So I was reading Cotton Mather’s narrative of troubled Roger Williams, whom the Boston magistrates exiled because he had made such a nuisance of himself up that way. I found the following humorous—and enlightening! I’m sure Mather hardly meant to suggest that all of Roger William’s problems were mental. But it sure seems like he thinks something was amiss and needed treatment.
Posted in Mental Health, Mysticism & Fanaticism, New England Puritanism | Leave a Comment »
Dr. Michael Heiser has generated a good amount of interest in evangelical circles over his “divine council” theory and related OT-hermeneutical positions. I find some of Heiser’s positions and insights intriguing. Some of them, however, don’t at all seem half as ‘new and innovative’ as it seems he thinks they are; and some of his views are kind of goofy and rather problematic at best.
Jordan Cooper has offered three podcast episodes dealing with Heiser from a confessional Lutheran position. I would commend his critique of Heiser. It’s head-on, but fair and measured.
An Evaluation of Heiser’s Divine Council Theology
A Critique of Heiser’s Interpretation of the Nephilim
An Alternative to Heiser’s Divine Council Theology
And a postscript. One feature of Heiser I find especially unsettling is his gripe with ‘confessional encumbrances’ on biblical interpretation. His supposed ‘Naked Bible,’ however, belies a biblicism that merely operates on an unwritten confession. And a part of that unwritten confession appears to be ANE custom and practice. In the end, such biblicism tends to make a guru (oracle?) of the academic, fosters another magisterium, and paves the way for rationalism. Friends, nothing is new under the sun. Listen to Heiser, but listen to him with a good helping of caution.
Posted in Old Testament Theology | 2 Comments »
“Since in Religion you are not Servants of Men, in true fidelity to Christ you must in your Places peaceably oppose and refuse whatever Innovations, Injunctions, or Traditions of Men. 48 4.1919. Would any change the Lord’s Day for another Day, or command other Feasts to be equally regarded; or forbid you to sanctifie the Lord’s Holy Day, or suppress the Use of his Holy Word; or set up another Rule of Faith and Judge of Controversies? do they devise new Modes of Worship, or mingle their own Fancies with his Institutions? For Conscience sake, receive them not, but obey Christ above all Men, Mic. 6.16 But still preserving the Honour due to the Persons of Superiors, and to their Authority in all all other matters, Rom, 13. 1. Faithful Magistrates will ask no more, and humble Bishops dare no more equal their Canons to His, than Apocryphal Stories to Divine Scripture. When Corruptions grow general, its time for them that are on the Lord’s side, to shew themselves for him, Exod. 32. 26.”
Posted in New England Puritanism, Puritans & Puritanism, Sabbatarianism & the Church Calendar, Worship, True & False | Leave a Comment »
Cancelled services this ‘Christmas’ should be more than enough proof. Proof that Christmas observance and faithfulness to the pure worship of the one true and living God are mutually exclusive. That Christmas will, at least in part, be the death of us. And that, barring an outpouring of the Holy Spirit and a massive reformational purge of all the inventions of men in the worship of God, the West will soon be a paganized, secular wasteland.
Christmas and Christianity have admittedly coexisted for the better part of Christendom, except of course for the great Puritanic ‘pause’ from the 16th to the 18th centuries in much of English-speaking Protestantism. But how can what is fundamentally “not of heaven, but of men” (Luke 20:4), of unarguably ancient heathen and syncretistic Roman Catholic origin, ever live in peace with the Gospel of God? “And what concord [alliance] hath Christ with Belial? . . . And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols” (2 Cor. 6:15-16)?
Continue Reading »Posted in Authored by Site Admin, Sabbatarianism & the Church Calendar, Sacred & Secular, Secularization, Worship, True & False | Leave a Comment »
Posted in New England Puritanism, Psalmody, Psalmody in Culture, Puritans & Puritanism, Sabbatarianism & the Church Calendar, The Church in America, Worship, True & False, WPE Audio | Leave a Comment »
“Our Reformers were men of great wisdom, undaunted courage, irrepressible zeal and strong faith. They relied not on human expediency, vain traditions, or worldly wisdom, but on God’s promised blessing on His own means. They went direct to the Bible for all their plans, and the result was that every rag of rotten Popery, and every relic of the Amorite was purged away, and cast forth as things accursed into the region of eternal detestation, and the pure evangel set up instead. In the language of George Gillespie:
‘The Church of Scotland was blessed with a more glorious and perfect reformation than any of our neighbor Churches. The doctrine, discipline, regiment, and policy established here by ecclesiastical and civil laws, and sworn and subscribed unto by the king’s majesty and [the] several presbyteries and parish churches of the land, as it had the applause of foreign divines; so was it in all points agreeable unto the word; neither could the most rigid Aristarchus of these times challenge any irregularity of the same.'”
* * * *
These words are drawn from the opening of David Hay Fleming’s four-part series of articles in the Original Secession Magazine in 1878 entitled, “The Discipline of the Reformation.” I’ve just finished recording the fourth today. Listen to them here. The PDF is below. And check out more titles in my expanding amateur audio library.
I do not suggest that everything our fathers in the Reformation and Second Reformation did or said regarding discipline should be carried over in toto today. Nor do I think Fleming himself thought this. But before we too quickly dismiss what we may judge austere or harsh, let us consider that we are just as much creatures of our time as they were. And if we shouldn’t be slaves to their judgments, yet we still ought to honor father and mother. And listen to them in the first case!
Posted in Church of Scotland, Church Order & Discipline, John Knox, Sacraments, The Lord's Supper, The Social Status of the Church, The Visible Church, Visiting the Sick & Dying, WPE Audio | Leave a Comment »
Just finished reading-recording this sermon by the founder of Connecticut, the Puritan Thomas Hooker, entitled, “The Danger of Desertion.” This was Hooker’s farewell sermon to his congregation in England before venturing across the Atlantic. It is one of the most impactful, profound, and weighty sermons I have read in some time. Please, please do yourself a favor and read it. If you are a sincere Christian not in a state of gross backsliding, it will hit you square in the eyes. And if you are, it just may jolt your out of your complacency!
Cling to God. Hard. Until your knuckles are white. And your nailbeds bleed. Do not let Him go! That’s the message. And more, it was a message to England, and so to any Christian nation that has had the privilege of the presence of God.
And here’s the same in PDF:
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Ever read this classic of pastoral theology? Perhaps you should. But if you could use it in audio format, I’m making progress in recording it into mp3. Access it here (and more to follow).
Consider these contemporary endorsements from the Banner edition, then I challenge you not to ‘take up and read.’ Or, now listen, if you prefer!
“This book has been my companion for almost fifty years. First published in 1830, it is arguably more needed now than then. It is a classic, serving as a guide to all who are aware of the perils and privileges of pastoral ministry.” — Alistair Begg
“People ask me, “What’s the very best book for Ministers?” Overall for the ministry, and for passionate preaching, and how to preach to different kinds of people – there’s nothing like The Christian Ministry.” — Joel Beeke
For more titles, see my growing amateur audio library. [And if any links fail, kindly drop me a note: mjves dot refparish at gmail dot com. Thanks!]
Posted in Church of England, Experimental Religion & the Cure of Souls, Light of Eternity, Ministerial Fidelity, Ordinary Means Ministry, Pastoral Theology, Preaching, The Sacred Ministry, Visiting the Sick & Dying, Vital Godliness, WPE Audio | 1 Comment »
Here is a truly momentous and historic sermon by John Cotton. Richly theological, eminently practical, and tenderly pastoral. On the occasion of the embarking of John Winthrop and company to the Massachusetts Bay in 1630.
The sermon is especially valuable for its contribution to a “theology of place” and the Christian ethics of travel, relocation, and lawful acquiring of land. Have a listen!
One precious gem: “Ruth dwelt well for outward respects while shee dwelt in Moab, but when shee cometh to dwell in Israel, shee is said to come under the wings of God: Ruth 2. 12 . When God wrappes us in with his Ordinances, and warmes us with the life and power of them as with wings, there is a land of promise.”
And check out my growing audio library, including the Puritan fathers of New England.
Posted in New England Puritanism, Puritans & Puritanism, Theology of Place, WPE Audio | Leave a Comment »
West Port Experiment 