De Sacrificiis libri duo; quorum altero explicantur omina Judaeorum, nonnulla gentium profanarum sacrificial: altero sacrificium Christi. Utroque ecclesiae Catholicae his de rebus sentential contra Faustum Socinum.

London: T. Roycroft impensis Richardi Chiswell, 1677. First Edition. . Hardcover. See Description. 4to. pp. [16], 372, [20] Title printed in red and black. Text is in Latin with quoted passages in Hebrew. Re-backed preserving original sprinkled calf boards. Upper corner of rear cover restored. End papers are renewed with quality laid paper after period style. Interior is clean. An inscription written in an old hand on a front blank leaf reads: "Ex domo Authoris Maii 4. 1677" (From the house of the author, May 4. 1677). William Owtram (1625-1679) was an English conformist theologian known for his great skill in rabbinical learning. In 1669 Owtram became Archdeacon of Leicester and in 1670 he was made Prebendary of Westminster (1670). Richard Baxter spoke of him as " one of the best and ablest of the conformists." [DNB]. Owtram is mainly known for his learned work "De Sacrificiis libri duo" an in depth study of religious ritual sacrifice. The book is divided into two parts; part 1 treats of ritual sacrifice in general and of the Biblical Hebrew rituals in particular. The sacrificial practices of the Gentiles are also mentioned. Part 2 discusses the Christian concept of sacrifice in reference to the death of Christ on the cross. The entire work was written in large part to counter the Socinian (early Unitarian) concept that Christ's death was not atonement for humanity's sins. Owtram defends the doctrine of atonement through vicarious punishment in both Hebrew and Christian scriptures. He argues that Christ's death was an expiatory sacrifice which took away the sins of mankind. The book was also influential in Dutch Socinian debates. Two later editions were printed in Amsterdam … Of interest for Restoration Anglican history and for the history of Socinianism and Unitarianism. [ESTC R7355; McAlpin III, p. 754; Lowndes p. 1742].