The article below by Rev. Donald Beaton is a very solid overview of the Marrow Controversy in early 18th century Scotland. I’m definitely going to follow up on some other primary sources that he relates with which I was unfamiliar. Access this and other articles from the Scottish Church History Society here.
Archive for September, 2024
The Marrow Controversy
Posted in Church of Scotland, Free Offer of the Gospel, The Secession Church, Thomas Boston on September 26, 2024| Leave a Comment »
The St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre
Posted in Protestantism & Romanism on September 20, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Why should we think about the St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre? What took place then was a long time ago, in a very different world. Most of society today will not have heard about [this] massacre. Of those that have, the majority will say that its significance is merely historical, and that today we are advancing in a new era that is leaving narrow-minded bigotry behind, and that focusing upon the evils of the past will simply perpetuate thoughtless sectarianism. Beside this, and much more significantly, there is the exhortation of Philippians 4:8: “whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” The question that may therefore be legitimately asked, is, is it correct and is it helpful for us to focus upon this ugly and violent episode from the past?
In answer we must recognise that when scripture directs us to meditate and dwell on what is good, it does not forbid us from recognising and learning from what is not good. Rather, in scripture itself there are many horrific events, and we have a duty to notice and learn from them. It is very naïve to think that today’s world has progressed beyond such horrific violence. We must not turn away from the issues of our own day but be thoughtfully involved in addressing them, and there are important lessons to be learnt from this historic event.
Continue reading in the PDFs below. This article was written by the Rev. James MacInnes, of the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) and published in the April-June and the July-September editions of the Bulwark, a publication of the Scottish Reformation Society.
(more…)Recent reading: toxic men, alien invasions, and the ‘errand into the wilderness’
Posted in Audio Resources, Culture, New England Puritanism, Recent Reading (Book Recommendations) on September 14, 2024| Leave a Comment »
I thought I might share what I’ve been reading recently. In addition to my devotional and theological recordings, here are some books I’ve finished in recent days of personal interest. In our extremely digital age, we need to stay reading. Let us read good books; and if we read books that are not explicitly Christian, let us do so critically with an eye to Scripture as our absolute authority.
First, Nancy R. Pearcey’s The Toxic War on Masculinity: How Christianity Reconciles the Sexes. In a similar fashion to Carl Trueman’s The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, Nancy Pearce frames her book of cultural commentary around a “how did we get here?” question. For Trueman, it was “how did we ever get to the place where a man thinks he is a woman?” For Pearcey, it is “how did masculinity ever become ‘toxic?'” She engages in a historical and sociological inquiry that is quite insightful, from a thoughtful, Christian perspective. I especially found her explanation of the shift of men from cottage-industry and family-integrated work patterns to working outside the home in factories, etc., at the Industrial Revolution, and its negative impact on father-son relationships and family life in general. For a kind of teaser, listen to this interview on Issues, etc.
(more…)“Reclaiming the ‘Dark Ages'”
Posted in Historical Theology, Medieval Church, Protestantism & Romanism, The Visible Church on September 10, 2024| Leave a Comment »
This was a particularly good episode. It just so happened that I had picked up Anselm’s masterpiece on penal substitutionary atonement, Cur Deus Homo? (Why the God-man?) There is definitely more light from the “Dark Ages” than is often supposed. Protestantism rejected a lot from the Medieval Church; but it retained a lot both from it and the Patristic era.
Presbyterians or peacemakers?
Posted in Audio Resources, Catholicity, Church of Scotland, Connectionalism & Conciliarism, Free Church of Scotland, Separatism & Schism, The Visible Church, tagged books, durham, reading, writing on September 9, 2024| Leave a Comment »
A false dichotomy, if one is to take James Durham seriously:
“Never, never did men run to quench fire in a city, lest all should be destroyed, with more diligence than men ought to bestir themselves to quench this [sin of schism] in the church; never did mariners use more speed to stop a leak in a ship, lest all should be drowned, than ministers especially, and all Christian men should haste to stop this beginning of the breaking in of these waters of strife, lest thereby the whole church be overwhelmed. And if the many evils which follow thereupon, the many commands whereby union is pressed, yea, the many entreaties and obtestations whereby the Holy Ghost does so frequently urge this upon all, as a thing most acceptable to him and profitable to us; if, I say, these and many other such considerations have not weight to convince of the necessity of this duty to prevent or heal a breach [emphasis mine], we cannot tell what can prevail with men that profess reverence to the great and dreadful name of God, conscience of duty, and respect to the edification of the church and to their own peace at the appearance of the Lord in the great day, wherein the peace-makers shall be blessed, for they shall be called the children of God?”
Read more about the Scottish doctrine of visible church union and the sin of schism in MacPherson’s classic below. And an audio recording of that particular chapter can be accessed here.
(more…)“The Scottish Reformation and Modern Missions”
Posted in Church of Scotland, Gospel Proclamation, John Knox, Missiology on September 6, 2024| Leave a Comment »
It is said that John Knox prayed, “Give me Scotland, or I die.” In 1560, God gave him Scotland. The purpose of this submission is to examine what he and his colleagues did with her and initiate a discussion on what lessons we might learn for today.
To achieve our purpose, we shall first examine the mission strategy which Knox and his colleagues set out in The First Book of Discipline.
Second, we shall examine what the Reformers sought to do in the light of Presbyterian principles. Now, the object of our scrutiny is the Reformation in Scotland, and that, in fairness, requires a Scottish approach. We are not looking at Knox and company’s mission strategy for precedents which we might apply analogously to the pattern of English Common Law, but for principles which we might reapply in each situation while being informed by examples of previous applications.
Third, we shall describe how the principles and practices of the Scottish Reformation might be reapplied in mission situations today. As we have said, this is a discussion. This third section will not be a list of modern mission solutions but of resource maximizing suggestions. This will not require thinking outside of the box: our commitment to Scripture forbids that. This will involve rethinking our perception of the box’s dimensions and utilizing the extra space.
This article was written by the Rev. D. Douglas Gebbie and published by the Haddington House Journal in 2008. To read the rest, click here.
RPM: A gentle giant & an opportunity to bless
Posted in Reformed Parish Mission (RPM) Posts, WPE Editor on September 5, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Last year, I met a rather tall, older African-American fellow when first making my way through my Woodbine parish. He was sitting outside just relaxing in his yard. I struck up a conversation with him, and we easily talked for 45 minutes. He was originally from Philly (an hour away), had some trouble with the law years back and even did some hard time. As for his spiritual state, it was pretty clear that he was trusting in his good works to stand before God—and I in turn warned him not to do so, as they are filthy rags, and that we must flee to Christ for salvation. We’ll call him “Darius.”
Since then, I’ve returned to visit—that time learning that he did not live in the large house I had assumed was his, but in a trailer out back (I think on the graces of his family inside). We read the Bible and prayed, and I eventually got him and his girlfriend, “Sarah,” to church. They fell right in.
Sadly, Darius is no longer living there, for whatever reason. He called me out of the blue recently and shared that he is living 30 minutes away in Rio Grande, temporarily in a motel. He is a rather gentle giant, from all I can tell from the outside; but perhaps there is more to the story. Hard to say. In any case, he is on government assistance and must vacate this motel in 13 days from today. He is on Medicare and so has means to pay rent, however limited. He is asking for a place, any place, to stay—including another trailer. I cannot vouch for him beyond what I’ve shared here, but I have evidence that he’s been a hard worker in the past, and he has always struck me as easy-going.
If you live in S. Jersey and have a lead to share, I’m sure he would welcome it. I would be happy to relay any opportunities for him. But either way, please pray for Darius, that the Lord would give him a safe and stable place to stay. And pray for me as I endeavor to draw Him to the Savior. Rev. Allay, a local OPC minister friend of mine who lives close to Rio Grande, will be joining me Saturday for another visit.
Contact me if you have any leads or opportunities at mjives dot refparish at gmail dot com, or by cell at 515-783-5637.
Rutherford on Christ & Christian unity
Posted in Catholicity, Communion of the Saints, Samuel Rutherford, The Visible Church on September 2, 2024| Leave a Comment »
“Christ is a drawing and an uniting Spirit; then all that are in Christ should be united. Certainly the divisions now in Britain cannot be of God. The wolf and the good Shepherd are contrary in this; the good Shepherd loves to have the flock gathered in one, and to save them, that they may find pasture, and the flock may be saved: the wolf scatters the flock; or if the wolf would have the flock gathered together, it is that they may be destroyed. Then it would be considered, if a bloody intention of war between two protestant kingdoms, for carnal ends, and upon forced and groundless jealousies, be from an uniting Spirit, and not rather from him, who was a murderer from the beginning.”
For a good, one-chapter introduction to the historic Scottish Presbyterian views of visible Church union or ‘catholicity,’ have a listen to “Church Unity & the Sin of Schism,” by John Macpherson, in his Doctrine of the Church in Scottish Theology.
* * * *
Whole doctrine catholicity | “Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners” (Song 6:10)?
West Port Experiment 