William Laud (1573 - 1645) Writings on the Church, Ministry and Sacraments

William Laud's doctrines on the Church, ministry, and sacraments underpinned the prelate's theo-political aspiration in the years leading up to the Civil War. Indeed, they illuminate the entire impetus of his life's work.

Laud was, in the main, consistent in his theological reasoning. It is also possible to discern that, of all aspects of his belief system, those of the sacraments and ministry reflected and ultimately derived from his ecclesiology. Laud contributed to the evolution of an expressly Anglican polity, which would later give teeth and substance to the emerging High Church tradition. Laud's doctrines, while never entirely accepted at the restoration of the Church, nevertheless played an influential part in its continuation.

This edition includes the Preface to the 1637 Book of Common Prayer for Scotland and the articles of impeachment at Laud's trial.

Volume 2 in The Polity of the Church of England series