British Calvinists: John Ball (1585-1640)

John Ball (1585-1640) born in Oxfordshire, he graduated from St Mary's Hall, Oxford in 1607/08. He was for a while a tutor in the home of Lady Cholmondeley where he became introduced to puritanism. He was ordained by an Irish Bishop and became curate at Whitemore, Staffordshire. he remained three for the rest of his life. 

He was an opponent of episcopal government and was imprisoned twice for his views. He also attacked the separatists. For him the Church of England was flawed but basically sound. 

Skillen's The Good of Politics - a Review

The Good of Politics

A Biblical, Historical, and Contemporary Introduction

James W. Skillen

Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2014.

ISBN 978-0-8010-4881-4

Pbk, xxi + 214pp, £13.89

It's often said that religion and politics don't mix. It's also said that politics and religion should be avoided in polite conversation. In an interview for Vanity Fair magazine Tony Blair was asked about his Christian faith, Alistair Campbell, Blair's former communications Chief (aka spin doctor), immediately interrupted and said "I'm sorry, we don't do God".

Contrast this with a scene in the film Amazing Grace. William Wilberforce when considering giving up his political career for one in religion was visited by members of the Clapham Sect and Thomas Clarkson. Clarkson says to Wilberforce ‘We understand you are wondering whether to pursue politics or religion’. Hannah More responds: ‘We humbly suggest you can do both’.

That is the reformational response. We can serve God and do politics – in fact we can serve God in doing politics. Religion and politics do mix! In part this is why Skillen has written this excellent book, the title of which may seem to some Christians to be outrageous - how can politics be good?  

His main aim is to show the creational role of politics and thus politics can be good. The current Christian consensus is that politics is a necessary evil. Skillen exposes this misunderstanding and ably shows the creational role of politics.

This misunderstanding has been prevalent since Augustine. Augustine suggested that institutions of government are unnatural and are permitted by God only in response to sin as both a punishment and a remedy for our sinful condition. If this is the case, as Skillen points out, then natural law cannot provide a basis for unnatural institutions. This Augustinian-perpetuated error stems from not having a strong enough view of creation. God created humans for political life and thus it can be good and it is ‘not a neutral terrain’ (p. 118).

Skillen shows the deficiency of the Augustinian perspective in the first two sections - biblical and historical. In the third and final section he looks at what Christian political involvement might look like. Here he surveys important topics such a economics, the environment, education, family and citizenship as vocation.

This is an important book, it should be read widely - and not just by Christians who have an interest in politics - but by every Christian who is touched by politics. 

For my interview with Jim Skillen see here

The book is available in the States from Byron Borger's Heart and Minds Bookstore

David Gay: Septimus Sears A Victorian Injustice - a review

 

Septimus Sears

A Victorian Injustice and its Aftermath

David H. J. Gay

Biggleswade: Bracchus, 2010, pbk, 70pp, £2.75

ISBN 9780956023827

The content of this book was originally presented as a paper to the annual meeting of Strict Baptist Historical Society in 2009. It still bears the marks of a conversational lecture format and at times this does grate - but fortunately, content triumphs over style.

This book provides a brief introduction to the little-known Septimus Sears (1819-1877) - I would have like more biographical information - but the main topic is the debate between him and John Gadsby, the editor of the Gospel Standard (1870 - 1877) over the nature of the free offer of the Gospel.

Sears moved from a hyper-Calvinist position to a free-offer of the gospel position, however Gay feels he didn’t move far enough. Gay maintains that Sears held to an “incipient hyper-Calvinism”.

Gay examines three main primary sources: Sears’ 1841 letter to J C Philpott, his Memoirs and his preaching. Sears originally agreed with Philpott that although the first-century apostles preach and invited sinners we shouldn’t: we have no basis for copying the biblical examples. Sears somewhere between 1841 and 1865 changed his mind and thought that we should. 

In his memoirs Sears advocates warning sinners, inviting seekers and exhorting saints. Yet Gay’s examination of Sears’ preaching post 1865 shows that Sears told his hearers of the gospel invitation but offered no invite. It was more you are invited rather than I invite you to respond to the gospel. Despite this Sears was repeatedly taken to task by John Gadsby in the pages of the Gospel Standard for supposedly being too free in the way he addressed sinners. 

The issue seems to focus around the question of whether we should copy the apostles in the way they presented the gospel to sinners. In an Appendix Gay suggests that the first person to suggest that we shouldn’t wasn’t a Puritan but rather Revd Robert Hawker (1735-1823) of Plymouth in his The True Gospel: No Yea and Nay Gospel (1818), this idea was taken up and developed by J. C. Philpott. 

In this short book Gay has packed a lot of research. This not an issue that has gone away the debate still continues, many of the arguments are the same though the arguers have changed. 

British Calvinists: James Ussher (1581-1656)

James Ussher (1581-1656) was a scholar, a politician and a Church of Ireland bishop. He was born in Dublin and graduated from Trinity College, Dublin. He became a professor of theology at Trinity College until 1617. He was ordained in 1601.

He was strongly anti-Catholic, one of of his works was An answer to a challenge made by a Jesuit in Ireland (1624). In his A discourse of the religion anciently professed by the Irish and British (1631) he made that the Church of Ireland was the rightful heir of St Patrick. 

He opposed the imposition of the 39 Articles upon the Church of Ireland and argued that the terms Puritan and Reformed were synonymous. 

From 1625-1656 he was the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland. His work on chronology concluded that the earth was created in 4004 BC.

Oliver Cromwell ensured that Ussher's funeral was paid for by the state and held in Westminster Abbey.

Several of Ussher's works are available here: http://www.prdl.org/author_view.php?a_id=55

British Calvinists: William Gouge (1578-1653)

William Gouge (1578-1653) was one of the "Westminster divines". Born in Stratford-le-Bow, Middlesex, he graduated from King's College, Cambridge with a BA in 1598 and an MA in 1601.  He was the nephew of Laurence Chadderton and William Whitaker. He was a fellow and lecturer at Cambridge in logic before he moved to St Anne's, Blackfriars when he was ordained in 1608.

He was a regular attender at the Westminster Assembly and was chair in 1644 of the Westminster Confession draft committee. Two of his key works were The Whole Armour of God (1615) and Of Domesticall Duties (1622). The latter was a rejection of the view, popular at the time, that husbands should beat their wives - but still stressed female subjection of wives.  

Some of Gouge's works are available here: http://www.prdl.org/author_view.php?a_id=314

Recent Kuyperania (April 2014)

Christian's Scholars Press have announced a new translation of two addresses by Kuyper: Scholarship: Two Convocation Addreses on University Life. It is edited by Harry van Dyke and translated by Nelson D. Kloosterman
ISBN: 978-1-938948-85-5. 51 pages.
Details here.

Daniel José Camacho "Common Grace and Race" The Twelve.
Looks at Kuyper, common grace and racism.

Six new books by Calvin Seerveld from Dordt College Press

A new book from Calvin Seerveld is cause for celebration. Dordt College Press have released six - each edited by John Kok.

Normative Aesthetics

Redemptive Art in Society

Cultural problems in Western Society

Art History Revisited

Cultural Education and History Writings

Biblical Studies and Wisdom of Living

Further details here: http://www.dordt.edu/publications/dordt_press/

British Calvinists: William Twisse (1578-1646)

William Twisse (1578-1646) was born at Speenlands, near Newbury. He became a fellow of New college, Oxford and graduated with a BA in 1600 and an MA in 1604.

For a short while he was appointed as by James I as chaplain to his daughter, Elizabeth of Bohemia.He became the vicar of Newbury in 1620. 

He opposed Laud and was a premillennialist and a supralapsarian. He favoured Reformed Episcopasy and held strong sabbatarian views.

He was one of the delegates at the Westminster Assembly. He was unanimously appointed as the Prolocutor of the Assembly.

Some of his writings are available here: http://www.prdl.org/author_view.php?a_id=52

British Calvinists: Richard Sibbes (1577-1635)

Richard Sibbes (1577-1635), "the heavenly doctor", was born in Tostock, Suffolk, he was a conforming Puritan.  He graduated from St John's, Cambridge with a BA in 1599. He was elected a fellow in 1621. He was converted in 1603, he called Paul Baynes his "Father in the Gospel". Sibbes was ordained and became a lecturer at Holy Trinity Church, Cambridge. In 1617 he was appointed preacher for Gray's Inn, London. He then, in 1626, became the master of St Catherine's, Cambridge and was awarded a DD. In 1633 he was also appointed to the "perpetual curacy" of Holy Trinity. He died at Gray's Inn. 

Most of his influential works were published posthumously.

Further reading

Mark E. Dever 2000. Richard Sibbes: Puritanism and Calvinism in Late Elizabethan and Early Stuart England, Mercer University Press.

Many of his works are available form here: http://www.prdl.org/author_view.php?a_id=503

Resources on Sibbes from Monergism: http://www.monergism.com/topics/puritans/richard-sibbes-1577-1635

l

Robert W. Oliver History of the English Calvinistic Baptists

History of the English Calvinistic Baptists 1771-1892

From John Gill to C. H. Spurgeon

Robert W. Oliver 

Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 2006

ISBN 978 0 85151 920 3; Hbk; 410 + xxi pp; £16.50

This is a fascinating book. Unfortunately, it doesn't do what the title suggests. If it were then the history of the Calvinistic baptists would be one dispute after another. 

There were a number of debates among the Calvinistic Baptists. These were over: the nature of communion: open or closed (chapter 4); Andrew Fuller’s The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptance (1785) and its challenge to the dominant Hyper-Calvinism. Fuller maintained that gospel preaching must include exhortations to all to repent and believe (chapter 5); and the Antinomian controversy: the relationship of the Christian to the moral law (Chapter 6). The book ably covers the key disputants in the controversies that marked out the Particular Baptists from the General Baptists. 

The second part of the book looks more specifically at four key players: Andrew Fuller (Chapter 8), Abraham Booth (Chapter 8), William Gadsby (Chapter 9) and John Stevens  (Chapter 10).

In part three the proliferation of Strict Baptist magazines are examined as well as the different organisations. The final chapter on Spurgeon feels more like an add on rather than an integral part of the book. 

As I was reading the book I kept wondering what Oliver’s views were - they are not obvious form the text. I wish he had made his own views more explicit, that way any possible (and inevitable) bias can more easily be detected. 

Oliver’s book was originally his 1985 London Bible College PhD thesis - but it took some time to be published - primarily to overcome his reluctance to publish. I am glad that it was as it provides a much needed insight into the Calvinistic Baptists. 

The following two-way table - I’ve compiled it  from Oliver’s information - shows clearly that the debate over strict baptism and hyper-Calvinism wasn’t straightforward.

British Calvinists: John Davenant (1576-1641)

John Davenant (1576-1641) was Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity at Cambridge and later bishop of Salisbury. 

He was born in London and died in Salisbury. He graduated from Queen's College Cambridge and became a fellow in 1597. From 1614-1621 he was its president. He was one of the British Anglican representatives at the Synod of Dordt in 1618. He was not an advocate of limited atonement, though he was not a supporter of Moses Amyraut and his Amaryraldianism.

He was appointed bishop of Salisbury by James I in 1621. 

He is the author of a commentary on Colossians which is available from the Banner of Truth. 

Some of his writings are available here: http://www.prdl.org/author_view.php?a_id=232