Meet the Puritans

In 2016, every two months ( Feb , Apr , June , Aug , Oct, Dec) we will be producing a Meet the Puritans Resource, which you will be able to find linked under Our Resources . These will be classic texts with introductions, footnotes, and modernized language. The purpose is to introduce you to the...

C hristians with even a little knowledge of church history are likely aware of Augustine’s famous work, The City of God . In it, he presents his philosophy of history as he views God moving everything from creation to consummation while in cosmic warfare with Satan. Within this universal history...

“N o offence, but Muslims love Jesus as much as Christians do.” On December 19, 2001, this is how John Casey, a Cambridge scholar, entitled an article in the Telegraph on the issue of Christian and Muslim theology. How could he make such a claim? The the Qu’ran teaches that Jesus was born of a...

The Presbyterians and the Congregationalists had an extremely difficult time working through their theological differences in the 1690s (see parts 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ). There are a number of reasons for this, some of which we have already considered, but one was that they approached the issues from...

We’ve resumed our reading of the Puritan Paperback, Sermons of the Great Ejection and continue in the second part of three pieces ( part 1 ) in the book by Anglican Thomas Watson . “The Great Ejection” was the explusion of nearly 20% of Anglican ministers from their "cures" (pastorates) in the 1662...

First off, congratulations to Scott P. of Aubrey, Texas, who has won a copy of To the Ends of the Earth: Calvin's Missional Vision and Legacy (Crossway). Now for the next giveaway. Our friends at Brill have provided us with a copy of Unity in Diversity: English Puritans and the Puritan Reformation...

W hile his Works fill six large volumes, John Knox wrote only one lengthy explicitly theological work. Its subject is encapsulated in its title, “An Answer to the Cavillations of Adversary Respecting the Doctrine of Predestination” ( The Works of John Knox , 5:7-468). It is, in short, a sustained...

“J esus Christ is the sum and quintessence of the gospel; the wonder of angels; the joy and triumph of saints” (Thomas Watson, A Body of Divinity , 161). He is, as we saw in Q...

Last time I began a series of short posts on Owen’s teaching on communion with the Trinity under the analogy of building an iPad. This second post presents the basic building blocks of his teaching. What the Owen iPad Does: The Trinity, Covenant Theology, and Union with Christ Three components make...

Q uick. What should be the two constituent parts of a Reformed theological education? Theology and exegesis? Philosophy and theology? Systematic and practical theology? Good guesses. Having just participated in examinations for seminary graduates who seek entrance into the ministry, this question...