RBO is the Place to Go

I want to highlight a very valuable website which is fast becoming a go-to repository of some of the best Reformed reading material on the Internet: Reformed Books Online. It is run by my friend Travis Fentiman, who is a licentiate in the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing). I am a contributor to the site as well. 

There are a number of great websites around which have assembled collections of Reformed literature. I recommend the Post-Reformation Digital Library, Monergism, A Puritan's Mind and others. But as RBO has grown and expanded (and continues to do so weekly), I think it has become a site that all Reformed Christians will find to be simply invaluable as it makes available and accessible material from the time of the Reformation forward to the present on such a wide range of topics that readers of this blog will appreciate.

For example, those interested in Psalmody, Psalters or the Establishment Principle or the writings of the Westminster Divines or Scottish Covenanters will have hours and hours of edifying reading. If you desire to read all Reformed Systematic Theologies available online, and much, much more [see also several recommended reading lists here], RBO is the place to go.

Father Brakel's Translation Anniversary

Today marks the 300th anniversary of the death of "Father Brakel," a giant among the Dutch Nadere Reformatie, who was translated to be with his Savior on October 30, 1711. Author of the classic devotional systematic theology and his magnum opus, The Christian's Reasonable Service, Wilhelmus à Brakel was born on January 2, 1635, in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands.

His father, Theodorus à Brakel, was himself a noted minister (whose pastoral career began in 1637), and his mother, Margaretha Homma ensured that Wilhelmus grew up in a pious home. All five of Wilhelmus sisters died in their youth, leaving him alone to survive his parents. Just as the prayers of Theodorus' grandmother made a deep impression upon Theodorus, so too did the prayers of Theodorus and Margaretha make an early and deep impression upon Wilhelmus. Before joining the Labadists, Anna Maria van Schurman was among those who visited the family home. Theodorus himself was known to spend a third of each day in private prayer and meditation. Theodorus published a devotional work under the title Het Geestelyken Leven; after his death, Wilhelmus would later publish a set of his father's spiritual manuscripts under the title De Trappen des Geestelyken Levens (The Steps of Grace in Spiritual Life), which includes a spiritual dialogue between father and son.

Wilhelmus followed in his father's footsteps and was ordained to the ministry in 1659, yet continued his studies in Utrecht under the mentorship of Gisbertus Voetius for several more years due a lack of pulpit vacancies. His pastoral career began at Exmorra, Friesland in 1662, where he married Sara Nevius. Eventually, he settled in Rotterdam where he finished his ministerial labors. He was involved in a few controversies over the years, including his notable defense of the church (and Jacobus Koelman, in particular) against the Erastian tendencies of the Dutch government, and the siren call of the Labadists, that is, Jean de Labadie and his followers, who sought, much like Harold Camping in our day, to draw believers away from the organized church in pursuit of a "pure" church. As concerned as à Brakel was about the spiritual health of the Dutch Reformed Church in his day (particularly in regards to the issue of Sabbath-keeping), he wisely resisted the temptation to remove himself from the means of grace established by Christ in the ordinances and ecclesiastical institutions of the church, and ably responded to Labadist arguments in Leer en Leydinge der Labadisten (Doctrine and Government of the Labadists), later also affirming the duty to join the church as espoused in Article 28 of the Belgic Confession. It was at Rotterdam that he wrote his magnum opus, De Redelijke Godsdienst (1700, 3 volumes; the definitive third edition of 1707 contained 2,350 pages; the English translation by Bartel Elshout under the title The Christian's Reasonable Service was published in 4 volumes, 1992-1995). (The English translation remains incomplete, since a decision was made not to translate the final section of this work consisting of à Brakel's exposition of the Book of Revelation, see here for my earlier plea for this to be translated.) This work, contemporaneous with the publication of Matthew Henry's Commentary in England, represents, in my view, the high-water mark of Dutch Puritan orthodoxy and spiritual piety. It is his greatest legacy to the church, and in large measure the reason why he came to be known endearingly as Father Brakel when, during the 18th century, readings from this beloved devotional work were so often a part of Dutch family worship that it went through 20 editions in that century alone.

More can be learned about the life of this Puritan giant of the faith at Dr. Elshout's website here as well as here; and The Christian's Reasonable Service may be read online or downloaded here. If you have not previously been acquainted with the life and works of Wilhelmus à Brakel, this anniversary of his passing provides a good opportunity to learn more and, I trust, be greatly edified. It is good to remember the saints who have gone before us, and it may be truly said of such a man as Father Brakel that "the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance" (Ps. 112.6).

Incomprehensibility of God

Samuel Willard, Sermon XIII (Jan. 2, 1688), A Compleat Body of Divinity:

From these considerations, we may proceed to the particular confirmation of the Proposition, viz. That the first Being is not knowable by us, as he is in himself....

(1.) THAT our Reason is not able to grasp in the knowledge of him. It cannot entertain the quidditative conception of him. It is certain, that man knows nothing, but by some Rule of reason, which is the carrier between God & man: all things which are conveyed into our understandings, are handed to them in a Logical way: and we come to know them, by seeing into the reasons of them. But our reason is not able to apprehend God essentially. And that,

1. BECAUSE there is no equal proportion between the faculty & the Object. We heard, that the Object known must be (some way) in the faculty of knowing: and hence it follows of necessity, that there must be a due proportion between these two. But now there is an infinity vast difference between God & the creature: the most extendedly vast created understanding is still a finite understanding; but God is Infinite, and between Finite & Infinite, there is no proportion: the faculty is bounded, but the Object is boundless. Psal. 147. 5. Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite. How then should this egg comprehend the Ocean?

2. BECAUSE if he were comprehensible by our knowledge, than our knowledge of him would be equal to his own knowledge of himself. Divine knowledge is adequate to the Divine Essences: the Nature of God is the proportionable Object of his Understanding, he knows not above or below himself. If therefore we could known him essentially, our weak and finite understanding would be equal to his Divine, Infinite and Supream [sic] knowledge: for the perfection of his Understanding, is to know himself, i.e., that latitude and glory of his own being.

At this point, the lecture breaks off, and Willard is transported to new heights of ecstatic contemplation.

But, Oh! the vast distance that the Creature stands at from God! Shall the upstarts of time, equal themselves in Understanding with Eternity itself? Shall they that are of Yesterday, and know nothing, compare with him that is from Everlasting? Shall our purblind eyes challenge as much as he, who is light it self?

3. BECAUSE he is without Causes. Humane knowledge comes to discern into things, by reaching the Causes of them, and in that way it pries into the Nature or Essence of them. He that apprehends the first being, is able to say what he is, to trace his Original, to give a true and proper definition of him, to find out and discover the Nature of his essential & constituting principles; but this no Creature can do; and that because there is no Essence, nor Nature that (in propriety of speech) can be attributed to God: for Nature and Essence bespeak a thing arising out of some fore-going Principles; but there is no Principle of God, for there is nothing before him. Isai. 44. 6. Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer the Lord of hosts, I am the first, and I am the last, and besides me there is no God.

Passing by further supporting arguments, I move ahead to share Willard's exhortations to believers as they ponder the incomprehensibility of their Maker. Note his climatic return to ecstatic utterance.

1. BEWARE of diving too deep into the Mysteries of the Divinity. Quaint curiousity here is but distraction: faithful ignorance is better than temerarious knowledge. Know for certain, that when your Understanding hath fluttered as high as the wings of Reason can carry it, you will find such riddles in the Deity, as you will never be able to unfold.

2. LET us be much in meditating upon this God. The more God's People see of him, the more they discover how little they know of him; and knowing, that they can never know too much, it puts them upon the Apostle's Practice, Phil. 3.13. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, & reaching forth those things which are before, &c. And their prayer is after him, Eph. 3.16, to 20. That God would grant them according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might, by his Spirit in the inner man, That Christ may dwell in their hearts by faith, That they being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that they might be filled with all the fulness of God.

3. LET us be sober in the Conceptions, that we entertain in our minds concerning God. Beware of rude, foolish, and absurd thoughts of him. Let his incomprehensible greatness make us afraid: when we have thought our highest and best of him, still remember that all this comes infinitely short of his glorious Perfections.

4. LET us therefore admire and adore this incomprehensible Being. Here we have a proper subject for our Admiration called for, when we see a Being into whose Nature and Causes, we have not, nor can have any insight: such a One is God. Where then we cannot resolve, let us contemplate; and what we cannot comprehend, let us wonder at: where our reason is non-plust, let it be our work to gaze our selves into astonishment. And here is matter of Eternal Admiration. The glorious Angels cover their faces, and spend Eternity in crying Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of Hosts! And let us, in imitation, sit down, and cry with the Apostle, Oh the depth!

Rowling

Before Harry Potter, a different sort of Rowling made an impression upon 19th century Princeton divinity students:

Charles Hodge, Princeton Theological Seminary: A Discourse Delivered at the Re-Opening of the Chapel, September 27, 1874, pp. 18-20:

As to the method of instruction adopted by our first professors little need be said. They both used text-books where they could be had. Dr. Alexander's text-book in theology was Turrettin's Theologia Elenchtica, one of the most perspicuous books ever written. In the discussion of every subject it begins with the Status Quaestionis, stating that the question is not this or that; neither this nor that, until every foreign element is eliminated, and then the precise point in hand is laid down with unmistakable precision. Then follow in distinct paragraphs, numbered one, two, three, and so on, the arguments in its support. Then come the Fontes Solutionum, or answers to objections. The first objection is stated with the answer; then the second, and so on to the end. Dr. Alexander was accustomed to give us from twenty to forty quarto pages, in Latin, to read for a recitation. And we did read them. When we came to recite, the professor would place the book before him and ask, What is the State of Question? What is the first argument? What is the second, &c? Then what is the first objection and its answer? What the second, &c? There were some of my classmates, Dr. Johns the present bishop of the Episcopal Church in Virginia, for example, who would day after day be able to give the State of the Question, all the arguments in its support in their order, all the objections and the answers to them, through the whole thirty or forty pages, without the professor saying a word to him. This is what in the College of New Jersey used to be called rowling. Whatever may be thought of this method of instruction, it was certainly effective. A man who had passed through that drill never got over it. Some years ago I heard the late Bishop McIlvaine preach a very orthodox sermon in the Episcopal Church in this place. When we got home, it being a very warm day, he threw himself on the bed to rest. In the course of conversation he happened to remark that a certain professor failed to make any marks on the minds of his students. I said to him, "Old Turrettin, it seems, has left his mark on your mind." He sprang from the bed, exclaiming, "That indeed he has, and I would give any thing to see his theology translated and made the text-book in all our Seminaries." The Jesuits are wise in their generation, and they have adopted this method of instruction in their institutions.

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.

There Were Giants In Those Days

As Methodist minister Samuel Dunn once wrote concerning those Puritan divines who preached the famous "Morning Exercises," "There were giants in those days." He is the author of a remarkable biographical work entitled Memoirs of seventy-five eminent Divines whose Discourses form the Morning Exercises at Cripplegate, St. Giles-in-the-Fields, and Southwark (1844), which was recently digitized by Google Books, as Satch Chikhlia kindly brought to my attention. Besides biographical sketches which comprise a "who's who" of the London Puritans, Dunn has done a great service by providing sermon outlines from each of the contributors. Of the seventy-five ministers, thirteen signed the 1673 Puritan Preface to the Scottish Metrical Psalter, nine were among the continuators of Matthew Poole's English Annotations, and one was a continuator of Matthew Henry's Commentary. The publication of this work accompanied the republication by James Nichols the same year of a "celebrated body of divinity" (James Darling) by those seventy-five divines which is, in my view, among the greatest of Puritan contributions to practical theology. Republished again in 1981 by Richard Owen Roberts under the title Puritan Sermons, 1659-1689, the six volumes comprised therein are also now at least mostly available online from both Google Books and the Internet Archive. Bill Sullivan has done an excellent job of assembling the links to access these works online. To read these sermons is to drink from a well of wisdom, and to this writer's knowledge, there is no other single volume which includes biographical information of all seventy-five Puritan ministers in one place. Truly, there were giants in those days.

Catechetic and Acroamatic Theology; or, Milk and Meat

Luther Poellot, trans. and ed., The Nature and Character of Theology: An Introduction to the Thought of J.A. Quenstedt from Theologia Didactio-Polemica Sive Systema Theologicum, pp. 43-47:

Thesis XVI

The theology of indirect revelation, or of institution, is either catechetic, initial, or more elementary (which is also called [theology] of babes, of novices and beginners) or profound, advanced, or more detailed (which is also called [theology] of the mature [or] established).

Thesis XVII

Catechetic theology is that which singles out only the chief heads of Christian doctrine and trains the unlearned common people in them. Hence it is also called elementary or initial, because it teaches the first elements and rudiments of Christian religion and is chiefly concerned with laying the foundations of the doctrine of faith. This kind of teaching was once called catechesis and catechism, the teachers themselves were called catechists, the learners [were called] catechumens, [and] the action itself was called instruction or catechization, 1 Co. 14:19; Gl 6:6; Acts 18:25.
...

Thesis XVIII

Acroamatic theology is that which teaches [and] establishes the mysteries of faith in greater detail and at greater length and refutes errors against sound doctrine, and it is [the theology] of the bishops and presbyters in the church, and especially of those who in the schools teach not simply Christians but future teachers of Christians and are called chief theologians.

Note: Catechetic theology differs from acroamatic not in the matter considered but by reason of the object and way of considering [it]....

Thesis XIX

In regard to manner of presentation, acroamatic theology is either exegetic, or didactic strictly so called, or polemic, or homiletic, or casual, or finally historical.

Thesis XX

Exegetic theology, which [is] also Biblical, also called prophetic by some, is that which is concerned with a paraphrase or a fuller explanation and commentary on either the whole or part of Holy Scripture, a book or some passage of it, and investigates its truth and true meaning.

Thesis XXI

Didactic theology, strictly so called, which is also called systematic and thetic or positive, is that which sets forth in order and clearly explains the theological commonplaces, exactly defines and divides the doctrines of faith, and derives and proves them from the fundamental seat that they have in Holy Scripture.

Note: This didactic theology is suited to schools and academies and is much more detailed and fuller than the popular or catechetical [theology] that obtains in the churches among the unlearned people....

Thesis XXII

Polemic theology, polemic and controversial, or controversial and refutative, which others call scholastic, or rather academic, deals with ancient and more recent theological controversies, properly formulates the point of the question, establishes the heavenly truth with arguments drawn from Holy Scripture, defends established [truth] against objections, asserts vindicated [truth] against objections and is thus concerned with building up orthodoxy and tearing down heterodoxy or in building up the truth and destroying falsehood. Briefly, Didactic theology teaches the truth, polemic [theology] defends the truth.

Note I. Didactic and controversial theology do not differ in regard to matter but only as to the way of handling [it].

Note II. In polemic theology this is especially to be avoided, that idle questions be piled up and arguments grow out of arguments, thus creating a theology of strife and contention, in which the truth is lost by too much altercation.

Both Tables of the Law

Edward Leigh, Epistle Dedicatory, A Systeme or Body of Divinity:

It is the Duty of the Magistrate not onely to regard that the life of his Subjects be civil and honest, but also that it be religious and godly. Therefore we are taught to pray for them, that we may live under them a peaceable life, not only in all honesty, but also in all godliness, or true worship of God, as the word used by the Apostle doth signifie. Therefore the King was commanded to take a Copy of the whole Law, and not of the second Table only, implyingg that he should look to the execution as well of the first Table as the second.

For the Spread of the Gospel

George Hill, born in 1750, died 190 years ago today, on December 19, 1819. He graduated the University of St. Andrews at 14, was appointed Professor of Greek there at the age of 22, and was ordained to the ministry at St. Andrews when he was 28. He eventually rose to the positions of Professor of Divinity and Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. His publications include Volume of Sermons (1796); Lectures upon Portions of the Old Testament (1812); Theological Institutes (1817); and, posthumously, Lectures on Divinity (1821).

On May 20, 1790, he preached a sermon before the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland challenging that body, on the basis of the sermon text, Ps. 22.27-28, to take up the cause of the "universal propagation" of the Christian gospel throughout the world. This sermon promoting a worldwide missionary endeavor preceded by two years the publication of William Carey's An Inquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens, and constitutes an important step forward in the history of missions.

Sermon XIV (preached on May 20, 1790):

While we are thankful for the Father of Lights for the fullness and purity in which the inhabitants of this happy isle enjoy the advantages of the Christian Revelation, let us aspire to the exalted office of being workers with Him in the great and benevolent scheme, by which he is gathering his children out of all kindreds and tribes. The ministers of religion fulfill the peculiar business of their station, when they recommend the gospel to the attention and esteem of the world, by preaching its doctrines uncorruptly, and by exhibiting in their lives, a specimen of the divine power of those truths which they preach. Men of rank and influence act in the spirit of true patriotism, and of a philanthropy still more enlarged, when they cherish, by their example, the respect which the people entertain for the religion of their country: and the most private Christian, by discharging the duty which Jesus requires of him, and by forming his children to the love of that religion into which they were baptized, contributes, in his place, to maintain the barrier which the God of truth hath erected against the progress of idolatry and superstition. The public establishment of Christianity is the light of the world, and the virtues of Christians, by making this light to shine before men, draw them unto Jesus. When the subjects of the Prince of Peace appear clad in the beauties of holiness, they display the glory and the excellency of his kingdom. The attraction of virtue, that charm which commands the heart of man, is felt by every one who beholds the fruit of the spirit in all goodness, and righteousness, and truth; and the friends of Jesus thus prepare for Him, a people who shall be willing, in the day of his power.

Thomas Murphy's Recommended Pastoral Library

The following is a list of recommended books that should be had and consulted by the Christian minister in his library prepared by Thomas Murphy, an Irish-American Presbyterian, who was born in Country Antrim in 1823 and died in New Jersey in 1900. Where possible and desirable, I have provided links to online edition of the works he cited for easier reference.

Thomas Murphy, Pastoral Theology; The Pastor in the Various Duties of His Office (1877), pp. 144-147:

In order to give some assistance in the selection of books, we would name a few upon the respective branches of ministerial study. We pass by general reading and culture, for it is with the minister in his special calling as pastor that we are now concerned. We give only a few authors as many as may serve at the beginning of the ministry a sort of indispensable apparatus for commencing the great work. At least, the pastor's library should be stocked with most of these as soon as circumstances will allow. The books we name have been well tried, and are recommended by persons whose judgment is worthy of confidence.

1. Books of general reference. Webster's or Worcester's English Dictionary -- this should be a constant companion; Roget's Thesaurus of English Words; some good general Encyclopaedia if possible.

2. Interpretation of Scripture. Cruden's Concordance; Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, Hackett's edition; Simmons' Manual; Wheeler's Analysis and Summary of Old Testament History; Whitney or Barrow's Sacred Geography; The Land and the Book.

3. Commentaries. On the whole Bible, Henry's Commentary; Critical and Experimental Commentary by Jamieson, Faussett and Brown; Lange's great Bible work is a thesaurus of scriptural exposition which may be secured as the wants of the pastor require. Many of the best expositors have written on only one or a few books of Scripture. A detailed list of some of the most useful of these may now be given: On Genesis, Murphy, Jacobus, Bush; on Exodus, Murphy, Jacobus, Bush; on Leviticus, Bush, Bonar; on Numbers, Bush, Keil and Delitzsch; on Deuteronomy, Keil and Delitzsch; on the whole Pentateuch, Calvin; on Joshua and Judges, Bush, Keil and Delitzsch; on Ruth and Samuel, Keil and Delitzsch; on Esther, McCrie; on Job, Barries; on Psalms, Barnes, Calvin; on Proverbs, Bridges, Stuart; on Ecclesiastes, Bridges; on Song of Solomon, Newton; on Isaiah, Barnes, Alexander; on Jeremiah and Lamentations, Henderson; on Ezekiel, Fairbairn; on Daniel, Barnes, Auberlin, Stuart; on the minor prophets, Henderson; on Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, Moore; on the four Evangelists, John J. Owen; on Matthew and Mark, Alexander; on John, Hutch[e]son; on Acts, Alexander, Hackett, Jacobus; on Romans, Hodge, Turner; on Corinthians, Hodge; on Galatians, Luther; on Ephesians, Hodge; on Philippians and Colossians, Eadie; on Thessalonians, Timothy, Titus and Philemon, Barnes; on Hebrews, Stuart, Owen; on James, Barnes, Pattison; on Peter, Barnes and Leighton; on John and Jude, Barnes; on Revelation, Stuart, Barnes and Auberlin.

4. Theology. Systematic Theology, by Hodge; Hill's Divinity; Dwight's Theology; Dick's Theology; Outlines of Theology, by A. A. Hodge; Pictet's Theology.

5. Church History. Mosehim's Ecclesiastical History; Shedd's History of Doctrines; Kurtz's Sacred History; Schaff's Apostolic Church; McCrie's Life of Knox; History of the Church in Chronological Tables, H. B. Smith; The Ancient Church, by Dr. Killen; D'Aubigne's Histories.

6. Church Government and the Sacraments. Miller on the Christian Ministry; Miller on the Ruling Elder; Primitive Church Officers, J. A. Alexander; Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity; Coleman's Primitive Church.

7. Sermons. This field is a boundless one, and we give only a few books which are known to be of standard value: South's Sermons; Robert Hall's Sermons; Sermons of John M. Mason these should be read by all means; Davie's Sermons; Archibald Alexander's Practical Sermons; Gospel in Ezekiel, Guthrie; Principal Cunningham's Sermons, amongst the best in the language; Spurgeon's Sermons; Bishop Horsley's Sermons, among the best.

8. Practical Piety. Russell's Letters; Rutherford's Letters; A Kempis; James's Earnest Ministry; Winslow's Precious Things of God; Baxter's Reformed Pastor; Daily Meditations by Bowen; Owen on the Glory of Christ a work of pre-eminent value; Owen on Spiritual-Mindedness -- Dr. Alexander said this should be read once a year; Howe's Delight in God; Flavel's Keeping the Heart.

9. Christian Biography. Lives of McCheyne, Simeon, Henry Martyn, Hal[y]burton, Archibald Alexander.

10. Great Puritan Writers. John Howe -- all of his works. Says James W. Alexander, "A little reading in the pages of great thought will sometimes set one thinking, as if by a happy contagion. Such pages are those of John Howe." Owen, especially on Hebrews Dr. Mason used to say all his theology was from this. Some of his most valuable productions are on "Spiritual-Mindedness," on the "Glory of Christ," on "Forgiveness of Sin," "Indwelling Sin," and "Mortification of Sin;" Baxter, especially his "Saints Rest" and "Reformed Pastor," Leighton's works; Flavel's works highly recommended; and Charnock on the "Divine Attributes."

11. On Sabbath-school Work. "Sunday-School Idea" (Hart); "Sabbath -School Index" (Pardee); "Preparing to Teach" (Presbyterian Board).

The minister who has secured most of these books is furnished with the best of reading for many a day, and with authorities on almost all subjects that can come before him in his profession. Of other authors he will find out the value in the progress of his ministry, and purchase them as new wants arise. It was an excellent advice of Dr. Archibald Alexander that ministers should buy books only as they are actually needed, and not to be stored away on the shelves of the library for future use. Our last advice is to be sure of getting only the standard and very best authors.

New Blog: The Christian's Reasonable Service

I am pleased to note that there is a new blog dedicated to the life and legacy of the Dutch Puritan Wilhelmus à Brakel. The particular focus of this blog is on his magnum opus, The Christian's Reasonable Service. This is, on a personal note, my favorite systematic theology. The blog itself is run by Bartel Elshout, who translated this magnificent devotional work into English. The blog is new but already there is much to digest about "Father Brakel" and the godly impact he has had on so many. Join me in following along as Rev. Elshout, whose own service to the church is deeply appreciated, continues to share with us about a man who profoundly affected his life, and speaking once again personally, my own.

First Puritan Systematic Theology

Dudley Fenner, author of the first systematic theology by an English Puritan/Presbyterian, Sacra Theologia (1584/1585):

Theology is the knowledge of the truth which is from God for living rightly and blessedly.

TCRS on Sale

My favorite systematic theology -- for its sound orthodoxy, clear style and practical, experimental, devotional warmth and piety -- is that of Wilhelmus à Brakel, The Christian's Reasonable Service. And so it is a pleasure to report that this four-volume set published by Reformation Heritage Books is on sale until August 15, 2009.

Joel Heflin says:

Reformation Heritage Books is having a special offer: Receive an additional $10 off the 4 volume set of Brakel’sReasonable Service from now until August 15, 2009. Simply enter this coupon code Brakel2009 in the RHB shopping cart, or mention this post if ordering by phone.

If you have not yet acquired this set for your personal study, consider taking advantage of this offer while it lasts. à Brakel will be well worth your time to read.

Works of Francis Turretin

A variety of extracts from the famous Institutes of Elenctic Theology by Francis Turretin are available in English online (see here, here and here), including his Seventh Disputation on Antichrist.

In Latin, the three-volume Institutes is available online here; as well as at Google Books: Vol. 1, Vol. 2 and Vol. 3. Additionally, the fourth volume of his works, his Disputationes, which as far as I know has never been translated into English, is available online in Latin here.

It has been said that:

Among Reformed Theologians of the world, both present and past, Francis Turretin's Insitutio fairs among the greatest Protestant theological work ever written. And if more disciples of Jesus Christ were to pick this work up and read it, then live it, the church would a force to be reckoned with in this 21st century. We may compare Turretin's work against Luther's voluminous productions, Calvin's writings, and others. Yet, I believe Turretin's theological compilation and sheer depth outweighs them all. Some may disagree knowing Calvin and Luther, and others, were the foundations on which Turretin's biblical theology emerged, and this may be true, yet, his logic, order, and keen insight into the Scriptures shines brighter among the scholastics than any I know.

Samuel Stone's Whole Body of Divinity

Samuel Stone, who arrived in the New World on the same boat with John Cotton and Thomas Hooker (that "glorious triumvirate" -- Cotton Mather) was an assistant to Hooker and, with him, one of the founding fathers of Hartford, Connecticut. He served as pastor there until his death. He is known for producing the first American colonial systematic theology, A Whole Body of Divinity, which was left in manuscript in 1650s and has never been published. Samuel Bellingham, son of Massachusetts Governor Richard Bellingham, proposed to do so, but did not follow through. Samuel Willard transcribed the work in 1697 (and later produced his own systematic theology, A Compleat Body of Divinity, which was an exposition of the Westminster Shorter Catechism). Stone's work, the fruit of his preaching in the 1630s and 1640s, was not an exposition of the Catechism, but rather a systematic theology in the vein of Alexander Richardson, John Yates and William Ames. Cotton Mather reports that Stone's work ("this rich treasure") was so highly regarded that ministerial candidates were required to copy the manuscript by hand. Willard's transcript is owned by the Massachusetts Historical Society. It is being prepared for publication by Baird Tipson, president of Washington College, who notes that "Stone’s 540-page treatise is almost surely the first systematic treatment of any subject written in the new American colonies." In this reader's opinion, it will be a valuable contribution to the study of New England Puritan theology when it is published.

First Reformed Systematic Theology

Many, with good reason, look to John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536) as the first and chief systematic treatment of Reformed theology. But it is important to realize that he drew upon earlier systematic theological works by other Reformers, which are not to be forgotten.

Philipp Melanchthon is credited with publishing the first Protestant systematic exposition of theology in 1521, Loci communes theologici.

In 1524-1525, while in Montbeliard, William Farel wrote and published the first Reformed systematic theology in French, Summaire briefue declaration daucuns lieux fort necessaires a ung chascun Chrestien pour mettre sa confiance en Dieu et ayder son prochain.

Also in 1525, Ulrich Zwingli published Commentarius de Vera et Falsa Religione.

And in 1529, François Lambert of Avignon, the author of the first commentary on Revelation by a Reformer (1528), published Somme chrestienne.

The True Theologian

Martin Bucer: "True theology is not theoretical, but practical. The end of it is living, that is to live a godly life."

William Perkins: 'Theology is “the science of living blessedly forever.”'

William Ames: 'Theology is the “doctrine of living to God.”'

Herman Witsius: “He alone is a true theologian who adds the practical to the theoretical part of religion.”