Reading and Blogging Through the Marrow in 2011

Join Christopher Chelpka and friends as they blog their way through The Marrow of Modern Divinity by Edward Fisher in 2011 at The Marrow Project. Read along with them using their 52-week reading plan, available here. This is a true Christian classic, and it is hoped that you will be blessed in your studies as I have.

Gold That Glisters

Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinity (2009 ed.), p. 201:

Antinomista - But, sir, if an unbeliever may have a resemblance of every grace that is wrought in a believer, then it must be a hard matter to find out the difference: and therefore I conceive it is best for a man not to trouble himself at all about marks and signs.

Evangelista - Give me leave to deal plainly with you, in telling you, that although we cannot say, every one that hath a form of godliness hath also the power of godliness, yet we may truly say, that he who hath not the form of godliness, hath not the power of godliness; for though all be not gold that glitters, yet all gold doth glitter. And therefore, I tell you truly, if you have no regard to make the law of Christ your rule, by endeavouring to do what is required in the Ten Commandments, and to avoid what is there forbidden, it is a very evil sign: and, therefore, I pray you consider of it.

Thomas Boston, "Who have right to baptism, and are to be baptized?" in Complete Works of Thomas Boston, Vol. 6, p. 218:

But whenever men may speak of people's going to heaven, the sound of their feet not being heard, it seems to be no very difficult question, Whether or not a person come to eyars, can be a real saint, and yet want a form of godliness? "Although," says a grave author, "we cannot say, every one that hath a form of godliness, hath also the power of godliness, hath not the power of godliness; though all be not gold that glisterth, yet all gold doth glister." Our Lord tells us, "By their fruits ye shall know them." I shall ad, that if a person be a real believer, and yet not appear so to be, he that judgeth him a visible believer, judgeth amiss, for he is not so.

The Search for Edward Fisher

As mentioned before, Christian Focus has republished The Marrow of Modern Divinity by Edward Fisher with the notes of Thomas Boston. The work is particularly a blessing because it is re-typeset in such a way as to present clearly Fisher's text and Boston's notes in a manner manageable to the reader. But I wish to draw special attention to the historical introduction by William Vandoodewaard, A Journey Into the Past: The Story of The Marrow of Modern Divinity.

It provides excellent historical context for a book which in and of itself is worth reading by every Christian. About the author, little is known certainly, but historians have long ascribed the identity of "E.F." on the original 1645 title page to Edward Fisher, Esq. (fl. 1627-1655), son of Sir Edward Fisher of Mickleton. Prevailing opinion, relying much on Anthony Wood's Athenae Oxonienses, has been that Edward Fisher was a royalist who engaged in religious controversies over the Christian Sabbath and 'holy days' with Puritan John Collinges. Mr. Vandoodewaard believes this to be unlikely and makes the case for ascribing authorship to another Edward Fisher (d. 1650), who was a Puritan, a London barber-surgeon and bookseller, in fact. This gentleman, as Mr. Vandoodewaard demonstrates, moved in the Presbyterian and Independent circles that one would expect given the theology of The Marrow and those who endorsed its contents, as well as other writings believed to have been written by The Marrow's author. I encourage readers to read the introduction for themselves since it reads like an historical mystery investigation. The author who put forth the gospel of grace so nobly deserves to be better known. I think the case for his identity is well made by Mr. Vandoodewaard and worth the read.

Marrow Reprinted

Thanks to Christian Focus Publications (HT: M. Jay Bennett) for republishing Edward Fisher's Puritan classic, The Marrow of Modern Divinity. This edition includes the invaluable notes of Thomas Boston, as well as an Introduction by Philip Ryken and an historical Introduction by William Vandoodewaard. This book has an important place in the theology and history of the Christian Church, and will, I trust, be a blessing to 21st century readers too.