In this penultimate installment of the series on a puritan doctrine of union and communion with Christ, I want to consider the comfort “this glorious union with Christ” brings to dying saints and to “their surviving mourners” (Case). Thomas…
Article 10 is the second part of the Thirty-Nine Article’s explanation of our guilt. Article 9 describes our actual condition before God regarding our total depravity. It also makes it clear that while sin persists in the believer, God’s work…
Stephen J. Casselli, Divine Rule Maintained: Anthony Burgess, Covenant Theology, and the Place of the Law in Reformed Scholasticism (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2016). 188pages. [Book/ebook] The function God’s law in Scripture has always raised difficult theological questions. With…
Mankind needs saving from God by God. As demonstrated in my previous posts on Patrick Gillespie (#1, #2, #3, #4), the broken Covenant of Works paved the way for the salvation of God’s elect in the Covenant of Grace. Yet…
We conclude our series on Puritan preachers (see #1, #2, #3) with John Preston (1587–1628), whose preaching can be described as preaching great gospel themes. He was more topical and organized by theological categories and questions than the verse-by-verse biblical…
The purpose of “Bite-Size Bunyan” is to share John Bunyan’s writings in summary form. Our second “bite” (see #1) concerns Bunyan’s work, A Vindication of the Book Called, Some Gospel- Truths Opened (1657), itself a response to Quaker Edward Burrough…
If there is one Christian book that everyone seems to be talking about this year, it is The Benedict Option by Rod Dreher. Subtitled “A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation,” it discusses how can respond to changes in…
The doctrine of union and communion with Christ provides a number of comforts or encouragements to Christians. I want to look at two in particular that some puritans highlighted: first, the dignity and honor that union with Christ bestows upon…
We’re giving away two (2) copies of Beyond Calvin: Essays on the Diversity of the Reformed Tradition (Davenant Press) by Bradford Littlejohn and Jonathan Tomes. Deadline to register is Friday, July 21. Enter here.
Having laid down the foundations of who God is and the rule of faith (Scripture is the final authority, supported by the creeds), the Thirty-Nine Articles continue with specific questions of salvation from article 9 to article 14—with article 11…
