of his property was destroyed. He later lived in London and Oxford and with
his only daughter Elizabeth (wife of Sir Timothy Tyrrell) in Wales. For a short time, while the Dean of Westminster was imprisoned in the Tower of London, Ussher used the Deanery there. Though courted by the Puritan Parliamentarians he sided with the King during the Civil War. Although he refused to sit in the Westminster Assembly (1643) and upheld the doctrine of the divine right of kings, he was in 1647 elected preacher of Lincoln's Inn. He died in 1656, aged 75, and was given a state funeral in Westminster Abbey despite his royalist sympathies. It was Cromwell who ordered his burial in the chapel of St Paul at the Abbey and paid the funeral expenses. It is thought that this was the only occasion at which the Anglican funeral service was read in the Abbey during the Commonwealth period. The present Irish marble gravestone, with brass lettering, was not put in until 1904 when George Salmon was provost. The Latin inscription was written by Dr Gwynn (Regius Professor at Trinity College) and others.

Ussher was one of the most prolific theological writers of his time. Like many of his contemporaries he was strongly anti-Roman Catholic and given to frequent denunciations of the Roman Church. He identified the Church of Ireland with the early church of St. Patrick and strongly influenced the thinking of this Church until the present day in this area. He also wrote several works in Irish. What he is really known for is his dating of creation. Using the Book of Genesis he painstakingly followed the “begats” back in time and determined that the universe was created on October 23rd, 4004 BC. This was printed in the margins of many 19th century editions of the King James’ Version of the Bible to use as “proof” against the fallacy of evolution and other scientific work in the 20th century.

James Ussher was widely know as a defender of learning, of the value of books both secular and sacred, and as a proponent of maintaining an independent identity for Irish Anglicanism. He was a very effective bishop and archbishop and his learning earned him considerable respect in political as well as ecclesiastical circles.

POINTERS FOR PRAYER

+ Pray for those responsible for theological training in the church.

+ Thank God for libraries and places where the scholarly writings of the church are preserved.

+ Pray for those who, like James Ussher, are prepared to think about deep issues.

+ Pray for creative dialogue between science and religious faith.

Text copyright - The Dean of Belfast, 2005