It is fashionable to account the puritans of the last age a gloomy generation: but some people are not ambitious of fashion, and to them we may be allowed to say two things in favour of these gloomy people.
1. Was it fair to persecute and ruin people, and then to reproach them for not being merry? They that wasted us, required of us mirth, saying, sing us one of the songs of Zion! Psal. cxxxvii.3. How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land! Alas! the Lord's songs would give you no pleasure! The songs of Sion are not composed in your taste! If we must sing, compose our odes yourselves! Come, set the five-mile act to musick! Play away upon our liberties, and properties, and lives. Give us hunger, and thirst, and nakedness, and want of all things! smite us from the sole of the foot to the top of the head! Hang our lives in doubt day and night! drive us to despair, make us mad for the sight of our eyes, and then reproach us for not being merry!
2. These people were not gloomy, on the contrary, there is a satirical vein of pointed wit, that runs merrily through all their writings, and electrifies as it runs. I do not say, their wit was as well refined as modern wit: that would be profane indeed! but it was the wit of the age, and they were cheerful in the exercise of it. I could exemplify this by innumerable extracts from their polemical writings, and even by transcribing the titles of some of them: but I will only now mention two things, which afforded these dull men some diversion. 1. The shifts made to establish the liturgy diverted them. When kneeling at the communion was first appointed in the English espiscopal church, the foreign protestants were extremely offended at it, and Beza wrote to archbishop Grindall on the subject. If, says Beza, you have rejected the doctrine of transubstantiation, and the practice of adoring the host, why do you symbolize with popery, and seem to hold both by kneeling at the sacrament? kneeling had never been thought of, had it not been for transubstantiation. Grindall replied, that though the sacrament was to be received kneeling, yet a rubrick accompanied the service-book, and informed the people, that no adoration of the elements was intended. O! I understand you, said Beza, "There was a certain great Lord, who repaired his house, and, having finished it, left before his gate a great stone, for which he had no occasion. It seems, this stone caused many people in the dark to stumble and fall. Complaint was made to his lordship, and many a humble petition was presented praying for the removal of the stone: but he remained long obstinate; at length, he condescended to order a lantern to be hung over it. My Lord, said one, if you would be pleased to rid yourself of farther solicitation, and to quiet all parties, order the stone and the candle to be both removed."
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Gloomy Puritans?
Robert Robinson's notes on Jean Claude, An Essay on the Composition of a Sermon (3rd ed. 1788), Vol. 2, pp. 76-78, address a point that is often raised when moderns speak of the Puritans:
Wonder Years
NOTE: This blog post is NOT about the TV series The Wonder Years. :)
Throughout human history, some years have been so noted for their calamities or providences or wonders that a whole year is designated a wonder year (Queen Elizabeth II famously described 1992 as Annus Horribilis). I will highlight three "wonder years" in Protestant church history as examples.
The Place: Holland. The Year: Spring 1566 to Spring 1567. To the Dutch, 1566 was known as Wonderjaar (Wonder Year) ['Hunger Year' to some because of the major harvest failure of 1565]. At this time, the Spanish ruled the Netherlands with a Roman Catholic iron fist. But in February 1566, the Geuzen ("Beggars"), as they came to be known, entered into a confederacy of opposition to tyrannical Spanish rule, called the Compromise of Breda. On April 5, 1566, they presented their Request (petition of grievances) to the regent, Margaret, Duchess of Parma, which led to the abolition of the Inquisition in Holland and other measures aimed at the supression of Protestant 'heretics.' As the popular Calvinistic resistance to Spanish rule gathered steam, open-air preaching in the modern arrondissement of Dunkirk in French Flanders led to the summer of 'Beeldenstorm,' iconoclastic riots in the summer of 1566 which targeted Catholic icons. (Public preaching of the gospel by Calvinists in Holland was legalized for the first time by Margaret of Parma on August 23, 1566.) These actions constituted a Dutch Revolt, which inaugurated, two years later, the Eighty Years' War, and led to the 1581 Dutch Declaration of Independence.
The Place: London, England. Year: 1665-1666. In England, 1665 was the year of the Great Fire of London, followed by the 1666 Great Plague. These occurences rank among the worst calamities ever to hit London. Among the Puritans it was noted that they followed the Restoration (1660), and the imposition of the persecuting Sedition Act (1661), Act of Uniformity and Black St. Bartholomew's Day (1662), the Conventicle Act (1664) and the Five Mile Act (1665) and so perceived as God's judgment upon a nation that had broken its engagements to the Solemn League & Covenant. The Second Anglo-Dutch War was ongoing and there were notable events that caused wonder in both years: the Battle of Lowestoft on June 13, 1665 was a great victory for the British and remains the Netherlands' worst naval defeat; the Four Days Battle in June 1666 was one of the longest naval engagements in military history and, in part due to a providentially unseasonable fog bank, resulted in a Dutch victory; and the St. James Battle a month later, which was a significant English victory (although it was the Dutch who won the Second Anglo-Dutch War in 1667). John Dryden took a different perspective on the vicissitudes of war and providential calamities, ie., that it could be worse and that God had miraculously saved England in his famous poem, Annus Mirabilis: The Year of Wonders, 1666. An Historical Poem. Thus, a year (1666) that included such notable events was designated, for the first time in literature, Annus Mirablis. It was also a year that included the famous numeral "666" and, in Roman numerals, every number was included, from the largest to the smallest, in descending order: MDCLXVI.
The Place: Holland. The Year: 1672. - While sometimes referred to as Wonderjaar (Wonder Year) or Annus Mirabilis (Year of Miracles), the Dutch often described 1672 as Rampjaar (Disaster Year). Holland was invaded by four foreign powers (England, France and two German Electors) which opened the Third Anglo-Dutch War. Nevertheless, despite overwhelming opposing forces and much grief inflicted, the Dutch were providentially saved.
Jacobus Koleman alludes to the Rampjaar in The Duties of Children (trans. John Vriend, ed. M. Eugene Osterhaven, pp. 55-56):
To conclude, it is worth quoting chapter 50 almost in full from Van de Velde's book The Wonders of the Most High (A 125-Year History of the United Netherlands 1550-1675):
Throughout human history, some years have been so noted for their calamities or providences or wonders that a whole year is designated a wonder year (Queen Elizabeth II famously described 1992 as Annus Horribilis). I will highlight three "wonder years" in Protestant church history as examples.
The Place: Holland. The Year: Spring 1566 to Spring 1567. To the Dutch, 1566 was known as Wonderjaar (Wonder Year) ['Hunger Year' to some because of the major harvest failure of 1565]. At this time, the Spanish ruled the Netherlands with a Roman Catholic iron fist. But in February 1566, the Geuzen ("Beggars"), as they came to be known, entered into a confederacy of opposition to tyrannical Spanish rule, called the Compromise of Breda. On April 5, 1566, they presented their Request (petition of grievances) to the regent, Margaret, Duchess of Parma, which led to the abolition of the Inquisition in Holland and other measures aimed at the supression of Protestant 'heretics.' As the popular Calvinistic resistance to Spanish rule gathered steam, open-air preaching in the modern arrondissement of Dunkirk in French Flanders led to the summer of 'Beeldenstorm,' iconoclastic riots in the summer of 1566 which targeted Catholic icons. (Public preaching of the gospel by Calvinists in Holland was legalized for the first time by Margaret of Parma on August 23, 1566.) These actions constituted a Dutch Revolt, which inaugurated, two years later, the Eighty Years' War, and led to the 1581 Dutch Declaration of Independence.
The Place: London, England. Year: 1665-1666. In England, 1665 was the year of the Great Fire of London, followed by the 1666 Great Plague. These occurences rank among the worst calamities ever to hit London. Among the Puritans it was noted that they followed the Restoration (1660), and the imposition of the persecuting Sedition Act (1661), Act of Uniformity and Black St. Bartholomew's Day (1662), the Conventicle Act (1664) and the Five Mile Act (1665) and so perceived as God's judgment upon a nation that had broken its engagements to the Solemn League & Covenant. The Second Anglo-Dutch War was ongoing and there were notable events that caused wonder in both years: the Battle of Lowestoft on June 13, 1665 was a great victory for the British and remains the Netherlands' worst naval defeat; the Four Days Battle in June 1666 was one of the longest naval engagements in military history and, in part due to a providentially unseasonable fog bank, resulted in a Dutch victory; and the St. James Battle a month later, which was a significant English victory (although it was the Dutch who won the Second Anglo-Dutch War in 1667). John Dryden took a different perspective on the vicissitudes of war and providential calamities, ie., that it could be worse and that God had miraculously saved England in his famous poem, Annus Mirabilis: The Year of Wonders, 1666. An Historical Poem. Thus, a year (1666) that included such notable events was designated, for the first time in literature, Annus Mirablis. It was also a year that included the famous numeral "666" and, in Roman numerals, every number was included, from the largest to the smallest, in descending order: MDCLXVI.
The Place: Holland. The Year: 1672. - While sometimes referred to as Wonderjaar (Wonder Year) or Annus Mirabilis (Year of Miracles), the Dutch often described 1672 as Rampjaar (Disaster Year). Holland was invaded by four foreign powers (England, France and two German Electors) which opened the Third Anglo-Dutch War. Nevertheless, despite overwhelming opposing forces and much grief inflicted, the Dutch were providentially saved.Jacobus Koleman alludes to the Rampjaar in The Duties of Children (trans. John Vriend, ed. M. Eugene Osterhaven, pp. 55-56):
56. Talk with [your children] about the history of our country, about the oppression of our ancestors by the anti-Christian Spanish Inquisition. Tell them how marvelously the Lord saved and delivered us and granted us freedom and how he blessed our struggle against Spain, although we had but little power and were in great danger. Make clear to them how God preserved this country and supported the Dutch Reformed Church when Arminianism entered the land.
Tell them how God visited this country with severe judgments, plague, and war against various kings and especially how God brought us into the greatest danger and plunged us into numerous oppressions in 1672[6] and the years following, how ungrateful this country and people have been to the Lord and how, despite all of this, God always helped and saved us. In this connection, it would be useful for you to read the book written by that zealous servant of God Abraham Van de Velde, The Miracles of the Most High, and also to give it to your children to read, rather than the little book that is customarily used, The Spanish Tyranny.
Do all this conformably to Psalm 78:4-5: "We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children."
6. The year 1672 was a troubled period in the history of the Netherlands. After its second trade war with England, when the country was exhausted, the French army of Louis XIV invaded the Netherlands when France was expanding its borders. In the turmoil that followed, Jan De Witt, the most able statesman in Holland, was murdered by a frenzied mob, and dykes were broken to flood part of the country in order to stop the victorious advance of the hostile army.
To conclude, it is worth quoting chapter 50 almost in full from Van de Velde's book The Wonders of the Most High (A 125-Year History of the United Netherlands 1550-1675):
1672 The Year of Disasters
The last years have shown how the Lord not only saved us, but the greater the need, the more He showed among us the wonders of His mighty arm for our good. With emotion we think back to the sad year, 1672.
Two mighty kings, of France and England, together with some mighty German Princes declared war, and the armies of the enemy penetrated into he heart of the country. No rivers or strongholds could bring them to a standstill. In less then forty days they took forty cities, Utrecht, in the heart of the country among them.
We were much afraid. The wisest among us could see nothing but the end of the famous Republic. There seemed to be nothing that could be done, but submit to the triumphant enemy. Like our fathers in the worst of times attempted escape with wives and children in boats, so now many spoke of making a covenant with the enemy, and submit to their rule. What is more, this was not only heard from the common man, but even the great and mighty in the land saw no other way out. The learned Oomius relates that even the States of Holland and Zeeland wrote that they judged ambassadors should be sent to the King of France to negotiate. See Oomius, War Trumpet, page 33.
Notice that the States of Holland not only judged that they must negotiate with the King of France, but that it was urgent. They also urged other provinces to do the same. Could it be more serious? But what? Did the Lord forsake them? In no wise! When the ship of the Republic was sinking and it seemed to be nearly wrecked; when our freedom and our religion, and all glory seemed to turn into constant slavery; exactly then the Lord became our light, our strength and our salvation. After all His previous wonders He brought light into our darkness, and gave the provinces cause to sing with Israel of old, "He is my God and I will prepare Him an habitation; my Father's God and I will exalt Him" (Ex. 15: 2).
What were God's deeds other then a living declaration of His old faithfulness, and goodness shown to the Fathers? And why? To bind us to Himself by these new wonders and so turn the hearts of the fathers unto the children; to teach us to trust Him as the only Rock of our salvation, to praise His name.
The Lord gave us a clear sign when in one year (1673), our fleet fought three battles with two Royal fleets of England and France. They were on the seventh and fourteenth of June, and the twenty-first of August. It pleased the Lord to give us the victory. Admiral De Ruyter witnessed "that the Lord had been signally with them, in saving officers and sailors."
In the second battle not one officer went missing, and few others were lost. A Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer was called for at the fifth of July 1673, to praise and thank the Lord that He had so clearly sustained and supported us.
And like the Lord renewed His wonders at sea, so He aided ours in the war on land. We will only remember when the French attacked the little city of Aardenburg. They came with 6,000 men, and were not only thrown back by a handful of ours, but in such a way that they left behind 400 prisoners, 500 killed, and retreated taking 20 wagon loads of wounded with them. See "The Netherlands in Distress", page 312. The French did not think there would be any resistance, they were certain of victory as was said in a letter, July 24, from Middelburg.
The author of this letter from Middelburg says very well: If the great God had not armed the defenders with so remarkable courage, the city would have been lost to the enemy. It is difficult to describe the zeal of tender women and children. They kept on bringing gunpowder and led; they dried wet gunpowder between their hands; most women wore hats so they appeared as men to the enemy when they showed themselves on the ramparts. They loaded the muskets for the men; the artillery instead of using grape-shot and bullets, used cast iron pots which the women had hammered into pieces. See "The Netherlands in Distress", page 287. By delivering this city the Lord worked out His Counsel to aid the fatherland.
In another city there was at that time just one constable. He did not live in the city, and was there visiting friends, but did extraordinary work to aid the city. Before this we spoke of such wonders of the Most High, used in the outworking of His infallible counsel. All things are in His service, and with Him all things are possible.
It was August of 1672 that the English were attempting to intercept our merchant ships that were returning from the East Indies. The Lord kept ours in a wonderful way in that the enemy did not see ours, and when they were finally spotted by them, the Lord hindered them by storm winds and tides to attack them in such a way that they were forced to look for shelter in their own harbours. When the Duke of Luxembourg was told this, he is said to have remarked, "It is good to hear those pirates missed this time". It was said this was so remarkable at the time, for these skippers coming from the East-Indies did not know there was a war being fought.
What prevented the English to take De Briel in 1672, when their fleet was before the Meuse river? Nothing but a heavy fog. It is also said that the ebb tide continued a couple more hours than is usual. See the Holland Mercury of 1673. It seems to us that this too must be reckoned with the wonders. Truly remarkable matters. The Lord showed here that He can use several ways and means to work out His Counsel.
As the Lord helped us at sea, so He also showed His Providence against the enemy armies on land. For by His Providence the Lord hindered the French to enter Holland (province). When in the latter end of 1672 they pulled out of Utrecht with 14 or 15,000 men, and after they took Leyden and had plundered The Hague their joy was so great that they were certain all of Holland was in their power. It was winter and the rivers were frozen over, the Prince was with his army at Charleroi and they were sure to have gained their objective.
But little they remembered the ways and means the Lord used in the past to help and assist the United Netherlands. See what happened. While the enemy advanced, the Lord suddenly sent mild weather, and the French being afraid that the ice by which they gained entrance would not be able to carry them much longer, returned with great haste to the place whence they came. That their fear was grounded was seen when the Duke of Luxembourg fell with his horse through the ice, and could not be saved but by much difficulty, while he was also slightly wounded. Hereby was their attempt frustrated, and they were greatly disappointed. It was said that the French, because of their disappointment aimed their pistols at the heavens, blasphemed God, and behaved like impatient mad men. But when people rage in this manner, "The wrath of men shall praise Him"; and, "He is terrible to the Kings of the earth". Psalm 76.
As clearly as the Lord fought against the French with a sudden thaw, He assisted us with His winds against the armies of the Bishops of Munster. When they were minded to lay siege against Coevorden, they laid dams in the river Vecht. The water rose and was already running over the city moats. The dam built by the Bishop's men was well built. It was 90 feet wide at the bottom and 24 on top. He also planted 60 pieces of artillery on the dam. The garrison of the city could not think of attacking such a formidable bulwark. When the Bishop was certain of the victory, and his friends boasted that the city would come into his hands, the Lord sent such a terrible wind-storm on the 1st day of October 1673, that the dike gave way in three places. Hereby, the Lord our God frustrated the designs of the Bishop, and the work on which they had laboured all summer fell apart like cob webs. Two hundred farmers who were compelled to work on the dike, all drowned, along with 4 or 500 soldiers who were guarding the dike. Lieutenant-Colonel Hostmar who traveled with some ladies in a coach also drowned.
To their great joy, Coevorden was relieved, and they came from Groningen to help with all kinds of provisions. A History writer rightly remarks that it is only the Lord Who must receive the glory for such relief.
Ph. Doktor, in a Treatise concerning "Theological and Political Considerations" relates that among the Wonders of the Lord and the means of our deliverance was the elevation and promotion of the Prince of Orange at that time. Truly, if we take notice of any matter whereby the Lord worked our deliverance, and in which He dealt marvelously, this is it. We will first let the author speak, and then say our opinion. He writes:
"Our country was in great confusion and perplexity, and the three provinces, Gelderland, Overijsel and Utrecht were already overpowered, and the inhabitants like formerly Israel 2 Kings 19: 26, were afraid and trembling and there seemed to be no deliverer. But the Lord remembering His faithfulness and the blessings given this nation by the hands of the illustrious house of Orange Nassau in previous days, called upon the youthful sprout of that dynasty His Highness the Prince of Orange (William III), girded him with the courage of a lion, and with his small army gave us thus far the victory.
"When this heroic branch of the House of Orange was despised by gross ingratitude, the God of wonders did a great thing before our eyes in that He turned the hearts of the Regents in a moment to elevate this young hero to Captain General of army and navy, and also to Stadtholder of Holland and Western Friesland. He, the Master Builder of all things took that stone rejected by the builders of our country, and made him into a head of the corner." See also page 12 of the same Treatise.
Taking further note of what the Lord wrought, it is known that one wonder followed another. For the Lord did not only deliver us from our enemies, but with the prophet we can say, "the Lord has cast out our enemy" (Zeph.3: 15). After the Lord gave into the heart of our Prince to take Bonn, he put terror in the heart of the enemy that they fled the country with the same haste as they took possession of the same a little earlier. See the Holland Mercury of November 1673.
When we were down in deep distress, the Lord dealt with us as in days of yore. For as He gave us Prince William 1, Blest Memory, to deliver us when the waters rose above our heads, He also gave us this our noble Prince, by whose hand His Majesty gave us marvelously in His good will, relief and glorious deliverance. Our enemies who mockingly said, "That we had nothing but prayer and the Prince", came to experience to their shame, that they were conquered by both.
To come to a conclusion we have seen how the Lord was merciful to us in the hour of despair, and that in spite of the fact we provoked Him by our sins, He did not destroy us.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Education and Virtue
And though I have...all knowledge...and have not charity, I am nothing. (1 Cor. 13.2)
Knowledge is good, but knowledge with virtue is most greatly to be sought for our children.
C.S. Lewis once wrote: "Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil."
Martin Luther is likewise quoted as saying, "I am afraid that the schools will prove the very gates of hell, unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures and engraving them in the heart of the youth. I advise no one to place his child where the Scriptures do not reign paramount. Every institution in which men are not unceasingly occupied with the Word of God must become corrupt."
It is worthwhile to quote him in greater context from his 1520 Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation (§25):
But where the Holy Scriptures are not the rule, I advise no one to send his child. Everything must perish where God's word is not studied unceasingly; and so we see what manner of men there are now in the high schools, and all this is the fault of no one but of the Pope, the bishops, and the prelates, to whom the welfare of the young has been entrusted. For the high schools should only train men of good understanding in the Scriptures, who wish to become bishops and priests, and to stand at our head against heretics and the devil and all the world. But where do we find this? I greatly fear the high schools are nothing but great gates of hell, unless they diligently study the Holy Scriptures and teach them to the young people.
Jacobus Koelman includes a poem about this as well in his classic treatise The Duties of Children, p. 58:
The Child Studies
He who best sifts through what exists,
Possesses wisdom that persists.
A smart parent gives good education,
So his child master's life situation.
But unless he attends the highest school,
Where virtue is learned in the soul
And God's law is kept as a whole,
For all that he learns he'll live like a fool.
Pathos and Beauty
Among the examples of Puritan spiritual diaries, though the diary itself has been lost, that of Isaac Ambrose, extracted in part in his Media for the benefit of the reader, stands out as one especially worthy of contemplation and emulation. He speaks of this under the heading of "Experiences" and also "Self-Trial," and it is the latter which I cite below. These passages reflect, as one writer has described it in a biography of one of the greatest spiritual diarists of all (Oliver Heywood), the "pathos and beauty" of a soul that longs for more and encourages the same.
Joseph Hunter, The Rise of the Old Dissent, Exemplified in the Life of Oliver Heywood, p. v-vi:
Prima, Media, et Ultima, or, The First, Middle and Last Things, Containing: Part I. The Doctrine of Regeneration, the beginning of a Godly Life. Part II. The Means, Duties, Ordinances, both Secret, Private, and Publick; for continuance and increase of a Godly life once begun, till we come to Heaven. Part III. Meditations on Life, Death, Judgment, Hell, the Sufferings of Christ, and Heaven. pp. 139-140:
Joseph Hunter, The Rise of the Old Dissent, Exemplified in the Life of Oliver Heywood, p. v-vi:
The age of Mr. Heywood was peculiarly the age of diaries. There are many existing of his period; there are few earlier, and there are few later. They were part of the religious exercise of the devout of those days. One head of the advice given to him by his father when he entered the University was to keep a written record of his private meditations. Mr. Ambrose, a Puritan minister of Lancashire, Mr. Heywood's native county, had earnestly recommended the keeping of diaries as eminently serviceable to those who made it a principal object of their lives to establish themselves in all the thoughts and ways of piety; and in the book which he entitled Media, he gives a specimen of what, in his opinion, such diaries ought to be in extracts from his own. With such specimens before us we cannot but lament that the carelessness of later times should have suffered such a curious and valuable document to perish, for perished it is to be feared it is. There is a pathos and beauty in some of the passages which he has selected for publication, as when he speaks of his occasional retirements to his hut in "the sweet silent woods of Widdicre," which make one wish for more; and there is good historical information in what he relates of events in the civil wars, or of occurences in families, his contemporaries...
Prima, Media, et Ultima, or, The First, Middle and Last Things, Containing: Part I. The Doctrine of Regeneration, the beginning of a Godly Life. Part II. The Means, Duties, Ordinances, both Secret, Private, and Publick; for continuance and increase of a Godly life once begun, till we come to Heaven. Part III. Meditations on Life, Death, Judgment, Hell, the Sufferings of Christ, and Heaven. pp. 139-140:
To this purpose we read of many ancients that were accustomed to keep diaries or day-books of their actions, and out of them to take an account of their lives: Such a register (of God's dealings towards him, and of his dealings towards God in main things) the Lord put into a poor creature's heart to keep in the year 1641, ever since which time he hath continued it, and once a year purposes, by God's grace, to examine himself by it. The use and end of it is this;
1. 'Hereby he observes something of God to his soul, and of his soul to God. 2. Upon occasion he pours out his soul to God in prayer accordingly, and either is humbled or thankful. 3. He considers how it is with him in respect of time past, and if he hath profited in grace, to find out the means whereby he hath profited, that he may make more constant use of such means: or wherein he hath decayed, to observe by what temptation he was overcome, that his former errors may make him more wary for the future.'
Besides many other uses, as of his own experience and evidences, which he may, by the Lord's help, gather out of this diary.
SECT. IX.
The daily register of a weak unworthy Servant of Christ for some Years.
It may be expected, that I give some example hereof, wherein if I might any way advance Christ or benefit his church, though I lay in the dust, I should willingly publish and subscribe the daily register of a poor unworthy servant of Christ, indeed one of the meanest of his Master's family, for some space of time: As thus,
1651. MAY 13. I retired myself to a solitary and silent place to practice, especially the secret duties of a Christian: my ground is that of Cant. vii. 11, 12. Come my beloved, let us go forth into the fields, etc. there will I give thee my loves. 'The bridegroom of our souls, said Bernard, is bashful, and more frequently visits his bride in the solitary places.
MAY 14. In a pleasant wood, and sweet walks in it, the Lord moved and enabled me to begin the exercise of secret duties: and after the prolegomena, or duties in general, I fell on that duty of Watchfulness; the Lord then gave me to observe my former negligence, and to make some resolutions. I found the Lord sweet to me in the conclusion of the duty; Allelujah.
MAY 15. I fell on the duty of Self-trial, and in the morning confessed my sins before and since conversion, wherein the Lord sweetly melted my heart. In the evening I perused my diary for the last year, wherein many passages of mercies from God, and troubles for sin, etc.
MAY 16. In the morning I went through the duty of Experiences, and felt some stirrings of God's Spirit in my soul. In the evening I fell on the duty of Evidences, when I acted faith, and found my evidences clear. Oh how sweet was my God!
MAY 17. This day in the morning, I meditated on the love of Christ, wherein Christ appeared, and melted my heart in many sweet passages. In the evening I meditated upon eternity, wherein the Lord both melted, and cheered, and warmed, and refreshed my soul. Surely the touches of God's Spirit are as sensible as any outward touches. Allelujah.
MAY 19. In the former part of this day I exercised the Life of Faith, when the Lord strengthened me to act faith on several promises, both temporal, spiritual, and eternal. I had then sweet, refreshing and encouraging impressions on my soul against all the fearful, sinful, and doubtful dreams I had the night or two before dreamed. In the evening I considered the duty of Prayer, observed some workings of God's Spirit in my persuing the rules, and afterwards in the practice of this duty. Blessed be God.
MAY 20. In the morning I fell on Reading the word, perused the directions, and then searched into the 'common places and uses of my corruptions in nature and practice; of my comforts against the burdens of my daily infirmities; of establishing my heart against the fear of falling away: of directions in my calling; of comforts against outward crosses; of my privileges in Christ above all the wicked in the world: In every of these Christ appeared in some measure suitably to my soul. In the evening I proceeded in the common places and uses of sweet passages that melted my heart; of sensible comforts, and of places hard to be understood: In the first my heart was sweetly melted, in the second cheered, in the conclusion the Lord struck me with a reverence of his majesty and presence, filled my soul with spiritual refreshings, enlarged my heart with praises of him, and desires to live unto him, who hath given me in this time of love so many sweet visits, and kisses of his mouth, Allelujah.
MAY 22. Occasionally, though not in course, I fell on some parts of the duty of Self-denial: The Lord in mercy wrought in my soul some suitableness to that spiritual gospel-duty; 'Lord keep this fire up in a flame still. Oh it is a sweet, but a very hard lesson.'
MAY 31. I practised, as the Lord enabled, the duty of Saints-sufferings; into which condition as I was cast, so the Lord gave me to see my sin wherefore, and to bewail it, and to pray for the contrary grace and God's favour. The Lord was sweet to me in the preparations to, but especially in the improving of sufferings. Now the Spirit left in my soul a sweet scent and savour behind it. Allelujah. Amen, Amen.
I had proceeded in this diary, but that I doubt whether the knowledge of many such particulars may not prove offensive either to the weak or sinful. And I would not willingly occasion any matter of offense to those that are within or without the church. Thus much, only for edification and imitation, I have written. And though with David I declare what God hath done for my soul, Psalm lxvi. 16 yet with Paul, I ever desire to correct myself; I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Lectio Continua
The Westminster Directory of Public Worship teaches that the reading of scriptures is an element of worship, and that it is most profitable to "ordinarily" read the Scriptures lectio continua, that is, in a continuous, systematic order week by week, thoroughly and completely, from beginning to end, including the Old and New Testaments, and each book of the Bible therein, omitting nothing, to provide the whole counsel of God to the people, rather than lectio selecta, that is selecting portions of Scripture readings for special occasions, which happens when churches follow the ecclesiastical calendar, and tends towards repetition of favorite passages, while skipping others. Here is the mind of the Westminster Assembly on the subject.
Of Publick Reading of the Holy Scriptures.
All the canonical books of the Old and New Testament (but none of those which are commonly called Apocrypha) shall be publickly read in the vulgar tongue, but of the best allowed translation, distinctly, that all may hear and understand.
How large a portion shall be read at once, is left to the wisdom of the minister; but it is convenient, that ordinarily one chapter of each Testament be read at every meeting; and sometimes more, where the chapters be short, or the coherence of matter requireth it.
It is requisite that all the canonical books be read over in order, that the people may be better acquainted with the whole body of the scriptures; and ordinarily, where the reading in either Testament endeth on one Lord's day, it is to begin the next.
We commend also the more frequent reading of such scriptures as he that readeth shall think best for edification of his hearers, as the book of Psalms, and such like.
Art and the True Theologian
It is often said that "theology is the queen of the sciences" and that all secular learning is the "handmaiden" of theology. Bonaventure wrote in De reductione artium ad theologiam (On Retracing the Arts to Theology) that "all divisions of knowledge are handmaids of theology" and that "theology makes use of illustrations and terms pertaining to every branch of knowledge." He identifies four lights or illuminations ("lumen") which increasingly reveal knowledge to man: (1) lumen exterius, scilicet lumen artis mechanicae (the exterior light of the seven mechanical arts: weaving, armor making, agriculture, hunting, navigation, medicine and drama); (2) lumen inferius, scilicet lumen congnitionis sensitivae (the inferior light of sensory cognition corresponding to the five natural senses); (3) lumen interius, scilicet lumen cognitionis philosophicae (the interior light of philosophical knowledge, rational, natural and moral); and (4) lumen superius, scilicet lumen gratiae et sacrae Scripturae (the superior light of grace and sacred scripture). Elsewhere (in Itinerarium mentis ad Deum, or The Mind's Road to God), he employs the image of a ladder whereby one ascends from knowledge of that which is natural to that which is divine: "Since, then, we must mount Jacob's ladder before descending it, let us place the first rung of the ascension in the depths, putting the whole sensible world before us in a mirror, by which ladder we shall mount up to God." He sums up the aim of these ascending lights or ladder rungs in De reductione artium ad theologiam: "And this is the fruit of all sciences, that in all of them, faith may be strengthened, God may be honored, character may be formed, and consolation may be derived from union of the Spouse with His beloved, a union that takes place through charity, to the attainment of which the whole purpose of sacred Scripture, and consequently, every illumination descending from above, is directed. And this charity is that without all knowledge is vain, because no one comes to the Son except through the Holy Spirit Who teaches us all the truth and Who is blessed forever."
Herman Witsius, likewise, speaks of ascending knowledge and in this context shows how the arts are of value in his famous 1675 inaugural oration at the University of Franeker, De vero Theologo, or, On the Character of a True Theologian, pp. 28-30 (1994 Reformed Academic Press ed.):
Herman Witsius, likewise, speaks of ascending knowledge and in this context shows how the arts are of value in his famous 1675 inaugural oration at the University of Franeker, De vero Theologo, or, On the Character of a True Theologian, pp. 28-30 (1994 Reformed Academic Press ed.):
Let us begin, therefore, with the lowest stage. He who would be a true theologian, and worthy of that honorable appellation, must lay the foundation of his studies in the lower school of nature and from every quarter of the universe, from the wonders of divine providence, from the monuments of ancient as well as modern history, from the shrines of all the arts, from the beauties of the various tongues, bring together and store up in his memory, as in a treasury of the most sacred kind, those things which, when afterwards advanced to a higher school, he may lay as a foundation for a nobler superstructure. It is not in vain that God has impressed visible marks of His invisible excellencies on His works. It is not in vain that He has introduced man, gifted with a discerning mind, into the magnificent theater of this world. It is not in vain that, in the government of the universe and in the vicissitudes of human affairs, He dispenses all things with an uncertainty that yet is regular -- with a good pleasure yet so wise. It is not in vain that He has so arranged the works of nature that in them may be discerned a sort of type of the works of grace and glory and, as it were, the rudiments of a better world. On the contrary, He has designed that from the attentive consideration of all these things, we should learn who and what He is, the Eternal, the Infinite, the Omnipotent, the Supremely Wise, at once the best and the greatest of beings, sufficient of Himself for His own full blessedness, since He gives life, and breath, and all things to all; worthy, in fine, of our worship and our imitation -- one to whom we should unreservedly give ourselves -- one in whose love, and in the enjoyment of whose excellence, we should place our highest happiness...Nor would we have our theologian contemplate only the works of God. Let him, on the contrary, labor to be thoroughly master of whatever aids of human industry has contrived for the guidance of the mind in the investigation of truth, or for that of the tongue, that it may prove a suitable interpreter to the mind. Let him consult in no cursory manner those who are masters in the sciences of logic, grammar, and rhetoric, using them as the Israelites of old did the Gibeonites, whose work it was to cleave wood and draw water for the use of the Sanctuary. The former furnish rules for definition, division, and arrangement; the latter teach the art of discoursing, not only with purity and precision, but also with elegance and effect. Their united influence can thus afford the most appropriate aids to those who serve in the Tabernacle of God. Let the theologian collect moral precepts from the opinions of the philosophers, and examples from the monuments of history, that they may prove a spur in his pursuit of higher attainments, or if less effectual for such a purpose, that they may at least serve to put to shame habits of sluggishness and inactivity. Let him apply himself diligently to the acquisition of different languages, and especially of those which God has distinguished by making them the channels of conveyance for His heavenly oracles, that he may understand God when He speaks, as it were, in His own language, that he who acts as the interpreter of God and hears the word at His mouth, may not require an interpreter for himself. Whatever is sound and judicious in human arts, whatever is true and substantial in philosophy, whatever is elegant and graceful in the wide extent of polite literature, all flow from the Father of Lights, the inexhaustible Fountain of all reason, truth, and beauty; and all this, therefore, collected from every quarter, ought again to be consecrated to Him. Although such things may appear trifling and earthly, yet these same trifling and earthly things form the needle by which we may introduce the golden threads of heavenly truth and fasten them securely in our minds. They are as a mirror by whose aid the exquisitely delicate ideas of spiritual objects may be more clearly perceived by our renewed eyes. These are the elementary studies of the future theologian. If they are contempuously despised, it is scarcely to be expected that his engaging in those of a higher description will be attended by the wished for fruits, or fulfil what is justly expected in one of his name and office.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Time Redeemed
The Scriptures teach that life is a gift whose days are measured and numbered.
On Queen Elizabeth I's deathbed, her last words were said to be, "All my possessions for a moment of time." But Benjamin Disraeli rightly noted in a speech on September 21, 1865, that "Time is precious, but truth is more precious than time." It is not merely time that is precious, but above all, time redeemed, which is most precious.
Make the prayer of Moses your prayer then, and likewise, the prayer of Richard Baxter: "Time is precious; Lord give me skill and wisdom to redeem it" (Baxter, MSS (Letters), vol. v, f. 28b, quoted by Gerald R. Cragg, Puritanism in the Period of the Great Persecution, 1660-1688, p. 135).
Psalm 90
10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.On Queen Elizabeth I's deathbed, her last words were said to be, "All my possessions for a moment of time." But Benjamin Disraeli rightly noted in a speech on September 21, 1865, that "Time is precious, but truth is more precious than time." It is not merely time that is precious, but above all, time redeemed, which is most precious.
Psalm 90
12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.Make the prayer of Moses your prayer then, and likewise, the prayer of Richard Baxter: "Time is precious; Lord give me skill and wisdom to redeem it" (Baxter, MSS (Letters), vol. v, f. 28b, quoted by Gerald R. Cragg, Puritanism in the Period of the Great Persecution, 1660-1688, p. 135).
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Preacher, Preach to Thyself
The Apostle Paul, Romans 2.21:
Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor (1830 ed.), p. 223:
Arthur Stephen Hoyt, The Work of Preaching (1905), p. 97:
Charles H. Spurgeon, "Sermon X: Declension From First Love," in Sermons Preached and Revised by the Rev. C.H. Spurgeon, p. 174:
Iain Murray, Dr. Lloyd-Jones and Authority in Preaching:
George Herbert, A Priest to the Temple, or, A Country Parson:
Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?
Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor (1830 ed.), p. 223:
My second particular exhortation is this: Content not yourselves to have the main work of grace, but be also very careful that your graces be kept in life and action, and that you preach to yourselves the sermons that you study, before you preach them to others.
Arthur Stephen Hoyt, The Work of Preaching (1905), p. 97:
You must preach to yourself before you can preach to others.
Charles H. Spurgeon, "Sermon X: Declension From First Love," in Sermons Preached and Revised by the Rev. C.H. Spurgeon, p. 174:
Now preacher, preach honestly, and preach at thyself.
Iain Murray, Dr. Lloyd-Jones and Authority in Preaching:
The preacher must know the power of the message he is bringing to others. When DMLJ was 25 and at the cross-roads of his life, he became engaged to Bethan Philips, and she became conscious that her future husband was considering becoming a preacher. She was very concerned because she had never heard him preach. At that point a letter came from a missionary society inviting them to become medical missionaries in India. She was challenged by this invitation but DMLJ had no interest at all. Bethan said to him, "But how do you know that you can preach?" "I know I can preach to myself" he replied. He knew the power of the truth in his own heart.
George Herbert, A Priest to the Temple, or, A Country Parson:
CHAP. XXXIII. The Parson's Library.
THe Countrey Parson's Library is a holy Life: for besides the blessing that that brings upon it, there being a promise, that if the Kingdome of God be first sought, all other things shall be added, even it selfe is a Sermon. For the temptations with which a good man is beset, and the ways which he used to overcome them, being told to another, whether in private conference, or in the Church, are a Sermon. Hee that hath considered how to carry himself at table about his appetite, if he tell this to another, preacheth; and much more feelingly, and judiciously, then he writes his rules of temperance out of bookes. So that the Parson having studied, and mastered all his lusts and affections within, and the whole Army of Temptations without, hath ever so many sermons ready penn'd, as he hath victories. And it fares in this as it doth in Physick: He that hath been sick of a Consumption, and knows what recovered him, is a Physitian so far as he meetes with the same disease, and temper; and can much better, and particularly do it, then he that is generally learned, and was never sick. And if the same person had been sick of all diseases, and were recovered of all by things that he knew; there were no such Physician as he, both for skill and tendernesse. Just so it is in Divinity, and that not without manifest reason: for though the temptations may be diverse in divers Christians, yet the victory is alike in all, being by the self-same Spirit. Neither is this true onely in the military state of a Christian life, but even in the peaceable also; when the servant of God, freed for a while from temptation, in a quiet sweetnesse seeks how to please his God. Thus the Parson considering that repentance is the great vertue of the Gospel, and one of the first steps of pleasing God, having for his owne use examined the nature of it, is able to explaine it after to others. And particularly, having doubted sometimes, whether his repentance were true, or at least in that degree it ought to be, since he found himselfe sometimes to weepe more for the losse of some temporall things, then for offending God, he came at length to this resolution, that repentance is an act of the mind, not of the Body, even as the Originall signifies; and that the chiefe thing, which God in Scriptures requires, is the heart, and the spirit, and to worship him in truth, and spirit. Wherefore in case a Christian endeavour to weep, and cannot, since we are not Masters of our bodies, this sufficeth. And consequently he found, that the essence of repentance, that it may be alike in all Gods children (which as concerning weeping it cannot be, some being of a more melting temper then others) consisteth in a true detestation of the soul, abhorring, and renouncing sin, and turning unto God in truth of heart, and newnesse of life: Which acts of repentance are and must be found in all Gods servants: Not that weeping is not usefull, where it can be, that so the body may joyn in the grief, as it did in the sin; but that, so the other acts be, that is not necessary: so that he as truly repents, who performes the other acts of repentance, when he cannot more, as he that weeps a floud of tears. This Instruction and comfort the Parson getting for himself, when he tels it to others, becomes a Sermon. The like he doth in other Christian vertues, as of Faith, and Love, and the Cases of Conscience belonging thereto, wherein (as Saint Paul implyes that he ought, Romans 2.[21]) hee first preacheth to himselfe, and then to others.
Friday, June 5, 2009
With Heart and Mouth and Culture
There is a modern exposition of the Belgic Confession, a creed built upon the rock of God's Word, which those will love the historic Reformed Faith, and also desire to see it expressed and applied in our modern age, will appreciate. It is Danny Hyde's With Heart and Mouth: An Exposition of the Belgic Confession (2008). Reformation Heritage Books says it was one of their top-10 non-RHB bestsellers for 2008. It has been well reviewed previously by David VanDrunen and G.I. Williamson, and there is little I could add to their remarks. This exposition is steeped in Biblical and historic theology, and while I cannot give it a complete, unqualified endorsement as to every word, I am very grateful for it's valuable contribution to the modern understanding and application of a precious part of our Reformed heritage.
I will add this: One of its particular strengths is a willingness to engage popular culture. Readers of this blog may be surprised to know that I don't spend all my time reading only 17th century literature. Those who know me well know that I believe that it is important for Christians to interact with contemporary society, including its art, with appreciation for what is good (Phil. 4.8) and discernment concerning that which is evil (1 Thess. 5.21). In that spirit, I take note of the 20th and 21st century cultural references which one does not often see in the exposition of a 16th century creed. In the context of a book addressed to Christian laymen which contains a range of Biblical and historical citations, they add, I think, a dimension of cultural awareness that serves to enrich, rather than trivialize, the exposition. Read it for yourself and see. A handful of such references are given below.
And "[n]othing comes from nothing" (p. 7) is a phrase that, intentionally or not, evokes memories of a line from "Something Good," a song from the musical The Sound of Music.
Popular culture is something we do well to measure against the touchstone of the Scriptures, which teaches us to "[p]rove all things; hold fast that which is good." The Belgic Confession, like the Scriptures it is grounded in, is not a document whose usefulness is confined to a past age, but is timeless in its application and very much needed by contemporary society. Danny Hyde's exposition likewise, grounded in timeless truth, interacts ably with and offers an engaging, Scriptural and confessional touchstone to the modern 21st century reader.
I will add this: One of its particular strengths is a willingness to engage popular culture. Readers of this blog may be surprised to know that I don't spend all my time reading only 17th century literature. Those who know me well know that I believe that it is important for Christians to interact with contemporary society, including its art, with appreciation for what is good (Phil. 4.8) and discernment concerning that which is evil (1 Thess. 5.21). In that spirit, I take note of the 20th and 21st century cultural references which one does not often see in the exposition of a 16th century creed. In the context of a book addressed to Christian laymen which contains a range of Biblical and historical citations, they add, I think, a dimension of cultural awareness that serves to enrich, rather than trivialize, the exposition. Read it for yourself and see. A handful of such references are given below.
A RECENT popular song [Dishwalla, Counting Blue Cars] had a refrain that went like this:
Tell me all your thoughts on God,
'cause I'd really like to meet her.
Ask her why we're who we are.
This song illustrates that humans are by nature incurably religious. Sadly, we are also incurably rebellious. We have many "thoughts on God," but where do they come from? As mentioned earlier, although 97 percent of Americans believe that God exists, many do not believe in the God of Scripture but rather in a god they have made in their own image. [p. 54]
"I'LL SHOW you all the beauty you possess, if you only let yourself believe: that we are born innocent..." I can hear my radio now, as Sarah McLachlan [Adia] catechizes American culture with her mantra that we are inherently beautiful and born innocent."
...
We still think of ourselves as existing at the height of the glory in which we were created. The harsh reality, though, is that Adam and the rest of humanity were plunged into depravity when he willfully sinned. "Houston, we have a problem" [Apollo 13] is an understatement. [p. 198]
BRITISH ROCK singer Sting's 1993 hit song, "If I Ever Lose My Faith in You," sums up our age's attitude toward the church: "You could say I lost my belief in the holy church." [p. 376]
And "[n]othing comes from nothing" (p. 7) is a phrase that, intentionally or not, evokes memories of a line from "Something Good," a song from the musical The Sound of Music.
Popular culture is something we do well to measure against the touchstone of the Scriptures, which teaches us to "[p]rove all things; hold fast that which is good." The Belgic Confession, like the Scriptures it is grounded in, is not a document whose usefulness is confined to a past age, but is timeless in its application and very much needed by contemporary society. Danny Hyde's exposition likewise, grounded in timeless truth, interacts ably with and offers an engaging, Scriptural and confessional touchstone to the modern 21st century reader.
Preforeordestination
This week's Friday Funny comes from Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Chap. XVIII) and could be subtitled "Huck Finn Visits a Presbyterian Church."
Next Sunday we all went to church, about three mile, everybody a-horseback. The men took their guns along, so did Buck, and kept them between their knees or stood them handy against the wall. The Shepherdsons done the same. It was pretty ornery preaching -- all about brotherly love, and such-like tiresomeness; but everybody said it was a good ser- mon, and they all talked it over going home, and had such a powerful lot to say about faith and good works and free grace and preforeordestination, and I don't know what all, that it did seem to me to be one of the roughest Sundays I had run across yet.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Spanish Psalter
Plans have been announced to publish, Lord willing, a complete Spanish metrical psalter for the first time ever. The message below provides important details (HT: Ruben Zartman).
We are witnessing an historic breakthrough for Spanish-language churches. The entirety of the Psalter has been put into Spanish, in metrical form, and set to the Genevan tunes which have been used in many Reformed churches since the Reformation.
One of the primary publishers in the United States for Reformed literature in Spanish is now preparing to go to press with an edition of this Psalter. But there is need for funds to underwrite this undertaking.
The translation was made by Rev. Jorge Ruiz Ortiz, who has a doctorate in theology, and is pastor of the Iglesia Cristiana Presbiteriana, in Miranda de Ebro, Spain. The publisher is Publicaciones Faro de Gracia, directed by Rev. Wayne Anderson, of North Carolina (Welcome to Faro de Gracia).
There was a frustrated effort to produce a Spanish metrical Psalter at the time of the Reformation, but this is now apparently the first time that Protestant churches will have this treasure for use in the worship of God.
We are writing to enlist your aid in making this publication a reality. The publishers would like to issue the work in 2010. A minimum of $3500 is required in order to go to press. The money could be raised through donations, or through pre-publication orders.
The price after publication will be $11.95, but the Psalter is being offered at a pre-publication price of $6.95 on orders of twenty-five or more copies paid for in advance.
The Psalter will have a kiver vinyl cover. It will include Calvin’s preface to the Psalter, and hopefully the Genevan tunes will also be given.
Please consider contributing to the publication of this very important work. It will greatly assist the further reformation of the Spanish-language church. Please pass this along to others who may be interested in helping.
Payment and donations should be sent to:
Publicaciones Faro de Gracia
P.O. Box 1043
Graham, NC 27253
Singing the Sweetest Meditation
The 1650 Scottish Metrical Psalter, Psalm 119.103:
John Lightfoot, "A Sermon Preached at St. Mary's, Cambridge, June 24, 1660 on 1 Cor. xiv. 26," in John Lightfoot, Sermons: And Sermon-Notes, pp. 36-37:
How sweet unto my taste, O Lord,
are all thy words of truth!
Yea, I do find them sweeter far
than honey to my mouth.
John Lightfoot, "A Sermon Preached at St. Mary's, Cambridge, June 24, 1660 on 1 Cor. xiv. 26," in John Lightfoot, Sermons: And Sermon-Notes, pp. 36-37:
Many things are spoken of the excellency of the Book of Psalms; and many may be spoken of the excellency of singing psalms. I may allude to that expression, "Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all:" so may I say in reference to this duty, 'All duties are excellent, but this includes all.' In singing of psalms, there is what is in other services, and more. Prayer is our duty, -- praise, speaking of God's works, singing, are our duties, -- but this last is all; it like the holy incense, mixed of all these perfumes.
...
As God requires outward and inward worship, so a spiritual frame for inward worship may be forwarded by outward composure. Gazing drowsiness hinders the activity of the soul, but the contrary temper fathers and helps it. Singing calls up the soul into such a posture, and doth, as it were, awaken it: it is a lively rousing up of the heart.
...
This is a work of the most meditation of any we perform in public. It keeps the heart longest upon the thing spoken. Prayer and hearing pass quick from one sentence to another; this sticks long upon it. Meditation must follow after hearing the word, and praying with the minister; for new sentences, still succeeding, give not liberty, in the instant, well to muse and consider upon what is spoken: but in this, you pray and meditate, praise and meditate, speak of the things of God and meditate. God hath so ordered this duty, that, while we are employed in it, we feed, and chew the cud together. 'Higgaion,' or 'meditation,' is set upon some passages of the Psalms, as Psal. ix. 16. The same may be writ upon the whole duty, and all parts of it, -- viz. 'meditation.' Set before you one in the posture to sing to the best advantage: eyes, lifted up to heaven, denote his desire, that his heart may be there too: he hath before him a line or verse of prayer, mourning, praise, mention of God's works; how fairly now may his heart spread itself in meditation on the things, while he is singing it over! Our singing is measured in deliberate time, not more for music than meditation. He that seeks not, finds not, this advantage in singing psalms, -- hath not yet learned what it means.
Christian Paradoxes
In 1645, Herbert Palmer published Memorials of Godlinesse and Christianitie. Part I contains meditations on "making religion one's business" and an appendix on the calling of a minister. Part II contains "The Character of a Christian in Paradoxes and seeming Contradictions," "A Proof or Character of visible Godliness," "Some general Considerations to excite watchfulness, and to shake off spiritual drousiness," "Remedies against carefulness [anxiety]," and "The Soul of Fasting." Part III contains "A Daily Direction, or, Brief Rules for daily Conversation" and "A particular Direction for the Lord's-Day."
The "Paradoxes" are a series of wise aphorisms noting seeming contradictions in the life of a believer.
Palmer died in 1647. That same year, Ralph Venning published Orthodox paradoxes theoretical and experimental; or, a believer clearing truth by seeming contradictions : With an appendix of the Triumph of assurance over the law, sin, the world, wants, present enjoyments. To which is added the new command renewed, or, love one another; with ten rules for the right understanding of scripture by Ralph Venning, A.M.
In 1648, an edition of the Remaines of Francis Bacon included Palmer's Christian Paradoxes attributed to Bacon, not Palmer, and for a long time many assumed the Paradoxes were Bacon's. Venning's Orthodox Paradoxes, meanwhile, was clearly derived from Palmer's Christian Paradoxes, although without attribution (Palmer published 85 paradoxes, Venning published 299). These facts were made clear in 1865 when Alexander Grosart published Lord Bacon not the author of "The Christian paradoxes" (reprinted in 2008 by Angell Press and available at Amazon). The sorting out of who wrote what is worth reading, but most especially worth reading, and pondering, is Palmer's Christian Paradoxes. A sampling of his aphorisms is below:
1. A Christian is one, who believes things which his reason cannot comprehend.
5. He believes Three to be One, and One to be Three; A Father not be elder then his Son, and the Son to be equal with his Father, and one proceeding from both to be fully equall to both.
6. He believes in one Nature three Persons, and in one Person two Natures.
7. He belives a Virgin to have been a Mother, and her Son to be her Maker.
22. He is rich in poverty, and poor in the midst of riches.
25. He loses his life and gains by it, and even while he loses it, he saves it.
36. He loves all men as himself, yet hates some men with perfect hatred.
40. He is a peacemaker, yet continually fighting, and an irreconcilable enemy.
54. He confesses he can do nothing; yet as truly professes he can do all things.
68. He cannot sinne, yet he can do nothing without sin.
71. He is a Serpent and a Dove, a Lamb and a Lion, a Reed and a Cedar.
74. He believes like Abraham, in hope and against hope: and though he can never answer God's Logick, yet with the woman of Canaan he hopes to prevail with the Rhetorick of importunity.
80. After he begins to live he is ever dying; and though he have an eternal life begun in him, yet he makes account he hath a death to pass through.
The "Paradoxes" are a series of wise aphorisms noting seeming contradictions in the life of a believer.
Palmer died in 1647. That same year, Ralph Venning published Orthodox paradoxes theoretical and experimental; or, a believer clearing truth by seeming contradictions : With an appendix of the Triumph of assurance over the law, sin, the world, wants, present enjoyments. To which is added the new command renewed, or, love one another; with ten rules for the right understanding of scripture by Ralph Venning, A.M.
In 1648, an edition of the Remaines of Francis Bacon included Palmer's Christian Paradoxes attributed to Bacon, not Palmer, and for a long time many assumed the Paradoxes were Bacon's. Venning's Orthodox Paradoxes, meanwhile, was clearly derived from Palmer's Christian Paradoxes, although without attribution (Palmer published 85 paradoxes, Venning published 299). These facts were made clear in 1865 when Alexander Grosart published Lord Bacon not the author of "The Christian paradoxes" (reprinted in 2008 by Angell Press and available at Amazon). The sorting out of who wrote what is worth reading, but most especially worth reading, and pondering, is Palmer's Christian Paradoxes. A sampling of his aphorisms is below:
1. A Christian is one, who believes things which his reason cannot comprehend.
5. He believes Three to be One, and One to be Three; A Father not be elder then his Son, and the Son to be equal with his Father, and one proceeding from both to be fully equall to both.
6. He believes in one Nature three Persons, and in one Person two Natures.
7. He belives a Virgin to have been a Mother, and her Son to be her Maker.
22. He is rich in poverty, and poor in the midst of riches.
25. He loses his life and gains by it, and even while he loses it, he saves it.
36. He loves all men as himself, yet hates some men with perfect hatred.
40. He is a peacemaker, yet continually fighting, and an irreconcilable enemy.
54. He confesses he can do nothing; yet as truly professes he can do all things.
68. He cannot sinne, yet he can do nothing without sin.
71. He is a Serpent and a Dove, a Lamb and a Lion, a Reed and a Cedar.
74. He believes like Abraham, in hope and against hope: and though he can never answer God's Logick, yet with the woman of Canaan he hopes to prevail with the Rhetorick of importunity.
80. After he begins to live he is ever dying; and though he have an eternal life begun in him, yet he makes account he hath a death to pass through.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Innocence Revisited
The following is a sonnet that I wrote in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in 1988:
Innocence Revisited
Beneath a salty sky we roamed the Land:
Though slow in steps we reached the open Sea,
Where sapphires mirror fortunes of the free,
Who fly away from loving those at hand,
And with the sun still overhead, the sand
Seemed warm enough then to assail our fears.
The stars that night were black; each hour tears
Were seen there by the flame a cold wind fanned.
Until, at last, Dawn broke -- an old friend's guide
And a red sky in mourning. Ship Redeemed
Then with the wind, prevailed against a tide
We danced. Her tempests flare, but Fortune deemed
A compass in our sails, which cannot hide
The shores we seek with Cygnus in our dreams.
Of Periwigs and Puritans
When one views 17th and 18th century portraits it is apparent that at least some Puritans wore powdered hair or wigs, and the modern stereotype of a stern Puritan magistrate wearing a wig (often imagined presiding over a witch trial) is powerful, vivid image in our minds today. The modern European custom of wearing periwigs, or wigs for short, developed in France in the 1620s when King Louis XIII, who was going bald, began to wear a wig. Likewise in England, it was during the Restoration with the royal patronage of King Charles II that male wigs became popular. Before this, Queen Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots, had both employed them, but the practice became a symbol of social status for men in Restoration-era England. Samuel Pepys recorded in his diary the first time he wore a wig to church in 1664: "I found that my coming in a periwig did not prove so strange as I was afraid it would..."But while the custom caught on quickly, there were those among the Puritans who opposed it. William Prynne took an early stand in 1628 when he wrote that "the wearing of counterfeite, false, and suppositious Haire, is utterly unlawfull" (The Unlovelinesse of Lovelockes). The Scottish Covenanter John Carstares wrote in his preface to the reader to James Durham's Practical Exposition of the Ten Commandments (1665, 2002):
To over-costly, curious, vain and conceity dressing and decking of the body, and setting of the hair now after one mode, now after another. (Wherein, as in other vanities, many men, somewhat unmanning themselves, do now contend with women, partly by their unnaturally nourished long hair, and horrid bushes of vanity, as Mr. [Robert] Bolton calls them, and partly by their variously and strangely metamorphosing modes and colors of periwigs) --
James Durham goes on to say further (quoting Robert Bolton again at one point), pp. 334-337:
And therefore we say that in men and women both, there is condemned by the Lord:
...
2. Strangeness in the ever-changing fashions, and extravagant modes of apparel; whileas the Lord by nature has continued the shape of men's bodies to be the same. For what is meant else by strange apparel, so often forbidden in Scripture, but that which is commonly called the fashion, or new fashion, a new and uncouth garb?...There is a lightness in clothing as to color, mounting as they call it, etc, and in dressing of the body, which may be seen in these dressings of the hair, powderings, laces, ribbons, points, etc, which are so much in use with gallants of the time; this, especially in women, is insisted on and condemned (Isa. 3:16-17, etc.) Some things indeed there mentioned are not simply unlawful, especially to persons of higher quality, and at all times; but the following particulars are condemned....
There is in clothes a base effeminateness amongst men (which someway emasculates or un-mans them) who delight in those things which women dote upon, as dressing of hair, powderings, washing, (when exceeded in) rings, jewels, etc, which are spoken of, and reproved in the daughters of Zion (Isa. 3), and so must be much more unsuitable to men. Also interchanging of apparel is condemned; men putting on women's, and women men's clothes, which is unsuitable to that distinction of sexes which the Lord hath made, and is condemned in the word, as a confusion, an absurd, unnatural thing, and an inlet to much wickedness. Whereof the Dutch annotators, as several fathers did long before them, on 1 Cor. 11:14, make men’s nourishing and wearing of long hair to be some degree, it being given to women, not only for an ornament and covering, but also in part for distinction of the female sex from the male.
And here, having touched a little on this vain dressing of the hair (now almost in as many various modes as thee are fashions of apparel), especially incident to women; it will not be impertinent to subjoin a strange story, which learned, pious, and grave Mr. Bolton, in his Four Last Things, p. 40, repeats from his author the famous Herculus Saxonia, professor of physic in Padua:
The Plica (saith he) is a most loathsome and horrible disease in the hair, unheard of on former times, as morbus gallicus, and fudor anglicus, bred by modern luxury and excess; it seizeth especially upon women, and by reason of a viscuous, venomous humour, glueth together, as it were, the hairs of the head, with a prodigious ugly implication and entanglement, sometimes taking the form of a great snake, sometimes of many little serpents, full of nastiness, vermin, and noisome smell: And that which is most to be admired, and never eye saw before, these being pricked with a needle, they yield bloody drops. And at the first spreading of this dreadful disease in Poland, all that did cut off their horrible and snaky hair, lost their eyes, or the humour falling down upon other parts of the body, tortured them extremely. It began first, not many years ago, in Poland, it is now entered into many parts of Germany. And methinks (says Mr. Bolton) our monstrous fashionists, both male and female, the one for nourishing their horrid bushes of vanity, the other for their most unnatural and cursed cutting their hair, should every hour fear and tremble, lest they bring it on their own heads, and amongst us in this kingdom.
And John Eliot was one who viewed afflictions upon New England society as attributable in part to God's wrath against men wearing wigs, and prayed against the practice.
Convers Francis, Life of John Eliot, the Apostle to the Indians (1836), pp. 322-323:
Mr. Eliot had a few whims, to which he was pertinaciously attached. One of these was an unsparing hostility to the practice of wearing long hair and wigs. He could not endure it; he regarded it as an iniquity not to be tolerated. The man, and especially the minister of the Gospel, who wore a wig, he considered as committing an offence, not only against decency, but against religion. His zeal about "prolix locks" was warm, but unavailing. He lived to see the practice prevail in spite of his remonstrances, and at last gave over his warfare against it with the despairing remark, "The lust has become insuperable!" The readers of New England history will remember, that in 1649 an association was formed, and a solemn protest published, against wearing long hair, by Governor Endicot and the other magistrates.
In this punctiliousness we see the influence of sympathy with the English Roundheads carried even into trifles. In England periwigs were permitted quietly to cover the head soon after the restoration of Charles. But for more than thirty years after that time, they were deemed by many a sore grievance in New England. Gradually during that period they were coming into use; but they need all the authority derived from the practice of such divines as [John] Owen, [William] Bates, and [Joseph] Mede, to find protection at last. The intolerance they experienced from Mr. Eliot was not, therefore, a singularity in the good man; he only persevered in his stern hostility against them longer than many others.
In 1675, as a response to the devastating consequences of the King Philip's War, the General Court of Massachusetts legislated against the sin of pride in wearing wigs:
Whereas there is manifest Pride openly appearing amongst us in that long Hair, like Womens Hair, is worn by some men, either their own or others Hair, made into Perewigs: And by some Women wearing Borders of Hair, and their Cutting, Curling, and Immodest laying out their Hair; which practice doth prevail and increase, especially among the younger sort.
This Court doth Declare against this ill custome as Offensive to them, and divers sober Christians amongst us, and therefore do hereby exhort and advise all persons to use moderation in this respect; And further do impower all Grand juries to present to the County Court such Persons, whether Male, or Female, whom they shall judge to exceed in the Premises; and the County Court being authorized to proceed against such Delinquents either by Admonition, Fine, or Correction, according to their good discretion.
Increase Mather, likewise, saw the wrath of God poured out against men wearing wigs and took note of them in a sermon following the burning of Boston, Burnings Bewailed: in a Sermon, Occasioned by the Lamentable Fire Which was in Boston, Octob. 2, 1711. In which the Sins which Provoke the Lord to Kindle Fires, are Enquired into. (1711):
Monstrous Perriwigs, such as some of our Church-Members indulge in, which make them resemble ye Locusts that come out of ye bottomless Pit. Rev. ix. 7,8, -- and as an eminent Divine calls them, Horrid Bushes of Vanity; such strange apparel as is contrary to the light of Nature and to express Scripture. I Cor. xi. 14, 15. Such pride is enough to provoke the Lord to kindle fires in all the towns in the country.
However, his son "Cotton Mather first wigged in 1691" (Bruce C. Daniels, Puritans at Play, p. 198) and defended the practice against those "who preached against an innocent fashion, taken and used by the best of men."
Cotton Mather's chief opponent on this score was Samuel Sewall, whose opposition to periwigs, as recorded in his diary, is legendary. He himself did wear a skull cap in his old age to keep his head warm, but he inveighed against the rising custom of wearing wigs in his day with great fervency. His diary (Vol. 1, p. 342) records his opinion of one sermon by Cotton Mather on hypocrisy:
In his proem said, Totus mundus agi histrionem. Said one sign of a hypocrit was for a man to strain at a Gnat and swallow a Camel. Sign in's Throat discovered him to be zealous against an innocent fashion, taken up and used by the best of men; and yet make no conscience of being guilty of great Immoralities. 'T is supposed means wearing of Perriwigs: said would deny themselves in any thing but parting with an opportunity to do God service; that so might not offend good Christians. Meaning, I suppose, was fain to wear a Perriwig for his health. I expected not to hear a vindication of Perriwigs in Boston Pulpit by Mr. Mather; however, not from that Text. The Lord give me a good Heart and help to know, and not only to know but also doe his Will; that my Heart and Head may be his."
One authority he cited against the practice was a sermon by Vincent Alsop, which appeared in the Cripplegate Morning Exercises, "What Distance Ought We to Keep, in Following the Strange Fashions of Apparel, Which Come Up in the Days Wherein We Live?", published in Puritan Sermons, 1659-1689, Vol. 3, pp. 488-530, and appended to the Soli Deo Gloria edition of Vincent Alsop's Practical Godliness: The Ornament of All Religion. While acknowledging that social status is lawful factor in the selection of one's apparel, Alsop saw little to no value in the use of wigs. Alsop even quoted Increase Mather against their use, which was likely known to Sewall.
INFER. II. All youthful periwigs and paintings, which are sinful in youth, are doubly sinful in the aged. (p. 507)
...
How do our gallants expect reverence, if not adoration, for their whistling silks and ruffling periwigs; and that all should rise and bow to their state, port, and grandeur! Thy silks and periwigs are but excrements; and the latter, perhaps, of one that died of the foul disease, or at the gallows. Tertullian nips this humour severely: Ne exuvias alieni, forsan immundi, forsan nocentis et gehennae destinati, sancto et Christiano capiti suppares.* "O, do not," says he, "wear on thy sacred and Christian head the hair of another, perhaps some foul-diseased fellow, perhaps one that was a malefactor and is now in everlasting burnings!"
* Tertullianus De Cultu Feminarum. (p. 513)
...
I know, both paintings and periwigs have their palliations and excuses: --
(1.) They that ruffle in their waving perukes, and look like the locusts that "came out of the smoke of the bottomless pit," whose "faces were as the faces of men, and they had hair as the hair of women," (Rev. ix.8;) do plead that they wear them upon good advice, for their health's sake, to divert catarrhs, to prevent consumptions.
ANSWER (i.) And is it indeed so, that the nation is become almost one great hospital? Are the generality of men among us just dropping into consumption? Then what other lust, what debauchery, has introduced a sinful necessity, and then taught them to plead it? But is it not evident, that the corruption is much larger than the pretended occasion? (ii.) But if cutting off the hair be in some degree useful for that end, are periwigs therefore so? Can no other thing substitute for the place of hair, but such a vanity? (iii.) But if this vanity be any ways useful, what does the curling contribute to it? and what does the change of the colour conduce to that effect? Is it no colour but one contrary to the natural, that will do the deed? Or if it must be so, what does the immoderate length signify to that end? How much more ingenuous had it been, to have confessed the sin, and yet persisted in it, than to palliate it with such slender, thin excuses? (pp. 526-527)
Solomon Stoddard also took a hard line against wigs in a letter to Samuel Sewall dated July 29, 1701:
I cannot condemn them universally. Yet there is abundance of sin in this country, in wearing wigs. Some cut off their hair, because it is red or gray; some, because it is straight; some, frizzled; and some, because it is their own. Some of the wigs are of an unreasonable length, and generally they are extravagant as to their business. They are wasteful as to cost. The wearing of them is pride, to make a vain show. It is contrary to gravity -- is light and effeminate. It makes the wearers of them look as if they were more disposed to court a maid than to bear upon their hearts the weighty concernments of God's kingdom.
There were those Puritans then who viewed wigs as an innocent fashion, and those who saw them as unnatural, effeminate, and vain, mixed with much that is sinful. Although we see some Puritans wearing them in portraits, even the Mather family itself was divided on the practice, and, lest we fall into stereotypes, we should recognize that not all Puritans approved of wigs, and some argued vehemently against them, with some nuances not to be overlooked (and I have here quoted from the opponents of wigs more extensively for the purpose of breaking that stereotype). Fashions are curious things, and while it is fashionable to view the Puritans as monolithic, the periwig controversy of the 17th and 18th centuries shows otherwise.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Snapshots of Family Worship
Hughes Oliphant Old, "Matthew Henry and the Puritan Discipline of Family Prayer," in John H. Leith, ed., Calvin Studies VII: Papers Presented at a Colloquium on Calvin Studies (1994, Davidson College, Davidson College Presbyterian Church, Davidson, North Carolina), p. 69:
Robert Burns, The Cotter's Saturday Night:
What the liturgy of the hours was for monks of the Middle Ages, the discipline of family prayer was for the Puritans. The typical Puritan home of seventeenth-century England may not have looked much like the splendid cloisters of Cluny, but there was something in common. The daily life of both Catholic monk and Puritan family man was ordered by a rhythm of prayer and praise. With Cistercian solemnity, the Puritan household would gather around the dinner table, father, mother, children, a maiden aunt, perhaps servants or an apprentice. A metrical psalm was sung. Then the head of the house would open up a great leather bound family Bible and read a chapter. This finished, the father would lead in prayer. The Puritans, whether on the Connecticut frontier or in the heart of London, whether they were Cambridge scholars or Shropshire cotters, gave great importance to maintaining a daily discipline of family prayer.
Robert Burns, The Cotter's Saturday Night:The chearfu' supper done, wi serious face,The Family Altar: Or, The Duty, Benefits, and Mode of Conducting Family Worship (1844), pp. 65-67:
They, round the ingle, form a circle wide;
The sire turns o'er, wi patriarchal grace,
The big ha'-Bible, ance his father's pride.
His bonnet rev'rently is laid aside,
His lyart haffets wearing thin and bare;
Those strains that once did sweet in Zion glide,
He wales a portion with judicious care;
And 'Let us worship God!' he says with solemn air.
They chant their artless notes in simple guise,
They tune their hearts, by far the noblest aim;
Perhaps Dundee's wild-warbling measures rise,
Or plaintive Martyrs, worthy of the name;
Or noble Elgin beets the heavenward flame,
The sweetest far of Scotia's holy lays:
Compar'd with these, Italian trills are tame;
The tickl'd ears no heart-felt raptures raise;
Nae unison hae they, with our Creator's praise.
The priest-like father reads the sacred page,
How Abram was the friend of God on high;
Or, Moses bade eternal warfare wage
With Amalek's ungracious progeny;
Or, how the royal Bard did groaning lie
Beneath the stroke of Heaven's avenging ire;
Or Job's pathetic plaint, and wailing cry;
Or rapt Isaiah's wild, seraphic fire;
Or other holy Seers that tune the sacred lyre.
Perhaps the Christian volume is the theme:
How guiltless blood for guilty man was shed;
How He, who bore in Heaven the second name,
Had not on earth whereon to lay His head;
How His first followers and servants sped;
The precepts sage they wrote to many a land:
How he, who lone in Patmos banished,
Saw in the sun a mighty angel stand,
And heard great Bab'lon's doom pronounc'd by Heaven's command.
Then kneeling down to Heaven's Eternal King,
The saint, the father, and the husband prays:
Hope 'springs exulting on triumphant wing.'
That thus they all shall meet in future days,
There, ever bask in uncreated rays,
No more to sigh or shed the bitter tear,
Together hymning their Creator's praise,
In such society, yet still more dear;
While circling Time moves round in an eternal sphere.
Another, and perhaps better way, is to make the members of the family supply the commentary themselves. This evening, before it is so late that you are all sleepy, you sit round the table, each with his Bible open before him; and the passage selected is Isa 45.
'Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two-leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut.'
Father. The prophet has been foretelling the fall of Babylon, and here he names its conqueror. Mary, what is his name?
Mary. Cyrus.
Father. Does any one know how long after this it was before Cyrus made his appearance? Can no one tell? George, your Bible has got the date on its margin. Can you tell when Isaiah uttered this prophecy?
George. About 712 years before Christ.
Father. Now if you will look to the beginning of Ezra, you will see the first year of Cyrus set down there.
George. Before Christ 536.
Father. Then how long before had the Lord called Cyrus by his name?
George. Nearly 200 years.
Father. It is not very long since John and Henry finished the Life of Cyrus. Do you remember any facts which illustrate this prophecy?
Henry. The Lord says, 'I have holden his right hand to subdue nations before him.' Cyrus subdued the Lydians with their rich King Croesus, the Phrygians, the Phoenicians, and many more, as well as the Babylonians.
John. Yes; and when he took Babylon, 'the gates were not shut.' For the people were all drinking and diverting themselves, when he dried up the river; and had forgot to shut the gates at the end of the streets which open into the river—so that Cyrus had nothing to do but march down the dry channel, and then climb up the banks into the city.
Father. Very true—but do you remember nothing more about 'opening the two-leaved gates?'
Henry. O, yes! When the King of Babylon heard the uproar in the city, he sent to find out what was the matter, and when they were opening the palace gates, to let out the king's messenger, the Persians rushed in and killed the king.
Try to bring out some lesson that may be needed that very day. You read at morning worship that verse, 1 Cor 10:31.
'Whether, therefore, ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.'
Father. What does that mean?
John. That every thing, however little, we are to do it so as to please God.
Father. Quite so. It means that you children, when learning your lessons, or at play—that Sarah down stairs, and your father in his counting-room, should all remember that we have a Father in heaven, and should do every thing, the little things and the great things, in the way that pleases Him.
The passage which you mean to read with your family, read carefully over beforehand; and consider what are its most striking points and most useful lessons; and a little practice will make you a good family expositor.
Two Streams
Millar Patrick, "Why The Reformed Church Did Not Use Hymns," in The Story of the Church's Song (1927, 2008), p. 86:
In the Churches of the Reformation there have been two main streams of church-song. On the one hand, there has been hymnody, with Luther as its fountainhead; on the other, metrical psalmody, after the example set by Calvin. Luther carried on the tradition established by the Latin hymn; his exemplars were in the Breviary. Calvin gave his adhesion to a still older tradition, which the Roman Church had maintained by the use of prose psalms in its Daily Office; he went back to the primitive days when the Church had no other means than the psalms for the singing of its praise. These two streams ran parallel for many generations; then they converged and blended, and in most Churches of the Reformed order they run together to-day.
Six Degrees of Richard Rogers
If you, dear Reader, have heard of the parlor game, Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, then this will make sense. It seems like Richard Rogers is at the center of the Puritan universe, although similar levels of interconnectivity can be achieved with other Puritans, methinks. If not, consider this a Puritan family tree with honorary branches. The following is only a snapshot, because many other names of interest and connections have not been included, but it shows just how much influence one godly man has had through his family and ministry.
Puritan minister Richard Rogers (1551-1618, author of the first major Puritan devotional manual on the Christian life, Seven Treatises, and a notable commentary on the Book of Judges, who by the way is NOT kin to the "protomartyr" John Rogers, c. 1500-1555, or, so far as I know, the American composer Richard Rogers, 1902-1979) was the father of Puritan minister Daniel Rogers (1573-1652, student of William Perkins and author of the classic Puritan marriage treatise Matrimoniall Honour) and Ezekiel Rogers (1590-1660, one of the founders of Rowley, Massachusetts); the stepfather of Puritan minister Samuel Ward of Ipswich (1577-1639/1640, who was also cousin [I think] to Puritan scholar Samuel Ward, 1577-1643, one of the translators of the King James Bible and a delegate to the Synod of Dort and an invited, but non-attending, delegate to the Westminster Assembly) and Puritan minister Nathaniel Ward (1578-1652, author of the Massachusetts Body of Liberties), whose son-in-law was Puritan minister Giles Firmin (1614-1697, author of The Real Christian); the grandfather of Puritan minister William Jenkyn (1613-1685, author of a notable commentary on the Book of Jude); the uncle of Puritan minister John Rogers of Dedham (c. 1570-1636, known as 'Roaring Rogers' for his preaching style and author of Sixty Memorials), who was the father of Puritan minister Nathaniel Rogers (1598-1655), who was the father of Harvard University President John Rogers (1630-1684); and the teacher of pupil-turned-Puritan minister Paul Baynes (d. 1617) by whose ministry Puritan minister Richard Sibbes (1577-1635) was converted.
Puritan minister Richard Rogers (1551-1618, author of the first major Puritan devotional manual on the Christian life, Seven Treatises, and a notable commentary on the Book of Judges, who by the way is NOT kin to the "protomartyr" John Rogers, c. 1500-1555, or, so far as I know, the American composer Richard Rogers, 1902-1979) was the father of Puritan minister Daniel Rogers (1573-1652, student of William Perkins and author of the classic Puritan marriage treatise Matrimoniall Honour) and Ezekiel Rogers (1590-1660, one of the founders of Rowley, Massachusetts); the stepfather of Puritan minister Samuel Ward of Ipswich (1577-1639/1640, who was also cousin [I think] to Puritan scholar Samuel Ward, 1577-1643, one of the translators of the King James Bible and a delegate to the Synod of Dort and an invited, but non-attending, delegate to the Westminster Assembly) and Puritan minister Nathaniel Ward (1578-1652, author of the Massachusetts Body of Liberties), whose son-in-law was Puritan minister Giles Firmin (1614-1697, author of The Real Christian); the grandfather of Puritan minister William Jenkyn (1613-1685, author of a notable commentary on the Book of Jude); the uncle of Puritan minister John Rogers of Dedham (c. 1570-1636, known as 'Roaring Rogers' for his preaching style and author of Sixty Memorials), who was the father of Puritan minister Nathaniel Rogers (1598-1655), who was the father of Harvard University President John Rogers (1630-1684); and the teacher of pupil-turned-Puritan minister Paul Baynes (d. 1617) by whose ministry Puritan minister Richard Sibbes (1577-1635) was converted.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Be Much in the Psalms
Alexander Whyte, quoted by Michael Bushell, The Songs of Zion, p. iv:
Let him who is feeble in faith, and in repentance, and holiness, and in communion with God, be much in the Psalms. Let the Psalms dwell richly in the feeblest among us, and the feeblest among us will yet be a man of more spiritual strength than David. Sing a heart-strengthening Psalm every morning, and a heart-cleansing and heart-quieting Psalm every night. Seven times every remaining day of your earthly pilgrimage sing a Psalm. Let no place, and no conversation, and no occupation delude you out of your heart-refreshing Psalm. Fill the house of your pilgrimage with the sound of Psalms. Let the prisoners hear you. Let the angels hear you. Let God hear you. Let Him bow down His ear and hear you. Let Him say to His Son, and to His angels, and to His saints, over and over your house, I have found a man after mine own heart: with my holy oil have I anointed him.
Window to the Soul
If eyes are windows of the soul, the diary of Richard Rogers is a window into a Puritan heart.John W. Cowart, ed., Seeking a Settled Heart: The 16th Century Diary of Puritan Richard Rogers, pp. 61-62, 66, 114, 117:
August 18, 1587. I have long been troubled by my want of knowledge, but I see that I have not cause of grief from thence only. But I and my friend[63], falling yesternight into a special conference about our estate, I found that much decay of care, zeal, and watchfulness is grown uppon me. For times have been when I was no sooner risen from bed and board but I was immediately with the Lord in meditation about my self, or seeking the good of some others, or in company profitable.
As for dealings in the world about commodities or further licentiousness in things unlawful, I weaned my self from them, and had no liking of many things which I see many people to go after and godliness to be meanly followed. This I have seen, though hardly I could yield or consent to it, and that any good means were neglected by me. Now I see that these have been the cause, and that very justly, why I have seen my study go so ill forward, and so small blessing to have been granted me therein. I see also that for these causes my God hath taken from me much comfort, and my gift in conference is much abated.
We complain that many things are amiss in our lives, but we can see no cause for it. But this is a very common thing with good men that when they come to have dealings, occupyings (jobs), and families, much of their delight is employed uppon them which was wont to be given to the Lord, and yet all was thought to be too little. And the Apostle, in I Corinthians 7, hath taught us that as single men bestow all their care on how they may please the Lord, so the married men have commonly their care, without especial grace, on how they may grow on togither and prosper. By means whereof coldness and negligence grows upon them before they be aware.
Besides, we may observe by experience that even the most zealous people do somewhat, in time, decline and wax remiss in caring for the matters of God. So that no prayer may be more meet and right for a good Christian than this -- that God would keep us in our age from the corruptions of the times and of the world.
For full soon a man falls to be like others, and there is great force and strength in the times and persons with whom we live.
When we enjoy our peace, liberty, and other commodities uppon such conditions as the times do often offer unto us, it is to be feared that we yield to some things that we should not.
For mine own part I see cause to fear this in my self, and I hope I will look more diligently to my self than I have done and wean my self from some lawful profiles and pleasures, so as to be much more conscious of such things as be unlawful, yea even of my thoughts which delight in things that ought not to be.
[63] Probably [Ezekiel] Culverwell.
Oct. 30, 1587. Among other meditations, this was one in the this month. That I behold how graciously the Lord hath hedged me in on every side with that sweet knowledge of His will, in comparison to that which I was likely to have attained to otherwise. He hath given me other blessings, good will, and a good name with the godlier sort of people, and communion with them. And He hath given such manifold comfort in my life, and with His people, and with liberty in my ministry.
May 26, 1590...My mind hath very heavenly been exercised in considering both by meditation, by sing Psalm. 119:14, 15, 16, and by, conference, of God's goodness in cheering our hearts with the bottomless and unexpressable treasure of His word, and feeling of His favor, and enjoying of His benefits.
He will condescend to such as we are. He will have us not to taste barely, but plentifully to digest, many comfortable pleasures, and that daily.
And he maketh godliness the pleasantest delight to His people, which to the world is most irksome and bitter.
July 25, 1590...This evening, walking and considering how I had been wont, many years agone, to muse, with relenting, on God's love and kindness, which with much comfort I have long enjoyed, it grieved me not a little to think how new times offering new occasions have won out, in great part my meltings of heart.
These feelings, with sighs and complaints, were more sweet to me than honey.
With tears I desired that I might sometimes before bed recover that sweet recourse to God.
For though many good duties are performed by occasion of keeping a family, more than were, in house and out, before marriage, yet I would that I might continue sometimes that seasoning of my mind on evens as then.[122]
[122] At a later date there were added the words some times I did...Think I on them oft at Bed, winter.
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