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What do you do when two parties within the same Reformed tradition approach the issues from such different perspectives that they end up seeing one another as the devil? In the previous article in our series on lessons from an…
The Presbyterians and the Congregationalists had an extremely difficult time working through their theological differences in the 1690s (see parts 1, 2, 3, 4). There are a number of reasons for this, some of which we have already considered, but…
If a theological debate has been infected with personal animosity and filled with over the top accusations and charges, then you will mostly likely find a party spirit, which will only further enflame the controversy. Like everyone else, theologians do…
One of the striking yet sad features of the Antinomian-Neonomian debate of the 1690’s (see parts 1, 2) was the evident personal animosity towards Daniel Williams. Although John Flavel also wrote against Antinomianism, including some of the views of Tobias…
Although the antinomian-neonomian controversy of the 1690’s (see part 1) involved godly ministers who were all part of the same but broad Reformed family—most of them had even formally united together on the basis of Reformed confessions—they did not treat…
Ever since I studied the Antinomian-Neonomian controversy that took place among the English Dissenters in London during the final decade of the seventeenth century, I have wanted to write on the debate itself. Part of the impetus for this was…
I have referred to the puritan John Ball in a number of posts thus far. He is not exactly a household name, even within the relatively small Reformed world. Mention the term puritan and the names William Perkins, Richard Baxter,…
One of the most striking and comforting expressions in the Scriptures is that God justifies the ungodly (Rom. 4:5). Nonetheless, this statement creates a theological conundrum of sorts and has led in part some Reformed theologians, including puritans, to at…
The creeds and confessions of the past continue to serve the Church today because they summarize the eternal truths of Scripture. While the grass withers and the flowers fade, the Word of God stands forever (Isa. 40:8) and therefore faithful…
I have been calling attention to the Puritans’ high view of good works in a number of past posts. If I could read my readers’ minds, quite a tale could be told. Undoubtedly, reactions would range from disbelief to delight…
