Meet The Puritans

Mondays with Manton (4)

Posted on 08. Mar, 2010 by Danny Hyde.

I recently preached a sermon on the prophetic office of Jesus Christ and found one of Thomas Manton’s sermons on Matthew 17:5 to be of immense help and blessing.The sermon is sixth of seven in his collection, Christ’s Temptation and Transfiguration Practically Explained and Improved in Several Sermons (Works 1, 258–411).

The sermon picks up Matthew 17:5, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased; hear ye him.” He begins this sermon by setting out the scopus of the text as being “to set forth the Lord Jesus as the great mediator” (Works 1, 392) and further narrowing that down to the prophetical office. Manton then stated the doctrinal theme of the text: “That Christ is appointed by God the Father to be the great prophet and teacher, whose voice alone must be heard in the Church” (Works 1, 393).

What I found so helpful was his discussion of what it means to “hear” Christ. He distinguished three types of hearing: first, the receiving of sounds, which animals can do; second, the understanding of the sense and meaning of these sounds, which all humanity (ordinarily) can do; and third, assenting and consenting with the mind, which disciples alone can do (Works 1, 395). And this hearing that disciples engage in was to lead to obedience.

He then asked the great pastoral question his hearers must have been thinking: “How can we now hear Christ, since he is removed into the heaven of heavens, and doth not speak to us in person?” (Works 1, 396) Manton’s answer? He cited passages such as Hebrews 2:3–4 and 2 Corinthians 5:20 to show that Christians are to hear Christ through the writings of the apostles—the Scriptures.

It so so wonderful to know that the Scriptures are the viva vox Christi and that we are enabled to hear his voice in the reading and especially preaching of the Word by the power of the Holy Spirit. Hear him!

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Puritan Reformed Journal 2:1

Posted on 06. Mar, 2010 by Danny Hyde.

The latest volume of the Puritan Reformed Journal (January 2010) is now in-print and available for purchase. You can read the full Table of Contents here, but I’d like to highlight a few articles and book reviews of note for this blog:

“Hot Protestants”: A Taxonomy of English Puritanism—Ian Hugh Clary

John Bunyan and His Relevance for Today—Pieter Devries

Samuel Petto (c. 1624–1711): A Portrait of a Puritan Pastor Theologian—Michael G.Brown

James Durham (1622–1658) and the Free Offer of the Gospel—Donald John MaClean

Thomas Watson: The Necessity of Meditation—Jennifer C. Neimeyer

Was Samuel Rutherford a Mystic?—Robert Arnold

John Owen and the Third Mark of the Church—Stephen Yuille

Jeremiah Burroughs onWorship—James Davison

David Berkley, Travel Through Cambridge: City of Beauty, Reformation and Pioneering Research (Book Review)—Kenneth Magnuson

Jeffery K. Jue, Heaven Upon Earth: Joseph Mede (1586–1638) and the Legacy of Millenarianism (Book Review)—Mark Jones

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Announcing “Welcome to a Reformed Church”

Posted on 05. Mar, 2010 by Danny Hyde.

Available from Reformation Trust here.

Chapter one, “Roots: Our History” available as a .pdf here.

Endorsements:

“In the providence of God through Rev. Daniel Hyde, you have in your hands an excellent instrument to use in developing the life and ministry of new members, church leaders, and all disciples. This book illustrates the blessings of the historical legacy of the Reformed church with confessional integrity to equip believers and churches with evangelical breadth and theological depth. This is sound doctrine for sound lives. The key to the apostolic church is prominently displayed and easily accessible throughout the pages of Welcome to a Reformed Church.”

—Dr. Harry L. Reeder, III, Senior pastor, Briarwood Presbyterian Church (PCA), Birmingham, Alabama

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“As one who has made much the same journey as I did, Rev. Hyde offers a thoughtful and compelling guide to the distinctive emphases of the Reformed churches for those coming to them. He explains how those wonderful doctrines are worked out in the life and worship of Reformed and Presbyterian churches. If only I had had a book like Rev. Hyde’s Welcome to a Reformed Church, my own journey would have been a bit easier, for I would have had someone to ‘connect the dots’ for me.”

—Dr. Kim Riddlebarger, Senior pastor, Christ Reformed Church (URCNA), Anaheim, California

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“Daniel Hyde has written an invaluable road map for pilgrims new and old so they can know what Reformed churches believe and why. With this book, Christians can navigate the often-confusing landscape of different denominations and understand what makes Reformed churches unique and, more important, biblical. Pastor Hyde’s work is clear, succinct, informative, and faithful to the Scriptures. I highly recommend this work to anyone who desires to understand the theological pillars of the Reformed faith.”

—Dr. J. V. Fesko, Academic dean and associate professor of systematic theology, Westminster Seminary California, Escondido, California

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“Daniel Hyde’s popular introduction to the Reformed faith will prove a wonderful tool for busy pastors who are looking for help in welcoming new believers into membership in the local church. Welcome to a Reformed Church will also serve as a kind of road map for those who are new to the Reformed faith—to its history, confessions, doctrinal commitments, and patterns of worship and ministry. In its own way, this book is a great example of the kind of ‘hospitality’ Reformed churches are called to show to those whom the Lord is gathering into their fellowship by His Spirit and Word.”

—Dr. Cornelis Venema, President and professor of doctrinal studies, Mid-America Reformed Seminary, Dyer, Indiana

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“As a minister in a Reformed church, I am delighted to be able to commend this book by Daniel Hyde, as it provides one of the most useful studies of the basics of Reformed belief, worship, and practice that I have come across. I will be commending it not only for people wishing to know more about the basics of the Reformed faith, but also for those who sit in Reformed churches and need to know more deeply their own heritage.”

—Dr. Mark Jones, Pastor, Faith Presbyterian Church (PCA), Vancouver, British Columbia

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“Daniel Hyde has done the church (and church planters) a great service by giving us this well-written, concise, easy-to-understand book explaining what it means to be a ‘Reformed’ church. Yet, at the same time, this is a theologically deep book that will send us back to Scripture and our confessions so that we might understand just what the church really is. In a day of great doctrinal confusion, especially about the church, I know of no better tool to give to those who want to know more about Reformed churches.”

—Rev. Kevin Efflandt, Pastor, Bellingham United Reformed Church (URCNA), Bellingham, Washington

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“As a fellow import to the Reformed faith from the Pentecostal/ charismatic movement, I can say that Daniel Hyde has summarized our Reformed distinctives in a clear and concise manner, answer- ing many of the questions modern evangelicals ask. I heartily commend this book to newcomers in my church and all Reformed churches.”

—Rev. Jerrold Lewis, Pastor, Lacombe Free Reformed Church (FRCNA), Lacombe, Alberta

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Owen on the Importance of Worship

Posted on 22. Feb, 2010 by Danny Hyde.

When one surveys the growing secondary literature on John Owen (1616–1683) the conclusion that can be legitimately drawn is that worship or liturgical theology was just not a major concern for him. After all, virtually nothing has been written on this topic. Sounds like a good ThM thesis to me!

So, just how important was worship to John Owen? One brief place to find an answer is the longest question and answer in his 1667 treatise, A Brief Instruction in the Worship of God. In question and answer fifteen Owen sought to apply and draw out the experiential truth of worshipping God according to Christ’s commands. In doing so, he took his previous principles and asked, “Whence may it appear that the right and due observation of instituted worship is of great importance unto the glory of God, and of high concernment unto the souls of men?” While “the instituted worship of God is neglected and despised in the world,” Owen demonstrated the great importance of the worship of God to the glory of God by citing a catena of biblical passages to demonstrate this, from Genesis through Revelation (Works 15, 471). After tracing this out from Adam, Abel, Abraham, Israel, and the Church, Owen said, “In no state or condition, then, of the church did God ever accept of moral obedience without the observation of some instituted worship, accommodated in his wisdom unto its various states and conditions” (Works 15, 473).

The importance of worship is also seen in that God gave his ordinances to instruct his people in the mysteries of his will and to communicate love, mercy, and grace to them. Owen demonstrated this from circumcision, which instructed in conversion, from the Passover, which instructed in redemption, from baptism, which instructed in union with Christ, and from the Lord’s Supper, which instructed in communion with Christ (Works 15, 473).

Finally, worship was of “high concernment unto the souls of men” because in it God made “blessed promises to his people, to grant them his presence and to bless them in their use.” Even more, Owen said the ordinances of worship were the “tokens of the marriage relation that is between him and them” (Works 15, 471). Owen saw this special presence and the blessings that come from, again, from all of Scripture, in the tabernacle of the Old Covenant and in Christ in the New Covenant (Works 15, 475). Owen reserved his most intimate metaphors for the importance of worship for the end of this question and answer. “Because we are apt to be slothful, and are slow of heart in admitting a due sense of spiritual things” God desires to stir up his people. He has done this in his declaration that our obedience to his ordinances is a part of the “conjugal covenant” he has made with us in Christ. When we come to worship we show that we are married to Christ, but when we neglect his worship or profane it “by inventions or additions of our own, to be spiritual disloyalty, whoredom and adultery, which his soul abhoreth, for which he will cast off any church or people, and that for ever” (Works 15, 475). God has given his people examples of this in Nadab and Abihu, Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, the sons of Eli, Uzza, and Uzziah. “From all which it appears of what concernment it is unto the glory of God, and the salvation of our souls, to attend diligently unto our duty in the strict and sincere observation of the worship of the gospel” (Works 15, 476).

In this, Owen was doing nothing else than following the trajectory of the early Swiss and German Reformed theologians, who saw the reformation not merely in terms of doctrine (a la Luther and sola fide) but in terms of a whole-orbed approach to the Church and the Christian life. Hence John Calvin one wrote to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor,

If it be inquired, then, by what things chiefly the Christian religion has a standing existence amongst us, and maintains its truth, it will be found that the following two not only occupy the principal place, but comprehend under them all the other parts, and consequently the whole substance of Christianity: that is, a knowledge, first, of the mode in which God is duly worshipped; and, secondly, of the source from which salvation is to be obtained (On the Necessity of Reforming the Church).

As Reformed Christians, right worship of the right God ought still to be our passion. It ought to be of great importance as we seek to glorify God and it ought to be of great concern as we seek the Lord’s salvation. Is it yours?

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John Owen on Revival

Posted on 15. Feb, 2010 by Danny Hyde.

If you listen to some in the Reformed churches today, you would think that the concept of revival is an 18th century phenomenon and that everyone who believes in revival is a “revivalist,” no different than Charles Finney and his ilk in the 19th century. Unfortunately this does not fit the evidence of history. The concept of revival is not an 18th century concoction. Case in point is John Owen’s “Letter 85: To Charles Fleetwood” from 1674 (The Correspondence of John Owen, 159–160). He wrote this letter at a time when he and his wife were sick, and Owen thought the Lord was preparing him for death:

“The truth is, if we cannot see the latter rain in its season as we have seen the former, and a latter spring thereon, death, that will turne in the streams of glory unto our poor withering souls, is the best relief. I begin to feare that we shall die in this wilderness; yet ought we to labour and pray continually that the heavens would drop downe from above, and the skies poure downe righteousness—that the earth may open and bring forth salvation, and that righteousness may spring up together. If ever I return to you in this world, I beseech you to contend yet more earnestly than ever I have done, with God, with my own heart, with the church, to labour after spiritual revivalls.”

Notice that last phrase: “to labour after spiritual revivalls.” This exhortation was not penned by some 17th century Quaker or Shaker or 19th century advocate of “new measures,” but the greatest of English Reformed theologians. As a Reformed theologian this meant Owen believed Scripture to be principium cognoscendi—the basis of knowledge of God, his world, and his redemptive plan. We see that here in Owen’s letter as he looks to the pattern of the biblical prophets for spiritual revival, citing Isaiah 45:8, “Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.”

Later, in his posthumous treatise of 1684, Meditations and Discourses on the Glory of Christ, in His Person, Office, and Grace: with the Differences Between Faith and Sight; Applied unto the Use of Them That Believe (Works 1, 395–396).

Do any of us find decays in grace prevailing in us;—deadness, coldness, lukewarmness, a kind of spiritual stupidity and senselessness coming upon us? Do we find an unreadiness unto the exercise of grace in its proper season, and the vigorous acting of it in duties of communion with God? and would we have our souls recovered from these dangerous diseases? Let us assure ourselves there is no better way for our healing and deliverance, yea, no other way but this alone,—namely, the obtaining a fresh view of the glory of Christ by faith, and a steady abiding therein. Constant contemplation of Christ and his glory, putting forth its transforming power unto the revival of all grace, is the only relief in this case; as shall farther be showed afterward.

Some will say, that this must be effected by fresh supplies and renewed communications of the Holy Spirit. Unless he fall as dew and showers on our dry and barren hearts,—unless he cause our graces to spring, thrive, and bring forth fruit,—unless he revive and increase faith, love, and holiness in our souls,—our backslidings will not be healed, nor our spiritual state be recovered. Unto this end is he prayed for and promised in the Scripture. See Cant. iv. 16; Isa, xliv. 3, 4; Ezek, xl 19, xxxvi. 26; Hos. xiv. 5, 6. And so it is. The immediate efficiency of the revival of our souls is from and by the Holy Spirit. But the inquiry is, in what way, or by what means, we may obtain the supplies and communications of him unto this end. This the apostle declares in the place insisted on: We, beholding the glory of Christ in a glass, ” are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even by the Spirit of the Lord.” It is in the exercise of faith on Christ, in the way before described, that the Holy Spirit puts forth his renewing, transforming power in and upon our souls. This, therefore, is that alone which will retrieve Christians from their present decays and deadness.

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“A Habitual Sight of Him” for $5

Posted on 12. Feb, 2010 by Danny Hyde.

Mark Jones

Reformation Heritage Books has offered a coupon code for a book that our own Mark Jones has edited and introduced, A Habitual Sight of Him: The Christ-Centered Piety of Thomas Goodwin. If you listen to the aforementioned Covenant Radio interview with Mark Jones there will be a coupon code offered that drops the price down from $7.50 to only $5.

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Audio—The Piety of Thomas Goodwin

Posted on 12. Feb, 2010 by Danny Hyde.

Our own Mark Jones was interviewed for Covenant Radio on the wonderful topic, “The Piety of Thomas Goodwin.” You can have a listen here.

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Puritan Reformed Journal 2:1

Posted on 02. Feb, 2010 by Danny Hyde.

The latest Puritan Reformed Journal 2:1 (January 2010) is now in-print and available for $10 through Reformation Heritage Books. This volume is 396 pages and contains the following (not including book reviews and notices):

Biblical Studies

The Jews’ View of the Old Testament—David Murray

An Everlasting House: An Exegesis of 2 Samuel 7—Maarten Kuivenhoven

Applying Christ’s Supremacy: Learning from Hebrews—Gerald M. Bilkes

Systematic and Historical Theology

“Hot Protestants”: A Taxonomy of English Puritanism—Ian Hugh Clary

John Bunyan and His Relevance for Today—Pieter Devries

Samuel Petto (c. 1624 –1711): A Portrait of a Puritan Pastor Theologian—Michael G.Brown

James Durham (1622–1658) and the Free Offer of the Gospel—Donald John MaClean

The Ceremonial or Moral Law: Jonathan Edwards’s Old Perspective on an Old Error—Craig Biehl

Experiential Theology

The Theological Foundation and Goal of Piety in Calvin and Erasmus—Timothy J.Gwin

Thomas Watson: The Necessity of Meditation Jennifer C.Neimeyer

Was Samuel Rutherford a Mystic?—Robert Arnold

The “Sense of the Heart”: Edwards’s Public Expression of His Pietistic Understanding of Religious Experience—Karin Spiecker Stetina

Pastoral Theology and Missions

John Owen and the Third Mark of the Church— Stephen Yuille

Jeremiah Burroughs on Worship—James Davison

Samuel Davies: One of America’s Greatest Revival Preachers—John E. Skidmore

A Pastor’s Analysis of Emphases in Preaching: Two False Dichotomies and Three Conclusions—Ryan M. McGraw

“For God’s Glory (and) for the Good of Precious Souls”: Calvinism and Missions in the Piety of Samuel Pearce (1766–1799)—Michael A. G. Haykin

Contemporary and Cultural Issues

Handling Error in the Church: Martin Downes Interviewing Joel R. Beeke

Interview with Geoff Thomas

Practical Lessons from the Life of Idelette Calvin— Joel R. Beeke

The “Little Church”: Raising a Spiritual Family with Jonathan Edwards—Peter Beck

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The Jewish Targums and John’s Logos Theology

Posted on 30. Jan, 2010 by Mark Jones.

This book by my friend John Ronning is one of the best works I’ve read on Christology.  Where did the “logos” title from the Gospel of John come from? Ronning makes the most convincing argument I’ve come across that the “Logos” title was developed from the Aramaic Targums, not from Philo.  The biblical exegesis in this book is stunning, particularly the connections Ronning makes between the Old Testament and John’s gospel.  Another title for this book could have been “And YHWH became flesh.”  I think the translations of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek are all done by Ronning himself.  You can get a preview at google books here.  Interestingly, Thomas Goodwin made a similar argument many years ago, but without the detail that Ronning goes into.

For Goodwin, the title of ‘the Word’ (ho logos) is not a reference to Christ being the thought or counsel of the Father’s mind since this ‘inclines too much unto the Notion of Plato, and other Heathen Philosophers’ (Of the Knowledge, 60). Goodwin is not unaware that the logos title had been used before John’s time by various Greek philosophers. However, in Goodwin’s mind, John refers to Christ as ‘the Word’ (logos) not because of Greek influences but because of the evidence in the Old Testament itself.

As a result, both Philo and Plato, by using the terminology of ‘ho logos’, are guilty of stealing ‘their knowledge from the Jews, and vend[ing] it as their own’ (Ibid, 62). Goodwin shows that the title, ‘the Word’, was used by the Jews, as a reference to the Messiah, in the Aramaic Targums, what Goodwin called the ‘Caldee Paraphrasts’ (Ibid). So, for example, Goodwin quotes the Isaiah Targum (Isa. 45:17) which makes several references to the divine Word (Memra). Hence, ‘Israel is saved by the Memra of the LORD with an everlasting salvation’. The KJV, based on the Masoretic Text (MT) in the OT, reads: ‘But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation’ (Isa. 45:17). Moreover, the MT text of Hosea 1:7 (… and will save them by the LORD their God …) is transliterated by the Aramaic Targum as ‘I will redeem them by the Word of the Lord their God.’

Referring to Christ as ‘the Word’, then, is Christologically loaded in terms of his divinity because of how the Aramaic Targums make use of the title, ‘the Word’ (Owen, 21:354). Not only, then, does the immediate context of John 1 show that Christ is the divine Word who existed in eternity, but the very fact that John calls Christ ‘the Word’ is evidence in itself for the deity of Christ because of how the Jews would have understood such terminology.

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Westminster Assembly Project & Reformation Heritage Books

Posted on 28. Jan, 2010 by Danny Hyde.

The Westminster Assembly Project, best known for the edition of Assembly minutes and papers to be published by Oxford University Press, has now entered an extensive publishing agreement with Reformation Heritage Books.

John Bower has joined historian Chad Van Dixhoorn in launching three new series of books by the Westminster Assembly, and one series of new and classic studies on the Assembly, all being published by Reformation Heritage Books. It is hoped that both texts and studies will stimulate further research in the Assembly and the religious dimension of English civil war politics. Certainly future publications on British post-Reformation theology and Puritanism will be enriched by these publications, briefly described here.

Principal Documents of the Westminster Assembly. This series will produce the six chief works authored by the Assembly for covenanted uniformity of religion in England: the Confession of Faith, Larger Catechism, Shorter Catechism, Directory for Public Worship, Directory for Church Government, and The Psalter. Each volume will contain a historical introduction, a critical text, and multi-column comparisons of original manuscripts and early editions. The inaugural volume, The Larger Catechism, has been prepared by John Bower and scheduled for a launch in March 2010.

Writings of the Westminster Divines. The aim of this series is to provide scholarly editions of texts by Westminster Assembly members and commissioners. Volumes will include previously unpublished manuscripts as well as republications of rare editions. Carefully determined editorial standards will be used to ensure an authoritative product that is accessible to modern readers, while remaining reliable for students and scholars.

Westminster Assembly Facsimiles. With this new series, Reformation Heritage Books and the Westminster Assembly Project are providing electronic and print access to publications by Assembly members in their original form. Free PDF downloads will be made available through the Westminster Assembly Project website. The same text can be purchased for your collection in paperback and hard cover from Reformation Heritage Books.

Studies of the Westminster Assembly. Complementing the primary source material in the other series, the Assembly studies will provide access to classic studies that have not been reprinted and to new studies, providing some of the best existing research on the Assembly and its members.

For more information visit the Westminster Assembly Project. Be sure to check for more information on and about this project at our RHB website and blog.

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