MHCC 52: Why Was Eve Formed From Adam's Rib?

In the famous Commentary of Matthew Henry, we find a beautiful summary of why woman was created in the Garden of Eden from the rib of Adam rather than from the earth like Adam was. 

“ 4. That the woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved. Adam lost a rib, and without any diminution to his strength or comeliness (for, doubtless, the flesh was closed without a scar); but in lieu thereof he had a help meet for him, which abundantly made up his loss: what God takes away from his people he will, one way or other, restore with advantage. In this (as in many other things) Adam was a figure of him that was to come; for out of the side of Christ, the second Adam, his spouse the church was formed, when he slept the sleep, the deep sleep, of death upon the cross, in order to which his side was opened, and there came out blood and water, blood to purchase his church and water to purify it to himself. See Eph. v. 25, 26.” – Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary Upon the Whole Bible (1708-1710, 1991, 2006), p. 10 (Gen. 2.21)

This quote, often-repeated, highlights the companionship that God intended for husband and wife. As Henry no doubt would acknowledge, this understanding of the relationship between man and wife was not unique to him. As it turns out (here I wish to thank Adam Brink for highlighting this point) there is a long theological pedigree to this idea which predates Matthew Henry by centuries. In this blog post, I will provide citations to other theologians who have made this very point. This list may not be complete (allusions to this idea may be found in Augustine and earlier), but it shows a trajectory of thought which is historically intriguing, at least to this researcher, and each contribution along the way has its own particular and profound eloquence.

“Adam lost a rib, but he got a better thing instead of it, even a help meet for him. Thus God uses to deal with his children: they lose sometimes some of their creature-comforts; but then perhaps they get more of the Creator’s comforts, and that’s a blessed exchange. This bone was taken out of Adam’s side, fitly noting the woman’s place: not out of his head, to be above him; nor out of his feet, to be trampled on by him; nor from before him, as his better; nor from behind him, as his servant; -- but out of his side, to be equal with him; near his heart, for he owes her love; under his arm, for he owes her protection. Surely they forget from whence the woman was taken, that carry themselves haughtily and abusively towards their wives.” – Philip Henry (1631-1696), An Exposition…Upon the First Eleven Chapters of Genesis (1682, 1839), p. 56 (Gen. 2.21) * This commentary by Matthew Henry’s father was written by the hand of Matthew Henry in 1682.

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 “The woman was taken out of this part, not out of the higher or lower parts, to show that she is neither to be her husband’s mistress, to usurp authority over him, 1 Tim. ii.12; nor yet to be his slave, to be abused, despised, or trampled under his feet; but to be kindly treated, and used like a companion, with moderation, respect, and affection.” – Matthew Poole (1624-1679), “Annotations Upon the Holy Bible” (1683-1685), Vol. 1, p. 7 (Gen. 2.21). * “One fact is certain from internal evidence, that Mr. Henry wrote his Commentary on the Old and New Testaments, with the learned compilation of Poole, called Criticorum Synopsis, open before him; as, in all difficult passages, he has judiciously selected that opinion from the many presented in this work, which, upon the whole, seems to be most probable.” – Archibald Alexander, Preface to Matthew Henry’s Commentary

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“To honour marriage more yet, or rather to teach the married how to honour one another, it is said that the wife was made of the husband's rib, Gen. ii.22; not of his head, for Paul calleth the husband the wife's head, Ephes. v. 23; not of the foot, for he must not set her at his foot. The servant is appointed to serve, and the wife to help. If she must not match with the head, nor stoop at the foot, where shall he set her then? He must set her at his heart, therefore she which should lie in his bosom was made in his bosom, and should be as close to him as his rib, of which she was fashioned.” – Henry Smith (1560-1591), A Preparative to Marriage (1591), p. 8

*** 

"It was right for the woman to be made from a rib of man. First, to signify the social union of man and woman, for the woman should neither "use authority over man," and so she was not made from his head; nor was it right for her to be subject to man's contempt as his slave, and so she was not made from his feet." -- Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225–1274), Summa Theologiae (1265–1274, 1485), Pars Prima, Quest. 92, Art. 3 * Thomas Aquinas wrote a commentary on Peter Lombard’s Sentences.

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“It is not good for man to be alone; let us make him a help like unto himself” – “‘like unto himself’ – this corresponds to equivalence. By this is indicated that the woman must be the equal of the man, or his companion, not under him and not above him. Also, the woman was made from man’s rib, not from the upper part or from the lower, but from the middle, that by it might be designated that woman must be man’s equal.” – Robert of Sorbon (1201-1274), De Matrimonio (Of Marriage) (c. 1260-1270) on Gen. 2.18

 ***

“WHY WOMAN WAS FORMED FROM THE MAN’S SIDE AND NOT FROM SOME OTHER PART OF HIS BODY. But although woman was made from man for these reasons, nevertheless she was formed not from just any part of his body, but from his side, so that it should be shown that she was created for the partnership of love, lest, if perhaps she had been made from his head, she should be perceived as set over man in domination; or if from his feet, as if subject to him in servitude. Therefore, since she was made neither to dominate, nor to serve the man, but as his partner, she had to be produced neither from his head, nor from his feet, but from his side, so that he would know that she was to be placed beside himself whom he had learned had been taken from his side.” -- Peter Lombard (1100-1160), Libri Quatuor Sententiarum (Sentences) (c. 1150), Bk. 2, Distinction 18, Ch. 2 (see also 3.18.3; 4.28.3.2; 4.28.4) * Peter Lombard was a pupil of Hugh of St. Victor.

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“XXXV. Why woman was made from man, and why from the side.

But afterwards as a help to generation woman was made from man himself, since, if she had been made from another source, surely the beginning of all men would not have been one. Now she was made from the side of man that it might be shown that she was created for association in love, lest perhaps, if she had been made from the head, she would seem to be preferred to man unto damnation, or, if from the feet, to be subject unto slavery. Since, therefore, she was furnished to man neither as a mistress nor a handmaid but as a companion, she had to be produced neither from the head nor from the feet but from the side, in order that he might realize that she was to be placed beside him, whom he learned had been taken from his very side.” -- Hugh of St. Victor (c. 1096-1141), De Sacramentis (Sacraments of the Christian Faith) (c. 1134), Book I, Part VI, Sec. 35

*** 

“[God took one] of the ribs. Why was the woman formed from a rib? For if she were formed from his foot or hand or some other part she would stand in shame before him. Another interpretation is that it shows the greatest love, for the rib is, after all, closest to the heart, as it is said: the rib is the guardian of the heart.” – Anonymous (Irish), Commemoratio Geneseos (8^th Century)

Links in the Chain

W.M. Punshon, "Influence of Good Books" in Benjamin Broomhall, ed., Evangelisation of the World, a Missionary Band, p. 214:

I thought how an old Puritan doctor wrote a book years and years ago, called "The Bruised Reed," which fell just at the right time into the hands of Richard Baxter, and brought him under the influence of the enlightening power of the Spirit of God; and then Baxter's ministry was like the sun in his strength, and he wrote a book called "The Call to the Unconverted," which continued to speak long after Baxter himself had ceased to speak with human tongue. That "Call to the Unconverted" went preaching on until it got into the hands of Philip Doddridge (prepared by his pious mother's teaching from the Dutch tiles of a mantel-piece with very quaint Scriptural stories); and it was the means of enlightening him to a broader knowledge, and a richer faith, and a deeper experience of the things of God. And then I thought how Doddridge wrote a book called "The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul," which, just at a critical period in his history, fell into the hands of William Wilberforce, who wrote a book called "Practical Christianity," which, far down in the sunny Isle of Wight, fired the heart of a clergyman, who has attained, perhaps, in connection with this society, the broadest and widest reputation of all -- for who has not heard of Legh Richmond? He wrote the simple annals of a Methodist girl, and published it under the title of "The Diaryman's Daughter"; and I should like to know into how many languages that has been translated, and been made of God a power for the spread of truth. The same book on "Practical Christianity" went right down into a secluded parish in Scotland, and it found there a young clergyman who was preaching a gospel that he did not know, and it instructed him in the way of God more perfectly, and he came forth a champion valiant for the truth upon the earth, until all Scotland rang with the eloquence of Thomas Chalmers. Look at it! -- not a flaw in the chain: Richard Sibbes, Richard Baxter, Philip Doddridge, William Wilberforce, Legh Richmond, Thomas Chalmers -- is not that apostolical succession?

John Macleod, Some Favourite Books, pp. 85-86:

Thus a chain goes back from Thomas Chalmers to William Wilberforce, to Philip Doddridge, to Richard Baxter, to Richard Sibbes. Along the links of that chain by pen and in the life the power of the Spirit of God is to be seen.

LINKS IN THE CHAIN

from 17th Century to 19th Century.

RICHARD SIBBES:

The Bruised Reed (1630)

↓

RICHARD BAXTER

   'It pleased God that a poor pedlar came to the door...and my Father bought of him Sibb's Bruised Reed...It suited my state...and gave me a livelier apprehension of the mystery of redemption and how much I was beholden to Jesus Christ...Without any means but books was God please to resolve me for Himself.'

   In 1657 Baxter's Call to the Unconverted was published. Many years later it was blessed to the conversion of

↓

PHILIP DODDRIDGE:

whose Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul, printed in 1745, was used to bring into the light of God the soul of

↓

WILLIAM WILBERFORCE: 

whose Practical View of the prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians...contrasted with Real Christianity, published in 1797, helped to bring from death into light and life the soul of

↓

THOMAS CHALMERS:

who wrote: 'Somewhere about the year 1811 I had Wilberforce's View put into my hands, and as I got on in reading it I felt myself on the eve of a great revolution in all my opinions of Christianity. I am now most thoroughly of opinion...that on the system of "Do this and live" no peace...can ever be attained. It is, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved".'

 "Ministers are living Books, and Books are dead Ministers; and yet though dead, they speak. When you cannot hear the one, you may read the other."~Matthew Poole

Mather's Student Library

Many have proposed recommended reading for the Christian student of the Word, or student for the ministry, as I have referenced previously in my own Books for People of the Book. I thought it might be useful for some if I set forth such a list as prepared by Cotton Mather, along with bracketed information for the modern reader who might be less familiar with the names and titles identified by Mather, as a window into early 18th century American Puritan studies.

In consideration of a young ministerial student's choice of books, it is wise to remember Cotton Mather's adage: “What and where my Relish for BOOKS, which I may be hungry for? LORD, Because I shall see THEE, or serve THEE, the more for the Reading of them.”

Cotton Mather, "A Catalogue of Books for a Young Student's Library," in Manuductio Ad Ministerium: Directions for a candidate of the ministry. Wherein, first, a right foundation is laid for his future improvement; and, then, rules are offered for such a management of his academical & preparatory studies; and thereupon, for such a conduct after his appearance in the world; as may render him a skilful and useful minister of the gospel (1726), pp. 148-149:

[Nathan] Bailey's English Dictionary. [Before Samuel Johnson and Noah Webster, Nathan Bailey (d. 1742) helped to pioneer English lexicography with his An Universal Etymological English Dictionary (1721), which became the most popular English dictionary of the 18th century, and went through nearly thirty editions.]

[John] Ward's Introduction to the Mathematicks. [John Ward of Chester (1648-c. 1730) published in 1703 the Young Mathematician's Guide, which became a favorite textbook at Harvard and elsewhere.]

[Basil] Kennet's, Roman Antiquities. [Basil Kennett (1674-1715) was the author of Romae Antiquae Notitia, or the Antiquities of Rome. . . .To which are prefixed two Essays concerning the Roman Learning and the Roman Education (1696).]

[John] Potter's, Archeologia Attica. [Archbishop John Potter of Canterbury (c. 1673/74-1747) was the author of Archæologiæ Græcæ: or, The antiquities of Greece (1706), which served as the definitive work on Greek Antiquities until the middle of the 19th century.]

[Thomas] Lewis's Origines Hebraeae. [Thomas Lewis (1689-1749) was a controversialist and an opponent of Scottish Presbyterians; he wrote Origines Hebraeae: The Antiquities of the Hebrew Republic (1724).]

[Edward] Wells's, Sacred Geography. [Edward Wells (1667-1727) was an Anglican  minister and author of Sacred Geography: being a geographical and historical account of places mentioned in the Holy Scriptures

Mat. Prideaux, his Introduction for Reading all Sorts of History. [Mathias Prideaux (1622-c. 1646), son of the Calvinistic Anglican churchman John Prideaux, wrote An easy and Compendious Introduction for Reading all sorts of Histories (1648), which was edited by his father after his early death.]

[William] Whiston's Chronology. [William Whiston (1667-1752) was the protégé of Isaac Newton, as well as his mathematics professorship at Cambridge, though the two parted ways upon Whiston's conversion to Arianism. His A Short View of the Chronology of the Old Testament and of the Harmony of the Four Evangelists (1702) was based on Archbishop James Ussher's earlier Annals but came into conflict with the Biblical chronology of Isaac Newton.

[Friedrich] Spanheim, his Introductio ad Historiam Sacra. [Friedrich Spanheim the Younger (1632-1701) was a Swiss-German Reformed theologian of conservative views, son of Friedrich Spanheim the Elder, who as a member of the faculty at the University of Leiden was of the Voetian party. He wrote Introductio ad Chronologiam et Historiam Sacrum (1694).

[Cotton Mather] The Christian Philosopher. [Inspired by Hayy ibn Yaqdhan, a novel by 12th-century Islamic philosopher Abu Bakr Ibn Tufail, Mather wrote in 1721 the first systematic book on science published in America.]

[Bulstrode] Whitlock's, Memorials, both Volumes. [Bulstrode Whitelocke (1605-1675) was an English lawyer and historian, author of Memorials of the English affairs from the beginning of the reign of Charles I (1682). Mather wrote of this work (Manuductio Ad Ministerium, p. 63: "If you would come at all near to the Truth of what Concerns those Times, you must look for it, in Whitlock, his Memorials of English Affairs, from the Beginning of K. Charles I. to the Restoring of K. Charles II."]

[Thomas] Fuller's Worthies of England. [Anglican churchman and historian Thomas Fuller's The History of the Worthies of England (1662) is one of the great Christian hagiographies.]

[Edward] Leigh, his Critica Sacra, both Parts. [Edward Leigh (1602-1671) was a Puritan politician and lay theologian. He wrote Critica Sacra, or Philologicall and Theologicall Observations upon all the Greek Words of the New Testament in order alphabeticall, &c. (1639, 1646) and Critica Sacra. Observations on all the Radices or Primitive Hebrew Words of the Old Testament in order alphabeticall, wherein both they (and many derivatives . . .) are fully opened, &c. (1642), with a commendatory epistle by William Gouge; both of which were published together (1650, 1662). This great lexicographical compilation endeared Leigh to Archbishop James Ussher.

[Stephen] Charnock's Works. [Stephen Charnock (1628-1680) was one of the great Puritan writers, whose magnum opus was published posthumously as The Existence and Attributes of God (1682).

[Matthew] Pool's Annotations. [Matthew Poole (1624-1679) was a Puritan minister and Biblical commentator who first compiled in Latin the Synopsis Criticorum (1669-1676), a synopsis of interpreters on the whole Bible, followed by his English Annotations on the Holy Bible (completed after his death by friends in 1683). The Latin Synopsis is being translated and published, together with the English Annotations, by The Matthew Poole Project. Poole's unfinished project to record providential occurrences was the basis of Increase Mather's (Cotton's father) An Essay for the Recording of Illustrious Providences (1684).]

[William] Strong, On the Covenant. [William Strong (d. 1654) was a member of the Westminster Assembly. His A Discourse on the Two Covenants was published by Theophilus Gale (1678).]

[Edward] Polhil, his Speculum Theologiae in Christo. [Edward Polhill (1622-1694) was a notable Puritan minister and author of Speculum theologiae in Christo: or, A view of some divine truths, which are either practically exemplified in Jesus Christ, set forth in the Gospel; or may be reasonably duduced from thence ... (1678) . Cotton Mather wrote elsewhere "Everything of Polhill is evangelical and valuable, especially his Speculum Theologiae."]

The Leyden, Synopsis Purioris Theologiae. [Synopsis purioris theologiae disputationibus quinquaginta duabus comprehensa (1625), often referred to as the Leiden Synopsis, was co-authored by Antonius Walaeus (1573-1639), André Rivet (1572-1651), Antonius Thysius (1565-1640), and Johannes Polyander van den Kerckhoven (1568-1646), all notable members of the faculty of the University of Leiden.

[Petrus, or Peter van] Mastricht, his Theologia Theoretico-practica. [Peter van Mastricht (1630-1706) was a leading theologian of the Nadere Reformatie, best known for his systematic theology Theologia Theoretico-Practica (1682-87), which is currently being translated into English by the Dutch Reformed Translation Society. Mather wrote of him (Manuductio Ad Ministerium, p. 85): "I hope, you will next unto the Sacred Scripture, make a Mastricht the Store-house to which you may resort continually."]

[Author uncertain, attributed to John Locke], Common-Place Book to the Holy Scriptures. [Originally published in 1676 as Graphautarkeia, or, The scriptures sufficiency practically demonstrated. Wherein whatsoever is contain’d in scripture, respecting doctrine, worship, or manners, is reduced to its proper head. Weighty cases resolved, truths confirmed, difficult texts illustrated, and explained by others more plain, the title given in 1697 was A common-place-book to the Holy Bible: or, The scriptures sufficiency practically demonstrated. Wherein whatsoever is contain’d in scripture, respecting doctrine, worship, or manners, is reduced to its proper head: weighty cases resolved, truths confirmed, difficult texts illustrated, and explained by others more plain. … A 1725 edition was titled A common-place-book to the Holy Bible: or, The scriptures sufficiency practically demonstrated. Wherein the substance of scripture, respecting doctrine, worship, and manners, is reduced to its proper head, weighty cases resolved, truths confirmed, and difficult texts illustrated and explained. Commonly attributed to John Locke, this work was excluded from the 1777 edition of Locke's Works because of uncertain authorship.

New Matthew Poole Synopsis Volume (Leviticus) Is Now Available

"Rabbi Assi said: 'Why do young children commence [their studies] with the Book of 'The Law of Priests', and not with the Book of Genesis? - Surely it is because young children are pure, and the sacrifices are pure; so let the pure come and engage in the study of the pure.'" (Leviticus Rabbah 7:3)

Although in a former, and perhaps wiser, age, the Jews began the religious instruction of their children with the Book of Leviticus, it has been largely neglected by the modern Church. This is a shame, for in its pages Christ, His Priesthood, and His atoning sacrifice are set forth with a brilliance that makes a deep impression upon the mind and heart. It is a good season to recover this portion of the inheritance of God's people.

For the first time in English, Matthew Poole's Synopsis Criticorum on the Book of Leviticus is available (The Exegetical Labors of the Reverend Matthew Poole: Volume 6: Leviticus). It is something of a verse-by-verse history of interpretation, surveying the opinions of the Jewish Rabbis, Church Fathers, Medieval Schoolmen, and Reformation-era Commentators and Theologians. The ascended Lord Jesus Christ promised to provide faithful teachers for His Church in all ages (Eph. 4.11-12): Matthew Poole's Synopsis Criticorum is a record of their teaching and testimony, a thing of surpassing value. For more information on the Matthew Poole Project, click here for a radio interview with the translator, Dr. Steven Dilday.

It is a good time to get acquainted with the Matthew Poole Project. All available volumes (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Revelation) have been marked down 20% by the publisher, and 20% by the printer (coupon code: SUMMERBOOKS); but these mark-downs will not last long so don't delay.

Visit the Matthew Poole Project website for more information and join us on Facebook as well.

Puritan Galaxy

Samuel Dunn, Memoirs of the Seventy-Five Divines: Whose Discourses Form the Morning Exercises at Cripplegate, St. Giles in the Fields, and in Southwark: With An Outline of a Sermon From each Author, p. vi:

Among such a number of writers, there will be perceived a rich variety of talent, and a great diversity of style. [John] Howe is distinguished for his original thinking and splendid imagery; [Richard] Baxter, for his fertility of genius, copiousness, and persuasiveness; [Stephen] Charnock, for energy and richness of thought; [David] Clarkson and [Thomas] Doolittle, for manly sense; [Thomas] Manton, for perspicuity; [William] Bates, for ease and elegance; [John] Owen, [Matthew] Poole, [Joseph] Hill, and [Theophilus] Gale, for deep erudition; [Thomas] Case and [Thomas] Watson, for spirituality and quaintness; [Vincent] Alsop and [Daniel] Burgess, for wit and smartness; [Thomas] Gouge, [Samuel] Annesley, and [Daniel] Williams, for pure and expansive benevolence: -- lights of various magnitudes and splendour; for in the mental and moral, as well as in the celestial hemisphere, one star differeth from another star in glory.

19th Century Poole Translation Project

Robert Young (1822-1888), was a successful bookseller, and self-taught Biblical scholar and master of oriental languages. A member of the Free Church, and most famous perhaps for publishing Young's Literal Translation of the Bible and his Analytical Concordance of the Bible, he was prolific as a publisher, and both visionary and energetic as a translator. He was the first to translate the Westminster Shorter Catechism into Hebrew (he also translated it into Syriac and 10 other languages), and he did so with a view towards supporting ongoing Free Church missionary outreach to the Jews. He himself served as a missionary in India.

Among his many translation efforts, was a project that he conceived to translate Matthew Poole's Latin Synopsis Criticorum into English for the first time. He prepared a prospectus which outlined his plan not only to translate the Synopsis itself but to append his own critical exegetical and grammatical notes (which he estimated would amount to new matter that would "be equal to one-fifth of the whole work"). Additionally, the plan was to translate fresh each chapter of Scripture preceding Poole's notes, along with an original analysis of each chapter. The 1850 prospectus, which I obtained from the New College Library in Edinburgh (Sherman Isbell graciously provided helpful assistance), contains a translation of Poole's preface to the whole work, and a translation of the summary and initial summary analysis and notes on the book of Matthew. Elsewhere, I have located translations that were prepared by his team of scholars of Poole's prefaces to the New Testament (both the Gospels-Acts and Romans-Revelation), which were published in 1869 (available to read online here, starting on p. 294).

To the best of my knowledge, Young's translation project never progressed further than the translation of these prefaces and a small introductory portion from the book of Matthew. If anyone has information to the contrary, please let me know. It is an encouragement to the current Matthew Poole Project to know that this work was deemed worthy of translation into English in the 19th century as well. The vision of Robert Young is shared by those who desire to unlock valuable Biblical scholarship and make it available to readers in their own tongue, and it is hoped that we will, by God's grace, carry on to complete the task for the edification of the church in the present age and in ages to come.

A Puritan Art Mystery

There are questions surrounding a work of art to which I have been unable to ascertain the answers. Perhaps a kind reader will be able to help.

The questions pertain to a portrait said to be that of English-American Puritan John Davenport (1597-1670), who co-founded New Haven, Connecticut. Davenport is a link in the chain between Matthew Poole, who began a project to record "illustrious providences," and Increase Mather, who published in 1684 his own "Remarkable Providences," having been given Poole's notes by Davenport.

The portrait shown in the Wikipedia entry for John Davenport is held at the Yale University Art Gallery (and is viewable online here). The curators there have not responded to my inquiry. At one time the subject of this painting was said to be one Francis Higginson (d. 1630), according to The Diary of William Bentley, Vol. 3, p. 52. It was in the 20th century, according to what I have read, that the painting was identified as that of John Davenport.

However, the painting also bears a strong resemblance to one found in Samuel Eliot Morrison, Builders of the Bay Colony (1930), p. 122, which Morrison identifies as representing John Wheelwright (1592-1679). Wheelwright's picture (the same as that found in Morrison's book) may be viewed here. Wheelwright was banished from the Massachusetts colony in November 1637, along with his sister-in-law Anne Hutchinson.

The artist of the work is unknown; for shorthand, he is referred to by art students and scholars as the "Davenport Limner." The date of the work is thought to be around 1670, but that too is unknown.

Aside from the question of the proper identity of the subject of this portrait, whether Davenport or Wheelwright, a further art history wrinkle comes into play with a statement found in Davenport's Wikipedia entry:

While in Holland, it is believed that he was the model for several portraits by Rembrandt, which are now thought to be self portraits of Rembrandt.

Elsewhere, another source says:

It is a possibility that many of the so-called "self portraits" that Rembrandt did of himself, were in fact portraits of Davenport since Rembrandt was sometimes known to associate with those who ministered to the destitute, and known pictures of John Davenport bear a striking resemblance to Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn.[citation needed] The portrait that accompanies this article purports to have been done during Davenport's lifetime, although it is dated to 1670 when he died.

Is this mere speculation, or is there some substantive reason to give credence to this line of thought? I am unable to say at this point in time, but the possibility is intriguing.

As an amateur art sleuth, I am left with the following questions:

1. Is the painting held at Yale University's Art Center accurately said to be that of John Davenport, or might it be that of John Wheelwright?

2. Is it possible that some of Rembrandt's famous self-portraits might be, in fact, portraits of John Davenport?

Apostle of Virginia

On January 1, 1761, thirty-seven year-old Presbyterian minister Samuel Davies, known to history as the "Apostle of Virginia," preached a sermon at Princeton, New Jersey, on a text from Jeremiah 28.16: "this year thou shalt die." He said, "Perhaps I may die this year… It is of little importance to me whether I die this year or not; but the only important point is that I make a good use of my future time, whether it be longer or shorter." It was said later that he preached his own funeral sermon. He died just one month later on February 4, 1761 of pneumonia. Today marks the 250th anniversary of his translation to a better country.

In such a short lifetime on earth, he managed, by the grace of God, to leave a legacy that is worth remembering three centuries later. He was born in Delaware, on November 3, 1723, and educated in Pennsylvania; he traveled to England on behalf of the College of New Jersey (which ultimately became Princeton College), where, as a dissenter, he was nevertheless invited to preach before King George II, to whom he gave a memorable rebuke (when the king heard him he was amazed at his eloquence, and spent much time whispering that fact to his advisors, until young Davies told him bluntly: "When the lion roars, the beasts of the forest all tremble; and when King Jesus speaks, the princes of the earth should keep silence."); and is forever associated with the Dominion of Virginia, where he was the first non-Anglican licensed to preach as a circuit minister. He succeeded Jonathan Edwards as president of the College of New Jersey, and is remembered as America's first notable hymn-composer, leaving behind a body of hymns and poems that exude the love of Christ. He mentored James Waddel, and preached to Patrick Henry -- all three of whom are considered to be among history's best orators. He was married twice -- his second wife, Jean or Jane (née Holt), is immortalized to history as "Chara" -- and left behind five living children. His eloquence is legendary -- he wrote in his journal that "It is sin, alas, that intimidates me. To be miserable and to be a sinner is the same thing, and I feel that I can never be happy till I am more holy"; he wrote to his brother-in-law in Williamsburg that "I am as happy as perhaps creation can make me. I have a peaceful study, the venerable dead are waiting in my library to entertain me. I very much question if there is a more calm, placid, and contented mortal in Virginia"; he told Virginia recruits who would serve in the French and Indian War to "Fly to Jesus on the wings of faith - all of you ... that are now about generously to risk your lives for your country. ... What can do you a lasting injury while you have a reconciled God smiling upon you from on high, a peaceful conscience animating you within, and a happy immortality just before you?"; and he exhorted his student body that "Whatever be your place, imbibe and cherish a public spirit. Serve your generation." Like Stonewall Jackson, he taught Virginia slaves to read the Bible. He believed that eternal life was found in the Word of God, that is, Jesus Christ, who was at the center of his ministry, his poetry, and his life. His sermons live on, as Matthew Poole said "Ministers are living Books, and Books are dead Ministers; and yet though dead, they speak. When you cannot heare the one, you may read the other." Remember Samuel Davies, the "Apostle of Virgina," today, a man who lived a short time on earth, but who redeemed the time, giving all for Jesus, with whom he lives even now, and for ever and always.

Attempted Assassinations

Adventure, intrigue, close calls, providential deliverances, courage, mercy, persecution, martyrdom: these are some of the stories of attempted and successful assassinations of Reformed ministers and statesmen from the First and Second Reformation eras.

George Wishart (c. 1513-1546) -- The Reformer George Wishart was viewed as greatest threat of his day to the stranglehold of the Roman Catholic Church on Scotland. His arch-enemy, Cardinal David Beaton bribed a priest, Sir John Wighton (Wightman), to assassinate Wishart by mingling with the crowd attending upon his preaching in Dundee with a dagger hidden in his cloak, and lying in wait for the appropriate moment. As Wishart descended from the pulpit, he greeted his would-be assassin, "What would you do, my friend?" John Knox, Wishart's biographer, future bodyguard, and Reformer-successor, writes that Wishart's keen eye had noticed the movement of Wighton's hand for the dagger, and he clamped his own on it, apprehending the dagger himself. At this the priest fell down to his knees and confessed his murderous intention. An angry crowd converged and threatened to kill the priest. Knox related Wishart's response thus: "But Master George took him in his arms and said, 'Whosoever troubles him shall trouble me. He has hurt me in nothing, but has done great comfort both to you and me, he has let us understand what we may fear in times to come. We will watch better.' Thus he appeased both the one part and the other, and saved the life of him that sought his." Wishart was eventually arrested, and executed at the hands of Cardinal Beaton on March 1, 1546. Beaton himself was assassinated in reprisal by Wishart's supporters later that year.

William Farel (1489-1565) and Pierre Viret (1511-1571) -- William Farel, the Swiss Reformer who persuaded John Calvin to serve Geneva, and Pierre Viret, the French Reformer whose 500th birthday is this year, both survived multiple assassination attempts. Early in his career, Viret was badly wounded in Payerene when a band of Catholics attempted to kill him. A monk ran him through with a sword as Viret attempted to cross a field. His injury was severe but his body healed.

In 1535, an attempt was made to eliminate three Reformers at once: Farel, Viret and Antoine Froment (1508–1581). A servant girl, Antonia Vax, was persuaded by certain priests to poison a bowl of spinach soup. She was hired to work for Claude Bernard, at whose house all three Reformers were then lodged, in Geneva. On March 8, 1535, she placed poison in a small bone served to Viret within his soup. Farel's bowl of soup was clearer and she was afraid to place a poisoned bone in it (Émile Doumergue, Jean Calvin, Vol. 2, pp. 133-134); he apparently did not like the look of the soup in any event and requested another bowl. Froment was about to eat but was advised before partaking that his wife and children had just arrived in Geneva and so left the table with the food untouched. Viret became violently ill and suffered from the effects of the poison the rest of his life. Vax confessed after attempting to flee the city, and identified two co-conspirators but charges against the others were dropped. She was executed the following month for her crime.

At Corcelles, Farel was attacked by a group of monks, including the prior Rodolph de Benoit, who, it is reported, had a dagger in his hand. Jean Henri Merle d'Aubigné reports that "Farel escaped with difficulty."

On another occasion, Farel, Viret and John Calvin (1509-1564) were all traveling together to the famous October 1536 public disputation with Roman Catholic clergy in Lausanne, when a group of assassins laid in wait for them, but were discovered, and the plot was thwarted, all of these great Reformers were unharmed. Viret said at the closing of the debate, "We do not thirst for blood, like those who laid in wait to destroy us on our way thither. So far from seeking to punish them, we interceded on their behalf, and our only wish is that they may receive complete forgiveness."

Jean-Marc Berthoud, Pierre Viret: A Forgotten Giant of the Reformation, pp. 14-15, also writes that "in France when a Protestant mob was on the point of lynching a traitorous Roman Catholic priest Pierre Viret interposed his very life to save him from certain death."

Henry Ainsworth (1571-1622/1623) -- English Congregationalist, Biblical commentator, and the man behind the psalter of the Pilgrims, Henry Ainsworth was a man of peace, but became embroiled in conflict with the Roman Catholic Church, which he viewed as Antichrist; the Church of England, from which he withdrew, Puritans like Richard Bernard; who opposed Separatism; as well as other Congregationalists like Francis Johnson, over the nature of the office of elder. Ultimately, he died suddenly and mysteriously, in Amsterdam, where he lived and worked in exile, in late 1622 or early 1623. The story that is told varies slightly but the suspicion is that he was poisoned. Historian Daniel Neal writes: "His death was sudden, and not without suspicion of violence; for it is reported that, having found a diamond of very great value in the streets of Amsterdam, he advertised it in print, and when the owner, who was a Jew, came to demand it, he offered him any acknowledgment he would desire; but Ainsworth, though poor, would accept of nothing but a conference with some of his [rabbis] upon the prophecies of the Old Testament relating to the Messiah, which the other promised, but not having interest enough to obtain it, 'tis thought that he was poisoned." Historian Benjamin Brook writes that the conference indeed took place, and that he was poisoned by his defeated antagonists.

Matthew Poole (1624-1679) -- After having been ejected from his pulpit for nonconformity in 1662, English Puritan minister Matthew Poole devoted the rest of his life to Biblical studies, publishing the Latin Synopsis Criticorum (Synopsis of Interpreters) on the whole Bible and an English Annotations on the Bible through Isaiah 58 before his death. He was living in London when fear gripped the city after Titus Oakes proclaimed the existence of a Popish Plot to assassinate King Charles II in 1678. The following year a deposition by Oates identified a hit list of targets intended for assassination and Matthew Poole's name was on it, which was not a surprise given that he had written two notable books on Roman Catholic apologetics. Although the plot was later discredited and Oates was ultimately convicted of perjury, Poole himself gave credence to the plot after overhearing men plotting to kill him. George Godfrey Cunningham relates the account thus:

Soon after, he was spending an evening at Mr Alderman Ashurst's, and was returning home with a Mr Chorley, who had gone with him for the sake of company; when coming near the narrow passage which leads from Clerkenwell to St John's court, they saw two men standing at the entrance; one of whom, as Mr Poole approached, said to the other, "there he is;" upon which the other replied, "let him alone, there is somebody with him." As soon as they were passed, Mr Poole asked his friend if he had heard what passed between the two men; and, upon his answering that he had, "Well," replied Mr Poole, "I had been murdered tonight had you not been with me."

This event prompted him to relocate to Amsterdam where he in fact died soon after on October 12, 1679. The suddenness of his death led to the supposition, which has never been confirmed, that he was poisoned.

Samuel Maresius (1599-1673) -- French Huguenot theologian Samuel Des Marets (Maresius) would go on to become professor at the Academy of Sedan (1625), pastor at Maastricht (1632), pastor and professor at Bois-le-Duc (1636), and at Groningen (1643), but early in his career, soon after becoming pastor at Lyons in 1620, he wrote to lady who had apostatized from the faith, a letter which provoked a Jesuit priest to hire an assassin who stabbed him in the chest. His injury was severe but he went on to recover and become a major theologian of the post-Reformation era.

William of Orange (1533-1584) -- William I, the Silent, Prince of Orange, was the leader of the Dutch Revolt, a resistance movement opposed to the Spanish religious and political tyranny and oppression, a revolt which sparked the Eighty Years' War and led to Dutch Independence. William became a Calvinist in 1573. Soon after the July 22, 1581 Act of Abjuration, which was the Dutch Declaration of Independence, a Spanish Roman Catholic named Juan de Jáuregui responded to the call by King Philip II of Spain to assassinate William (the supposed reward was to be 80,000 ducats and the habit of the Order of Santiago) by shooting William in Antwerp on March 18, 1572. The pistol malfunctioned, but the bullet pierced William's neck, exiting near the left jaw bone. Jáuregui was killed on the spot, but William survived the serious injury thanks to the care of his wife Charlotte, who died herself less than two months later.

The second attempt on his life was successful. On July 10, 1584, the French Roman Catholic Balthasar Gérard (also in response to Philip's call) shot William fatally at close range at his home in Delft. Gérard was arrested, tried, convicted and executed for his crime. William's last reported words were: "Mon Dieu, ayez pitié de mon âme; mon Dieu, ayez pitié de ce pauvre peuple" ("My God, have pity on my soul; my God, have pity on this poor people").

Stephen Bocskay (1557-1606) -- Stephen Bocskay, Prince of Transylvania, was the Protestant Hungarian nobleman who led an anti-Hapsburg uprising in defense of the religious and constitutional liberties of Hungarians both in Transylvania and Royal Hungary. After concluding successful peace treaties, such as the Peace of Vienna (June 1606) and the Peace of Zsitvatorok (November 1606), Bocskay was poisoned on December 29, 1606, by his chancellor Mihály Káthay, who was then himself killed by an angry mob of Bocskay's supporters.

The Ejected

On Black Bartholomew's Day, August 24, 1662, approximately 2,000 ministers were ejected from the Church of England for refusing to acede to the terms of the Act of Uniformity. Who were these men who were so ignominiously cast out?

James Hamilton, "Bartholomew's Day, 1662," in Works, Vol. 4, pp. 351-352:

Who were these ministers whom the Church of England thus cast forth from her bosom, and who, for the next six-and-twenty years, were treated, by a profligate court and a haughty hierarchy, as the troublers of the realm, and the offscouring of all things? They included such men as Goodwin and Owen—the two names of renown in Congregational annals, and each of them still standing up gigantic as we look back along the centuries. They included Matthew Poole, that mighty biblical scholar, who, in his five enormous folios, has given the essence of all previous commentators. They included men of massive thought, like Thomas Manton and Joseph Caryl; men of fruitful fancy and entertaining information, like Bridge and Brooks, and Nehemiah Eogers and Fenner, and Adams and Burgess: whose voluminous writings rise from the field of our religious literature like a twin mountain-range—the one set, in their very disintegration, supplying the rich alluvium which covers the vale with corn, and makes it smile —the other rolling down those golden nuggets which have made the fortune of explorers from every sect and region. They included such men as Howe, whose lofty intellect and luminous insight give us new conceptions of the majesty of mind, and whose walk with God, so lowly and so loving, reminds us of the seraphim, attracted towards the Light of lights, but veiling their faces as they approach the overwhelming vision,—such men as Havel, the rapture of whose spirit would have made him touch the earth but lightly, had not his holy benevolence drawn him down into the abodes of his brethren; such men as Alleine, of whom it has been said that, "in fidelity and tenderness, in toils for the salvation of men, in frequent converse with eternal things, he was scarcely inferior to Paul himself, the first of human teachers, the inspired prince of mankind ;"1 such men as Baxter, whose Call to the Unconverted, and Everlasting Rest, still waken echoes in men's hearts, and are still a living presence in the world.

These, and such as these, were the men whom Charles in his perfidy and the bishops in their bigotry cast forth from the Church of England. These, and such as these, were the men, who, yea being yea, and nay being nay, knew nothing of subscription in a sense non-natural, and who, rather than accept a mess of pottage poisoned by falsehood or embittered by self-contempt, threw away their earthly all, and cast themselves on Providence.

1 W. Rhodes, in Stanford's Life of J. Alleine, p. 379.

Matthew Poole on Revelation is Now Complete!

The third and final volume of the first-ever English translation of Matthew Poole's Synopsis Criticorum (Synopsis of Interpreters) on the Book of Revelation is now available. Revelation 15-22 can be purchased as a single volume, but if you order the full set of three volumes on Revelation this month (through August 31, 2010), you will receive a 20% discount on the first two volumes. Also, because of Lulu.com's summer special savings, if you order by August 23, 2010, you will receive free shipping on orders over $19.99.

Remember that these volumes include both his English commentary as well as the Synopsis (a collection of interpretative comments, which is a veritable history of exegesis), and so comprise much more than most commentaries on Revelation. Poole has mined the works of Puritan and Reformed, Arminian, Roman Catholic, Jewish and other scholars to bring extraordinary light to bear on this most challenging of prophetic books. He believed that John's Apocalypse was intended to be, not a concealment, but indeed a revelation. This exegetical treasury has been locked away from English readers since the Puritan era, but is now available to both scholars and laymen in the 21st century English-speaking world.

Project update: The Matthew Poole Project is working to both translate and publish the remainder of the Synopsis (Genesis [3 vol.] and Exodus [2 vol.] are complete and available, and Leviticus is the next book forthcoming), as well as Matthew Poole's other works (his first work, a defense of the Deity of the Holy Spirit, is forthcoming).

Take advantage of this opportunity to employ the exegetical labors of Matthew Poole on the Book of Revelation by ordering the full three-volume set today. The 20% discount is available through the end of this month, and Lulu's free shipping special expires August 23, 2010. Matthew Poole on Revelation is a goldmine of Scriptural wisdom and this is an opportunity not to be missed!

Puritans on Pascal

Blaise Pascal was a Jansenist, and as such, had a quarrel with Reformed Calvinist Protestants, with whom he was lumped by his Catholic enemies. He took care to disassociate himself from Calvinism, but his particular mutual enmity was with the Jesuits, with whom he shared the umbrella of the Roman Papacy. Recognized by all as a sincere man, and a genius, his writings against the Jesuits gave him much currency with the Puritans of his day, and the Reformed ever-after. It would seem that the Reformed have valued his writings more than he valued theirs. Jonathan Edwards included in the catalogue of his books, the life of Pascal written by his sister. The elder Thomas M'Crie is one of several who have translated Pascal's Provincial Letters into English, and his introductory essay provides a thorough overview as to the value of the man and his work, as well as his faults. It is interesting to consider that Pascal's devastating attack on Jesuit casuistry was so thorough and overwhelming that it gave all casuistry a bad name for centuries after to the detriment of Biblical casuistry.

Carl Trueman, John Owen: Reformed Catholic, Renaissance Man, pp. 25-26:

It would be wrong, of course, to see Jansenism as a form of quasi-Protestantism within the fold of the Roman Catholic church. In addition to being anti-Pelagian in its view of grace, Jansenism was highly sacramental in terms of its soteriology, and thoroughly orthodox in its view of the Mass; it also exhibited a much stronger interest in miracles than was typical of Reformed Protestantism; and, of course, its adherents were also careful to emphasize that there was no point of contact between their doctrine and that of the heretical Calvinists.72 Nevertheless, their interest in anti-Pelagian notions of grace, and the struggles they engaged in with the Jesuits, appear to have endeared them to John Owen....More significant is the fact that he wrote a preface to Theophilus Gales' The True Idea of Jansenisme, a Protestant treatise expounding the history and tenets of the movement in a sympathetic manner; furthermore, he also claimed at one point that he has read all of the literature on the Jansenist-Jesuit controversy and intended to write a theological history of the same -- a project which never appears to have been realized.74

72 For example, the comments of Blaise Pascal on Calvinists views in his 'Treatise on Grace': 'That is the appalling opinion of these heretics, injurious to God and unbearable for men. These are the shameless blasphemies by which they establish in God an absolute will without foreseen merit or sin to damn or save his creatures.' Pensees and Other Writings, trans. Honor Levi (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995), 216. French Catholic iconography was not so sensitive to the distinction, frequently juxtaposing Jansenists and Calvinists in propaganda cartoons and engravings.

74 Works 12, 560.

John Owen, Biblical Theology, p. 277:

Let the reader simply compare the testimony of Plato, on the one hand, with Pascal's extracts from the Jesuit manuals on the other, and he will see at once that the maxims of the fortunetellers and of the Jesuits are as like as two eggs!

Richard Baxter, A Key for Catholics to Open the Juggling of the Jesuits, p. 392:

And to equivocate or reserve one half of your answer to yourselves, say the Jesuits, is not lying, nor unlawful, in case a man's interest requires him to do it. See the words of their own casuists cited for this by Montaltus the Jansenist [Louis de Montalte, pseudonym of the author of the Provincial Letters, Blaise Pascal].*

Matthew Poole, A Dialogue Between a Priest and Protestant (Northampton Press, 2010), p. viii:

Thousands of your priests and learned doctors charge the Jesuits with poisoning the souls of the people with pestilent and damnable errors such as these:

• That a man may venture his soul upon any probable opinion, and that an opinion is probable if but one of their learned doctors affirms it.
• That a private man may kill his enemy to maintain his honor, though not by way of revenge.
• That a priest may absolve even old and inveterate sinners, and such as he believes to be incorrigible.
• That affliction, or sorrow for sin, arising merely from fear of punishment is sufficient for salvation, and that the affection of loving God is not absolutely necessary to salvation.
  

All these, and many more, are clearly proved out of their own words and writings in the Provincial Letters, otherwise called The Mystery of Jesuitism.

Matthew Barker, Poole's Annotations on 2 Thess. 2.7:

The mystery ushering in the man of sin is a mystery of iniquity. It is not open sin and wickedness, but dissembled piety, specious errors, wickedness under a form of godliness cunningly managed, that is here meant: see the book called The Mystery of Jesuitism, or the Provincial Letters.

Polanus Palooza

It was 400 years ago today that the "neglected theologian," Amandus Polanus von Polansdorf, a Reformed divine, who was born in December 1561 in the German city of Polansdorf, and died on July 13, 1610. In the words of my friend Wes Bredenhof, there ought to be a "Polanus Palooza" to commemorate this occasion.

A biblical commentator (Malachi, Daniel, Hosea, Ezekiel, Romans and some Psalms), and systematic theologian (he authored Partitiones theologiae (1590), which commences with 55 pages of Ramist charts, published in English under the title The Substance of Christian Religion; and the much larger Syntagma theolgiae Christianae (1609), described by Dr. R. Scott Clark as "one of the greatest works of 17th-century Reformed theology that most have never read," a synopsis of which has been translated by Pastor Bredenhof), he served as the Old Testament professor at Basel, Switzerland, where he also produced a German translation of the Old Testament. As he studied under Theodore Beza, so he also taught Johannes Woellebius, and was a major representative of late 16th century Reformed orthodoxy.

His available works online have been catalogued at the Post-Reformation Digital Library. Some portions of his writings have also been translated into English and are available online, though the paucity of translation work is regrettable. Polanus is among the commentators cited by Matthew Poole in his Synopsis Criticorum, the translation of which is ongoing. Robert Letham writes, "Polanus is a bridge between the pristine Reformed teaching and orthodoxy, scholastic in constructing theology with academic precision and logical rigor but, with a strong doctrine of God, oriented to christological, soteriological, and practical concerns" (Donald K. McKim, ed., Encyclopedia of the Reformed Faith, p. 281). Let us not then forget to honor this great Reformed Biblical scholar and translator who warrants his own translation work, and a palooza 400 years after his translation into paradise.

Book Review: The Book of Psalms for Worship

The Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA) has published a new Psalter, The Book of Psalms for Worship (Pittsburgh, PA: Crown & Covenant Publications, 2009). Crown & Covenant was kind enough to seek my opinion of the new Psalter, and this review is a result of their inquiry, and encouragement to speak my mind fully and freely on the matter. In the interests of full disclosure, I was both a member and an officer (deacon) in the RPCNA for a number of years, and use both the 1973 RPCNA Psalter (The Book of Psalms for Singing) and the 1650 Scottish Metrical Psalter in our family worship.

The 2009 RPCNA Psalter has many practical reasons to commend its usage. It comes in both regular book-size format, as well as large-print (spiral-bound) and pocket (mini) sizes (this is true also of the 1650 Scottish Metrical Psalter published by the Trinitarian Bible Society), and in different colors. Selections from the new Psalter have been recorded and are available on CD and in MP3 format for download to aid in the singing of new Psalm settings. The Psalter itself is well-organized, containing indices of composers, tunes alphabetically and metrically arranged, topics and first lines from the Psalms, and an additional index referencing the usage of particular Psalms in the New Testament, all of which are handy resources. In addition, tables have been prepared identifying familiar hymn tunes used in the new Psalter as well as specifically comparing the differences between the 1973 and 2009 Psalters. "Understanding the Psalms in Christian Worship" and the historical perspective presented in "The Experience of Singing the Psalms" are commendable in the prefaces which precede the Psalms.

It is the substance of the work itself that gives this writer pause. The aim of the Psalter Revision Committee was to revise the 1973 Psalter by rendering it thoroughly in "modern English." This aim, to my mind, is questionable. While I am keenly aware of the challenges presented by singing some Psalm selections in an older Psalter -- the examples of "kyth'st" (Psalm 18.26) and "sith" (Psalms 16.8, 22.8, 50.17, 73.10, 86.3, 109.21, and 119.45) are often put forward in support of this argument for the need to modernize the language -- it must be remembered that just as "older is not always better," neither is newer always better. There is a great benefit to the church when the current generation is able to sing as their forefathers did, and changes ought not be made lightly to a book sung by the whole Church, which is indeed the very Word of God, and not a collection of uninspired hymns. Yet, though this version purposefully aims to eliminate "thee and thou" language entirely from its repertoire, going beyond the efforts of the 1973 edition this regard, in three cases (23B, 24B and 100A) the older "traditional" language is retained in the 2009 Psalter, and not thoroughly expunged. If it is virtuous to scrub from the Psalter all traditional ecclesiastical language, why retain some traditional selections at all? And if some traditional selections can be retained with profit to the church, why not more? What necessity compels this type of revision? Has our language really changed so much since 1973? Does referring to God as "Yahweh" truly reflect modern English speech better than "Jehovah" (Psalm 83.18)? If the effort to modernize the text of the Psalter is really as arbitrary as it appears, what does this say about the push to remove ecclesiastical language that has stood the test of time? The King James Version ("KJV") is still, according to the American Bible Society, "the most widely owned and used English translation in the USA." Traditional ecclesiastical language is, by the testimony of those both inside and outside the church, recognizable, understandable, usable, and sometimes ("ye" and "you") more faithful to the text of Scripture when it distinguishes between the plural and singular second person pronoun than our modern "you" which does not. When Psalm 82.6 uses both forms (KJV: "I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most high"), Matthew Poole infers here that "ye" is directed towards the Jewish magistrates, but "all of you" encompasses "not only the rulers of Israel, but of all other nations." Such distinctions in the text of Scripture are obliterated by slavishly adhering to the modern preference for exclusively utilizing only the "you" form of the second person plural, as in "Gods you are, I have declared it, You are sons of Him Most High" (Psalm 82A, 2009 ed.). And for purposes of a versified Psalter, a great potential for rhyming is lost when traditional language is excised.

"Thou", "thee", "thy" and "thine" extend the range of rhyming and provide a contrast with "I", "me" and "mine" in a manner which "you" and "yours" fail to do. In the Penguin Rhyming Dictionary the word "you" has a mere page of words which rhyme with it. The word "your" throws up just 17 words, few of which can be used in the plural form: doer, brewer, sewer, ewer, skewer, skua, Dewar, viewer, wrongdoer, pursuer; reviewer, evildoer, tamandua (tree-living mammal), Porirua (New Zealand city), Potorua, revenuer (US revenue officer), interviewer. In other words there is virtually no word for a hymnist, writing in the language of devotion concerning the personal relationship of the worshiper with Almighty God, that rhymes with "yours". The word "thine" however, has a page and a half of words which rhyme - about 500 words. The word "thee" has virtually an innumerable number of words to rhyme with it, including most adverbs, all listed in many pages in the Rhyming Dictionary. What opportunities for creativity this gives to the Christian poet. (Geoff Thomas, "In Praise of 'Thee' and 'Thou,'" Christian Renewal, March 11, 2002, Vol. 20, No. 12)

Aside from the issue of ecclesiastical language, there are concerns about the tunes employed in the new Psalter. To acknowledge one notable step forward, the designated tune for Psalm 135A has been changed from the more challenging "How Good The Lord Is" to the more familiar "Austria." Meanwhile, the complex "Russia" from Psalm 119X remains in 119W, while the stirring "Russian Hymn" (originally "God Save the Tsar!", the national anthem of the Russian Empire), is now included (119K), though at the expense of the pleasant "Morning Star" (119K, 1973 ed.). As a personal matter, this writer is disappointed to see the tune "Irish" dropped from usage in this edition. Of greater concern, however, is the inclusion of at least nine Christmas carol tunes ("Noel" used in 21A and 89B; "Veni Emmanuel" in 22B and 42B; "Bunessan" in 23C; "Normandy Carol" in 29B; "God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen" in 47C; "Forest Green" in 66B; "Sussex Carol" in 84C; "Christmas" in 117A; and "Coventry Carol" in 119S). While it is to be acknowledged that tunes are adiaphora and familiarity can be a strength when adapting a tune from hymn usage to Psalm accompaniment, sometimes the associations of a tune can be detrimental because they are distracting, and in this case, the connections with Christmas caroling seem particularly problematic. New tunes are not objectionable because they are contemporary compositions, or included for the first time, and when a Psalter is revised, such are expected; but new tunes with theological baggage such as strong associations to a religious holiday that violates the regulative principle of worship for which the RPCNA stands, in this opinion of this writer, are not an improvement.

It is in the areas of translational and theological accuracy that my own concerns chiefly reside. The men who wrote the 1673 Puritan Preface to the 1650 Scottish Metrical Psalter (including John Owen, Matthew Poole, Thomas Watson, Thomas Manton and other luminaries and superb Hebrew scholars) were able to say:

But then ’tis meet that these divine composures should be represented to us in a fit translation, lest we want David, in David; while his holy ecstasies are delivered in a flat and bald expression. The translation which is now put into thy hands cometh nearest to the original of any that we have seen, and runneth with such a fluent sweetness, that we thought fit to recommend it to thy Christian acceptance; some of us having used it already, with great comfort and satisfaction.

Fidelity to the Hebrew text in an English versification ought to be the chief goal of a modern Psalter to which all other appropriate aims are subordinate. I have not yet seen a perfect English Psalter, but I am concerned that a Psalter revision be an improvement in the areas of faithfulness to the Biblical text and not a step backwards.

Specific examples of such backwards steps in the new Psalter include:

• Messianic Psalms: The phrase "kiss the Son" (Ps. 2.12), which is such an important witness to the mediatorial kingship of Christ, a doctrine which is represented in the historic Covenanter blue banner ("For Christ's Crown & Covenant"), is replaced with the generic "Honor Him" (2B and 2C) and "be sincere in your devotion" (2D), both of which substantially weaken the Biblical proclamation here that it is the Son of God, Prince Messiah, who rules the kings and judges of the earth. To "kiss" (a token of subjection) "the Son" (that is, Christ) is a most notable and emphatic command directed to the kings and judges of the earth with respect to Him who is "Lord of lords, and King of kings" (Rev. 17.14), that it's dilution with such banal expressions can only serve to weaken what is otherwise a strong statement of the kingship (government) and the Sonship (person) of Christ. The phrase "this day have I begotten thee" (Ps. 2.7), an important witness to the eternal Sonship of Christ, is replaced with "I have brought You forth this day" (2B and 2C). In Psalm 8 the phrase "For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour" (v. 5), rendered "For Thou a little lower hast Him than the angels made; A crown of glory and renown Hast placed upon his head" (8A, 1973 ed.) and "Next to God You have made man, With light and honor crowned" (8B, 1973 ed.), is translated thus in the new Psalter: "Yet You created him to be Just less than one divine; You gave him honor as a crown, And made his glory shine" (8A). This new rendering, so far from being an improvement, sounds positively Arian on the surface of it. Hebrews 2, however, explicitly cites this passage in affirming the Sonship of Christ. In light of the fact that the New King James Version (NKJV) style of capitalization is employed in this Psalter, the lower case "him" is conspicuous in its failure to acknowledge the "him" and "his" in question to be Christ (even the phrase "son of man" in v. 4 is not capitalized), and clearly diminishes his divinity, and thus the Messianic import of this Psalm. Why should these sorts of downgrades in both translational and theological accuracy be made when the aim of the revision is to improve upon that which went before?

• The insertion of uninspired words in Psalms: In Psalms 24B, 150C and 150D Hallelujah choruses are added which are not in the original text. There is no justification for this from a Psalter produced by a church which adheres to exclusive psalmody, not even when the people added to Psalm 118 during the triumphal entry of our Lord into Jerusalem. Adding uninspired words to the text, no matter how well-intentioned, and singing them to God in worship is quite simply a violation of the regulative principle of worship which the RPCNA is committed to upholding both in word and in practice.

• Refrains: Psalms 19C and 47C use refrains in a way that Scripture does not. The rearranging of verses out of order for purposes of creating a refrain go far beyond the simple versification of a metrical Psalm into the realm of re-writing. Opponents of exclusive psalmody often argue that a versified Psalm is no longer in fact the inspired Word of God. This writer does not agree if it can be shown that fidelity to the original text underlies the versification, but when a Psalm is re-written so significantly as to skip over a verse and consign it to the refrain of each stanza, or take two verses and turn them into a refrain that gets repeated after earlier verses but out of order, then this gives merit to the argument that it is in fact a human composition based on a Biblical text rather than a faithful rendering of a versified Psalm. Oddly, in Psalm 136B, a proper (Biblical) refrain, verse 7b ("for his mercy endureth forever" in the KJV or "His love endures forever" in The Book of Psalms for Worship), is omitted, and this happens again in Psalm 136C when verses 17 and 18 are compressed together, with one legitimate refrain employed instead of two as used by the text (see below).

• Intermingling, compression and omission of verses: Psalms 6B (vv. 1-2), 8A and 8C (vv. 7-8), 22C (vv. 14-15), 44A (vv. 7-8), 105B (vv. 11-12), 136A (vv. 11-12), 136B (v. 7) and 136C (vv. 17-18) intermingle or compress, sometimes to the point of omission, Bible verses. Switching back and forth between a pair of verses to achieve versification or, especially, compressing verses to the point of omission is treading on dangerous ground, in this writer's opinion. This makes at the very least for a reductionistic and short-circuited translation effort.

• Translation choices: Psalm 23D (2009 ed.) takes the familiar phrase "Yea, though I walk in death's dark vale" (Psalm 23A, 1973 ed.) and renders it "Though I walk the valley where death hides the light." Psalm 77.18a (rendered "The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven:" in the KJV and "Amid the whirlwinds of the sky Thy voice in thunder pealed" in Psalm 77C, 1973 ed.) is now rendered "Across the sky tornadoes roared" (Psalm 77B, 2009 ed.). These are two instances of translation renderings that leave this writer scratching his head.

This not meant to be an exhaustive list of flaws, but an illustration of the types of concerns shared by this writer and others about the new Psalter. Though I love the 1650 Psalter, I am not opposed to using other editions, as my own family practice evidences (though my stated concerns about the 2009 Psalter do have some application to the 1973 Psalter, it seems to me that the newer edition goes beyond earlier flaws). And I have striven to look for the good as well as the bad in this new edition. But from the larger perspective of what is good for the church, I fear that the tendency of the RPCNA to issue new editions of the Psalter every generation or so by the use of ever-more modern versions (the RPCNA used the 1650 Psalter until the end of the 19th century, and since then new versions have been published in 1889, 1912, 1929, 1950, 1973 and 2009), rather than strengthening the witness to exclusive psalmody, is in fact undermining this goal, and diluting the power of God's Word in the life and witness of the church. While Psalters can be improved, the concept of "generational Psalters" -- that is, that each generation ought to have its own particular edition of the Psalter -- seems to only promote the fracturing of the church by pitting one generation's form of worship against the preceding and the following generations. Fidelity in the translation of the Psalms has been sacrificed for the sake of modernity, and to what end? The improvements in the new edition -- and there are some -- are outweighed by its deficiencies, some of which are merely tacky translation renderings or distracting melodies and some of which actually tread on very dangerous theological ground. I wish that I could recommend this Psalter, and but for the love of Christ's church, and the good of the RPCNA which has a special place in my heart, and with humility, I can only do so if it is used with discernment.

I wish to express appreciation to both Rev. Adam King (RPCNA) and Sean McDonald for their invaluable assistance in providing information and insights as I took up this review. I also wish to add that I remain a great fan of Crown & Covenant Publications and am thankful for their many labors to promote the singing of Psalms, and for their encouragement to review this Psalter and speak my mind freely.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free from the publisher in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Think So's

It is a dangerous thing to stray from the sure foundation of God's Word. To proceed on one's own course without a divine warrant is to act without faith, which is sin (Rom. 14.23), because faith is grounded not upon and good intentions and guesses and wishful thinking but upon the Word of the Lord. It is not enough, in the sphere of worship, to not take away from God's Word, but we must not add to it either (Deut. 4.2, 12.32), and so enmesh ourselves in vain will worship (Col. 2.23). While we must all confess that our faith is weak, and beseech God for greater faith, even our weak faith must take care to remain anchored upon that sure foundation of Christ and his Word. If our moorings are undone, so are our vessels. There are no "think so's" in godly divinity; that is playing with fire before the God with whom we have to do (Heb. 4.13).

John Collinges, in Matthew Poole's English Annotations on Rev. 19.10, when John fell at the Angel's feet:

And he said unto me, See thou do it not; but the angel doth not only refuse it, but with some indignation; ...Have a care you do it not. From whence we may observe, what a fig leaf they have made to cover the papists’ idolatry, in worshipping the bread in the eucharist, who (to show us their great skill in divinity) think they may be excused from idolatry in it, because they think the bread is turned into the body of Christ; idolatry is not to be excused by think so’s.

Matthew Poole's Dialogue

A Puritan classic of Roman Catholic apologetics is soon to see the light of day once again thanks to Dr. Don Kistler of Northampton Press. First published in 1672 by Matthew Poole as A Dialogue between a Popish-Priest and an English Protestant: Wherein the principal points and arguments of both religions are truly proposed, and fully examined, Poole's work will shortly be republished under the title A Dialogue Between a Catholic Priest and a Protestant. It is available for pre-order now for $10 + $5 shipping until June 1st, after which time the price will go up, so order today.

Dr. Kistler writes:

Matthew Poole is a highly-regarded Puritan scholar and preacher. This work of his has been out of print for nearly 200 years. It is a dialogue between a Roman Catholic priest and a Protestant, old friends who meet after many years and decide to discuss the differences between their various religions. Poole uses official Roman documents for the arguments of that faith, and the Protestant appeals to Scripture and logic in answering back.

There are many polemical books one can buy that present each side's case, but I've never seen or read one where it is an actual back-and-forth, where both sides are presented. It is like watching a debate. And Matthew Poole says in his introduction to the book that he has not set up the priest as a straw man with weak arguments, but has actually taken the Catholic position from official Romanist documents that have that Church's imprimatur.

Some of the topics covered include transubstantiation, the authority of the church, praying to saints, justification by faith alone, the role of Mary, and many other key issues.

This book should be ready to ship by June 1, 2010.

Matthew Poole's Latin Synopsis Criticorum Fully Available Online

For those interested in reading Matthew Poole's Synopsis Criticorum online, this invaluable exegetical resource for the study of the Scriptures is now available to readers of Latin in its entirety. The Post-Reformation Digital Library has links to Volumes 1, 2 and 4 here. Google Books has recently made available Volumes 3 and 5 to complete the set from the 1694 Frankfort edition, which Samuel Austin Allibone, A Critical Dictionary of British and American Authors (1882), Vol. 2, p. 1622, describes as the "best" edition. The links are available below.

Volume 3 (as of November 30, 2009 from the University of Lausanne)
Volume 5 (as of November 30, 2009 from the University of Lausanne)
Volume 5 (as of February 25, 2010 from the Bavarian State Library)

Meanwhile, work progresses on the English translation of the Synopsis at the Matthew Poole Project. Approximately 10% of the work has been translated into English at the present time, and the third and final volume of Revelation is expected to be published later this spring, dv.