The PuritanBoard - Church History

An Historical example of the Misuse of the ECFs by Romanists

DTK — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:32:41 GMT

As long as Roman apologists are able to speak in grandiose and general terms of the early church fathers for the claims of the papacy, they are able to make it appear to others as though their paradigm for ecclesiology is the answer to all ecclesiastical controversies. But once they try to offer specific examples, where such claims are represented by a particular case, then their string of pearls falls hopelessly to the ground.

For any interested, I address one such instance here in responding to a Romanist blogger...

Thoughts of Francis Turretin: Pastor King Responds to Bryan Cross' Misuse of Jerome

DTK

Adams's Chart of History

JM — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:10:54 GMT

This looks like an interesting book of history, can anyone tell me more about it? Who was Sebastian Adams?

Thank you.

CT Article on the State of the Church in Germany

Ivan — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:35:10 GMT

Germany's 'Cold Religion' | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction

Why do we refer to the authors of the WCF as "The Divines?"

Montanablue — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:40:24 GMT

I hope this is the right forum for this thread - if not, feel free to move it.

I've noticed in a couple of threads in the past week or so that people are referring to "The Divines." After some puzzling and investigation, I've concluded that that is a reference to the authors of the WCF. (Someone please correct me if I am wrong)

Why is this done? What is the reasoning behind it? What is the meaning of the word "Divine" in this context.

I'll be forthright and say that I have a rather visceral reaction to calling any human individual "Divine." That seems like a term that should only be reserved for God. I'd like to hear the history and reasoning behind the usage though - perhaps you can change my mind.

Cox and Knox

JM — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:39:16 GMT

Interesting letter.

Quote:

We must therefore learn to distinguish between myth, denominational propaganda and the historical facts.

Cox And Knox Biographia Evangelica

Pre-Calvin Calvinists

Pergamum — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:41:58 GMT

Hello,

I am re-researching the Catholic Predestinarians, or, what we might call the "Pre-Calvin Calvinists" or the "Pre-Reformation Reformers."

Can you help me? Particularly with online sourses. Also, particularly regarding Gottschalk, and the Jansenists.

De Bres' "Here I Stand"

Guido's Brother — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:59:11 GMT

Everyone is familiar with Luther's "Here I Stand." Many other Reformers had opportunity to express similar sentiments, though perhaps not quite as dramatically. In commemoration of Reformation Day, I've posted on my blog an excerpt of a conversation between Guy de Bres (author of the Belgic Confession) and a Roman Catholic bishop, nine days before de Bres went to the scaffold. Praise God for this faithful witness and others like him!

Reformation Day Puppet Show - Video

Semper Fidelis — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:00:02 GMT

In honor of Reformation Day, I bring you the Reformation Day Puppet Show written by yours truly in 2001:

YouTube - Reformation Puppet Show - Part 1

YouTube - Reformation Puppet Show - Part 2

YouTube - Reformation Puppet Show - Part 3

The 95

passingpilgrim — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:26:31 GMT

I know I am a day early but I can't help to think what Luther must have been thinking right about now in 1517. Excitement; trepidation. Either way, his pen was was about to spark a revolution.

the 95

Was Richard Baxter 'Reformed'?

Particular Baptist — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:05:16 GMT

Richard Baxter, one of my favorite puritans for his practicality, wrote The Reformed Pastor during his lifetime while at the same time being an Amyraldism and not holding on to the doctrine of limited atonement. Can Baxter be considered 'Reformed' if he didn't hold on to a staple of the Doctrines of Grace? I personally do believe that he should be considered Reformed, just wondering what the rest of the Puritanboard Citizenry thinks.

Reformation, Beards, and other rules

CharlieJ — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:28:29 GMT

Here are some humorous (and not so humorous) excerpts from reformer Johann Eberlin's Fifteen Confederates, a vision of a Protestant utopian land called "Wolfaria" (land of welfare). Methinks that Fundamentalist Bible colleges are the distant progeny of Eberlin.

Beards. All men are to wear long beards. Men with smooth faces like women shall be held an outrage. All men shall wear short, unkempt hair. [The opposite of Fundy colleges!]

Gaming. All gaming is to be conducted in public. Adults are permitted limited gambling. Youth, however, are forbidden to play cards or dice for money, although they may for brief periods play chess for eggs.

Houses and Buildings. Workers in the same trade are to live on the same street. Simplicity is to be the rule in all houses and buildings save public places such as the town hall, store, bathhouse, school, and inns, which are permitted decorations beyond the ordinary.

Children. All boys and girls are to attend a publicly supported school from ages three to eight. They are to be taught the Christian law from the gospel and Saint Paul, as well as Latin and German, and a little Greek and Hebrew. At age eight a decision shall be made by the community to send each child into a trade or further study.

Clergy. No priest may hold political office.

Luther: On Christian Liberty

Hamalas — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:00:29 GMT

I am taking a class right now where we have to write a 10-15 page paper on one of the assigned readings. I've chosen Martin Luther's book "On Christian Liberty" I've read it once before but was wondering if y'all knew of any good resources about the book. Particularly, do you know of any resources that deal with the specific historical context/impact that the book had? Also, for those of you who have read it, what did you think? I know of a couple of areas where I would disagree with Luther but I'd be interested to hear your thoughts. Thanks in advance! :luther:

Jonathan Moore and the Marrow Controversy

ADKing — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 01:15:53 GMT

With all the attention being paid to the Marrow of Modern Divinity since its reprint I was wondering if anyone on the Puritan Board had ever listened to Dr. Moore's lecture suggesting there probably was what he terms "English Hypothetical Universalism" behind the theology of the Marrow itself (though not necessarily in Boston).

Thoughts?

You can listen to the lecture, on this page http://www.jbeggsoc.org.uk/ (go to annual meeting addresses-mp3s and it is the last one)

Fifty years in the Church of Rome

christabella_warren — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:03:41 GMT

Does anyone know how reliable Charles Chiniquy's Fifty Years in the Church of Rome is? Some of the statements that Chiniquy quotes from Catholic prelates struck me as particularly shocking and I was just wondering whether they were actually true or not. This one, I think, would strike a chord in any red-blooded Protestant:

Quote:

How sad will their awakening be, when, with our out-numbering votes, we will turn them, for ever, from every position of honor, power and profit! What will those hypocritical and godless sons and daughters of the fanatical Pilgrim Fathers say, when not a single judge, not a single teacher, not a single policeman will be elected if he be not a devoted . . . Roman Catholic? What will those so-called giants think of their matchless shrewdness and ability, when not a single Senator or member of Congress will be chosen, if he be not submitted to our holy father the Pope? What a sad figure those Protestant Yankees will cut when we will not only elect the President, but fill and command the armies, man the navies, and hold the keys of the public treasury?

So how much is Da Vinci Code-esque fantasy and how much is actual history? I just found out about this book this morning.

John Owen walking...'in cuerpo'?

christabella_warren — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 01:09:18 GMT

All right, brace yourselves everyone: this is the John Owen you've never seen before.

from Littlell's Living Age, Volume 97:

Quote:

...the Vice-Chancellor, for the greater part of South's undergraduateship was the newly appointed Dean of Christ Church, Dr. John Owen, the coryphaeus of the Independents; the same who shocked a poor bible-clerk of Mertou, Anthony Wood, by 'going in quirpo like a young scholar, with powdered hair, snake-bone bandstrings (or bandstrings with very large tassels), lawn band, a large set of ribbonds pointed at his knees, and Spanish leather boots with large lawn tops, and his hat mostly cocked.' Probably this splendid array occasioned much the same kind of 'sensation' in the University, that the present excellent Vice Chancellor would cause if he were to walk down 'the High' in a wide-awake and knicker-bockers.

And another choice, though less detailed selection from a book on Roman apparel:

Quote:

In the "Acte of the Martyrdom of St. Cyprian" we are told that the saint, after his condemnation, took off his dalmatic, which he handed to the deacons who were with him, and went to his death in his linen tunic or shirt. So far the dalmatic—once the national costume of Ualmatia—appears simply as an article of ordinary dress; and it was probably thought as indecorous for an emperor to appear publicly in his dalmatic, without some kind of stately cloak or toga, as it was in the seventeenth century for a Vice-Chancellor of Oxford to walk down the "High," as the handsome Puritan, John Owen, did, " in cuerpo," i e., in doublet and hose, without cloak or gown.

All of a sudden, my admiration for Reverend Owen has (if it was even possible) risen to a still more substantial level.