Examining the relationship between Hooker's activities and his writings, Frank Shuffelton considers his role in the crises of early New England politics and religion. The author analyzes Hooker's works and shows that as preacher and pastor, theologian and architect of the Puritan religious community, Thomas Hooker voiced concerns that remained important throughout American history. The analysis of Hooker's career is especially valuable for the information it provides concerning his close involvement with the major issues of the day: the conflict between Roger Williams and the Bay Colony; the antinomian controversy; the political and religious striving of the Massachusetts Bay Colony; and the forming of a truly American community. The author distinguishes several phases in Hooker's activities that correspond to his cultural and geographical milieu at different times. He discusses Hooker's education, first pastoral experience, and career. Originally published in 1977. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

There are few things more joyous in a congregation than the presentation of a new baby or small child for baptism. But even lifelong Christians can lack an understanding of the theology and terminology surrounding baptism. The Baptism of Your Child answers common questions new parents and new members with small children may have about having their children baptized, and it includes prayers and ideas for helping children grow in their faith.

The Revolution of 1688-90 was accompanied in Scotland by a Church Settlement which dismantled the Episcopalian governance of the church. Clergy were ousted and liturgical traditions were replaced by the new Presbyterian order. As Episcopalians, non-jurors and Catholics were side-lined under the new regime, they drew on their different confessional and liturgical inheritances, pre- and post-Reformation, to respond to ecclesiastical change and inform their support of the movement to restore the Stuarts. In so doing, they had a profound effect on the ways in which worship was conducted and considered in Britain and beyond.

This is a major study of the theological thought of John Calvin, which examines his central theological ideas through a philosophical lens, looking at issues in Metaphysics, Epistemology, and Ethics. The study, the first of its kind, is concerned with how Calvin actually uses philosophical ideas in his work as a theologian and biblical commentator. The book also includes a careful examination of those ideas of Calvin to which the Reformed Epistemologists appeal, to find grounds and precedent for their development of Reformed Epistemology', notably the sensus divinitatis and the internal testimony of the Holy Spirit.

How do Christians account for the widespread presence of goodness in a fallen world? Richard Mouw, one of the most influential evangelical voices in America, presents his mature thought on the topic of common grace. Addressing a range of issues relevant to engaging common grace in the 21st century, Mouw shows how God takes delight in all things that glorify him--even those that happen beyond the boundaries of the church--and defends the doctrine of common grace from its detractors.

In Gereformeerdes onder die Suiderkruis gaan dit om flitspunte uit die geskiedenis van vier Afrikaanse Gereformeerde kerke in Suid-Afrika, asook oor die invloed van Gereformeerdwees op hierdie kerke en deur die kerke op die samelewing. Daarom val die klem hier op die mees invloedryke kerke wat hulself met Gereformeerde waarhede vereenselwig het. As gevolg van die houding en benadering van die betrokke politieke owerhede vanaf 1652 tot 2011 maak Gereformeerde kerke onder Afrikaanssprekendes en Afrikaners hier die hooffigure uit. In hierdie proses vorm die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk (NGK) die sleutelfiguur. Die skrywer is ook persoonlik ’n getuie daarvan dat die regerende ANC in die jare 1994-2011 die NGK as ’n hoofvennoot vir gesprek uitgesonder het waar dit oor die party se kontak met die Afrikaanse Gereformeerde kerke in Suid-Afrika gaan. In Protestantse en Rooms-Katolieke kringe is en word die NGK uitgesonder as ’n noodsaaklike gespreksgenoot – dit was die skrywer se ervaring as moderator van die NGK (2007-2011). Hoewel die tema van kerk en samelewing ’n belangrike een in hierdie studie is, kry kernelemente in die Gereformeerdwees van die betrokke kerke ook aandag. Dit sluit in belydenis- en leerstellige benaderings, Gereformeerde karakter, onderlinge verhoudinge en ekumene en, waar van toepassing, jonger kerke of kerklike familie. As sentrale fokuspunt gaan dit om ’n greep op die sentrale aspekte van hierdie kerke in hulle kerkwees onder die Suiderkruis in Suidelike Afrika.

This book attempts to understand Calvin in his sixteenth-century context, with attention to continuities and discontinuities between his thought and that of his predecessors, contemporaries, and successors. Richard Muller is particularly interested in the interplay between theological and philosophical themes common to Calvin and the medieval doctors, and in developments in rhetoric and method associated with humanism.

The first book-length treatment of its topic, this study is aimed at abolishing the old cliche that Congregationalism failed to adapt to the democratizing culture of the westward migration. Drawing on hundreds of previously unused letters, journals, and sermons, the author argues that Congregational missionaries were aggressive evangelists who successfully adjusted to the egalitarian demands of the early republican frontier. Keepers of the Covenant critically examines the various explanations for the decline of Congregationalism after the American Revolution, and in the process, overturns generalizations that have prevailed for years. The conclusion offers a reinterpretation of Congregationalist decline that challenges much conventional wisdom about church growth. It will interest not only church historians and students of early republican America, but also sociologists and all those concerned with the decline of the Protestant "mainline" today.

Calvin's eucharistic doctrine has been approached in the past from the standpoint of his polemic with the Lutherans and the Zwinglians, but Father McDonnell believes that Calvin's primary position was determined by his rejection of Roman Catholicism. The author, therefore, explores Calvin's eucharistic doctrine through a comprehensive analysis of his stand against the Roman Catholic Church. Introductory chapters are devoted to the broader currents of pre-Reformation thought: Scotist tradition, devotiomoderna, humanism, and the Platonic renewal. The study continues with a discussion of St. Augustine, the medieval disputants, and the doctrines of Calvin's contemporaries-Luther, Bucer, and Melanchthon. The final chapter considers the relevancy of Calvin's objections to Catholic eucharistic doctrine and their relation to modern developments in Catholic sacramental thought. Originally published in 1967. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Winner of the David H. Pinkney Prize of the French Historical Society Winner of the Frances Richardson Keller-Sierra Prize of the Western Association of Women Historians Winner of the Award for Best Scholarly Work of the National Huguenot Society The Edict of Nantes ended the civil wars of the Reformation in 1598 by making France a kingdom with two religions. Catholics could worship anywhere, while Protestants had specific locations where they were sanctioned to worship. Over the coming decades Protestants' religious freedom and civil privileges eroded until the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, issued under Louis XIV in 1685, criminalized their religion. The Robillard de Champagne, a noble family, were among those facing the Revocation. They and their co-religionists confronted the difficult decision whether to obey this new law and convert, feign conversion and remain privately Protestant, or break the law and attempt to flee secretly in what was the first modern mass migration. In this sweeping family saga, Carolyn Chappell Lougee narrates how the Champagne family's persecution and Protestant devotion unsettled their economic advantages and social standing. The family provides a window onto the choices that individuals and their kin had to make in these trying circumstances, the agency of women within families, and the consequences of their choices. Lougee traces the lives of the family members who escaped; the kin and community members who decided to stay, both complying with and resisting the king's will; and those who resettled in Britain and Prussia, where they adapted culturally and became influential members of society. She challenges the narrative Huguenots told over subsequent generations about the deeper faith of those who opted for exile and the venal qualities of those who remained in France. A masterful and moving account of the Hugenots, Facing the Revocation offers a deeply personal perspective on one of the greatest acts of religious intolerance in history.

Dissenting Daughters reveals that devout women made vital contributions to the spread and practice of the Reformed faith in the Dutch Republic in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The six women at the heart of this study: Cornelia Teellinck, Susanna Teellinck, Anna Maria van Schurman, Sara Nevius, Cornelia Leydekker, and Henrica van Hoolwerff, were influential members of networks known for supporting a religious revival known as the Further Reformation. These women earned the support and appreciation of their religious leaders, friends, and relatives by seizing the tools offered by domestic religious study and worship and forming alliances with prominent ministers including Willem Teellinck, Gijsbertus Voetius, Wilhelmus a Brakel, and Melchior Leydekker as well as with other well-connected, well-educated women. They deployed their talents to bolster the Dutch Reformed Church from 1572, the first year its members could publicly organize, to the death of this book's last surviving subject Cornelia Leydekker in 1725. In return for their adoption of religious teachings that constricted them in many ways, they gained the authority to minister to their family members, their female friends, and a broader audience of men and women during domestic worship as well as through their written works. These "dissenting daughters" vehemently defended their faith - against Spanish and French Catholics, as well as their neighbors, politicians, and ministers within the Dutch Republic whom they judged to be lax and overly tolerant of sinful behavior, finding ways to flourish among the strictest orthodox believers within the Dutch Reformed Church.

The Covenant of the Torch made with Abraham is the most significant among all the covenants in the Bible. Why? It's the most detailed yet condensed summary of God's divine administration for redemption that outlines the work of restoration of His godly people and holy land.In this book, Rev. Abraham Park brings to life the Covenant of the Torch and helps us to understand accurately, and in chronological detail 692 years of redemptive history starting from Abraham, including the great exodus, the wilderness journey and the conquest of Canaan.Just as his best-seller The Genesis Genealogies has helped readers to better understand the time frames and relationships in The Book of Genesis, Rev. Park now helps us to study the books of Exodus up to Joshua carefully and to realise what those events and participants tell us regarding God's larger plan. This book offers: A detailed chronology of 692 years from Abraham to the Israelites' conquest of Canaan. The first-ever map of all 42 campsites in the wilderness. colour photos of the locations in the wilderness journey. A theologically sound method of viewing God's Word through the perspective of God's administration in the history of redemption. Wisdom and insight on how to overcome the spiritual wilderness in our lives of faith today. Despite periods of spiritual darkness, unbelief, complaining and grumbling by the people of God as they wandered in the desert, we see God's faithfulness in fulfilling His Word and the Covenant of the Torch. And by understanding the chronological flow of the biblical events in a systematic manner, we gain a much broader and deeper grasp of God's plan of salvation.This title is part of The History of Redemption series which includes: Book 1: The Genesis GenealogiesBook 2: The Covenant of the TorchBook 3: The Unquenchable Lamp of the CovenantBook 4: God's Profound and Mysterious ProvidenceBook 5: The Promise of the Eternal Covenant

Christianity Today Book Award ECPA Top Shelf Book Cover Award Apart from the doctrine of God, no doctrine is as comprehensive as that of creation. It is woven throughout the entire fabric of Christian theology. It goes to the deepest roots of reality and leaves no area of life untouched. Across the centuries, however, the doctrine of creation has often been eclipsed or threatened by various forms of gnosticism. Yet if Christians are to rise to current challenges related to public theology and ethics, we must regain a robust, biblical doctrine of creation. According to Bruce Ashford and Craig Bartholomew, one of the best sources for outfitting this recovery is Dutch neo-Calvinism. Abraham Kuyper, Herman Bavinck, and their successors set forth a substantial doctrine of creation's goodness, but recent theological advances in this tradition have been limited. Now in The Doctrine of Creation Ashford and Bartholomew develop the Kuyperian tradition's rich resources on creation for systematic theology and the life of the church today. In addition to tracing historical treatments of the doctrine, the authors explore intertwined theological themes such as the omnipotence of God, human vocation, and providence. They draw from diverse streams of Christian thought while remaining rooted in the Kuyperian tradition, with a sustained focus on doing theology in deep engagement with Scripture. Approaching the world as God's creation changes everything. Thus The Doctrine of Creation concludes with implications for current issues, including those related to philosophy, science, the self, and human dignity. This exegetically grounded constructive theology contributes to renewed appreciation for and application of the doctrine of creation-which is ultimately a doctrine of profound hope.

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

A faithful examination of the role of John Calvin in the execution of Michael Servetus. The execution of Michael Servetus (1511-53) is one of the most debated events in the life of John Calvin (1509-1564). It has left an indelible stain on Calvin's reputation, and unfortunately, the retelling of the story is often dependent on the historian's relationship to Calvinism. Jonathan Moorhead here seeks to give a faithful narrative of the role of John Calvin in the execution of Michael Servetus. He examines the life of Servetus, with emphasis given to his education, publications, and relationship with John Calvin. Moorhead also gives attention to the role of Calvin in Servetus' arrests, trials, and execution. Understanding the extent of Calvin's power in Geneva at the time of the trial is critical to understanding the events, as is the context of executing heretics throughout history, and in particular, in the 16th Century. This book will challenge readers to think critically about the ethics of telling history, the standards of properly judging previous generations, and the benefits of this study for the building up of the Body of Christ. Servetus' Education and Publications Servetus' Arrest and Escape from Vienne The Authority of John Calvin Servtus' Arrest, Trial and Execution in Geneva Final Considerations Conclusion

For many Christians who've tried their hands at evangelism or have had to defend their faith, it can feel like doing PR work for God—limiting ourselves to a series of strategies and tactics. In The Faithful Apologist: Rethinking the Role of Persuasion in Apologetics, Scott Oliphint provides a cross-centered foundation for Christians to explain their faith in a welcoming and persuasive manner that avoids any burden to "sell" Christianity to non-Christians.

Drawing as much from the rich tradition of Western apologetics as from the wisdom of effective communication, this book bridges the gap between sharing the truth of our faith and the art of persuasion by:

• Laying out the biblical and theological foundations of apologetics.
• Studying the art of persuasion as it’s demonstrated in Scripture.
• Linking the discipline of apologetics to the classical art of persuasion.

As devoted to people as he is to the intellect, Reformed theologian Dr. Scott Oliphint has written this faithful book to explain the importance of both devotions in apologetics and in Christian correspondence with the world. He shows that, when our faith is grounded in the Triune God and his sovereignty, our attempts to defend it will grow more confident and convincing.

Accessible and thoroughly rooted in Scripture, The Faithful Apologist takes the anxiety out of apologetics by revealing that success is not measured in the number of minds we change, but in our faithfulness to God, the Divine Persuader.

Alongside essays on aspects of Calvin s Theology, Calvin: The Man and the Legacy includes studies of Calvin as pastor, preacher and liturgist and traces the influence of Calvin as it was conveyed through Scottish migration to Australia and New Zealand. Fascinating stories are told of the ways in which the Calvinist tradition has contributed much to the building of colonial societies, but also of the ways it has attracted ridicule and derision and has been subject to caricature that is sometimes deserved, sometimes humorous, but often grossly misleading."

Nathaniel Gray Sutanto offers a fresh reading of Herman Bavinck's theological epistemology, and argues that his Trinitarian and organic worldview utilizes an extensive range of sources. Sutanto unfolds Bavinck's understanding of what he considered to be the two most important aspects of epistemology: the character of the sciences and the correspondence between subjects and objects. Writing at the heels of the European debates in the 19th and 20th century concerning theology's place in the academy, and rooted in historic Christian teachings, Sutanto demonstrates how Bavinck's argument remains fresh and provocative. This volume explores archival material and peripheral works translated for the first time in English. The author re-reads several key concepts, ranging from Organicism to the Absolute, and relates Bavinck's work to Thomas Aquinas, Eduard von Hartmann, and other thinkers. Sutanto applies this reading to current debates on the relationship between theology and philosophy, nature and grace, and the nature of knowing; and in doing so provides students and scholars with fresh methods of considering Orthodox and modern forms of thought, and their connection with each other.

Why is so little heard about John Cotton, who was acknowledged in his own lifetime as the greatest Puritan preacher in America? Why has he alone remained an enigma among the founding fathers of American protestantism? Professor Ziff examines Cotton's career as a teacher and preacher, both in England and New England; comparing Cotton's preaching and theology with that of his contemporaries in both the established church and the various Puritan sects, he shows Cotton as a significant man of his own time. Yet his influence, although of great importance to the crucial early beginnings of the protestant churches in America, could not extend itself beyond his generation. In this study, Cotton emerges clearly as a vital stabilizing influence between the separatist extremists and those who sought to re-establish the old order in the new world. Originally published in 1962. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

This book offers a new interpretation of political reform in the settler colonies of Britain's empire in the early nineteenth century. It examines the influence of Scottish Presbyterian dissenting churches and their political values. It re-evaluates five notorious Scottish reformers and unpacks the Presbyterian foundation to their political ideas: Thomas Pringle (1789-1834), a poet in Cape Town; Thomas McCulloch (1776-1843), an educator in Pictou; John Dunmore Lang (1799-1878), a church minister in Sydney; William Lyon Mackenzie (1795-1861), a rebel in Toronto; and Samuel McDonald Martin (1805?-1848), a journalist in Auckland. The book weaves the five migrants' stories together for the first time and demonstrates how the campaigns they led came to be intertwined. The book will appeal to historians of Scotland, Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the British Empire and the Scottish diaspora.

Between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, many thousands of Protestants fled religious persecution in France and the Low Countries. They became one of the most influential immigrant communities in the countries where they settled, and many families in modern-day Britain will find a Huguenot connection in their past. Kathy Chater's authoritative handbook offers an accessible introduction to Huguenot history and to the many sources that researchers can use to uncover the Huguenot ancestry they may not have realized they had. She traces the history of the Huguenots; their experience of persecution, and their flight to Britain, North America, the West Indies and South Africa, concentrating on the Huguenot communities that settled in England, Ireland, Scotland and the Channel Islands. Her work is also an invaluable guide to the various sources researchers can turn to in order to track their Huguenot ancestors, for she describes the wide range of records that is available in local, regional and national archives, as well as through the internet and overseas.Her expert overview is essential reading for anyone studying their Huguenot ancestry or immigrant history in Britain.

Stanford Lehmberg, a noted authority on the Tudor period, examines the impact of the Reformation on the cathedrals of England and Wales. Based largely on manuscript materials from the cathedral archives themselves, this book is the first attempt to draw together information for all twenty-nine of the cathedrals that existed in the Tudor period. The author scrutinizes the major changes that took place during this era in the institutional structure, personnel, endowments, liturgy, and music of the cathedral and shows how the cathedrals, unlike the monasteries that were dissolved by Henry VIII, succeeded in adapting successfully to the Reformation. Forty-two illustrations depict sixteenth-century changes in cathedral buildings. Narrative chapters trace the changes that occurred during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, "Bloody" Mary, and Elizabeth I. Analytical sections are devoted to cathedral finance and cathedral music. The changing lives of cathedral musicians are described in some detail, and even greater attention is paid to the cathedral clergy, whose living conditions changed markedly when they were allowed to marry. Using a variety of sources, including such physical remains as tombs and monuments, the concluding chapter discusses the role of cathedrals in English society. Originally published in 1989. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.