Absorbed in the Beatific Vision

B.B. Warfield, "Prayer as Practice," in Faith and Life, p. 439:

If it be man's chief end to glorify God and enjoy Him for ever, then man has attained his end, the sole purpose for which he was made, the entire object for which he exists, when he enters into communion with God, abides in His presence, streaming out to Him in all the emotions, I do not say appropriate to a creature in the presence of his Maker and Lord, apprehended by him as the Good Lord and Righteous Ruler of the souls of men, but appropriate to the sinner who has been redeemed by the blood of God's own Son and is inhabited by His Spirit and apprehends his Maker as also his Saviour, his Governor as also his Lover, and knows the supreme joy of him that was lost and is found, was dead and is alive again, -- and all, through the glory of God's seeking and saving love. He who attains to this experience has attained all that is to be attained. he is absorbed in the beatific vision. He that sees God shall be like Him.

A Tale of Two Families

In 1874, Richard Dugdale, on behalf of the New York Prison Commission began to visit state prison facilities and, in doing so, discovered a particular family connection between some of the incarcerated guests in Ulster County. Interestingly, a descendant of Jonathan Edwards was president of this commission, but we will get to the Edwards connection soon enough. This lead to further research and, in 1877, the publication of a study entitled The Jukes: A Study in Crime, Pauperism, Disease and Heredity. "Jukes" is a last name made up to represent people living and deceased whose identity he did not wish to disclose. He traced the lineage of this family tree to a man of Dutch ancestory named "Max," born in 1720 in the Hudson Valley. Dugdale estimated that there were 1,200 members of this family tree and was able to report on the details of 540 of these descendants, plus another 169 who married into the family line. One member of the family tree was said by Dugdale to be "Ada Juke," who married one of Max's sons, and was nicknamed "Margaret, Mother of Criminals." Of the total group of related individuals, Dugdale found that:

• 310 were paupers who spent a combined 2,300 years in poorhouses;

• 130 were convicted criminals;

• 50 women were prostitutes;

• 7 were were murders; and

• these paupers and criminals cost the state of New York $1.5 million to pay for their incarcerations and $1.25 million in public welfare and other costs to society apart from incarceration.

The lack of documentation supporting Dugdale's research, specifically the identities of the subjects concerned and the incompleteness of the family study, and the research methology (for example, the financial calculations), has given rise to criticism of this study, notably by Dr. Robert Frick, but it has gained enough credence in popular lore that the name "Jukes" is a by-word for "bad seed." His study provided ammunition in his day for the Eugenics movement, although Dugdale ascribed this remarkable family connection to both genetics and environment.

Scott Christianson, "Bad Seed or Bad Science? The Story of the Notorious Jukes Family," New York Times (February 8, 2003):

In 1911, some eugenicists discovered Dugdale's original charts and notes, including the actual names of the Jukeses. They rushed the records to the Eugenics Record Office in Cold Spring Harbor, the leading eugenics research facility operated by the Carnegie Institution, where a field worker, Arthur H. Estabrook, was assigned the task of reviewing the records and updating the study.

The family's real names were kept hidden, but Estabrook said he had confirmed Dugdale's study and used the records to trace 2,111 Jukeses in addition to the 709 that Dugdale had described, bringing the total number of people studied to 2,820. His book, "The Jukes in 1915," reported that 1,258 Jukeses were still alive and reproducing — at a cost to the public of at least $2 million (about $35.2 million today).

In 1900, Albert Edward Winship published another supplemental study, Jukes-Edwards: A Study in Education and Heredity, this time tracing the descendants of America's leading theologian, Jonathan Edwards to compare them with the Jukes family. The results are generally non-controversial but fascinating. He reported that out of approximately 1,400 known descendants:

• "practically no lawbreakers";

• more than 100 lawyers and 30 judges;

• 13 college presidents, 100+ professors;

• 100 clergymen, missionaries and theological professors;

• 62 physicians;

• 80 elected public officials, including 3 mayors, 3 governors, several congressmen, 3 senators and 1 vice-president (Aaron Burr);

• 60 authors or editors with 135 books to their credit; and

• 75 army or navy officers.

In more recent times, this godly lineage was marred by one descendant of Jonathan Edwards, Janet Edwards, a, uh, minister, in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) who officiated at a 2005 lesbian "wedding" ceremony, and was later acquitted at her church trial.

Moreover, the two churches that Edwards pastored in Northampton and Stockbridge are both now liberal.

Meanwhile, back to Max Juke, researchers discovered a poorhouse graveyard in 2001 located in New Paltz, New York, and additional records led them to conclude that one particular graveyard is that of the real Max in question -- whose true name is, apparently, Max Keyser.

There is a great deal of misinformation about the comparison of these two families that Christians and others would do well to keep in mind when considering these facts. Statistics can be used and they can be misused, and facts can be blurred, intentionally or unintentionally. It does not help the cause of Christ to misuse statistics or blur facts. It is always good to verify one's sources as much as possible. The two studies, it seems to me, serve best as a talking point for discussion, but I would not press the reported facts too far to make a point that Scripture makes on a more solid foundation.

God has promised blessings to godly families (Ex. 20.3-6, 12; Deut. 6; Ps. 112.1-2; Ps. 115.14; Ps. 128; Mal. 2.15; Eph. 6.1-3; etc.) and wrath to families who break his covenant and rebel against him (Ex. 20.5; 34.7; Num. 14.18; Deut. 5.9; Ps. 79.6; Jer. 10.25; etc.). But these promises and threatenings are general and not directed to particular generations within particular family lines. Godly families are known to have ungodly children and the Lord has been pleased to save many out of ungodly families so that the children no longer walk in the sins of their fathers. Trust not in (Matt. 3.9) nor blame (Deut. 24.16; Ezekiel 18) your parentage, but rather to each of us the word is: "Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:" (Isa. 55.6). The meek shall indeed inherit the earth (Ps. 25.13; Matt. 5.5), but not by virtue of their physical lineage. God builds his church not only through families but also by breaking generational curses and delivering those whom the world despises. Each of us is responsible to God for our own life and shall have to give account for himself or herself, and not plead or blame his or her physical lineage in support of his or her case. This is a truth that many of us already know, but since it is human nature to tend this way, we must be on guard against this tendency when we speak of multi-generational blessings and curses.

Certain points to bear in mind:

• The sources and methodology of Richard Dugdale are not known for certain, so his study, while it has stood up to some follow up research and scrutiny, may not be completely sound. What about the 500 or so descendants of Max who Dugdale could not report on?

• The name of the anti-hero was ascribed by Dugdale as "Max Juke," though it has been reported by others as "Max Dukes" or "Max Jukes". Max Juke is a pseudonym, not a real name. More recently, researchers have come to believe that his real name is Max Keyser. Much has been said about his notorious life, but little is actually known.

• Some have reported that the Max Jukes study was performed by Princeton professor Benjamin B. Warfield, which is incorrect; it was performed by Richard Dugdale.

• Facts, figures and inferences about these two have been reported by many, and much has been written about the multigenerational consequences of righteousness and sin. The Bible does teach that covenant-faithfulness and covenant-breaking does have consequences from one generation to the next. But we must be on guard not to give people the impression that godliness is a purely genetic quality. And there are certainly exceptions to the honorable Edwards legacy, such as Janet Edwards and the two churches that Edwards pastored in Northampton and Stockbridge are both liberal. Moreover, statistics do not tell the complete story. The fact that certain Edwards descendants were elected officials or professionals does not necessarily speak to their virtue or godliness. Statistics give us a snapshot but how does one really quantify godliness?
  

• Who knows about the descendants of Max Juke/Keyser today? Perhaps the Lord would be pleased to "bind the strong man" in that family and save some of those descendants. It is a dangerous thing to put trust in one's ancestry or to dismiss others because of their own reputed ancestry. While the comparison of the Edwards/Juke-Keyser family trees makes for a good story and there is a Scriptural principle about covenant fidelity that can be legitimately spoken of in connection with this story, Christians would do well to bear in mind the caveats, the exceptions, the uncertainties, about these studies and stand first and foremost upon the word of God over and above the potentially flawed scientific studies to make their point.

Teach Us To Be Astronomers

He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered? Which removeth the mountains, and they know not: which overturneth them in his anger. Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble. Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars. Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea. Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south. Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number. (Job 9.4-10)

John Calvin, Sermons on Job (Chap. 9, v. 7), p. 157 (modernized spelling):

Let us mark well that Job's intent here is to teach us to be astronomers, so far as our capacity will bear it.

The Calvinist is one who is truly humbled, like the Psalmist in Psalm 8, at the insignificance of man, who nevertheless is so loved by the Eternal One, that He sent His only beloved Son to die for sinners, even me, the chief of all sinners. As B.B. Warfield wrote when describing Calvinism: "it lies in a profound apprehension of God in His majesty, with the inevitably accompanying poignant realization of the exact nature of the relation sustained to Him by the creature as such, and particularly by the sinful creature" (B.B. Warfield, "Calvinism: The Meaning and Uses of the Term," in The Works of Benjamin B. Warfield, Vol. 5, p. 354). And nothing is more humbling than looking up at the night sky and considering one's place in the universe and in relation to the Creator of all.

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? (Ps. 8.3-4)

Auguste Lecerf, An Introduction to Reformed Dogmatics, pp. 384-385:

To-day, since we are Copernicans, who locate the sun in the centre of the solar system, we are apt to consider the centre as the privileged place. We speak, moreover, of theocentrism, anthropocentrism, and of questions of central importance, and are tempted to attribute to the ancients our manner of viewing things. As it is certain that, with few exceptions, they thought the earth to be at the centre of the universe, we attribute this geocentrism to a disproportionate view which we suppose them to have entertained concerning the importance of man.

Nothing could be more false....

Calvinism was, however, in the 16th century, as it is to-day; more than ever, geocentric in the modern sense of believing Copernicans: the earth is sufficiently at the centre of the divine plan to have been the theatre of the Incarnation and Crucifixion of the Son of God. But it is precisely here that we see the superiority of Calvinism over the Wesleyan Arminianism towards which some are looking. If the earth is, in God's view, a privileged planet; if, for Him, man is the most excellent of creatures, it is not on account of the local situation of this globe in the universe, nor by reason of the intrinsic dignity of this "lord of creation". The importance and the value of these creatures are due solely to the gratuitous election of God, who chooses the vile and base things of the world to confound the mighty.
...
We have never found a trace of this cosmic conflict among Calvinistic thinkers. Their leader, far from experiencing it, wished that all Christians could be astronomers,1 and never tired, in his preaching, of dilating on the immensity of the works of God. This, because he who believes in the infinite God never feels himself to be alone, however vast the universe may be.

1 34th Sermon on Job, ix, 4-15.

Indian Covenanting Confession

The Westminster Confession of Faith was not printed in America until 1723 (B.B. Warfield, "The Printing of the Westminster Confession" in The Westminster Assembly And Its Work, p. 353). But "possibly the first Confession of Faith printed in America" is John Eliot's Indian Covenanting Confession, a confession of faith and covenant written by John Eliot in the Massachusetts Indian Language (sometime between 1669 and 1690) and published later with an English translation, the text of which is rendered below in slightly modernized spelling (John Small, ed., John Eliot, The Indian Primer; or, The Way of Training Up of Our Indian Youth in the Good Knowledge of God. 1669. To Which is Prefixed The Indian Covenanting Confession (1880), p. xlvi).

The Indian Covenanting Confession

I Believe with my Heart and Confess with my Mouth. Rom. 10.10.

1. There is but one, only, living and true God. Deut. 6.4. Jer. 10.10. But He is Father, Son, holy Spirit. Matt. 28.19. 1 John 5.7.

2. In the Beginning God made Heaven and Earth very Good. Gen. 1.1, 31.

3. He made Adam to rule this Lower world. Gen. 1.26, 27.

4. Adam quickly sinned, and was punished. Gen. 3.

5. Adam conveyed to us his sin, and also his guilt and punishment. Rom. 5.12.

6. For this cause, we are all born in sin, Psal. 51.5.

7. Our sin is twofold.

1. Original sin. Rom. 3.10.

2. Actual sin, Matt. 15.19.

8. By these we deserve Damnation in Hell forever. Rom. 6.23.

9. I believe we shall all rise again to Judgment at the last day. 1. Cor. 15.

1. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Psa. 2.6, 7. He became a ma, and is both God and man in one person. Heb. 2.16, 17.

2. Jesus Christ hath Three offices, Priest, Prophet, King. Heb. 7.1-3. Acts 3.32. Isa. 33.22.

3. Jesus Christ obeyed perfectly for us, He paid his Death for us when He died for us, and hereby He deserved pardon for all our sins. Rev. 1.5. Matt. 3.15.

4. Now by the Gospel New-Covenant Jesus Christ calleth us all to repent, and believingly to turn unto God. Acts 17.30.

5. For these causes, we that dwell in this Town called ------------ are gladly willing to bind ourselves to God, to Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, so long as we live. And also to bind ourselves to each other, to meet together every Sabbath day (when it may be done) to do all our Sabbath day Services, prayers &c., according to the word of God, the holy Spirit of God helping us.

By this gospel covenant, we do give ourselves and our Children to Jesus Christ, to walk with Him in Church order so long as we live.

O Lord Jesus Christ, by thy Pardoning free grace and mercy Graciously receive us.

AMEN.

We compel not any, but meekly say to all let us join together to do all this.

Happy 500th Birthday John Calvin!

Bon anniversaire, Monsieur Calvin!

It is a quite a landmark in the history of the world to celebrate the life of such a man as John Calvin, who was born 500 years ago today, on July 10, 1509, in Noyon, France. He changed everything with the publication of his Institutes of the Christian Religion, his teaching of predestination and the doctrines of grace, his attempt to reform the government and discipline of the church, his efforts towards evangelism and missionary labors in Europe and South America, his views that the magistrate is a minister of God, his emphasis on psalmody in the worship of God, his insistence that "the following two [points] not only occupy the principal place, but comprehend...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" (The Necessity of Reforming the Church). The list goes on. Yet, to remember and honor him rightly for all of these things, and more, is to give glory to the God he worshipped and spent his life of devotion.

B.B. Warfield attempted to describe the fundamental principle of what is known as Calvinism. The word itself originated as a term of derision, and has been greatly misunderstood, as if to say that Calvinists follow a man rather than God, which is so far from the mark as to constitute an attempt to kill the message by accusing the messenger. It is the doctrine of predestination that has borne the brunt of the attack by anti-Calvinists of all stripes, but as Warfield notes, "The doctrine of predestination is not the formative principle of Calvinism, the root from which it springs. It is one of its logical consequences, one of the branches which it has inevitably thrown out." So what did Calvin the Man, and what does Calvinism, his legacy, stand for? What is that fundamental principle which is represented by Calvin and by Calvinism?

Perhaps the simplest statement of it is the best: that it lies in a profound apprehension of God in His majesty, with the inevitably accompanying poignant realization of the exact nature of the relation sustained to Him by the creature as such, and particularly by the sinful creature. He who believes in God without reserve, and is determine that God shall be God to him in all his thinking, feeling, willing -- in the entire compass of his life activities, intellectual, moral, spiritual, throughout all his individual, social, religious relations -- is, by the force of that strictest of all logic which presides over the outworking of principles into thought and life, by the very necessity of the case, a Calvinist. In Calvinism, then, objectively speaking, theism comes to its rights; subjectively speaking, the religious relation attains its purity; soteriologically speaking, evangelical religion finds at length its full expression and its secure stability. Theism comes to its rights only in a teleological conception of the universe, which perceives in the entire course of events the orderly outworking of the plan of God, who is the author, preserver, and governor of all things, whose will is consequently the ultimate cause of all. The religious relation attains its purity only when an attitude of absolute dependence on God is not merely temporarily assumed in the act, say, of prayer, but is sustained through all the activities of life, intellectual, emotional, executive. And evangelical religion reaches stability only when the sinful soul rests in humble, self-emptying trust purely on the God of grace as the immediate and sole source of all the efficiency which enters into its salvation. And these things are the formative principles of Calvinism. (B.B. Warfield, "Calvinism: The Meaning and Uses of the Term," in The Works of Benjamin B. Warfield, Vol. 5, pp. 354-355)

It is this idea that God is sovereign, and glorious in his sovereignty, and that man stands before him in awe and wonder, with his only aim to glorify him (Westminster Shorter Catechism A 1: "Man's chief end is to glorify God") all the more (, in all aspects of his being, that Calvin conveyed, lived and breathed. And so, with Calvin, and in honor of his memory, it suffices to say, Soli Deo gloria!

O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together. (Ps. 34.3, KJV)

1. Jamais je ne serai
Sans mangnifier le Seigneur.
Qu'en ma bouche soit son honneur;
Le temps que je vivrai
Mon coeur n'aura plaisir
Qu'a voir son Dieu glorifie,
Et tout bon coeur humilie
Pourra s'en rejouir. (Psalm 34, Stanza 1, Genevan Psalter)