Editor’s Note: This is the final post in a four-part series on the life and relevance of Samuel Rutherford (1600-1661). Find previous entries here. Rutherford as a Preacher There is no getting around the fact that Rutherford was an exceptional…
Editor’s Note: This is the third post in a four-part series on the life and relevance of Samuel Rutherford (1600-1661). Find previous entries here. A Ministry of Sacrifice and Suffering Being called to the small, obscure parish of Anwoth did…
Editor’s Note: This is the second part of a four-part series on the life and relevance of Samuel Rutherford (1600-1661). Read part one here. Rutherford’s Conversion Rutherford received the M.A. degree in 1621 from Edinburgh and, two years later, was…
If you have heard the name of Samuel Rutherford (1600-1661) at all, you have probably heard it in connection with the Westminster Assembly or one of his two best known works, the Letters of Samuel Rutherford or Lex, Rex. You…
A friend of mine, a fellow pastor, spent some time as an ultra-runner. Most runners, who run with any sort of seriousness, seem to knock out a 5k or 10k for fun. Some of those will take some more time…
In 1650 amidst the rise of Socinianism in England, Francis Cheynell, a prominent Westminster Divine, wrote an apologetic of orthodox Trinitarianism, entitled The Divine Trinunity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.[1] This work stood out as clear exposition…
My recent posts (1, 2) on Puritan Theology in connection with William Ames made a little light go on in my head (that happens every once in a while!) while reading Thomas Watson’s A Body of Divinity, his commentary on…
Contemporary Christian sayings are not necessarily new. In the last article, I pointed out that Edward Reynolds, an important member of the Westminster Assembly, encouraged us to ask what would Jesus do in a particular situation. Reynolds is not alone…
The morning air was still cold when Martin Luther entered the shop of Peter the barber. Peter was not only the local barber but a surgeon able to perform minor surgeries like bloodletting and tooth extraction. Likely his specialty cut…
In this article, I want to look at a fourth reason that suggests that the Westminster Confession of Faith does not teach baptismal regeneration, and that is the conditional nature of baptism. The sacraments are not efficacious and effectual…
