Meet the Puritans

M y previous post demonstrated Amandus Polanus’ teaching that the Scriptures are clear in themselves and that there is a difference between magisterial and ministerial interpretations of Scripture. Magisterial interpretation belongs to God himself speaking in Scripture while ministerial...

S ola Scriptura is one of the slogans that have come to be attached to the Protestant Reformation.While the so-called five solas , as descriptive terms of Protestant theology, originated long after the sixteenth-century, they capture well some of the primary emphases of Protestant thought as they...

A s far back as the late medieval period, men such as John Wycliffe (c. 1329–1384) and Jan Hus (1373–1415) called the church of their day to return to Scripture. When challenged by hostile church officials, Hus answered his opponents, “Show me... better out of the Scriptures, and I will forthwith...

G od sent forth the power of his Word in the Reformation of the sixteenth century. The Reformation served as a dynamic motivation and catalyst for change and progress wherever its influence reached. Many would credit Martin Luther as the driving engine that propelled the Reformation, but Luther...

E ven though he wrote it as relatively recent convert and at the young age of 31, The Doctrine of the Law and Grace Unfolded (1659) is one of John Bunyan’s most theologically developed works. It also sets forth his two-covenant theology likely impacted by his reading of Luther’s Commentary on...

I n this article, I will conclude looking at Obadiah Sedgwick’s discussion of the doctrine that God promises to sanctify and justify this people. Thus far we have seen the differences and similarities between these two salvific gifts ( article 1 ), and the reasons God in the covenant of grace...

Ulrich L. Lehner, Richard A. Muller, and A. G. Roeber, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Early Modern Theology, 1600-1800 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016). $140.28. 668pp. Hardcover. S tudying classic Reformed theology is one of the most important things that Reformed ministers and students can...

I f we don't want to make a mistake in asking if an article that describes the perfection of Christ is even necessary, we must recall the narrative nature of the Thirty-Nine Articles . Article 15 has been implied previously in Article 2. Article 9 explained our depth of our sinful nature and how...

The purpose of this series ( #1 , #2 ), “Bite-Size Bunyan,” is to share John Bunyan’s writings in summary form. Most Christians know such works as The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678, 1684), The Holy War (1682), and Grace Abounding (1666), but what about the foundational Doctrine of the Law and Grace...

I n my previous article , I summarized two points Obadiah Sedgwick (c. 1600-1658) made concerning his stated doctrine that God promises to sanctify and justify his people. He addressed a third point (I had mistakenly said there were two more points in the last article) and then discussed three uses...