We are "now" 7 "The Confessional Presbyterian" 2011 issue is here

[NaphtaliPress]

Can't believe a seventh issue is done. This started out around 2003-04 as an idea to be an annual replacement to a church newsletter. Turned into more than that. You can still pick up a copy for $18 USA, $25 International, postage paid. We are slimmer this year (no super huge articles) but just as diverse. See here.

View attachment 2467
The Confessional Presbyterian volume 7 (2011)
Articles
3. Holy Communion in the Theology of John Knox
By Glen J. Clary
25. John Knox and the Reformation by the Rev. Dr. James Begg
By Iain Wright
41. The Early Reformation in Scotland
By W. Duncan Rankin
47. Reformed Presbyterian Criticism of the 1859 Ulster Revival’s Impact on Worship and Church Order
By Daniel Ritchie
65. 1812–1822: The Development of Princeton’s Polemic
By Allen Stanton
77. The Calvinistic Soteriology of Jonathan Dickinson
By Gary Steward
87. An Introduction to T. V. Moore through his Essay on Juvenile Delinquency
By Barry Waugh
99. The Basis and Practice of Christian Mission to Jews 1520–1860
By Rowland S. Ward
111. The Benediction in Corporate Worship
By Ryan M. McGraw
123. The Abrahamic Covenant and the Kingdom of God
By Jeong Koo Jeon
139. On the Shoulders of Giants: Van Til’s Appropriation of Warfield and Kuyper
By Jeffrey C. Waddington
147. The Modal Transcendental Argument for God’s Existence
By David Reiter
153. The Lord and His Messengers: Toward a Trinitarian Interpretation of Malachi 3:1–4
By Camden M. Bucey
164 Reviews & Responses: Michael Horton, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way (Wes Bredenhof) 164 ■ Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Remythologizing Theology: Divine Action, Passion, and Authorship (James E. Dolezal) 167 ■ Response: “On the Scope and Scopus of ‘Always Reforming,’ A Response to James Dolezal” (Kevin Vanhoozer) 172 ■ Surrejoinder to Kevin Vanhoozer (James E. Dolezal) 175 ■ Paul Helm, Eternal God: A Study of God Without Time, 2nd ed. (Patrick Arnold) 178 ■ Willem J. Van Asselt, et al., Scholastic Discourse: Johannes Maccovius (1588–1644) on Theological and Philosophical Distinctions and Rules (Wes White) 183 ■ T. V. Moore, The Last Days of Jesus (C. N. Willborn) 185 ■ Paul C. Gutjahr, Charles Hodge: Guardian of American Orthodoxy (James Cassidy) 187 ■ J. Knox Chamblin, Matthew: A Mentor Commentary (W. Gary Crampton) 190 ■ Eric L. Johnson, Foundations for Soul Care: A Christian Psychology Proposal (Daniel F. Patterson) 195 ■ J. V. Fesko, Last Things First: Unlocking Genesis 1–3 with the Christ of Eschatology (Ryan McGraw) 200 ■ W. Gary Crampton, From Paedobaptism to Credobaptism: A Critique of the Westminster Standards on the Subjects of Baptism (J. V. Fesko) 203  ■ Response (W. G. Crampton) 206 ■ Surrejoinder to Dr. Crampton’s Response (J. V. Fesko) 210 ■ Douglas Bond, The Mighty Weakness of John Knox and D. M. Lloyd-Jones and Iain Murray, John Knox and the Reformation (Lane Keister) 211 ■
213 Psallo: Psalm 116
216 In Translatiōne: The Preface to the Constance Hymnbook by Joannem Zwick
230 Antiquary: The James Durham MSS Part II
232 Bibliography
253 The Editors and Contributing Editors
. In Brief: T. V. Moore’s Twenty Hints for a Happy Family (97) ■ In Brief: Robert Baillie on the Chiliasm of Archer, Burroughs and Goodwin (110) ■ In Brief: Thomas Goodwin on God’s Blessing His People (122)

 

[MW]

Happy birthday, CPJ, and happy reading to everyone! It is good to see Knox being given renewed coverage.

 

[Wayne]

I doubt Chris intended such a veiled reference, but this seems appropriate in a Hebrews 12:1 sort of way, given the substance of so much of The Confessional Presbyterian.

"We Are Seven"
by William Wordsworth

The speaker begins this poem by asking what a simple child who is full of life could know about death. He then meets "a little cottage Girl" who is eight years old and has thick curly hair. She is rustic and woodsy, but very beautiful, and she makes the speaker happy. He asks her how many siblings she has, to which she replies that there are seven including her:

--A simple child,
That lightly draws its breath,
And feels its life in every limb,
What should it know of death?

I met a little cottage girl:
She was eight years old, she said;
Her hair was thick with many a curl
That clustered round her head.

She had a rustic, woodland air,
And she was wildly clad:
Her eyes were fair, and very fair;
--Her beauty made me glad.

"Sisters and brothers, little maid,
How many may you be?"
"How many? Seven in all," she said,
And wondering looked at me.

The speaker then asks the child where her brothers and sisters are. She replies "Seven are we," and tells him that two are in a town called Conway, two are at sea, and two lie in the church-yard. She and her mother live near the graves:

"And where are they? I pray you tell."
She answered, "Seven are we;
And two of us at Conway dwell,
And two are gone to sea.

"Two of us in the churchyard lie,
My sister and my brother;
And, in the churchyard cottage, I
Dwell near them with my mother."

The speaker is confused and asks her how they can be seven, if two are in Conway and two gone to sea. To this, the little girl simply replies, "Seven boys and girls are we; / Two of us in the churchyard lie, / Beneath the churchyard tree." The speaker says that if two are dead, then there are only five left, but the little girl tells him that their green graves are nearby, and that she often goes to sew or eat supper there while singing to her deceased siblings:

"You say that two at Conway dwell,
And two are gone to sea,
Yet ye are seven! I pray you tell,
Sweet maid, how this may be."

Then did the little maid reply,
"Seven boys and girls are we;
Two of us in the churchyard lie,
Beneath the churchyard tree."

"You run about, my little maid,
Your limbs they are alive;
If two are in the churchyard laid,
Then ye are only five."

"Their graves are green, they may be seen,"
The little maid replied,
"Twelve steps or more from my mother's door,
And they are side by side.

"My stockings there I often knit,
My kerchief there I hem;
And there upon the ground I sit,
And sing a song to them.

"And often after sunset, sir,
When it is light and fair,
I take my little porringer,
And eat my supper there.

The little girl then explains that first her sister Jane died from sickness. She and her brother John would play around her grave until he also died. Now he lies next to Jane:

"The first that died was sister Jane;
In bed she moaning lay,
Till God released her of her pain;
And then she went away.

"So in the churchyard she was laid;
And, when the grass was dry,
Together round her grave we played,
My brother John and I.

"And when the ground was white with snow
And I could run and slide,
My brother John was forced to go,
And he lies by her side."

The man again asks how many siblings she has now that two are dead. She replies quickly, "O Master! we are seven." The man tries to convince her saying, "But they are dead," but he realizes that his words are wasted. The poem ends with the little girl saying, "Nay, we are seven!"

"How many are you, then," said I,
"If they two are in heaven?"
Quick was the little maid's reply,
"O master! we are seven."

"But they are dead; those two are dead!
Their spirits are in heaven!"
'Twas throwing words away; for still
The little maid would have her will,
And said, "Nay, we are seven!"

Analysis

"We Are Seven" was written in 1798, when Wordsworth was only 18 years old. The poem is composed of sixteen four-line stanzas, and ends with one five-line stanza. Each stanza has an abab rhyming pattern. Wordsworth has noted that he wrote the last line of this poem first, and that his good friend Samuel Coleridge wrote the first few stanzas.

The poem is an interesting conversation between a man and a young girl. It is especially intriguing because the conversation could have been less than five lines, and yet it is 69 lines long. The reason for this is that the man cannot accept that the young girl still feels she is one of seven siblings even after two of her siblings have died, and even though she now lives at home alone with her mother.

The speaker begins the poem with the question of what a child should know of death. Near the beginning it seems as if the little girl understands very little. She seems almost to be in denial about the deaths of her siblings, especially because she continues to spend time with them and sing to them. By the end of the poem, however, the reader is left with the feeling that perhaps the little girl understands more about life and death than the man to whom she is speaking. She refuses to become incapacitated by grief, or to cast the deceased out of her life. Instead she accepts that things change, and continues living as happily as she can.

[GradeSaver (TM) ClassicNotes Wordsworth's Poetical Works: Study Guide]

"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,..."

In a very real way, CPJ works to continue the testimony of our forebears. We are not alone in our stand for the truth of the Gospel.

[This was also an attempt to remedy something of the paltry education that so many receive these days. In an earlier time, the above poem might have been one that students would have routinely been required to memorize as part of their grade-school education. Now you've at least read it once.]

 

[NaphtaliPress]

Thanks Wayne (I think).

 

[Wayne]

Chris:

Yeah, that was sort of my impression too!



(I could instead have started a thread on "Updating the Confessional Presbyterian". Whaddaya think?)