Religious establishments are built upon the divine economy, both of nature and of grace:“They are the overflowings of the Nile which have given rise to the irrigations of an artificial husbandry in Egypt, for the distribution of its waters. And there is positively nothing in the doctrine of a sanctifying or fertilizing grace from heaven above, which should discharge us—but the contrary—from what may be termed the irrigations of a spiritual husbandry in the world beneath. It is not enough that there be a descent; there must be a distribution also, or ducts of conveyance, which, by places of worship and through parishes, might carry the blessings of this divine nourishment to all the houses and families of a land” (Thomas Chalmers, Works 17:190-91).
You read it right. There is actually a Christian religious establishment within the U.S. of A., and I imagine that it is completely free of whites. So for you R2K-types, assorted Anabaptists, and secular liberals, “put that in your pipe and smoke it!”
In this public lecture of the Scottish Reformation Society, I will be discussing Thomas Chalmers’ (1780-1847) defense of church establishments over against Adam Smith’s critique. Chalmers championed such an establishment as a “Great Home Mission.”‘ Yet is this a merely an academic question? Does Chalmers have something to offer is in modern, pluralistic America? You might be surprised. Join us Friday, October 18 at 2:30 p.m. Eastern-U.S. / 7:30 p.m. U.K. Watch throughFacebook Live. More information below:
Here’s a delightful old volume on Sabbath laws in the United States. As I skim through these, a few short observations. 1. We have collectively forgotten what was once a cultural norm. Hence the fitness of the imperative, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” 2. Freedom of thought, speech, and religion obviously had a big asterisk (at least from our 2024 context). Tolerance was clearly not a free-for-all for every pagan and libertine. 3. This gives the lie to the radical secular-sanitizing narratives of liberals who decry ‘Christian nationalism,’ as well as the hardcore R2K types like Daryl Hart who make strange bedfellows with the same.
“10. He may and ought to remove all false worships, and endure no corrupt preaching, or writing, or meetings for that end, or administrating of corrupted sacraments, or any ordinance other than what is allowed; for, Josiah did cause the people stand to the Covenant that was made, and having removed all idolatrous worship, he made Israel to serve the Lord, that is, he made them abandon corrupt worship, and wait on pure ordinances, as keeping of the sabbaths, offering of sacrifices, etc. and that according to the manner prescribed by the Lord.
“Neither was it a wronging of their liberty, to do so, because:
1. It was the preservation of their liberty, to keep them from the abominable bondage of these evils.
2. It was their duty to abstain from these, and to follow the ordinances purely, and the magistrate may well put people to that.
Establishments got some good press last week, at least on a respectable Reformed podcast. Kudos to Christ the Center for welcoming on Timon Cline to a panel discussion last Friday. While I’ve never heard of Timon before, I am sure going to read and listen to more of him. And I’m sure I’m not alone!
The panel discussion focused on Dr. Alan Strange’s newly published book, Empowered Witness: A Panel Discussion on Politics, Culture, and the Spiritual Mission of the Church. Giving feedback and critiques were D. G. Hart, Nick Wilborn, and Timon Cline. I’ve not read Strange’s book, so I’m only commenting on the video. The discussion up to Timon and related rejoinders was interesting enough. But Timon sure rocked the boat pretty hard when he brought up the obvious (at least from a historical Reformed perspective and not an American echo-chamber), that is, what about the spiritual nature in the church in light of the classic, confessionally Reformed and Presbyterian endorsements of religious establishments?
It’s clear that Dr. Strange was a bit flustered, though keeping a gracious demeanor. Sadly, though a respectable and accomplished Reformed scholar whom I otherwise appreciate, Strange’s response to Timon was more or less a rigmarole of informal fallacies and non-answers. Hart, however, just became flummoxed and unhinged. In contrast to Cline’s calm, measured demeanor, and even more importantly, to his much more careful, close, and logical reasoning (they guy’s a practicing lawyer, and it shines), Hart just full-on melted down, notwithstanding a clever little jab about Timon’s alleged tap-dancing like James Cagney. But even that was more amusing than apropos, as it only thinly veiled his chagrin. The young no-namer clearly bested his betters.
Thomas Shepard (1605-1649), on civil magistrates promoting the true religion. “Thesis 20. And if superiors in families are to see their gates preserved unspotted from such provoking evils, can any think but that the same bond lies upon superiors in commonwealths, who are the fathers of those great families, whose subjects also are within their gates, and the power of their jurisdictions? The civil magistrate, though he hath no power to impose new laws upon the consciences of his subjects, yet he is bound to see that the laws of God be kept by all his subjects; provided always, that herein he walk according to the law and rule of God, viz., that, 1, ignorant consciences in clear and momentous matters be first instructed; 2, doubting consciences have sufficient means of being resolved; 3, bold and audacious consciences be first forewarned. Hence it is, that though he hath no power to make holy days, and to impose the observation of them upon the consciences of his subjects, (because these are his own laws,) yet he may and should see that the Sabbath day, (the Lord’s holy day,) that this be observed, because he doth but see to the execution of God’s commandment herein.”
Just published another article on Thomas Chalmers. This is also a fantastic journal, and well worth the low cost to purchase. Get your copy here. For past articles I’ve written on Chalmers, visit the ‘About’ page and scroll to the bottom.
