A plug or two. Much of this is of course simply stating that there remains a debate over whether the Puritan/Presbyterian tradition is correct on the nature of the fourth commandment; however, in the Reformed tradition going back to Calvin, the observance of the day was for all practical purposes "Puritan" if I can be anachronistic. One only need look at Calvin's sermons on Deuteronomy. I cover much of the literature in my
Calvin in the Hands of the Philistines article; also I highly commend/recommend/thumbs up Woody Lauer's entry in the 2007 issue of The Confessional Presbyterian,
John Calvin, the Nascent Sabbatarian: A Reconsideration of Calvin’s View of Two Key Sabbath-Issues, which was first published in Japanese, and this is the first English printing.
PS. I have much of Bownd's work on the fourth commandment worked up to publish but it has been a back burner project due to difficulties.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnOwen007  Two points of distinction need to occur in this discussion.
[1] Chris is surely correct: Westminster / Puritan theology is Sabbatarian. It was a huge issue for the Puritans ever since Richard Greenham took up the issue, and Nicholas Bownde (his son-in-law) published on it (in the late 16th century). This is surely an undisputed point and should not be questioned.
[2] However, the reformed tradition generally cannot be described as Sabbatarian. If we judge the reformed tradition according to all the confessions, we find them coming to different conclusions (as we find various reformed theologians coming to different conclusions on this matter).
Thus, WCF / Puritan Sabbatarianism is a subset of the reformed tradition. One doesn't have to be Sabbatarian to be reformed, but they're strictly not within the Puritan tradition. Quote:
Originally Posted by SemperFideles The 4th Commandment is perpetually binding. | The problem I have with this statement, is that the 4th commandment (as given at Sinai) explicitly states that the Sabbath must be on the 7th day, or Saturday. Hence, unless we're 7th-day adventists (or baptists) then we can't affirm that the 4th commandment is perpetually binding because it's undergone some sort of transformation since Christ, even for the WCF / Puritan types (who now believe the Sabbath is on Sunday).
Every blessing. |