Ulster,God's People,and the Interplay between Old Testament and Calvinistic Conceptions of Covenant

This article addresses the theological realities behind the relationship between the Reverend Ian Paisley and the Ulster Protestant people. In his capacity as both moderator of the Free Presbyterian Church and leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, Paisley has been vocal in his defence of the Protestant constitution. He has also opposed any development which he believed amounted to a Protestant state softening its attitude towards Roman Catholicism. His behaviour in these areas can be understood in terms of an Old Testament-type covenantal understanding of a community's relationship with God. However, as a Calvinist, Paisley firmly adheres to the idea of ‘the elect’ who consist of those individuals whom God has chosen to be saved. This spiritual covenant between God and those predestined to receive salvation is not the preserve of any particular ethnic community and as such does not lend itself to the idea that Ulster Protestants have a special relationship with God, irrespective of Paisley's rhetoric.