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Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Christianity > Protestantism & Protestant Churches > Calvinist, Reformed & Presbyterian Churches
What did it mean to be a Covenanter? From its first subscription in
1638, the National Covenant was an aspect of life that communities
across Scotland encountered on a daily basis. However, how
contemporaries understood its significance remains unclear. This
edited collection assesses how people interacted with the National
Covenant's infamously ambiguous text, the political and religious
changes that it provoked, and the legacy that it left behind. This
volume contains eleven chapters divided between three themes that
reveal the complex processes behind Covenanting: the act of
swearing and subscribing the Covenants; the process of self
fashioning and identity formation, and, finally, the various acts
of remembering and memorialising the history of the National
Covenant. The collection reveals different narratives of what it
meant to be a Covenanter rather than one, uniform, and unchanging
idea. The National Covenant forced contortions in Scottish
identities, memories, and attitudes and remained susceptible to
changes in the political context. Its impact was dependent upon
individual circumstances. The volume's chapters contend that
domestic understanding of the National Covenant was far more
nuanced, and the conversations very different, from those occurring
in a wider British or Irish context. Those who we now call
'Covenanters' were guided by very different expectations and
understandings of what the Covenant represented. The rules that
governed this interplay were based on local circumstances and
long-standing pressures that could be fuelled by short-term
expediency. Above all, the nature of Covenanting was volatile.
Chapters in this volume are based on extensive archival research of
local material that provide a view into the complex, and often
highly personalised, ways people understood the act or memory of
Covenanting. The chapters explore the religious, political, and
social responses to the National Covenant through its creation in
1638, the Cromwellian invasion of 1650 and the Restoration of
monarchy in 1660.
This book reconsiders the career of an important, controversial,
but neglected figure in this history of Irish Presbyterianism. The
Revd Isaac Nelson is mostly remembered for his opposition to the
evangelical revival of 1859, but this book demonstrates that there
was much more to Nelson's career. Nelson started out as a protege
of Henry Cooke and as an exemplary young evangelical minister. Upon
aligning himself with the Belfast Anti-Slavery Society and joining
forces with American abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass and
William Lloyd Garrison, Nelson emerged as a powerful voice against
compromise with slaveholders. One of the central objectives of this
book is to show that anti-slavery, especially his involvement with
the 'Send Back the Money' controversy in the Free Church of
Scotland and the debate over fellowship with slaveholders at the
Evangelical Alliance, was crucially important to the development of
Nelson into one of Irish Presbyterianism's most controversial
figures. His later opposition to the 1859 Revival has often been
understood as being indicative of Nelson's opposition to
evangelicalism. This book argues that such a conclusion is mistaken
and that Nelson opposed the Revival as a Presbyterian evangelical.
His later involvement with the Land League and the Irish Home Rule
movement, including his tenure as the Member of Parliament for
County Mayo, could be easily dismissed as an entirely discreditable
affair. While avoiding romantic nostalgia in relation to Nelson's
nationalism, this book argues that Nelson's basis for advocating
Home Rule was not as peculiar as it might first appear.
Was Jonathan Edwards the stalwart and unquestioning Reformed
theologian that he is often portrayed as being? In what ways did
his own conversion fail to meet the standards of his Puritan
ancestors? And how did this affect his understanding of the Divine
Being and of the nature of justification? Becoming Divine
investigates the early theological career of Edwards, finding him
deep in a crisis of faith that drove him into an obsessive lifelong
search for answers. Instead of a fear of God, which he had been
taught to understand as proof of his conversion, he experienced a
'surprising, amazing joy'. Suddenly he saw the Divine Being in
everything and felt himself transported into a heavenly world,
becoming one with the Divine family. What he developed, as he
sought to make sense of this unexpected joy, is a theology that is
both ancient and early modern: a theology of divine participation
rooted in the incarnation of Christ.
In 1690, the Church of Scotland rejected episcopal authority and
settled as Presbyterian. The adjacent Presbyteries of Stirling and
Dunblane covered an area that included both lowland and highland
communities, speaking both English and Gaelic and supporting both
the new government and the old thus forming a representative
picture of the nation as a whole. This book examines the ways in
which the two Presbyteries operated administratively, theologically
and geographically under the new regime. By surveying and analysing
surviving church records from 1687 to 1710 at Presbytery and parish
level, Muirhead shows how the two Presbyteries related to civil
authorities, how they dealt with problematic discipline cases
referred by the Kirk Sessions, their involvement in the Union
negotiations and their overall functioning as human, as well as
religious, institution in seventeenth-century Scotland. The
resulting study advances our understanding of the profound impact
that Presbyteries had on those involved with them in any capacity.
"Like Augustine, Calvin, and Edwards, Bavinck was a man of giant
mind, vast learning, ageless wisdom, and great expository skill,
and to have these volumes now in full English is a wonderful
enrichment. Solid but lucid, demanding but satisfying, broad and
deep and sharp and stabilizing, Bavinck's magisterial "Reformed
Dogmatics" remains after a century the supreme achievement of its
kind."--J. I. Packer, Regent College
"Finally Bavinck becomes available to the English-speaking
world. The Dutch version has shaped generations of theologians and
helped them to preach, think, and act on a fresh, Reformed basis.
The strength of Bavinck's dogmatics is that it's neither
conservative nor progressive, but its biblical character makes it
constantly up-to-date. Baker Academic and the Dutch Reformed
Translation Society deserve praise for this project, from which
without doubt church and theology will profit for years to
come."--Herman Selderhuis, Theologische Universiteit Appeldoorn
"What a wonderful gift to the English-speaking theological
world! The topics explored by Bavinck are still of the utmost
importance, and he addresses them here in a theological voice that
is amazingly fresh."--Richard J. Mouw, president, Fuller
Theological Seminary
"Pastors and theologians will welcome the historic first
complete translation of Herman Bavinck's "Reformed Dogmatics," . .
. This masterful theological work is now available to passionate
students of theology."--R. Albert Mohler Jr., Preaching
"Arguably the most important systematic theology ever produced
in the Reformed tradition. I have found it to be the most valuable.
English-speaking theology throughout the twentieth century until
now has beensingularly impoverished by not having at its disposal a
translation of Bavinck's "Dogmatiek" in its entirety. The
appearance of this volume will be an incomparable boon for
generations of students, pastors, teachers, and others, serving to
deepen understanding and enrich reflection in both historical and
systematic theology."--Richard B. Gaffin Jr., Westminster
Theological Seminary, Philadelphia
The fascinating story of America's oldest thriving heritage
language. Winner of the Dale W. Brown Book Award by the Young
Center for Anabaptists and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College
While most world languages spoken by minority populations are in
serious danger of becoming extinct, Pennsylvania Dutch is thriving.
In fact, the number of Pennsylvania Dutch speakers is growing
exponentially, although it is spoken by less than one-tenth of one
percent of the United States population and has remained for the
most part an oral vernacular without official recognition or
support. A true sociolinguistic wonder, Pennsylvania Dutch has been
spoken continuously since the late eighteenth century despite
having never been "refreshed" by later waves of immigration from
abroad. In this probing study, Mark L. Louden, himself a fluent
speaker of Pennsylvania Dutch, provides readers with a close look
at the place of the language in the life and culture of two major
subgroups of speakers: the "Fancy Dutch," whose ancestors were
affiliated mainly with Lutheran and German Reformed churches, and
traditional Anabaptist sectarians known as the "Plain people"-the
Old Order Amish and Mennonites. Drawing on scholarly literature,
three decades of fieldwork, and ample historical documents-most of
which have never before been made accessible to English-speaking
readers-this is the first book to offer a comprehensive look at
this unlikely linguistic success story.
Recognizing the need for bilingual hymnal and service materials
within Korean Presbyterian congregations, the 207th General
Assembly (1995) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mandated the
creation of a resource to meet the needs of local congregations and
to promote authentic Korean compositions and traditional Korean
tunes. This new Korean-English hymnal is now available as a worship
resource for intergenerational, bilingual, and ecumenical use.
Since its original publication in 1985, Church and University in
the Scottish Enlightenment has come to be regarded as a classic
work in 18th-century Scottish history and Enlightenment studies. It
depicts Hugh Blair, Alexander Carlyle, Adam Ferguson, John Home,
and William Robertson as an intimate coterie that played a central
role in the Scottish Enlightenment, seen here not only as an
intellectual but as a cultural movement. These men were among the
leaders in the University of Edinburgh, in the Moderate party in
the Church of Scotland, and in Edinburgh's thriving clubs. They
used their institutional influence and their books, plays, sermons,
and pamphlets to promulgate the tenets of Moderatism, including
polite Presbyterianism, Christian Stoicism, civic humanism, social
and political conservatism, and the tolerant, cosmopolitan values
of the international Enlightenment. Using a wide variety of sources
and an interdisciplinary methodology, this collective biography
portrays these 'Moderate Iiterati' as zealous activists for the
cause in which they believed, ranging from support for a Scots
militia, Ossian, and Roman Catholic relief to opposition to the
Jacobite rebellion of 1745 and the American and French Revolutions
In an eloquent defense of Calvinist theology, author and professor
Michael Horton invites us to explore the teachings of
Calvinism-also commonly known as Reformed theology-by showing how
it is biblical and Christ-centered, leading us to live our lives
for the glory of God. The system of theology known as Calvinism has
been immensely influential for the past five hundred years, but
it's often encountered negatively as a fatalistic belief system
that confines human freedom and renders human action and choice
irrelevant. Taking us beyond the caricatures and typical reactions,
For Calvinism: Explores the historical roots of Reformed thought.
Delivers the essence of Calvinism, examining its distinctive
characteristics, such as election, atonement, effectual calling,
and perseverance. Encourages us to consider its rich resources for
faith and practice in the present age. As a companion to Roger
Olson's Against Calvinism critique and response, readers will be
able to compare contrasting perspectives and form their own
opinions on the merits and weaknesses of Calvinism.
2020 Book Award Winner, The Gospel Coalition (History &
Biography) 2020 For the Church Book Award Dutch Calvinist
theologian Herman Bavinck, a significant voice in the development
of Protestant theology, remains relevant many years after his
death. His four-volume Reformed Dogmatics is one of the most
important theological works of the twentieth century. James
Eglinton is widely considered to be at the forefront of
contemporary interest in Bavinck's life and thought. After spending
considerable time in the Netherlands researching Bavinck, Eglinton
brings to light a wealth of new insights and previously unpublished
documents to offer a definitive biography of this renowned Reformed
thinker. The book follows the course of Bavinck's life in a period
of dramatic social change, identifying him as an orthodox Calvinist
challenged with finding his feet in late modern culture. Based on
extensive archival research, this critical biography presents
numerous significant and previously ignored or unknown aspects of
Bavinck's person and life story. A black-and-white photo insert is
included. This volume complements other Baker Academic offerings on
Bavinck's theology and ethics, which together have sold 90,000
copies.
On 1 July 1523, Johann van den Esschen and Hendrik Voes, two
Augustinian friars from Antwerp, were burned on the Grand Plaza in
Brussels, thereby becoming the first victims of the Reformation.
Despite being well-known, the event barely registers in most
Reformation histories. By tracing its origins and examining the
impact of the executions on Martin Luther, on the Reformed
Augustinian world, and on the early Reformation in the Low
Countries and the German speaking lands, this study definitively
demonstrates that the burnings were in fact the denouement of
broader trends within Late Medieval Reformed Augustinianism, as
well as a watershed in the early Reformation. In doing so, it also
reveals the central role played by the Augustinian friars of Lower
Germany in shaping both the content and spread of the early
Reformation, as well as Wittenberg's influence on the events
leading up to these first executions.
When the pastors and theologians who comprised the Synod of Dort
met in 1618 and 1619 to frame a response to the rise of Arminian
theology in Dutch churches, they were concerned to provide not just
theological argument but pastoral vision. They considered seriously
the implications of right theology on both growth in grace and
holiness and the spiritual comfort of believers. Keenly aware of
this vital link between theology and practice, they drew up the
Canons of Dort in a manner that astutely rebutted from Scripture
the Arminian Remonstrants, point by point, arguing the veracity of
the doctrines of predestination, particular atonement, total
depravity, effectual grace and the perseverance of the saints-the
five points that have come to be known as ''the doctrines of
grace." Matthew Barrett opens a window on the synod's deliberations
with the Remonstrants and examines the main emphases of the canons,
with special attention on their relationship to biblical piety and
spirituality. For example, the doctrine of predestination is shown
from Scripture to establish not just God's electing grace but
assurance of salvation-comforting believers that the God who saved
them will preserve them to the very end. As Dr. Barrett examines
the Canons of Dort it becomes clear why they are so important.
Indeed, the piety and godliness that saturates these
seventeenth-century canons shows they are as relevant for the
church today as they were then. Wow I really like this book.
Matthew Barrett has given us history, theology, ministerial counsel
and impetus to true piety in this treatment of the Synod and Canons
of Dort. The brief but vibrant historical accounts are informative,
his guidance in some thick theological discussion is expert, and
his focus on piety leads us to the true purpose of all theology the
production of a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. Dr. Barrett s
continual insistence on the necessity of monergism for a truly
biblical grasp of the character of salvation from beginning to end
is a much needed emphasis for contemporary evangelicalism. The
appendices provide valuable source material. This is an excellent
account of a vitally important subject. Tom J. Nettles, Professor
of Historical Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary,
Louisville, Kentucky Matthew Barrett offers a wonderfully simple
and direct exposition of one of the more misunderstood confessions
of faith. The Canons of Dort are often vilified, but under closer
examination Barrett demonstrates that they are biblical and
pastoral and a potent tonic for a flagging faith. Tolle et lege,
take up and read J.V. Fesko Academic Dean, Professor of Systematic
and Historical Theology, Westminster Seminary California By
breathing new life into historic events, documents and people,
Matthew makes them speak to our culture, our churches and our
hearts. David P. Murray Professor of Old Testament and Practical
Theology, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids,
Michigan By reducing the discussion of Calvinism and the doctrines
of grace to the simplified acrostic T-U-L-I-P, I m afraid we have
generated far more heat than light. A book that looks deeply
within, behind and around the five points of Calvinism is long
overdue. Whether you find yourself saying Yea or Nay to the five
points, we all need to say thank you to Dr. Barrett for his
delightful, informative and light-generating book. Stephen J.
Nichols Research Professor of Christianity and Culture, Lancaster
Bible College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
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