‘Not the Same God’: Alexander Carson (1776-1844) and the Ulster Trinitarian Controversy

The impact of the Salters’ Hall Synod went beyond its immediate context in England and spread throughout the British Isles and into Ireland. Ulster Presbyterianism was wracked with debate over confessional subscriptionism and Unitarianism. Two key interlocutors in this debate were the Unitarian theologian William Hamilton Drummond and his orthodox counterpart, Alexander Carson. This essay traces the debate with a particular emphasis on their use of Scottish Common Sense philosophy as a way into or out of heterodox views of the Trinity.

Language:: English

Publication timeframe:: 3 times per year
Journal Subjects:: Theology and Religion, General Topics and Biblical Reception

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‘Not the Same God’: Alexander Carson (1776-1844) and the Ulster Trinitarian Controversy

Ian Hugh Clary

Published Online: Apr 26, 2022

Page range: 71 - 87

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/perc-2022-0006

KeywordsTrinity, Unitarianism, divine attributes, long eighteenth century, Alexander Carson, William Hamilton Drummond, Ulster Presbyterianism, Scottish Enlightenment

© 2022 Ian Hugh Clary, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Trinity, Unitarianism, divine attributes, long eighteenth century, Alexander Carson, William Hamilton Drummond, Ulster Presbyterianism, Scottish Enlightenment