During the eighteenth century Presbyterians of the Middle Colonies were separated by divergent allegiances, mostly associated with groups migrating from New England with an English Puritan background and from northern Ireland with a Scotch-lrish tradition. Those differences led first to a fiery ordeal of ecclesiastical controversy and then to a spiritual awakening and a blending of diversity into a new order, American Presbyterianism. Several men stand out not only for having been tested by this ordeal but also for having made real contributions to the new order that arose from the controversy. The most important of these was Jonathan Dickinson. Bryan Le Beau has written the first book on Dickinson, whom historians have called "the most powerful mind in his generation of American divines." One of the founders of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) and its first president, Dickinson was a central figure during the First Great Awakening and one of the leading lights of colonial religious life. Le Beau examines Dickinson's writings and actions, showing him to have been a driving force in forming the American Presbyterian Church, accommodating diverse traditions in the early church, and resolving the classic dilemma of American religious history -- the simultaneous longing for freedom of conscience and the need for order. This account of Dickinson's life and writings provides a rare window into a time of intense turmoil and creativity in American religious history.

What do the Canons of Dordt mean to people in the Las Vegas airport---and does anyone there even care? In the movie Hardcore, a pious Calvinist elder tries unsuccessfully to explain the TULIP theology of his Dutch Reformed faith to a prostitute in the Las Vegas airport. This incongruous conversation demonstrates how Calvinism is often perceived today: irrelevant, harsh, even disrespectful. Beginning with this movie scene, Calvinism in the Las Vegas Airport addresses the weaknesses of Calvinism and points to its strengths. How does Calvinism shed light on today? Instead of reciting the Canons of Dordt, what s a more compassionate way to relate to nonbelievers? What might it look like to live out the doctrines of TULIP with gentleness and respect? This conversational book provides answers and shatters some stereotypes. Calvinism in the Las Vegas Airport encourages you to live every aspect of life---business, family, education, politics, activities, and more---before the face of a generous, sovereign God. Calvinists and non-Calvinists alike will find this an enjoyable read. You will discover that Reformed theology can speak relevantly and compellingly today, both to you and to people in the Las Vegas airport. Does Calvinism Have Anything to Do with the 21st Century? What do you think about Calvinism? Do you view it positively or negatively? Or has its day passed? Let s face it, many non-Calvinists hold a less-than-positive view, sometimes due to caricatures. This friendly, conversational book helps clear up some misconceptions and distorted views. If you re not a Calvinist, here is an engaging inside look. And if you are a Calvinist, Richard Mouw shows how to live gently and respectfully with others---Christians and non-Christians---who hold different perspectives. Calvinism in the Las Vegas Airport focuses not on what Calvinists believe but on how they live. From a movie scene to the author s personal experiences in Las Vegas, you are invited to travel with Mouw and see the Reformed faith in a new light. Yes, it still does travel well "

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

Puritanism has a reputation for being emotionally dry, but seventeenth-century Puritans did not only have rich and complex emotional lives, they also found meaning in and drew spiritual strength from emotion. From theology to lived experience and from joy to affliction, this volume surveys the wealth and depth of the Puritans' passions.

Irish Presbyterians and the Shaping of Western Pennsylvania, 1770-1830 is a historical study examining the religious culture of Irish immigrants in the early years of America. Despite fractious relations among competing sects, many immigrants shared a vision of a renewed Ireland in which their versions of Presbyterianism could flourish free from the domination of landlords and established church. In the process, they created the institutional foundations for western Pennsylvanian Presbyterian churches. Rural Presbyterian Irish church elders emphasized community and ethnoreligious group solidarity in supervising congregants' morality. Improved transportation and the greater reach of the market eliminated near-subsistence local economies and hastened the demise of religious traditions brought from Ireland. Gilmore contends that ritual and daily religious practice, as understood and carried out by migrant generations, were abandoned or altered by American-born generations in the context of major economic change.

If we believe in God's sovereign predestination, how can we offer Christ to sinners indiscriminately? How could someone who knew that no one can come to Christ unless the Father draws them still plead with them to look to the Saviour? The Bible clearly entreats us to go after the lost, so Donald Macleod tackles the objections raised by those who argue that since there is no universal redemption there should be no universal gospel offer.

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.

With sound historical scholarship and penetrating insight, Roland Bainton examines Luther's widespread influence. He re-creates the spiritual setting of the sixteenth century, showing Luther's place within it and influence upon it. Richly illustrated with more than 100 woodcuts and engravings from Luther's own time, Here I Stand dramatically brings to life Martin Luther, the great Reformer. A specialist in Reformation history, Roland H. Bainton was for forty-two years Titus Street Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Yale, and he continued his writing well into his twenty years of retirement. Bainton wore his scholarship lightly and had a lively, readable style. His most popular book was Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther (1950), which sold more than a million copies.

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.

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.

This is an annotated transcription of the Rev. Dr. James Muir's personal diary from 1805. Born in Ayrshire, Scotland in 1757, Rev. Muir served as the third minister of the Presbyterian Church in Alexandria, Virginia, now known as the Old Presbyterian Meeting House, from 1789 until his death in 1820. The Old Presbyterian Meeting House was originally known as Alexandria's Presbyterian Church and then as its First Presbyterian Church. Rev. Muir's diary provides a historical document that, in its account of a single calendar year in the life of one individual, both raises and answers questions about a bygone era. It also provides a historical guide to aspects of the remarkable heritage that continues to this day in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia; a heritage that exists today in the vibrant religious community of the Old Presbyterian Meeting House and in the larger community, where the streets that Muir walked, and so many of the houses and places he visited still exist. A discussion of Alexandria in 1805, an examination of the original diary and its transcription, and a biographical sketch of Rev. Muir precede the diary. Appendices include: the diary's title page and handwritten notes that appear on end pages of the diary, a list of the Bible texts of sermons by Rev. Dr. Muir during 1805 (in the order delivered), and a list of the published works of the Rev. Muir. A bibliography and an index to full-names, places and subjects enhance the text.

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

In the Foreword to the first edition of this book, Brigadier Lord Ballantrae, Lord High Commissioner in 1973 and 1974 commended the book to all Church of Scotland members adding that we should have had something like it in our hands years ago'. Some ten years on Dr Herron has fully revised and updated that first edition, setting out clearly and simply the 'where, when and who' of the annual athering, taking the reader step by step from the Opening Service to the Final Sederunt. The result is another very readable and helpful guide from the pen of Dr Herron. The Very Reverend Andrew Herron MA, BD, LLB, DD, LLD, was Clerk to the Presbytery of Glasgow from 1960 to 1981. A former parish minister and Moderator of The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1971, his other books include: A Guide to Congregational Affairs, A Guide to the Presbytery and kirk by Divine Right. He is also Editor of The Church of Scotland Year Book.

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.

"Hopkins in this exposition searches the heart thoroughly, and makes very practical application of the Commandments to the situations and circumstances of daily life. His homely eloquence will always make his works valuable." - C.H. Spurgeon, from 'Commenting and Commentaries" One of the very best expositions of the Ten Commandments ever published. This American Tract Society edition was very highly prized in the 19th century. In the Notice given by the Tract Society we are told: "As a divine, Bishop Hopkins was one of the sound theologians to which the Reformation gave birth, and he unequivocally and openly held and inculcated the pure doctrines of the Reformers, opposed as they are to the pride and passions of unsanctified men. On the difficult questions concerning ther grace of God and the obligation of man, he adopted those views which most naturally reconcile with one another the declarations and exhortations of Scripture. Few writers have entered so unequivocally into the extent of man's responsibility, and at the same time so strongly insisted on the sovereignty, and so graphically described the operations of divine grace.