New book out on WCF 1:8

[Jerusalem Blade]

A new book out that may be of interest to some folks: Has the Bible been kept pure? The Westminster Confession of Faith and the providential preservation of Scripture.

Pastor Milne earlier published another book (I think his doctoral dissertation), The Westminster Confession of Faith and the Cessation of Special Revelation: The Majority Puritan Viewpoint on Whether Extra-Biblical Prophecy is Still Possible, a very detailed look at this matter. I think his latest on the WCF 1:8 and the beliefs of those who put it in the confession will be edifying. I haven't received my copy yet - just ordered it.

 

[reaganmarsh]

Looks very interesting! Thanks for sharing, Steve. You'll have to let us know your thoughts upon reading it!

Hope you're well, brother!

Grace to you.

 

[py3ak]

If this book is of the same quality as the first, it will be worth a wheelbarrow full of money, or of other books.

 

[Jerusalem Blade]

I agree, Ruben.

Garnet Howard Milne has served as pastor of two Reformed churches in Wainuiomata and Wanganui, New Zealand, over the past eleven years. He has contributed to the Westminster Theological Journal and was editor of his denominational magazine Faith in Focus for many years. Dr. Milne's doctorate in historical theology, from Otago University, forms the basis of his book, The Westminster Confession of Faith and the Cessation of Special Revelation: The Majority Puritan Viewpoint on Whether Extra-Biblical Prophecy is Still Possible. (from an Amazon blurb)

He also has a blog, reformationtestimony.org .

 

[KMK]

I agree, Ruben.

Garnet Howard Milne has served as pastor of two Reformed churches in Wainuiomata and Wanganui, New Zealand, over the past eleven years.
.

Do you know what denomination?

 

[Jake]

Do you know what denomination?

RCNZ

 

[Jerusalem Blade]

Ken, I found this on Wiki:

Form of doctrine
The doctrine of the Reformed Churches of New Zealand is expressed in the four confessions of faith to which it subscribes. These are the Heidelberg Catechism (1563), Belgic Confession (1566), Canons of Dort (1619) (known collectively as the Three Forms of Unity), and the Westminster Confession of Faith. Also recognised are the Apostles' Creed, Nicene Creed and Athanasian Creed, all of which summarise the churches' doctrines.

The Reformed Churches of New Zealand are one of the few Reformed churches internationally to subscribe to both the Three Forms of Unity (common among Reformed churches with origins in the European continent, especially the Netherlands) and the Westminster Confession of Faith (common among Reformed or Presbyterian churches with origins in the British Isles).

Form of governance
The Reformed Churches of New Zealand hold to the system of Presbyterian church governance. Each church has a ruling Session composed of elders, one of whom is the church’s minister (also known as the teaching elder). Churches which have no minister are said to be vacant. Each church also has deacons who are charged with maintaining the temporal well-being of church members and with alleviating social distress. In larger churches deacons meet in their own Deacons’ Courts, while in smaller churches they meet together with the rest of the Session. Only men are eligible to serve in the offices of minister, elder, and deacon.

Churches belong to one of three regional Presbyteries which meet three times per year to discuss matters of common interest and to provide mutual oversight. Churches also meet in Synod once every three years to discuss matters of joint interest and to manage activities pertaining to the denomination. Rights of appeal are available to presbytery and synod.

 

[JimmyH]

Thanks for posting this Steve. I'm intrigued by both of his books and found this review with excerpts from the preface ;
https://blogs.thegospelcoalition.or...-cessationism-and-the-westminster-confession/

Without trying to sort through everything (or really anything) that has been said at the Strange Fire Conference–let alone sifting through what has been said and done in response–I thought it might be helpful to take a step back and give some historical perspective on the question of cessationism.

In the first section of the first chapter of the Westminster Confession of Faith we find reference to at least some kind of cessationism.

Although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men unexcusable; yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of his will, which is necessary unto salvation. Therefore it pleased the Lord, at sundry times, and in divers manners, to reveal himself, and to declare that his will unto his church; and afterwards, for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing: which maketh the holy Scripture to be most necessary; those former ways of God’s revealing his will unto his people being now ceased. (WCF 1.1, emphasis added)

Clearly, the Westminster divines believed there was a cessation of something. Whether the Confession means to embrace everything one might now mean by cessationism is another matter. But certainly we cannot relegate to the theological wasteland the belief that something about God’s way of revealing himself has changed.

Undoubtedly, the best book on cessationism in the first century of the Reformed tradition is Garnet Milne’s published dissertation The Westminster Confession of Faith and the Cessation of Special Revelation: The Majority Puritan Viewpoint on Whether Extra-Biblical Prophecy Is Still Possible(Paternoster, 2007). In this work–a model of careful scholarship serving the church–Milne argues that the Puritans were overwhelmingly cessationists, but that their cessationism was not without some permeable boundaries (see also Vern Poythress’s article on “Affirming Extraordinary Works of the Spirit Within Cessationist Theology”).

It’s worth reading this section from Milne’s Preface, especially his point about “mediate” and “immediate” revelation:

In the opening chapter of the Confession, the divines of Westminster included a clause which implied that there would no longer be any supernatural revelation from God for showing humankind the way of salvation. Means by which God had once communicated the divine will concerning salvation, such as dreams, visions, and the miraculous gifts of the Spirit, were said to be no longer applicable.

However, many of the authors of the WCF accepted that “prophecy” continued in their time, and a number of them apparently believed that disclosure of God’s will through dreams, visions, and angelic communication remained possible.

How is the “cessationist” clause of WCF 1:1 to be read in the light of these facts? Was it intended as a strict denial of the possibility that any supernatural revelation for the purposes of salvation could take place after the apostolic period, or did its authors, as some modern scholars have argued, allow for a more flexible view, in which such divine revelation through extraordinary means might still take place? This books explores these questions in the light of the modern debates over the interpretation of the Confession’s language and its implications for the church today. It considers the difference between “mediate” and “immediate” revelation as understood by the Westminster divines, and attempts to show that only “immediate” revelation was considered to have ceased, while “mediate” revelation, which always involved Scripture, was held to continue.

A detailed analysis of the writings of the Westminster divines reveals that these churchmen possessed both a strong desire to maintain the unity of Word and Spirit and a concern to safeguard the freedom of the Holy Spirit to speak to particular circumstances through the language and principles of Scripture. God still enabled predictive prophecy and spoke to individuals in extraordinary ways, but contemporary prophecy was held to be something different from the extraordinary prophecy of New Testament figures.

In the minds of the Scottish Presbyterians and English Puritans, prophecy was considered to be an application of Scripture for a specific situation, not an announcement of new information not contained within the Bible. The Scripture always remained essential for the process of discerning God’s will. (xv-xvi).

A little later, Milne summarizes his thesis:

The book concludes that the Westminster divines intended the cessationist clause to affirm that there was to be no more extra-biblical, “immediate” revelation for any purpose now that the church possessed the complete Scriptures. The written Word of God was fully capable of showing the way of “salvation” in its wider scope as either temporal or eternal deliverance.

At the same time the divines did not intend to deny that God could still speak through special providences that might involve dreams or the ministry of angels, for example, but such revelation was always to be considered “meditate.” The primary means was held to be the written Scriptures, illuminated by the Holy Spirit. The unity of the Word and Spirit was maintained, and God’s freedom to address individual circumstances remained intact. (xvi-xvii)

Whether you agree with the Scottish Presbyterians and the English Puritans on this matter, I don’t think anyone grappling with Milne’s research can deny that he presents a compelling case for the conclusion just stated. Without a doubt, the Westminster Confession of Faith teaches cessationism, but it is a cessationism which requires considerable nuance and allows for supernatural surprises so long as they are working with and through the Word of God.

 

[Stephen L Smith]

I presently worship with the Reformed Churches of NZ so very familiar with them.

The Reformed Churches of New Zealand hold to the system of Presbyterian church governance

Not strictly true. They are closer to a Dutch Reformed polity. They just had a major serminar on church polity recently. However they do have warm friendships with a number of Presbyterian churches, including the OPC.

 

[Jerusalem Blade]

Thanks for the clarification, Stephen.

Jimmy, I was especially interested in this book because of Vern Poythress' (for one) claim of continuing revelation in the prophecies among the Scots, most notably John Knox (the section in Milne dealing with Knox starting on p 221). But Milne shows "that both Knox and the English Puritans taught that any prophetic insight in their time had to be grounded in Scripture", and then quotes French scholar Pierre Janton in an essay on Knox,

Prophecies of Knox are applications of the biblical texts to the concrete situation[...]. This attitude defines the strict framework within which a prophecy is possible. The Holy Spirit does not speak to the prophet apart from Scripture[...]. Prophecy thus becomes a commentary and application of Scripture. (p 222, italics in original)​

Milne briefly interacts with Poythress through examples he provides re Knox. He also deals with Samuel
Rutherford, clearing up assertions that he was, earlier in his life, a continuatonist, but rather, in accord with Knox's views.

This is of interest to me because of views I have with respect to understanding the Book of Revelation, and applying some of its prophetic insight to developments in the modern era, what G.K. Beale terms "eclectic" or "modified idealism", though Beale might not agree with my applications.
_______

If Milne's new book on the WCF 1:8 is of the same detailed scholarship and excellence of insight and understanding as his former book, it will be a treasure to those of us who hold to the Reformation texts of Scripture.

 

[Jerusalem Blade]

Another great resource I recently became aware of:

http://www.textusreceptusbibles.com

 

[bookslover]

At first, when I saw "Milne," I thought you were referring to Bruce Milne, another fine Reformed writer (and working pastor).

 

[Clark-Tillian]

Thanks for the resource update.