Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof. (Leviticus 25:10a)If ye continue in my word, [then] are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. -- Jesus Christ (John 8:31b,32)
If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. -- Jesus Christ (John 8:36)
For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 3:11)
And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. (Matthew 21:9)
This was the Lord's public claiming of authority over Israel. He was the son of David, and so He was by natural right the King of the Jews. If He had taken possession of His own, He would have been sitting on the throne of the chosen dynasty of David by right of birth. Also as the Messiah, the Christ, He was the King of His people Israel. Concerning Him it had been said by the prophet, "Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold! thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass" (Zechariah 9:9). Our Lord Jesus literally came to Zion in this way. As King He rode to His capital and entered His palace. In His priestly royalty the Son of God went to His Father's house, to the temple of sacrifice and sovereignty. Among the tribes of Israel He is seen to be "One chosen out of the people," whom the Lord had given to be a leader and commander for the people. They might afterwards choose Barabbas and cry that they had no king but Caesar, yet Jesus was their King, as Pilate reminded them when he said, "Shall I crucify your king?" And also His cross declared, it, bearing the legal inscription, "This is Jesus the King of the Jews." Before His trial and condemnation He had put in a public claim to the rights and prerogatives of Zion's king, whom God has set on His holy hill. Would to God all fully recognized our Lord's kingdom, yielding to His sway! Oh, that you would bow before Him, and put your trust in Him! Part of His intent in riding through Jerusalem was that we also who dwell in the isles of the sea might know Him and reverence Him as King of kings and Lord of lords." -- C.H. Spurgeon commenting on Matthew 21:9 in Devotional Classics of C.H. Spurgeon, p. 86"Whereas, we all came into these parts of America with one and the same end and aim, to advance the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to enjoy the liberties of the Gospel in purity and peace." -- The New England Confederation, May 19, 1643
The roots of liberty and limited government are in the Protestant Reformation. We believe the key to the maintenance of liberty and limited government are to be found in the Scottish covenanting struggle.
The question of Paul, Is Christ divided? is one to which professing Christians have not given sufficient heed, and the evil consequences are abundantly apparent.
It was deemed essential to the salvation of men that their Redeemer should possess the powers at once of a prophet, a priest, and a king. These offices, while essentially distinct, are necessarily and inseparably connected with one another. Such a union has been by some utterly denied; and its denial has laid foundation for some capital errors, which have exerted a pernicious influence on the Christian church. By others it has been criminally overlooked; and the neglect with which it has been treated has occasioned vague and conflicting conceptions regarding the great work of man's deliverance from sin and wrath by the mediation of the Son of God.
If, as we presume will be readily admitted, the whole of Christ's offices are necessary to the salvation of fallen man, it follows that they are all essential to the character of the Saviour, and that, of course, we can not suppose him to have existed for a moment without any one of them, as this would suppose him to have been, for the time at least, no Saviour. -- William SymingtonBriefly stated, where Christ is demoted or limited, His Kingdom and crown rights are limited and demoted. There is then a shift of sovereignty from God to man, which means the triumph of the state. The state as the new sovereign becomes god walking on earth, and the result is the rapid death of all freedom. -- R.J. Rushdoony
In the final analysis, all modern ills, spiritual and temporal, are traceable to our continuing departure from the principles of the Second Reformation. . . . In particular, I am convinced that the Lord will not bless a church at peace with his enemies. Our departure from truth has led to our undernourished condition as a church; truth, as Thornwell argued, is the only food that the soul can digest.
It does no good to blame society or the church for our deficiencies before the Lord because Christ holds men, not churches and states, accountable. In the words of Hugh Miller, "Churches, however false and detestable, are never to be summoned to the bar of judgment. . . . To Christ, as his head and king, must every man render an account."
The great heresy of our times is that all men are children of God. Those within the church have lost their identity as a people of God, united in spirit and purpose. We have adopted the half-truths of our fathers for which Judah faced punishment: "Because they have despised the law of the Lord, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after which their fathers have walked" (Amos 2:4b). Nevertheless, Christ loves his church, and he will see to it that his bride is prepared (Ephesians 5:27) for the great banquet. Based on the history of God's people, the needed corrections will result from either prayer or persecution, leading the people to renew their covenant promises. Let us pray that God's kingdom come, and let us covenant to fulfill our obligations to be his people. When persecution comes, let us pray that we would stand as firm as did the Scottish Covenanters. When covenanting comes, let us praise the Lord, for only in him will we stand firm. Let us ever strive to make it possible for our children to utter one of James Nisbet's praises, "O my soul! Bless and praise the Lord that I was born in a land where the glad tidings of the everlasting gospel are published and pressed with so much purity and plainness." This should be our prayer, "Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved" (Psalm 80:3). -- Edwin Nesbit Moore, from the conclusion to Our Covenant HeritageYe have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. (Exodus 19:4-6a)
What a loving preface to the law! If anything could have engaged rebellious man to obedience, this would have done it, but, alas, the Lord has nourished and brought up children, and theyhave rebelled against him. -- C.H. Spurgeon commenting on Exodus 19:4-6a in Spurgeon's Devotional Bible, p. 92.The Treasury of David, Psalm 106
http://www.spurgeon.org/treasury/ps106.htm
Q. What kind of submission may be rendered to immoral and tyrannical governments, the ordinance of Satan, such as now exist?A. Christians, in the exercise of their Christian liberty, and in the performance of the duty of "proving all things, and holding fast what is good," can submit to such governments "for wrath's sake," ONLY, which kind of submission has no respect to the power as legitimate authority, but simply, from dread of the cruelty of the tyrant, who pours forth his fury upon all who oppose his misrule. To God's moral ordinance as described, is allegiance due for conscience sake. Submission to this, is submission to God.
Q. When Christians reside under an immoral government, is not conformity to the general order of society a duty, provided this can be done without violating the divine law ?
A. If the constituted authorities of a nation are not in voluntary subserviency to the Mediator, but opposed to his authority, law, and religion, for the sake of peace and order, and for the sake of contributing as much as possible to the ease and happiness of society, and from a spirit of resignation to the Divine providence, and in order to make legitimate provision for themselves and relatives, so much conformity to the prevailing system as is consistent with their oath of allegiance to Messiah, is a duty conscientiously to be practiced, although very distinct from that obedience for conscience sake which they would render to the government of their choice, to the authority which has the sanction of the Divine approbation. Jer. xxix. 4-7, "Seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
Q. Whilst it is the duty of Christians thus to live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty, in conformity to the laws of Christ, which are everywhere, and at all times, obligatory upon them -- is it not their duty publicly to declare their dissent from an immoral constitution of civil government, within the reach of whose power they may reside ?
A. This is, indeed, their duty. Because, 1. They are bound to defend God's moral ordinance of civil government, in the purity of which, God's own honor as "the Governor of the nations," is deeply involved. Rev. ii. 25, 26, "That which you have already hold fast till I come; and he that overcometh -- and keepeth my works unto the end -- to him will I give power in the nations," &c. Isa. viii. 16, "Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples." 2. The purity of this holy ordinance cannot be preserved, if it is confounded with the existing immoral systems, and by an indiscriminate exercise of allegiance. 3. Christians are witnesses for God among men; and having in their possession "the testimony of God," in the Holy Scriptures, respecting the true character of civil government, and the duty of national subjection to Christ and his law, and respect for his holy religion, it is their duty to apply the doctrines of inspiration upon this subject, in stating and defending the truth, and condemning the existing immoral systems, and in bearing public testimony against all who uphold them. Isa. xliii. 10, "Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord." Rev. xi. 3, "I will give power to my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and three score days, clothed in sackcloth;" xii. 17, "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." See also Rev. xvii. 14, Acts v. 32, xxvi. 16, Micah iv. 8-18, Mark vi. 11. 4. The witnesses in Revelation are raised up not only to testify against the ecclesiastical apostasy, "The scarlet woman," or Roman church -- and "the image of the beast," -- the Papacy -- but also against "the seven-headed and ten-horned" beast -- or the civil powers -- upon which the woman rides. The nations which sustain Antichrist, and are equally, with "the man of sin," Antichristian, and are at war with the Lamb. See passages last quoted, together with Rev. xiii. 1, 2, xvii. 3-14, and xii. 11, "And they overcame him, (the devil embodied in the Roman church papacy, and civil powers,) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony;" xvii. 14, "These, (the civil powers,) shall make war with the Lamb-and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful."
Q. Are not virtuous persons, who, in their private capacity, are endeavoring to further the true end of civil government -- the maintenance of peace and quietness in all godliness and honesty, although they dissent from the constitution of civil government of the nation in which they reside, entitled to protection ?
A. They certainly are entitled to protection in their lives, liberties, and property; "but they are not to act inconsistently with their declared dissent, and it would be tyranny to constrain them to such measures." Exod. xxii. 21, "Thou shalt neither vex a stranger nor oppress him." See also Rom. xiii. 3, 1 Tim. ii. 2, Jer. xxi. 12, Esther iii. 8, 9.
Q. Should not "Christians, testifying against national evils, and striving, in the use of moral means, to effect a reformation, relinquish temporal privileges, rather than do any thing which may appear to contradict their testimony, or lay a stumbling-block before their weaker brethren?"
A. This is unquestionably their duty. Because they cannot convince men of their own sincerity, and of the immorality of a principle or practice, whilst they themselves are found actually maintaining the immoral principle or practice, (by oath of allegiance, voting, and holding offices, &c.) and enjoying the emoluments of iniquity decreed by law. Heb. xi. 24, 26, 36, "By faith, Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Esteeming the reproach of Christ to be greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. And others had trials of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover, of bonds and imprisonments." Numb. xxiii. 9, "Lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations." Rom. xiv. 21, "It is good neither to eat flesh, nor drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended."
Q. Will not such a public dissent from immoral governments, and faithful testimony against them, ultimately prevail to their overthrow?
A. Yes. By these means the witnesses will prevail, however much they may suffer in the meantime, and will be the honored instruments of establishing the millennial kingdom of the Lamb. Rev. xii. 11 , "And they overcame him, by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death." Dan. vii. 22, "The Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom." Rev. xx. 4, "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them; and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, (the civil powers,) neither his image, (the Papacy,) neither had received his mark, (yielded allegiance,) upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." -- William L. Roberts, The Reformed Presbyterian Catechism, p. 130-133
Traditionally, law was never construed as legalist. It was always construed as a result of covenant. If we can define the word covenant as bond, that lovely four letter word, b-o-n-d, then it's a relationship, it's a solidarity with God or with another person. And from that relationship flows duty. So we can think of convent as that marvelous combination of promise and duty. And so I really see law as a response to a relationship. -- Joseph Kickasola
Bad men cannot make good citizens. It is impossible that a nation of infidels or idolators should be a nation of freemen. It is when a people forget God that tyrants forge their chains. A vitiated [defective] state of morals, a corrupted public conscience, are incompatible with freedom. -- Patrick Henry
True, the state as the policeman can be corrupt; in fact, if the society as a whole is corrupt, the state will also be corrupt. In a healthy and godly society, the state will function successfully to restrain the minority of evil-doers. The key to the situation is not the state but the religious health of the society. -- Rousas John Rushdoony, in Institutes of Biblical Law, p. 470
If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the Word of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Him. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proven; and to be steady on all the battlefront besides is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point. -- Martin Luther
It is a poor and pitiful kind of knowledge, to know many loose parcels, and broken members of truth, without knowing the whole, or the place and the relations which they have to the rest. To know letters and not syllables, or syllables and not words, or words and not sentences, or sentences and not the scope of the discourse, are all but an unprofitable knowledge. -- Richard Baxter (I:269)
How does a nation protect itself against terrorists who commit suicide to murder innocent citizens?
It is the presence of The Holy Spirit in society, The Third Person of the Holy Trinity -- it is His presence alone, that restrains evil in society. It is His presence alone that stops men from murdering their neighbors and from completely destroying society. See John Owen, "God's Presence With a People the Spring of Their Prosperity; With Their Special Interest in Abiding in Him"
In the absence of The Holy Spirit there is no restraint of evil.
Therefore, a nation that struggles to remove The Holy Trinity, The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit, from all public life, that nation will lose all restrain of evil, and will succumb to self-destruction from within. It will also succumb to destruction from ememies without. It is the presence in a nation of The Holy One of Israel, The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the presence of The Triune God, that restrains evil, and that gives society order and life.
Honored citizens of The United States of America, your willful rebellion against Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ has brought the judgment of God upon this nation. God punishes a people by putting godless leaders in command. All restraint of evil has disappeared from our nation, and our leaders are helpless to stop the spread of terrorism. Repent honored citizens of this beloved nation, partake of Christ, for you are the terrorists.
And now may the Grace, the Mercy, and the Peace, of God The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit, rest and abide with you now and forevermore. Amen.
The Protestant Reformation
Church and State
The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) (Westminster Standards) and Related Works
Part 4
The Theology of Freedom
Acts of Faithful Assemblies
Part 5
The Scottish Covenanting Struggle, Alexander Craighead, and the Mecklenburg Declaration
Combined Interactive Contents for The Web Edition of Biblical Counsel: Resources for Renewal
The medieval structure of ecclesiastical authority could not withstand the Protestant idea of sola scriptura -- the Bible alone. One Christian man with a Bible was superior to any pope or council or tradition without it. Luther translated the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into German so the people could read it in their own language and not be subject to an ecclesiastical ruling class. By translating the Bible into the common language, Luther freed the German people from ecclesiastical totalitarianism: The Bible was the written constitution of the church, which the people could now read for themselves. His second major contribution to Western political thought was the idea of a written constitution -- the Bible -- limiting the power and authority of the church (and later political) leaders. There is a direct connection between the Reformation cry of sola scriptura and the American idea of the Constitution -- not any man or body of men -- as the supreme law of the land. -- John W. Robbins, in a tract, Civilization and the Protestant Reformation
Sola Scriptura, Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Solus Christus, Soli Deo Gloria: the five Solas of the Protestant Reformation.
What distinguishes the arid ages from the period of the Reformation, when nations were moved as they had not been since Paul preached in Ephesus, Corinth, and Rome, is the latter's fullness of knowledge of God's Word. To echo an early Reformtion thought, when the ploughman and the garage attendant know the Bible as well as the theologian does, and know it better than some contemporary theologians, then the desired awakening shall have alread occurred." -- Gordon Clark
The third perspective is that "the Bible can only be correctly interpreted by people who have years of intense training in theology." This argument, which goes back to the Protestant Reformation of several hundred years ago, was rejected by 76% of adults [19% agreed]. The segments most likely to agree with this idea were African-Americans and Hispanics (24% of each group) and Catholics (22%). Even among those segments, however, less than one-quarter believes that accurate comprehension of the Bible is beyond the capacity of the average person. -- George Barna in Americans Draw Theological Beliefs From Diverse Points of View, October 8, 2002,
http://www.barna.org/cgi-bin/PagePressRelease.asp?PressReleaseID=122&Reference=A
What the Reformation's return to Biblical teaching gave society was the opportunity for tremendous freedom, but without chaos. That is, an individual had freedom because there was a consensus based upon the absolutes given in the Bible, and therefore real values within which to have freedom, without these freedoms leading to chaos. The world had not known anything like this before. . . . -- Francis Schaeffer
Western civilization following the Reformation is the greatest example of Christian cultural conquest we have to date. The shameful abandonment of that heritage by the church has left us in our current desperate plight. That heritage will be restored only as the church awakens to reclaim her birthright and asserts the authority of the King of kings over every sphere of life -- including the political." -- Dennis Woods
See: Preston, John, The Golden Sceptre (Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 1990). ISBN: 1877611174 9781877611179. Available on The Amazing Christian Library, DVD Five, CD #25.
A diamond is perfectly showcased in black velvet. The horrendous cameo of total depravity of Islamic miscreants on September 11, 2001, showcased, possibly better than any single event in history, the diametrically opposite teachings of The Lord Jesus Christ, the highest ethical standard known to mankind -- the basis of law and justice, and the teachings of Mohammed.
How sobering that, after the cataclysmic suicide airline bombing of the Twin International Trade Center Towers and the Pentagon, our politicians still equate freedom with toleration and license, a fatalistic and false presupposition. How sobering that we still can not see that conflict of will leads to death. Toleration is the enemy of truth, and no individual or nation can tolerate falsehood, or they will be destroyed by that falsehood. The issue is life and death. Absolute Truth leads to life, both temporal and eternal, and falsehood leads to death, both physical death and the Second Death. Nor can a republican form of government grant suffrage to anti-Christian factions and expect the protection and positive sanctions of the Triune God.
Among other things, the cataclysmic suicide airline bombing of the Trade Center Towers and the Pentagon was a clear example -- to our generation, seen around the world, and never to be forgotten -- of moral absolutes. Since September 11, 2001, no intellectually honest individual can make an assertion of moral relativism, values clarification, situation ethics, all paths lead to God, polytheism, toleration of all religions, neutrality, or non-duality.
How sobering that it takes a tragedy of the magnitude of September 11, 2001 to make us realize that justice and punishment are the only ways to suppress evil, evil that, among other things, results in suffering of the innocent.
How chilling to realize that, after God has used our enemy to chasten us, we are still apparently blind to our own sin as a nation, sins that collectively outweigh the sin of the Islamic Jehad's Holy War.
How sobering to realize that, after the war on international terrorism, this nation will then have to face the enemy within.
How sobering that it took the sudden devastation of September 11, 2001 to remind this nation and the world that we are all one, that the "many" are of equal importance to the "one."
Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority. -- John Emerich Edward Dalberg, Lord Acton (1834-1902) in a letter to Mandell Creighton, April 5, 1887 quoted by Gertrude Himmelfarb in Acton, Essays on Freedom and Power, pp. 335-36 (1972)
*Bainton, Roland H., Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther. A Christian classic.
*Bainton, Roland H., Women of the Reformation in Germany and Italy (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House, 1971). 90011
BARROW, GREG, Classical Protestant Doctrine of the Church (as read by Larry Birger for Barrow's The Covenanted Reformation Defended) (Audio Cassette Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books).
*Cambridge University Library, Acton Collection, Acton Collection . . . (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University, 1908-1910). 90011A
*D'Aubign‚, J.H. Merle, Discourses and Essays (1846), (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books).
*D'Aubign‚, J.H. Merle, History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House). 90012
*D'Aubign‚, J.H. Merle, The History of the Reformation, 2 volumes (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House). 90013
*D'Aubign‚, J.H. Merle, The Reformation in England, 2 volumes (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1962-1963). 90015
*Foxe, John, John Foxe's Book of Martyrs. Actes and Monuments of Matters Most Speciall and Memorable, the second edition of Foxe's Book of Martyrs Variorum Edition Online (version 1.1 - summer 2006).
*George, Timothy, Theology of the Reformers (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press). 90016
Hillerbrand, Hans J. (editor), The Oxford Encyclopaedia of the Reformation, 4 volumes (1996), (Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books).
*Himmelfarb, Gertrude, Lord Acton: A Study in Conscience and Politics (Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 1952).
*Kelly, Douglas F., The Emergence of Liberty in the Modern World: The Influence of Calvin on Five Governments From the 16th Through 18th Centuries (Philadelphia, PA: The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co.). ISBN: 0875522971.
*Knox, John, The History of the Reformation in Scotland (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust). ISBN: 0851513581. Available in WORKS OF JOHN KNOX on Reformation Bookshelf CD #1, ISBN: 0921148674 9780921148678. A Christian classic.
Knox, John. The history of the reformation of religion within the realm of Scotland. ... Together with the life of the author, and several curious pieces wrote by him, ... By the Reverend Mr. John Knox, ... To which is added, I. An admonition to England and Scotland ... by Antoni Gilby. II. The first and second books of discipline; ... Glasgow, 1761. (ECCO) Gale Document Number CW3318181602
*LUTHER, MARTIN, Bondage of the Will (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell, 1957). ISBN: 0800753429. Available on the forthcoming Protestant Bookshelf CD #13.. A Christian classic.
*Luther, Martin, Commentary on Galatians, English translation by Erasmus Middleton, B.D., edited by John Prince Fallowes, M.A., Pembroke College, Cambridge (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1979, 1553). ISBN: 0825431247.
*Luther, Martin, Luther's Works [30918]
*MacGregor, Geddes, The Thundering Scott: A Portrait of John Knox (Philadelphia, PA: Presbyterian Reformed(?), 1957). 90018
*MacPherson, Hector, Scotland's Battles for Spiritual Independence [90135A]
*Marshall, Walter, 1628-1680, The Gospel-Mystery of Sanctification: Growing in Holiness by Living in Union With Christ (London, England: Oliphants Press, 1956, 1692) and (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, Inc., 2005, 1999), ISBN-10: 189277724X. See the WorldCat record for arious foreign language editions.
M'Crie, Thomas, Life of Knox (1831), (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books).
M'CRIE, THOMAS, Statement of the Difference . . . Particularly on the Power of Civil Magistrates Respecting Religion, National Reformation, National Churches, and National Covenants (1871), (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books).
*The Reformation Study Bible: The Word That Changes Lives -- the Faith That Changed The World, New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, March 2001). Previous published under the title New Geneva Study Bible: Bringing the Light of the Reformation to Scripture (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995).
*Robbins, John W., "Acton on the Papacy" [D1039]
*Rushdoony, Rousas J., Christianity and the State (Vallecito, CA: Ross House Books)
*Schuettinger, Robert, Lord Acton: Historian of Liberty (LaSalle, IL: Open Court, 1976). 90020 [D1040]
*Acton, John E., Lectures on the French Revolution (New York, NY: AMS Press, Incorporated). 90022
*Acton, John E., History of Freedom, and Other Essays, facsimile edition (Salem, NH: Ayer Company Publishers, Incorporated, 1907).
*Acton, John E., The Correspondence of Lord Acton and Richard Simpson, 3 volumes, (Ann Arbor, MI: Books on Demand), ISBN: 9780521738132 052173813X 9780521083553 0521083559 0521083699 9780521083690 052108380X 9780521083805.
Bainton, Roland H., The Reformation of the Sixteenth Century (New York, NY: Harper and Row). 90025
Cunningham, William, The Reformers and the Theology of the Reformation (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust). 90026
Donaldson, George, The Scottish Reformation (Cambridge, England: At the University Press, 1972). 90027
Edwards, Brian H., God's Outlaw: The Story of William Tyndale and the English Bible (London, England: Evangelical Press). 90028
Fountain, David, John Wycliffe: The Dawn of the Reformation (Southampton, England: Mayflower Christian, c1984). 90029
Holborn, Hajo, Ulrich Von Hutten and the German Reformation (Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, Incorporated, 1978). 90030
Hospers, Gerrit Hendrik, The Reformed Principle of Authority; The Scripture Principle of the Reformation Set Forth in the Light of Our Times (Grand Rapids, MI: The Reformed Press, 1924). 90032
Kittelson, James M., Luther the Reformer (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House). 90033
Luther, Martin, Luther's Ninety-Five Theses (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1957). 90033A
Luther, Martin, Selected Writings of Luther, 4 volumes (Philadelphia, PA: Fortress Press). 90034
Luther, Martin, Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 volumes (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House). 90035
McGRATH, ALISTER E., Iustitia Dei: A History of the Christian Doctrine of Justification, The Beginnings to the Reformation (vol. 1 of 2)
McGRATH, ALISTER E., Iustitia Dei: A History of the Christian Doctrine of Justification, From 1500 to the Present Day (vol. 2 of 2)
McGrath, Alister E., Reformation Thought: An Introduction (New York, NY: Blackwell, 1988). 90036
McGrath, Alister E., A Life of John Calvin: A Study of the Shaping of Western Culture (Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell, 1990). 90037
McGrath, Alister E., The Intellectual Origins of the European Reformation (New York, NY: Blackwell, 1987). 90038
McKay, W.D.J., `The nature of Church Government in the writing of George Gillespie (1613-1648)' a thesis, 1991
*Murray, Iain, The Reformation of the Church: A Collection of Reformed and Puritan Documents on Church Issues (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1965).
Oberman, Heiko A., Luther: Man Between God and the Devil (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1989). 90039
Ogden, Greg, The New Reformation: Returning the Ministry to the People (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House). 90040
*Robbins, John W., Ecclesiastical Megalomania: The Economic and Political Thought of the Roman Catholic Church (Unicoi, TN: The Trinity Foundation), ISBN: 0940931753 9780940931756.
Robertson, Edwin, Wycliffe: Morning Star of the Reformation (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House). 90041
Williams, George H., The Radical Reformation (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press, 1962). 90042
WYLIE, JAMES A., The History of Protestantism, 2 volumes (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books).
See also: The sovereign grace of god: his everlasting mercy and lovingkindness, The doctrine of man (human nature, total depravity), Christ's influence on western civilization, Church history, The providence of god, The history of reformation of the church, The protestant reformation, The dutch reformation, Calvinism, Christian biography, Selection of covenant heads for positions of leadership, Works of c. gregg singer, The history of martyrs, Persecution, Church government, Servant leadership, Selection of covenant heads for positions of leadership, God's sovereign hand in history, "his-story," The application of scripture to the corporate bodies of church and state, Unity and uniformity in the visible church: unity in the truth, National establishment of religion: establishmentarianism, Corporate faithfulness and sanctification, Background and history of the covenanted reformation of scotland, Covenant theology and the ordinance of covenanting, The covenanted reformation of scotland, The covenanted reformation of scotland short title listing, The westminster confession of faith (1646) (westminster standards) and related works a study guide, The puritan revolution, The reformed presbytery of scotland and the reformed presbytery of america, Covenanting in america, Toleration, liberty of conscience, pluralism, and neutrality, Unfaithful reformed ministries, The counter reformation, The destruction of American liberty, A theological interpretation of american history, The decline of American society, Modern myths and fallacies, History, God's sovereign hand in history, "his-story," The love and justice of God, Revisionist history, Reformation eschatology, Books considered to be among the ten greatest in the english language
Contents: Chapter 9, "Corporate Faithfulness and Sanctification" (parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5), interactive
Part 1
Christian Scholarship
The History of Reformation of the Church
Civil Government
Part 2
A Theological Interpretation of American History
Background and History of the Covenanted Reformation of Scotland
The Question of the One and the Many
The Puritan Revolution
Sermons Preached Before Governing Bodies
The Reformed Presbytery of Scotland and The Reformed Presbytery of America
Covenant Theology and the Ordinance of Covenanting
Part 3
The Covenanted Reformation of Scotland
Separation
Biblical Civil Government and The Basis for Civil Resistance
Reformation Eschatology
The Restoration of the Jews
The Christian Foundation of America
Covenanting in America
Restoring Constitutional Government to America
The Civil War of the United States, The War for Southern Independence, The War Between the States: The War of Northern Aggression
The Application of Scripture to the Corporate Bodies of Church and State
The Dutch Reformation
Modern Myths and Fallacies
Biblical Creationism and Evolutionism
Revisionist History
The Decline of American Society
God's Deliverance of Nations
Chapter 9 (part 4) Related WebLinks
THE COVENANTED REFORMATION OF SCOTLAND SHORT TITLE LISTING
Chapter 9 (part 5) Related WebLinks
http://www.lettermen2.com/combtoc.html
Chapter 9 (part 1)
Corporate Faithfulness and
Sanctification
THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION
For I am not ashamed of the good news of the Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation to every one who is believing; both to Jew first, and to Greek. For the righteousness of God in it is revealed from faith to faith, according as it hath been written, `And the righteous one by faith shall live,' for revealed is the wrath of God from heaven upon all impiety and unrighteousness of men, holding down the truth in unrighteousness. (Romans 1:16,17, YLTHB)
Our protection is only in the Triune God, and in our individual and collective covenant relationship with The True and Living God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and in His Son The Lord Jesus Christ.
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)
The Golden Sceptre Held Forth to the Humble. Preached at Cambridge, A.D. 1625
http://books.google.com/books?id=Pe21GwAACAAJ&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html
"This book is comprised of six sermons on 2 Chronicles 7:14: `If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land,' just one verse that succinctly gives the Biblical solution to terrorism. Sermons are on Affliction, Humiliation, Seeking god's face, Turning from evil, Forgiveness to those who forsake sin, and Sin as the cause of all calamities."
Preston was a preacher in the early Puritan period.
See also: The Biblical Solution to Terrorism
The Treasury of David, Psalm 130, C.H. Spurgeon
http://www.spurgeon.org/treasury/ps130.htm
"Available for the first time in trade paperback, this authoritative biography of the great religious leader was hailed by Time magazine as "the most readable Luther biography in English." This edition showcases the intricate woodcuts and engravings that enhance the text and give the flavor of the era in which Martin Luther lived. More than 100 woodcuts and engravings." -- Ingram
A scholarly presentation of Luther's part in the Protestant Reformation which changed the course of Western civilization. Highly recommended, especially for those seeking a deeper understanding of the theology of the Reformation. A scholarly work in which the Gospel is articulately presented. The story of Luther's conversion is, of course, presented in detail. Numerous editions of this book are available. Includes extensive bibliography.
Martin Luther
http://www.covenanter.org/Luther/martinluther.htm
"These frequently neglected women were faithful to their commitments and often displayed courage equal to that of the Reformers themselves." -- Cyril J. Barber
"This tape, read by Larry Birger, is chapter 2 in Greg Barrow's
The Covenanted Reformation Defended
http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualnls/misrep2.htm. It covers some of the most important (and often forgotten, in our day) aspects of the Reformation doctrine of the church. Numerous citations are included, from many Reformation leaders and the confessional statements of the best Reformed churches. Without the distinctions made here you are likely to misunderstand not only the Reformation view of the church, but also related questions (like why the Reformers accepted Roman Catholic baptism [it was the Anabaptists that rejected the baptism of Rome, because of errors related to these very questions]). Furthermore, as Barrow points out, the Reformed distinction regarding the `being' and the `well being' of the church is absolutely indispensable. Without an understanding of this crucial Scriptural distinction concerning the church you will not be able to fully understand the best Reformers on any issues about or related to the church." -- SWRB
Classical Protestant Doctrine of the Church by Greg Barrow (as read by Larry Birger for Barrow's The Covenanted Reformation Defended)
http://sphynx.idontknow.com/swrb/classical-prot.ram
*Calvin, John, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, 2 volumes (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press, 1960). A Christian classic.
"Edited by John McNeill and translated by Ford Lewis Battles, this is the definitive English language edition of one of the monumental works of the Christian church -- Calvin's INSTITUTES.
"Still considered by many to be the finest explanation and defense of the Protestant Reformation available.
"The work is divided into four books: I. The Knowledge of God the Creator, II. The Knowledge of God the Redeemer in Christ, III. The Mode of Obtaining the Grace of Christ, IV. The External Means or Helps by Which God Allures Us Into Fellowship With Christ and Keeps Us in It. . . . THE INSTITUTES is praised by the secular philosopher, Will Durant, as one of the ten books that shook the world." -- GCB
Calvin spent a lifetime writing and perfecting INSTITUTES OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. His Prefatory Address makes it clear that he intended the work to be a defense of Christianity to the King of France.
Therefore, plainly stated, one of the most influential works ever published in the English language is a defense of Christianity to leaders of State.
Prefatory Address to His Most Christian Majesty, The Most Mighty and Illustrious Monarch, Francis, King of the French, His Sovereign, John Calvin
"Indeed, this consideration makes a true king: to recognize himself a minister of God in governing his kingdom. Now, that king, who in ruling over his realm does not serve God's glory, exercises not kingly rule but brigandage. [Footnote: 'Nec iam regnum ille sed latrocinium exercet.' An echo of Augustine's famous phrase: 'When justice is taken away, what are kingdoms [[regna]] but a vast banditry [[magna latocinia]]?' City of God IV. iv (MPL [[Migne, J.P., Patrologiae cursus completus, series Latina]] 41. 115; tr. NPNF [[A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, second series]] II. 66).] Furthermore, he is deceived who looks for enduring prosperity in his kingdom when it is not ruled by God's scepter, that is, his Holy Word; for the heavenly oracle that proclaims that 'where prophecy fails the people are scattered' [Prov. 29:18] cannot lie." (Battles translation)
"The characteristic of a true sovereign is, to acknowledge that, in the administration of his kingdom, he is a minister of God. He who does not make his reign subservient to the divine glory, acts the part not of a king, but a robber. He, moreover, deceives himself who anticipates long prosperity to any kingdom which is not ruled by the sceptre of God, that is, by his divine word. For the heavenly oracle is infallible which has declared, that where there is no vision the people perish (Prov. 29:18). (Beveridge translation)"
See the entire Prefatory Address, Beveridge translation:
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.ii.viii.html
"The doctrines of covenant liberty were rediscovered in the Reformation. John Calvin went further than anyone else in defining liberty and what Christians need to do to maintain it. Includes bibliographies."
It is recommended that INSTITUTES OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION be used for daily devotions and may be used in combination with Ford Lewis Battles and John Walchenbach, AN ANALYSIS OF THE INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION OF JOHN CALVIN (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House) and with CALVIN'S COMMENTARIES.
Nelson's Ultimate Bible Reference Library, Logos Library System format (LLS) (CD-ROM)
This library systems includes CALVIN'S INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, THE HOLY BIBLE KING JAMES VERSION, THE NEW TREASURY OF SCRIPTURE KNOWLEDGE, AUGUSTINE'S CONFESSIONS, WESTMINSTER CONFESSION OF FAITH (1646), WESTMINSTER LARGER CATECHISM, WESTMINSTER SHORTER CATECHISM, MATTHEW HENRY'S COMMENTARY, NEW NAVE'S TOPICAL BIBLE, PILGRIM'S PROGRESS, and other classic Bible study aids. THE REFORMATION STUDY BIBLE (Other title: THE NEW GENEVA STUDY BIBLE,) in LLS format, may be added to this library. Therefore, all the above works may be used in combination with each other in Bible study.
http://www.logos.com/products/details/3247
Calvin, Spurgeon and International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE) (LLS)
Contains Calvin's Commentaries.
http://www.logos.com/products/details/889
Calvin's Commentaries (22 Volumes) (LLS)
http://www.logos.com/products/details/887
The Comprehensive John Calvin Collection CD-ROM in Logos Library System (LLS) format
http://www.logosbiblesoftware.com/logosbiblesoftware/calcom.html
Calvin's Commentaries (online)
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/calcom
One Hundred Aphorisms, Containing, Within a Narrow Compass, the Substance and Order of the Four Books of THE INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION
http://www.lettermen2.com/pringle.html
The Comprehensive John Calvin Collection
From Ages Software. Includes both the Battles and the Beveridge translation of THE INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, CALVIN'S COMMENTARIES, and other works by Calvin.
http://www.ageslibrary.com/ages_calvin_collection_1.html
Institutes of the Christian Religion (Beveridge translation online)
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.i.html
"A great part of these productions were presented to the public for the first time, in English, when this volume first appeared. President of the Theological Seminary of Geneva, Merle D'Aubigne is best know for his massive History of the Great Reformation. Concerning this book, Baird, in the introduction, writes, 'it would be hard to find in any language an equal number (of essays) that can be compared with them.' Furthermore, he notes that they 'possess one grand characteristic: that of a glorious baptism, if I may so express myself, into the spirit of the Reformation.' Includes Merle D'Aubigne's 'Family Worship,' 'Lutheranism and Calvinism,' and fifteen more articles." -- SWRB
Originally published in five volumes. This paperback edition is unabridged and 867 double-column pages in length.
"This man will make you live through the thrills and chills of those days of battle between good and evil. You will see the providence of God preserving the saints as they were being attacked by world powers. And these who were tortured, burned, and pilloried would be the first to testify that God upheld them all during their ordeals, then took them to receive the robes of Heaven purchased for them by the Lord Jesus Christ. He is a superb author, one that will not let you go until you have read the entire book." -- Jay P. Green, Sr.
"Provides an indispensable guide to the place of the Bible in the Reformation of England. No one can read the writings of D'Aubign‚ and be the same afterward." -- Cyril J. Barber
"The author devoted his lifetime to the study of the Reformation. His ability to convey the importance of the history of this historical transformation of the world is easy-to-understand, even exciting . . ." -- Jay P. Green, Sr.
This is "the revised version (v.1.1) of Foxe's Book of Martyrs Variorum Edition Online. This [free online] edition contains the full text of three of the four editions (1563, 1570, 1583). The 1570 edition is missing books 3 and 4. These will be added in subsequent versions."
http://www.hrionline.ac.uk/johnfoxe/index.html
Foxe, John, John Foxe's Book of Martyrs. Actes and Monuments of Matters Most Speciall and Memorable, ISBN: 0197262252 9780197262252.
Other editions: Acts and Monuments or Foxe's Book of Martyrs, 1554, 8 volumes (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series and Hardback Bound. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books, 1843-49 edition).
And the Early English Books Online (EEOB) digital copy of the eight volume work.
" 'No book ever inflicted a wound so deep and incurable on the Romish system of superstition and bloody persecution . . . (it) was placed in . . . all churches and chapels throughout the kingdom, by order of Queen Elizabeth.' (Smith, Select Memoirs, p. 245). Contains much information not found in any of the liberally edited and severely shortened editions of this classic work which are in print today. Covering martyrs from the early church through to Foxe's day, it was one of the most influential books of the sixteenth century! It overflows with faith building testimony of the power of God to overcome the most cruel and barbarous acts of human depravity and demonic cruelty. 6890 pages. A very rare set, now back in print after 150 years!" -- SWRB
"After the Bible itself, no book so profoundly influenced early Protestant sentiment as the BOOK OF MARTYRS. Even in our time it is still a living force. It is more than a record of persecution. It is an arsenal of controversy, a storehouse of romance, as well as a source of edification." -- James Miller Dodds, English Prose
"When one recollects that until the appearance of the PILGRIM'S PROGRESSuc the common people had almost no other reading matter except the BIBLE and FOX'S BOOK OF MARTYRS, we can understand the deep impression that this book produced; and how it served to mold the national character. Those who could read for themselves learned the full details of all the atrocities performed on the Protestant reformers; the illiterate could see the rude illustrations of the various instruments of torture, the rack, the gridiron, the boiling oil, and then the holy ones breathing out their souls amid the flames. Take a people just awakening to a new intellectual and religious life; let several generations of them, from childhood to old age, pore over such a book, and its stories become traditions as individual and almost as potent as songs and customs on a nation's life." -- Douglas Campbell, The Puritan in Holland, England, and America
"If we divest the book of its accidental character of feud between churches, it yet stands, in the first years of Elizabeth's reign, a monument that marks the growing strength of a desire for spiritual freedom, defiance of those forms that seek to stifle conscience and fetter thought." -- Henry Morley, English Writers
"John Foxe was a prince among believers. He had his printing press on a cart, and had often to print at night, moving his press before dawn to escape capture and burning at the stake. He never faltered in his purpose to leave a voluminous written witness to the power of the Lord Jesus Christ to keep His saints in love and peace." -- Jay P. Green, Sr.
A Christian classic.
"This is a book for all who want to learn what the main Protestant Reformers taught. It is also the book for those who can benefit from a fresh, solid re-examination of the teachings of the Reformers. No layman need fear that this study is over his theological head.. . . ." -- Jay P. Green, Sr.
"The preface notes, 'THE OXFORD ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF THE REFORMATION seeks to do justice to the whole range of events and happenings of the sixteenth century. It uses the broadest possible definition of the Reformation in order to depict not only religious life but also the related societal phenomena that in one way or another had bearing on religion . . . the roster of contributors encompasses scholars not only from the United States and Canada but the United Kingdom, Norway, Hungary, the Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, Finland, Poland, and Australia, to mention but a few nations at random. If nothing else, the encyclopaedia represents the creative international guild of Reformation scholars.' The preface also notes that 'for far too long, many interesting and important personalities of the sixteenth century, because they were not major reformers, theologians, or rulers, have fallen into scholarly obscurity . . . One of our major intentions was to shed new light on these fascinating figures.' This set includes four beautifully bound, oversized hardcover volumes. Each volume contains about 500 double column pages. The final volume includes a massive index and maps." -- SWRB
A scholarly work on the politics of the Reformation and Counter Reformation. Includes bibliography and index.
It was Acton who stated:
Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority. -- John Emerich Edward Dalberg, Lord Acton (1834-1902) in a letter to Mandell Creighton, April 5, 1887 quoted by Gertrude Himmelfarb in Acton, Essays on Freedom and Power, pp. 335-36 (1972)
See also: ESSAYS ON FREEDOM AND POWER, HISTORY OF FREEDOM AND OTHER ESSAYS, LECTURES ON THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, Cambridge University Library, ACTON COLLECTION, THE CORRESPONDENCE OF LORD ACTON AND RICHARD SIMPSON, and Schuettinger, LORD ACTON: HISTORIAN OF LIBERTY
"Examines Calvin's influence on the civil governments of Geneva, Huguenot France, Knox's Scotland, Puritan England, and Colonial America. Shows how Calvin's legacy continues to bear upon the issues that guide and agitate Western nations today." --Publisher's Annotation
"It breaths with the spirit of excitement and expectation, being told by the author from his experience as an eyewitness and participant in the unfolding drama of the work of God in 16th century Scotland." -- Jay P. Green, Sr.
"Knox portrayed the origins and development of a movement and not a mere chronology of events . . . Knox based his arguments on original sources and he often cited the documents in full. When Knox's History®CUŻ is compared to the contemporary vernacular narratives of Bishop Leslie and Sir James Melville, the superiority of Knox's work becomes evident. For the most part, these writers were preoccupied with petty details and had no conception of the momentous issues that hung on the events they recorded... Knox used history to demonstrate his single-track philosophy. And his philosophy said: 'The hearts of men, their thoughts, and their actions are but in the hands of God.' Lee said Knox's History was a sermon without an audience, a preaching book, one long inflammatory speech in behalf of God's truth as the reformer saw it.' (Kyle, The Mind of John Knox, p. 13). Our editions of volumes one and two of Knox's Works contain the only full, unedited version of Knox's massive History of the Reformation in Scotland available today." -- SWRB
Translated by J.I. Packer and O.R. Johnston.
"THE BONDAGE OF THE WILL is fundamental to an understanding of the primary doctrines of the Reformation. In these pages, Luther gives extensive treatment to what he saw as the heart of the gospel. Free will was no academic question to Luther; the whole gospel of the Grace of God, he believed, was bound up with it and stood or fell according to the way one decided it. . . This is the greatest piece of writing that came from Luther's pen. In its vigour of language, its profound theological grasp, and the grand sweep of its exposition, it stands unsurpassed among Luther's writings." Publisher's Annotation
"Luther recognized this book as his most important work and even said that if all his other books perished, he would hope that this one, along with his SMALL CATECHISM, would be the only ones to remain. As noted above, this is one of the most important books of the early Reformation, for it deals with what Luther saw to be the heart of the Gospel. Luther here refutes the Romish notion of 'free will' in man and upholds the absolute sovereignty of God in the salvation of sinners -- as well as justification by faith alone. Luther clearly saw the issue of free will as the primary cause of his separation from Rome.
"In this book he replied to the Roman Catholic scholar, Erasmus, and his diatribe THE FREEDOM OF THE WILL. Though disagreeing with just about everything else Erasmus wrote, Luther commended Erasmus for recognizing the crux of the matter at issue between Rome and the Bible believers, the debate over 'free will.' In this regard Luther wrote,
that unlike all the rest, you alone have attacked the real issue, the essence of the matter in dispute [i.e. man's so-called free-will -- RB] . . . You and you alone saw, what was the grand hinge upon which the whole turned, and therefore you attacked the vital part at once; for which, from my heart, I thank you.
" 'This book is most needful at the present day,' noted Atherton in 1931, for 'the teachings of many so-called Protestants are more in accordance with the Dogmas of the Papists, or the ideas of Erasmus, than with the Principles of the Reformers; they are more in harmony with the Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent than with the Protestant or Reformed Confessions of Faith.'
It is easy to see how a lack of doctrinal and historical study is leading many into serious compromise with the false ecumenical apostasy espoused by Rome and other idolatrous beliefs which cry up man's ability to save himself (as with Arminianism) and to devise his own methods of worship (as with those that oppose the Reformation's Regulative Principle of Worship in favor of their own will worship). In this area, many 'Protestants,' even now, bow down to Rome's humanistic, anti-Christian idol of free will.
It is our hope that God will use Luther's classic to give you the strength to remain faithful to His Word; this being a great place to start a new Reformation, for as the translators write concerning this book, 'Nowhere does Luther come closer, either in spirit or in substance to the Paul of Romans and Galatians'." -- SWRB
"This classic is a reply to Erasmus, the famous Roman Catholic scholar. Erasmus had issued a book claiming that all men had `free-will.' Luther points out that Erasmus does not give a true definition of `free-will.' For free-will, says Luther, belongs to God only: `You may rightly assigned to man some kind of will, but to assign to him free-will in divine things is going too far. . . .' Luther then points out that man has incapacitated his will by his sin, and so is not free to will to do good, or to please God, which is the same thing. In a very large section of the book he gives a thorough exposition of the bondage of man's will. This, together with Jonathan Edwards' FREEDOM OF THE WILL has always been considered a classic answer to all free-willers." -- Jay P. Green, Sr.
See the Theological Notes, "The Freedom and Bondage of the Will," at Jeremiah 17:9 in The Reformation Study Bible.
The Bondage of the Will, A Sermon on Christian Love, Two Sermons Upon the Fifth Chapter of Luke, God So Loved the World: Two Sermons on John 3:16-21.
http://www.covenanter.org/Luther/martinluther.htm<
"I prefer this book of Martin Luther's (except the Bible) before all the books I have ever seen, as most fit for a wounded soul." -- John Bunyan
"This is a great, historic work, and is beyond criticism on account of its great usefulness. As a comment its accuracy might be questioned; but for emphatic utterances and clear statements of the great doctrine of the Epistle it remains altogether by itself, and must be judged per se." -- C.H. Spurgeon
"The reissue of a famous series of lectures delivered at Wittenberg University in 1553." -- Cyril J. Barber
Luther's Commentary on Galatians, "who hath bewitched you, that you should not obey the truth." (Galatians 3:1 excerpt), English translation by Erasmus Middleton, B.D., edited by John Prince Fallowes, M.A., Pembroke College, Cambridge
http://www.lettermen2.com/luther1.html
Luther's Commentary on Galatians, "That He might deliver us from the present evil world." (Galatians 1:4 excerpt), English translation by Erasmus Middleton, B.D., edited by John Prince Fallowes, M.A., Pembroke College, Cambridge
http://www.lettermen2.com/luther2.html
"A brilliantly written treatment that ably blends the political forces and spiritual power that swept across Scotland and brought about the Reformation." -- Cyril J. Barber
The Reformation Heritage Books edition is a reprint of the 1954 edition set by Oliphants and includes an introduction by Joel R. Beeke. Also includes the author's famous sermon on "The Doctrine of Justification Opened and Applied."
Another edition: (Sovereign Grace Publishers Inc., October 1, 2001), 140 pages, ISBN-10: 1589600630.
"Here you will read the most closely reasoned defense of scriptural sanctification to be found anywhere. . . . Fourteen directions are given to the reader, all perfected with the aim of explaining to sincere souls what sanctification is, what it is not, and how to attain a holy walk before God. . . ." -- Jay P. Green, Sr.
Another edition: (Wipf & Stock Publishers, January 2005), 270 pages, ISBN-10: 1597520543.
"This is by far the best book on the doctrine of Sanctification in print. It was originally written in the 17th century, but has been put into modern english with this edition. This book will help you better understand the Gospel and its power not only for our Justification, but our Sanctification as well." -- Reader's Comment
"Iain Murray, in his stirring introduction to Cunningham's Historical Theology writes, `The third event marking the commencement of this spiritual movement was the publication of a book in 1811. It was the biography of John Knox by Thomas M'Crie. All over Scotland this work was used to revive the memory of the great Reformer and nothing could have been a more telling protest against the stifling influence of Moderatism. It brought many a student and minister into the experience once described by James Fraser of Bera in his Memoirs: "When I read Knox, I thought I saw another scheme of divinity, much more agreeable to the Scriptures and to my experience than the modern." M'Crie followed this up in 1819 with a biography of Knox's great successor, Andrew Melville, and these two books became known as the "Iliad and Odyssey of the Scottish Church." Just as Homer's heroes fired the hearts of many imitators so M'Crie's biographies aroused a holy ambition in many to follow the noble example of these two spiritual giants.' M'Crie's work is an undisputed classic regarding this fiery reformer. It exhibits information on Knox and the Scottish Reformation which has been hid in manuscripts and books which are now little known or consulted. Knox may be the most pertinent Reformer to study in our day of widespread idolatry, pluralism, anti-Christian government, humanistic law, relativism, and the revival of that `masterpiece of Satan,' Roman Catholicism. Read everything that you can get your hands on -- either by or about Knox; you'll never be the same again!" -- SWRB
" 'The ablest exposition in the English language of the Establishment Principle . . . Dr. (George) Smeaton describes the Statement as a masterly defense of the principles of establishments as Scripture truth: and the most complete vindication ever given to the world of the position occupied by the Reformed Church of Scotland, on the whole subject of national religion and the magistrates legitimate power in promoting it. 'The same thoroughness,' wrote the late Rev. D. Beaton, 'which gave such abiding value to his great biography of Knox, is shown in this, his less known work . . . Dr. McCrie in his Statement shows that all the Confessions of the Protestant and Presbyterian Churches of the Reformation, both in Britain and on the Continent of Europe, held and maintained the Establishment Principle. 'These harmoniously agree,' he writes, 'in declaring as with one mouth that civil authority is not limited to the secular affairs of men, and that the public care and advancement of religion is a principle part of the official duty of magistrates.' He goes on to give extracts from The Confession of Helvetia; The Confession of Bohemia; The Confession of Saxony; The French Confession; The Belgic or Dutch Confession; The Confession of the English Congregation in Geneva; The Scots Confession and The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646). 'Such is the harmony of doctrine in the Protestant churches on this head,' he remarks, 'expressed in their confessions and public formularies drawn from the Word of God; a harmony which deserves great attention, and from which none should rashly depart' (as cited in Christ's Kingship Over the Nations by C.J. Brown). Concerning the doctrine of national obedience to Christ, M'Crie demonstrates in the most convincing way that there are few doctrines 'of the practical kind, in which the best interests of mankind and the general state of religion in the world, are more deeply concerned, than in the right and wrong determination of this question.' Contains an excellent preface by George Smeaton. Considered one of the definitive works on Church/State relations, defending the historic Reformed position. An extremely rare and very expensive item if located as a rare book." -- SWRB
"The NEW GENEVA STUDY BIBLE offers a restatement of Reformation truth for Christians today. The first Geneva Bible was a pivotal force in the Reformation. Using the everyday language of its time, it opened the pages of Scripture to readers and provided helpful notes to assist them in understanding its message. It became the family Bible of the English people, and was the Bible that the Pilgrims brought to the New World. Since that time a multitude of English translations and study Bibles have appeared, but none of these has incorporated a summary of Reformed theology." -- Thomas Nelson Publishers
Also available in digital format from Logos Bible Software.
The Reformation Study Bible in Logos Bible Software
http://www.logos.com/ebooks/details/NGSTBIB
A Review of The Reformation Study Bible
http://www.lettermen2.com/geneva.html
Readers of THE REFORMATION STUDY BIBLE should also be familiar with The Westminster Family of Documents, the doctrine of the Mediatorial Dominion of Jesus Christ, and the literature of the Covenanted Reformation.
"The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) (The Westminster Standards) and Related Works: A Study Guide"
http://www.lettermen2.com/suggest.html
The Covenanted Reformation of Scotland Short Title Listing
http://www.lettermen2.com/bcrr9chb.html#crsstl
Reformed Presbyterian Catechism, William L. Roberts D.D.
http://www.covenantedreformation.com/EssaysCR/RP%20Catechism/RP%20Index.html
"The need to return to a Biblical doctrine of civil government is evidenced by our century's worldwide drift into tyranny. Humanism invariably rushes in to fill the world's theological vacuums: the need of the hour is to restore a full-orbed, Biblical, theology of the state. This work sets forth that theology." -- GCB
Includes appendix, bibliography, and index.
"A brilliantly written treatment of the way in which Protestantism was established in Scotland." -- Cyril J. Barber
"This is the thrilling story of one who was forced to leave England and slip from city to city in Germany, Holland, and Belgium in an attempt to avoid the agents sent to arrest him. Tyndale's story is one of poverty, danger, and ceaseless labor, but he left a priceless heritage: The Scriptures in the English language." -- GCB
"There are those who believe that when Wycliffe was born about 660 years ago, he became the one man who changed the course of English history more than any other man." -- GCB. Includes bibliography.
Contributions by Abraham Kuyper.
"This work is now available in paperback. Historically solid, factually authentic, psychologically sensitive, personally perceptive, socially aware, and above all theologically knowledgeable and persuasive." -- Lewis Spitz
T.G. Tapper, editor. "Important selections from Luther's writings, arranged chronologically."
"This is the best collection of the Reformer's sermons in English! Here are 175 sermons, only seven of which appear in Luther's WORKS. `Striking freshness . . . clarity of exposition and incisiveness of thought . . . epitomize Luther's genius.' Indispensable for preachers and for students of Luther and the Reformation.. . . ." -- CBD
Includes bibliography and index.
Includes bibliographical references.
Includes bibliography and index.
"First published in 1965 and once again available. Documents are drawn largely from the 16th and 17th centuries and presents the finest thinking of the fathers on authority and freedom, the need for reformation, the nature of the government, unity, and membership of the Church of Jesus Christ." -- GCB
"Written by one of the world's greatest authorities on Luther, this book portrays the controversial reformer in the context of his own time, analyzing his state of mind, and portraying his world more closely than has been done before." -- GCB
"Takes a look at the structure of the church, what the church is doing, and what it needs to do. Offers ideas on how to reform the church for the future." -- GCB
"This book is a detailed examination of the official statements of the Vatican on economic and political matters. It demonstrates the collectivism and totalitarianism of the Roman Catholic Church-State. It is the only such book written by a Christian in the twentieth century.
"This book explores the conflict between Roman Catholic social thought and human freedom, relying on official pronouncements from the Vatican to show that the political and economic theory of the Roman Church-State justifies feudalism, corporativism, liberation theology, the welfare state, and fascism.
"Dr. John W. Robbins attended Grove City College (A.B. 1969) and The Johns Hopkins University (M.A. 1970, Ph.D. 1973). He has served as chief of staff for a Member of Congress [Ron Paul of Texas], editor of The Freeman magazine, Economist for The Heritage Foundation, and Professor of Political Philosophy in The Freedom School." -- Publisher's Annotation
Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority. -- John Emerich Edward Dalberg, Lord Acton (1834-1902) in a letter to Mandell Creighton, April 5, 1887 quoted by Gertrude Himmelfarb in Acton, Essays on Freedom and Power, pp. 335-36 (1972)
"As the world focuses it attention on the papacy, we ought to recall Lord Acton, the great Roman Catholic historian of the 19th century. Many have heard the aphorism, 'Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely,' though it is usually misquoted as 'Power corrupts.' Few who have heard it, however, know who its author was: John Emerich Edward Dalberg, better known as Lord Acton. Fewer still realize that Acton used the aphorism in opposing the papacy, the absolute monarchy of the Roman Catholic Church.
"Acton's criticisms of the papacy and the Roman Church are some of most damning ever leveled against those institutions, and they are virtually unknown today. Yet to anyone seriously concerned about religious and political freedom, Acton’s views on the Roman Church, his own church, in particular his condemnation of the papacy, ought to be of great interest. Unfortunately, contemporary theological correctness has a taboo against criticism of Catholicism.
"Acton kept a notebook on the Inquisition in which he wrote:
[The] object of the Inquisition [was] not to combat sin -- for the sin was not judged by it unless accompanied by [theological] error. Nor even to put down error. For it punished untimely and unseemly remarks the same as blasphemy. Only unity. This became an outward, fictitious, hypocritical unity. The gravest sin was pardoned, but it was death to deny the donation of Constantine. [The Donation of Constantine was a document forged in the eighth century in which the Roman Emperor Constantine willed the Western Roman Empire to the Pope. The Roman Church taught that the Donation was genuine, and the legal basis for the pope's civil authority, for centuries. -- JR] So men learnt that outward submission must be given. All this [was] to promote authority more than faith. When ideas were punished more severely than actions -- for all this time the Church was softening the criminal law, and saving men from the consequences of crime: – and the Donation was put on a level with God's own law -- men understood that authority went before sincerity.
"Acton believed that the Inquisition was the institution by which the medieval papacy had to be condemned or acquitted. Just as a man charged with murder is judged for a single act, though be may be kind to his mother and a great philanthropist, so the papacy must be judged for the Inquisition. To Mandell Creighton, an Anglican priest, Acton wrote:
I cannot accept your canon that we are to judge Pope and King unlike other men, with a favourable presumption that they did no wrong. If there is any presumption it is the other way, against holders of power, increasing as the power increases. Historic responsibility has to make up for the want of legal responsibility. Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority. There is no worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the holder of it. . . . For many years my view of Catholic controversy has been governed by the following chain of reasoning: 1. A crime does not become a good deed by being committed for the good of a church. 2. The theorist who approves the act is no better than the culprit who commits it. 3. The divine or historian who defends the theorist incurs the same blame. . . . To commit murder is the mark of a moment, exceptional. To defend it is constant, and shows a more perverted conscience.
"Acton turned his attention to other crimes of the Roman Church as well. Beginning on Sunday, August 24, 1572, tens of thousands of French Huguenots were massacred by the Catholics. Overnight, thousands were murdered, and the murders continued for several months. The massacre began in Paris. The sign of the cross was everywhere, and the murders took on the air of a crusade, a holy war against the infidels. The banks of the Seine became a slaughterhouse. Men, women, children, and infants were stabbed or dragged by a rope around the neck to be thrown into the river. The murder, looting, and rape went on for days in Paris.
"The Pope, Gregory XIII, reacted immediately to this Catholic Holocaust: He delivered a complimentary speech, and commended the King of France, Charles IX, who 'has also displayed before our Most Holy Master and this entire assembly the most splendid virtues which can shine in the exercise of power.' The Pope commissioned a mural in honor of the great occasion; he ordered salutes fired for Charles; he had a commemorative seal struck; and in a horrible blasphemy he ordered a special Te Deum sung. Less than two years later, at the age of 24, King Charles died in extreme pain with blood oozing from his pores. His last words were pleas to God for pardon for the murders.
"The massacre was a matter of controversy in 1868 when Acton wrote an essay in the North British Review. He concluded his long essay by saying that there was no evidence to absolve the Roman Church of premeditated murder. Acton argued that it was not only facts that condemned the papacy for this heinous crime, but the whole body of casuistry developed by the church that made it an act of Christian duty and mercy to kill a heretic so that he might be removed from sin. Acton pointed out that only when the Roman Church could no longer rely on force but had to make its case before public opinion did it seek to explain away its murders. 'The same motive which had justified the murder now promoted the lie,' he wrote. A bodyguard of lies was fabricated to protect the papacy from guilt for this monstrous sin. Acton wrote:
The story is much more abominable than we all believed. . . . S.B. [St. Bartholomew's] is the greatest crime of modern times. It was committed on principles professed by Rome. It was approved, sanctioned, and praised by the papacy. The Holy See went out of its way to signify to the world, by permanent and solemn acts, how entirely it admired a king who slaughtered his subjects treacherously, because they were Protestants. To proclaim forever that because a man is a Protestant it is a pious deed to cut his throat in the night. . . .
"For three centuries the Roman church's canon law had affirmed that the killing of an excommunicated person was not murder, and that allegiance need not be kept with heretical rulers. Murder and treason were part of the Roman church’s official teachings. Charles IX was acting as a good Catholic, and he was highly praised by the pope for his murders.
"In 1867 Pope Pius IX summoned a general council of the Roman Church to be held in Rome in 1870. It was the first general council of the Roman Church since the sixteenth century Council of Trent, at which the schismatic Roman Church had condemned all the truths of the Reformation. This time the Pope was determined to establish himself as the infallible sovereign of the Roman Church.
"Acton thought that the time of the council would be better spent abolishing many of the 'reforms' made by the Council of Trent, reforms which had perpetuated in the Roman Church a spirit of intolerant absolutism and 'austere immorality.' He opposed the doctrine of papal infallibility, because, as an historian, he knew the popes were not infallible. Acton wrote:
A man is not honest who accepts all the Papal decisions in questions of morality, for they have often been distinctly immoral; or who approves the conduct of the Popes in engrossing power, for it was stained with perfidy and falsehood; or who is ready to alter his convictions at their command, for his conscience is guided by no principle.
"After studying the history of the popes, Acton wrote:
The papacy contrived murder and massacre on the largest and also on the most cruel and inhuman scale. They were not only wholesale assassins but they made the principle of assassination a law of the Christian Church and a condition of salvation. . . . [The Papacy] is the fiend skulking behind the Crucifix.
Massachusetts Attorney General, "The Sexual Abuse of Children in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston," Thomas F. Reilly, Massachusetts Attorney General
"The mistreatment of children was so massive and so prolonged that it borders on the unbelievable," says the July 23 [2003] report of Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly. More than 1,000 minors were likely abused by priests over the past six decades."
This is the 79-page report in its entirety.
http://www.votf.org/ago/archdiocese.pdf
Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, Samuel Rutherford, John Owen, Thomas Manton, The Westminster Assembly, James Renwick, Archibald Mason, Christopher Ness, Francis Turretin, The Reformed Presbytery, David Steel, James R. Willson, Alexander M'Leod, William L. Roberts, James Aiken Wylie, Andrew Wilet, Henry Wilkinson, James Wylie, Patrick Fairbairn, James Aiken, Andrew Wilet, Alexander Hislop, Francis Nigel Lee, Arthur W. Pink, and so forth, and so on, have all believed and argued in print that the seated Pope is the Anti-Christ of the Bible.
The Roman Church-State is "the world's oldest, largest, most powerful and most influential politico-ecclesiastical institution" and it "may also be the world's wealthiest." The Roman Catholic Institution is the ultimate "negative guide to the positive," the reformers ultimate "opposite guide to political and economic reform."
Pope's visit means 3 White House firsts.
President says 'man of faith' and conviction deserves the special treatment
Associated Press, April. 13, 2008
"WASHINGTON - The leader of the world's 1 billion Roman Catholics has been to the White House only once in history. That changes this week, and President Bush is pulling out all the stops: driving out to a suburban military base to meet Pope Benedict XVI's plane, bringing a giant audience to the South Lawn and hosting a fancy East Room dinner.
"These are all firsts.
"A crowd of up to 12,000 is due at the White House on Wednesday morning for the pope's official, pomp-filled arrival ceremony. It will feature the U.S. and Holy See anthems, a 21-gun salute, and the U.S. Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps. Both men will make remarks before their Oval Office meeting and a send-off for his popemobile down Pennsylvania Avenue.
"The president explained the special treatment -- particularly the airport greeting.
" 'One, he speaks for millions. Two, he doesn't come as a politician; he comes as a man of faith,' Bush told the EWTN Global Catholic Network in an interview aired Friday. He added that he wanted to honor Benedict's conviction that 'there's right and wrong in life, that moral relativism has a danger of undermining the capacity to have more hopeful and free societies. . . .' "
"This week makes Bush the record-holder, with a total of five meetings with two popes. . . ."
"The current pope's approach may be softer than that of John Paul, who turned from Bush's presentation to him of the Medal of Freedom in 2004 to read a statement about his 'grave concern' over events in Iraq."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24096388/
Bush Scandals
An extensive resource. Includes websites for the Savings and Loan Scandal of the 1980s, considered the largest theft in the history of the world, involving Neil Bush, a brother of George W., the Florida's Voting Scandal of 2001 in which Al Gore lost the presidential election. Jeb Bush, another brother of George W., was Governor of Florida and had promised to deliver the state for his brother. Other sites treat George W. Bush's suspected involvement in 911 [911 is, of course, analagous to Roosevelt's Pearl Harbor]. Note particularly "Bush Family Machinations, 1918-2000," a time-line of Bush Family crimes prior to Election 2000.
http://news4florida.tripod.com/index1.html
The Panic of '08. Lew Rockwell Interviews Ron Paul, September 18, 2008
A podcast.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/podcast/?p=episode&name=2008-09-18_029_ron_paul_talks_to_lew_rockwell.mp3
"This short book (125 pages) was written to commemorate and celebrate this famous Bible translator's place in our Christian heritage. Wycliffe was a man burdened for a Gospel for all people and a vision of God's grace being freely available to all." -- GCB
"This massive (8.5' X 11') two-volume set contains nearly 2000 pages and more than 500 illustrations. It chronicles Protestantism in its progress from the first century to the late 17th century (though the focus is clearly on the 16th and 17th centuries). From Luther's burning of the Papal Bull 'excommunicating' him, to Calvin's refusing the Lord's supper to the Libertines of Geneva (who said they would kill him for doing so), the pages of this book testify to the life and death struggle for truth that remains to this day. The pictures in these books are also excellent for introducing children to major historical events relating to the struggle, sacrifice and victory of Christ's church on earth. The writing of Wylie is well worth the time invested to gain an overview of the great controversy between the true church and the false. Paisley, in his foreword, states, 'The Reformation of the 16th century was the greatest revival of New Testament Christianity since the days of Pentecost. Then once more the gospel in its purity was preached with apostolic power and with apostolic results.' He continues, 'Wylie's . . . is the best history extant. I welcome its republishing. Read it. Study it. Circulate it and by so doing you will help to dispel the dark cloud of priestly superstition, popish idolatry and papal tyranny encircling our land.' When it was first published Rome banned this book, buying up and burning all the copies that they could lay their hands on. It was more hated and denounced by Papists than any other book of its time. In our day, when the Pope addresses the United Nations, is often the subject of news reports, and regularly meets with national civil leaders (and when professing Protestants are defecting to 'the whore of Babylon,' and signing 'peace' treaties with this great enemy of Christ [to fight cultural battles]), these books are needed more than ever. William Cunningham's words, though written many years ago, should be heeded by all faithful Christians today, for he said, '[i]t is quite evident, from the signs of the times, that the Popish controversy must be fought over again . . . It is incumbent upon ministers of the gospel to prepare themselves for the contest'." -- SWRB
Related WebLinks
"And may I remind you, and I would remind you of this for all times throughout your lives, that in the Western church there are only three basic theologies. There is Thomism (which held sway in the Roman church officially from the Council of Trent to Vatican II) . . . Lutheranism . . . and, thirdly, Calvinism. These are the three theologies which have dominated Western thought. . . .
I would remind you that all other theological systems are, to a lesser or greater extent, negation either of Thomism within the Roman Catholic system, or they are a negation of Lutheranism, or they are, to a lesser or greater extent, a negation of Calvinism. . . .
"When enemies of Christiantity unlease their attacks on Christianity, if they attack the Roman Catholic system, they always direct their heaviest guns against Thomas Aquinas. This is not an idle gesture. For if they can topple Thomas Aquinas, then the rest of the Roman Catholic structure will fall, because it depends upon Saint Thomas Aquinas. He was a great thinker, no question about it, and had a systematic approach to his position. So if they can destroy him, they can destory the rest of it.
"But within Protestantism, I would remind you, that the heaviest attacks against the Church always come against Calvinism. Now there is a reason for that, the same reason, in general, which I mentioned in regard to Thomas Aquinas. If the enemies of faith can destroy Calvinism, then those theologies which are, to a greater or lesser extent, negations of Calvinism, will fall under their own weight. Which is to say, that in Calvinism all these other theologies find their resting place, even though they may deny major aspects of the Calvinistic position, they still are supported by it, even though they will not admit it. . . . When they attack Calvinism they are attacking the citadel of the whole Protestant position, even as when they are attacking the Roman Catholic position, they are aiming their heaviest artillery at the fortress known as Thomistic Theology." -- C. Gregg Singer in his address Calvinism and the Reformation
Reformation and Geneva Bibles
http://www.swrb.com/bibles/bibles.htm
Exclusive Psalmody (Exclusive Psalmody and the Regulative Principle 4/7)
"For Calvin and Knox 'this meant that at a stroke the Reformed Church cut itself loose from the entire mass of Latin hymns and from the use of hymnody in general, and adopted the Psalms of the Old Testament as the sole medium of Church praise.' Hence forth to be a Calvinist was to be a Psalm-singer. For some 2.5 centuries the Reformed churches as a rule sang nothing but the Psalms in worship (http://www.swrb.com /newslett/actualnls/C RTPsSing.htm). FREEBIES: http://www.swrb.com/ newslett/FREEBOOK/Ref Worsh.htm."
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?currSection=sermonsspeaker&sermonID=52501212814
Reformation Eschatology at Still Waters Revival Books
http://www.swrb.com/Puritan/reformation-eschatology.htm
Reformation Bookshelf 30 CD Series
http://www.swrb.com/Puritan/reformation-bookshelf-CDs.htm
Reformation, Revolution and Romanism (1558), John Knox
"This has been called John Knox's most important political writing. It also deals with Romanism, God's law and much more. The full printed version of this text is free at http://www.swrb.com/ newslett/FREEBOOK/JKn ox.htm or for sale in Knox's 6 volume works at http://www.swrb.com/ catalog/K.htm."
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?currSection=sermonssource&sermonID=1030075041
The Historicism Research Foundation
http://www.historicism.net
The Genevan Institute for Reformed Studies
http://www.girs.com/index.html
Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. (Hebrews 1:3)
As the apostle says to Timothy, so also he says to every-one, "Give yourself to reading." ... He who will not use the thoughts of other men's brains proves that he has no brains of his own... You need to read. Renounce as much as you will all light literature, but study as much as possible sound theological works, especially the Puritanic writers, and expositions of the Bible... the best way for you to spend your leisure is to be either reading or praying. -- Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Down through the ages there have been only a few great Christian scholars, but God had given them to us when they were needed.
Averitt, Richard C., "The Scriptural Teaching Regarding Christian Scholarship (Dissertation: Thesis (M.A.) -- Wheaton College, 1953).
*Calvin, John, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, 2 volumes (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press, 1960). A Christian classic.
*Clark, Gordon H., A Christian View of Men and Things, 3rd edition (Unicoi, TN: The Trinity Foundation, 1998).
Clark, Gordon H., The Johannine Logos (Unicoi, TN: The Trinity Foundation).
Clark, Gordon Haddon, The Works of Gordon Haddon Clark, Volume 5: Modern Philosophy, trade paperback, 417 pages (Unicoi, TN: The Trinity Foundation, 2008), hardbound ISBN 1891777203.
Clark, Gordon H., The Philosophy of Science and Belief in God (Unicoi, TN: The Trinity Foundation).
*Crampton, W. Gary, The Scripturalism of Gordon H. Clark (Unicoi, TN: The Trinity Foundation, 1999).
*Crampton, W. Gary, By Scripture Alone: The Sufficiency of Scripture (Unicoi, TN: The Trinity Foundation, 2002).
Diekema, Anthony J., Academic Freedom and Christian Scholarship (Wm.B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2000), 214 pages.
Holmgren, Fredrick Carlson, The Old Testament and the Significance of Jesus: Embracing Change -- Maintaining Christian Identity: The Emerging Center in Biblical Scholarship (Wm.B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1999), 204 pages.
James, Kevin, The corruption of the Word: The Failure of Modern New Testament Scholarship, 1st edition (Micro-Load Press, 1990).
Johnson, Gary L.W. and R. Fowler White, Whatever Happened to the Reformation? (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 2001).
Machen, Gresham J., Education, Christianity and the State (Jefferson, MD: The Trinity Foundation).
Machen, J. Gresham, The Importance of Christian Scholarship (London: Bible League, 1932?) and (Shelton College Press, 1969), 43 pages.
MacLeod, A. Donald, W. Stanford Reid: An Evangelical Calvinist in the Academy (Mcgill-Queen's Studies in the History of Religion. McGill-Queen's University Press, November 2004), 401 pages.
Marsden, George M., The Outrageous Idea of Christian Scholarship (Oxford University Press, USA: 1998), 160 pages.
Miethe, Terry L., Augustinian Bibliography, 1970-1980: With Essays on the Fundamentals of Augustinian Scholarship (Greenwood Press, 1982), 218 pages.
North, Gary, Foundations of Christian Scholarship (Ross House Books, September 2000), 372 pages.
*Owen, John, Hebrews, 7 Volume Set (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1999), ISBN-10: 085151619X, ISBN-13: 9780851516196. The same edition is available from (Grand Rapids, MI:
Reformation Heritage Books, Inc.). Alternate title: AN EXPOSITION OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. Available on The Amazing Christian Library, THE COMPLETE WORKS OF JOHN OWEN including HEBREWS (OCR digital text), DVD One, CD #1. Also available on the
forthcoming Calvinism Bookshelf 30 CD Set (as of August 2008), CD #15.
Petersen, Rodney Lawrence, and Nancy M. Rourke, Theological Literacy for the Twenty-first Century, 2nd edition (Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans Pub., 2002).
Rushdoony, Rousas John, The Foundations of Social Order: Studies in the Creed and Councils of the Early Church (Chalcedon, December 2003).
Reid, W. Stanford, Christianity and Scholarship (Nutley, NJ: Craig Press, 1966), 110 pages.
Reid, W. Stanford (editor), John Calvin: His Influence in the Western World (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1982), 415 pages.
Schrotenboer, Paul G., Integral Christian Scholarship (Association for Reformed Scientific Studies).
Singer, C. Gregg, Christian Approaches: To Philosophy; To History (Coronation Series. Craig Press, 1978).
*Singer, C. Gregg, (1910-1999) From Rationalism to Irrationality: The Decline of the Western Mind From the Renaissance to the Present (Philadelphia, PA: The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1979), ISBN: 0875524281 9780875524283 and a reprint of the P&R Publishing edition of 1979 (Wipf and Stock, 2006), 479 pp.
Singer, C. Gregg, John Calvin (Self-Published, 1989).
*Singer, C. Gregg, (1910-1999) From Rationalism to Irrationality: The Decline of the Western Mind From the Renaissance to the Present (Philadelphia, PA: The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1979), ISBN: 0875524281 9780875524283 and a reprint of the P&R Publishing edition of 1979 (Wipf and Stock, 2006), 479 pp.
Singer, C. Gregg, John Calvin: His Roots and Fruits (A Press, 1989).
Singer, C. Gregg, John Calvin (Self-Published, 1989).
*Singer, C. Gregg, A Theological Interpretation of American History 1994 edition, 354 pages (Greenville, SC: A Press, 1994, 1981, 1975, 1974, 1964), ISBN: 0875524265 9780875524269. A Christian classic.
Singer, C. Gregg, Toynbee (Philadelphia, PA: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., June 1965).
Singer, C. Gregg, (Charles G. Singer) The Unholy Alliance: The Definitive History of the National Council of Churches and its Leftist Policies -- From 1908 to the Present (New Rochelle, NY: Arlington House, 1975), ISBN: 0870003275 9780870003271, 384 pages.
Various, Christian Higher Education: The Contemporary Challenge: Proceedings of the First International Conference of Reformed Institutions for Christian Scholarship (Potchefstroom: Institute for the Advancement of Calvinism; Toronto; distributed in Canada and the U.S.A. by Wedge Pub. Foundation, 1976).
See also: Epistemology, Logic, Crosswalk bible study tools, The history of Reformation of the Church, Selection of covenant heads for positions of leadership, Tools for biblical scholars, lingua workstation, Topical bible indexes, Bible reference works, Books considered to be among the ten greatest in the english language, Puritan bookshelf 32 CD Set, Reformation bookshelf 30 CD Set, Calvinism bookshelf 30 CD Set, Protestant bookshelf 30 CD Set, The covenanted reformation of scotland short title listing, Works by and about the pilgrims, Puritanism: works by and about puritans, The complete works of various authors, Works of saint augustine, Works of john calvin, Works of gordon haddon clark, Works of john knox, Works of r.j. Rushdoony, Works of c. gregg singer, Christian classics, a short title listing, Collections of christian classics, The best books in this bibliography, Some complementary works, How to find a book, Early english books online (eebo), Eighteenth century collection online (ecco), Google book search, Librarything, Reformed publishers and booksellers online, Special listings, Reference works, Cd-rom libraries, Online digital libraries
Christian Scholarship
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame. (Hosea 4:6,7)
"Edited by John McNeill and translated by Ford Lewis Battles, this is the definitive English language edition of one of the monumental works of the Christian church -- Calvin's INSTITUTES.
"Still considered by many to be the finest explanation and defense of the Protestant Reformation available.
"The work is divided into four books: I. The Knowledge of God the Creator, II. The Knowledge of God the Redeemer in Christ, III. The Mode of Obtaining the Grace of Christ, IV. The External Means or Helps by Which God Allures Us Into Fellowship With Christ and Keeps Us in It. . . . THE INSTITUTES is praised by the secular philosopher, Will Durant, as one of the ten books that shook the world." -- GCB
Calvin spent a lifetime writing and perfecting INSTITUTES OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. His Prefatory Address makes it clear that he intended the work to be a defense of Christianity to the King of France.
Therefore, plainly stated, one of the most influential works ever published in the English language is a defense of Christianity to leaders of State.
Prefatory Address to His Most Christian Majesty, The Most Mighty and Illustrious Monarch, Francis, King of the French, His Sovereign, John Calvin
"Indeed, this consideration makes a true king: to recognize himself a minister of God in governing his kingdom. Now, that king, who in ruling over his realm does not serve God's glory, exercises not kingly rule but brigandage. [Footnote: 'Nec iam regnum ille sed latrocinium exercet.' An echo of Augustine's famous phrase: 'When justice is taken away, what are kingdoms [[regna]] but a vast banditry [[magna latocinia]]?' City of God IV. iv (MPL [[Migne, J.P., Patrologiae cursus completus, series Latina]] 41. 115; tr. NPNF [[A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, second series]] II. 66).] Furthermore, he is deceived who looks for enduring prosperity in his kingdom when it is not ruled by God's scepter, that is, his Holy Word; for the heavenly oracle that proclaims that 'where prophecy fails the people are scattered' [Prov. 29:18] cannot lie." (Battles translation)
"The characteristic of a true sovereign is, to acknowledge that, in the administration of his kingdom, he is a minister of God. He who does not make his reign subservient to the divine glory, acts the part not of a king, but a robber. He, moreover, deceives himself who anticipates long prosperity to any kingdom which is not ruled by the sceptre of God, that is, by his divine word. For the heavenly oracle is infallible which has declared, that where there is no vision the people perish (Prov. 29:18). (Beveridge translation)"
See the entire Prefatory Address, Beveridge translation:
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.ii.viii.html
"The doctrines of covenant liberty were rediscovered in the Reformation. John Calvin went further than anyone else in defining liberty and what Christians need to do to maintain it. Includes bibliographies."
It is recommended that INSTITUTES OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION be used for daily devotions and may be used in combination with Ford Lewis Battles and John Walchenbach, AN ANALYSIS OF THE INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION OF JOHN CALVIN (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House) and with CALVIN'S COMMENTARIES.
Nelson's Ultimate Bible Reference Library, Logos Library System format (LLS) (CD-ROM)
This library systems includes CALVIN'S INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, THE HOLY BIBLE KING JAMES VERSION, THE NEW TREASURY OF SCRIPTURE KNOWLEDGE, AUGUSTINE'S CONFESSIONS, WESTMINSTER CONFESSION OF FAITH (1646), WESTMINSTER LARGER CATECHISM, WESTMINSTER SHORTER CATECHISM, MATTHEW HENRY'S COMMENTARY, NEW NAVE'S TOPICAL BIBLE, PILGRIM'S PROGRESS, and other classic Bible study aids. THE REFORMATION STUDY BIBLE (Other title: THE NEW GENEVA STUDY BIBLE,) in LLS format, may be added to this library. Therefore, all the above works may be used in combination with each other in Bible study.
http://www.logos.com/products/details/3247
Calvin, Spurgeon and International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE) (LLS)
Contains Calvin's Commentaries.
http://www.logos.com/products/details/889
Calvin's Commentaries (22 Volumes) (LLS)
http://www.logos.com/products/details/887
The Comprehensive John Calvin Collection CD-ROM in Logos Library System (LLS) format
http://www.logosbiblesoftware.com/logosbiblesoftware/calcom.html
Calvin's Commentaries (online)
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/calcom
One Hundred Aphorisms, Containing, Within a Narrow Compass, the Substance and Order of the Four Books of THE INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION
http://www.lettermen2.com/pringle.html
The Comprehensive John Calvin Collection
From Ages Software. Includes both the Battles and the Beveridge translation of THE INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, CALVIN'S COMMENTARIES, and other works by Calvin.
http://www.ageslibrary.com/ages_calvin_collection_1.html
Institutes of the Christian Religion (Beveridge translation online)
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.i.html
Contents: Foreword, Introduction; The Philosophy of History; The Philosophy of Politics; Ethics; Science; Religion; Epistemology; Index; Scripture Index.
"It was a Christian view of men and things that created and sustained Western civilization. It is a Christian view of things and men that gives us truth about history, science, religion, ethics, politics, and philosophy. . . . Gordon Clark demonstrates that it is Christianity, and Christianity alone, that offers hope both for this world and the world to come." -- Publisher's Annotation
"Clark analyzes the relationship between Christ, who is the truth, and the Bible. He explains why John used the same word to refer to both Christ and his teaching. Chapters deal with the Prologue to John's Gospel, Logos and Rheemata, Truth, and Saving Faith.
"Yet how is Christ, who is the truth, related to the truths of the Bible? That is the question Gordon Clark answers in this book. His answer explains why contemporary religion has little to do with Christianity, for religion has moved far away from what the Bible, especially the Gospel of John, says about truth." -- The Trinity Foundation
"MODERN PHILOSOPHY is Volume 5 of The Works of Gordon Haddon Clark. MODERN PHILOSOPHY combines five of Dr. Clark's books confuting modern philosophy and philosophers: THE PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE AND BELIEF IN GOD, BEHAVIORISM AND CHRISTIANITY, LANGUAGE AND THEOLOGY, WILLIAM JAMES, and JOHN DEWEY. These books compose a brilliant refutation of the major figures and movements of twentieth-century philosophy: Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein, William James, John Dewey, Gilbert Ryle, John Watson, Edgar Singer, B. F. Skinner, A. J. Ayer, Herbert Feigl, and Rudolf Carnap. Clark subjects the notions that science discovers truth, that language is inadequate, that mind is a myth, and that Christianity is fiction to withering logical examination and demonstrates them all to be false. Science discovers no truth, language is completely adequate to express meaning and truth, intellect is indispensable, and Christianity is truth revealed by God." -- The Trinity Foundation
Contents: The Philosophy of Science and Belief in God, Behaviorism and Christianity, Language and Theology, William James, and John Dewey.
"Through most of its history, modern science has been at war with Christianity. This little book ends the battles, for it demonstrates that science cannot argue against the truth of Scripture, for the methods of science can never prove anything true. Written by the chairman of the philosophy department at Butler University, this book may be studied with profit by teachers, parents, and students." -- The Trinity Foundation
"THIS IS THE BOOK to confound anyone who is putting faith and trust in science." -- Jay P. Green Sr. Includes bibliography and indexes.
"Gordon Clark was one of the clearest thinking and clearest writing theologians and philosophers of the twentieth century, yet one of the least influential. By engaging the philosophical thought of the past 2,500 years, Dr. Clark achieved what no thinker before him had done: a complete revolution in philosophy. Dr. Gary Crampton is one of the few scholars who understands the significance of what Dr. Clark has done, and he explains it clearly and concisely in this introduction to Dr. Clark's thought." -- Publisher's Annotation
Contents: Introduction
Part 1: Knowledge; Epistemology; Three Methods of Epistemology; Christian Epistemology; General and Special Revelation; Epistemology and Soteriology; Revelation and Apologetics; Knowledge and Opinion; Epistemological Limitations and the Language of Scripture
Part 2: Scripture; Progressive Revelation; Canonization of Scripture; the Inspiration of Scripture; The Nature and Extent of Inspiration; The Attributes of Scripture; The Witness of the Bible and Church History; Original Manuscripts, Copies, and Translations; The Authority and Sufficiency of Scripture; The Law and the Gospel; Law and Love; Biblical Hermeneutics and Application; Theology and Philosophy; Scripture and Biblical Institutions; Conclusion; Index; Scripture Index
"Over the centuries, the enemies of Christianity, with Satanic shrewdness, have focused their attacks on the Bible, the Word of God, knowing that the surest way to discredit Christianity is to discredit its source. Those enemies -- rationalist and mystic, empiricist and scientific, religious and irreligious -- have denied the clarity, the truthfulness, the sufficiency, the accuracy, and the divine origin of the 66 books of the Bible. They have done so in order to support their own claims that another document (such as the Koran or the Book of Mormon), or an organization (such as the Roman Church-State or the Greek Orthodox Church), or an experience (such as visions and intuitions), or a method (such as scientific experimentalism), or a man (such as the pope) are the genuine source of knowledge.
"BY SCRIPTURE ALONE is an articulate and reasoned defense of the principal doctrine of Christianity, The Bible alone is the Word of God, against one of Christianity's most persistent and determined foes: Roman Catholicism." -- Publisher's Annotation
"What role does the government have to play in education? What is the relationship between faith and knowledge? Is scholarship important, or is education the same as training? Machen was one of the leading theologians of the early 20th century, the founder of a denomination and a seminary, and a staunch defender of Biblical truth. This book has been adopted as required reading by a large college in Florida. It may be studied with profit by teachers, parents, and students. Contents include: Faith and Knowledge, The Importance of Christian Scholarship, Christianity and Culture, Reforming the Government Schools, The Necessity of The Christian School, Shall We Have a Federal Department of Education? Proposed Department of Education, The Christian School: The Hope of America, Westminster Theological Seminary: Its Purpose and Plan." -- The Trinity Foundation. Includes index.
"I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in Presbyterian or evangelical history. . . . The background history and context that MacLeod details is tremendous. Also, I thought it was interesting to learn about Reid's relationship with J. Gresham Machen. . . ." -- Reader's Comment
Of particular interest in this collection of papers are the following:
"PART ONE - EPISTEMOLOGICAL CRITICISM
Chapter 1 - The Epistemological Crisis of American Universities - by Gary North
Chapter 2 - The Quest for Common Ground - by Rousas Rushdoony
PART TWO - ACADEMIC DISCIPLINES
Chapter 3 - Psychology - by Rousas Rushdoony
Chapter 4 - History - by C. Gregg Singer [Dr. Singer addresses "The Problem of Historical Interpretation" -- sk]
Chapter 5 - Economics - by Gary North
Chapter 6 - Education - by William Blake
Chapter 7 - Political Science - by Lawrence Pratt
Chapter 8 - Sociology - by Gary North
Chapter 9 - Mathematics - by Vern Poythress
"To master his works is to be a profound theologian." -- C.H. Spurgeon
"THE work on Hebrews is John Owen's massive 4000-page commentary." -- Jay P. Green, Sr.
"An exhaustive, Puritan work first published between 1668-84." -- Cyril J. Barber
Owen, John, J.I. Packer (introduction, series editor), Alister McGrath (series editor), Hebrews, an abridgement of the 7 volume work, paperback (Crossway Classic Commentaries series. Crossway Books, December 2, 1998), ISBN: 1581340265 9781581340266 1856841847 9781856841849, 272 pages.
"The author of Hebrews wanted his audience to know and understand one truth: Christ is superior, and therefore, so is Christianity. He demonstrates this by comparing the imperfect old covenant with the perfect new covenant. The person of Christ is better than prophets and angels, His priesthood is greater than that of Melchizedek and the line of Aaron, and His power within the believer's life is incomparable. Between these contrasts he exhorts the readers to persevere in their faith, be obedient, grow in their understanding, and not miss the grace of God. The lessons and admonitions of Hebrews have intensely practical application for all readers--then and now.
"Know as the 'theologian's theologian' John Owen (1616-1683) was vice chancellor of Oxford University and served as advisor and chaplain to Oliver Cromwell. Among the most learned and active Puritans in seventeenth-century Europe, he was a erudite and accomplished theologian both in doctrine and practical theology." -- Publisher's Annotation
Owen, John. An exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews; with the preliminary exercitations. By John Owen, D.D. Revised and abridged; ... By Edward Williams. In four volumes. ... Vol. 2. London, 1790. 4 vols. (ECCO) Gale Document Number CW3319511501
"One of the seminal works of Christian scholarship, by one of the few men who actually believed that the Bible is authoritative. A study in the early Church's battles with various forms of heresy, that were then put down in creeds. But Rushdoony does something more: he puts these creeds in philosophical context, showing that these creeds actually do much more than simply make a statement about the faith.
"Should be read in conjunction with his "The One & The Many." -- Reader's Comment
"This book, which is dedicated to Paul Woolley, covers over 400 pages. There are 16 different chapters. The contributor's include: Robert Knudsen, W. Stanford Reid, Richard Gamble, D. Clair Davis, Philip Hughes, R.T. Kendall, J.N.D. Douglas, George Marsden, C. Gregg Singer, John Bratt, and others." -- GCB
"Now, frankly students, this course is presented from obviously the Reformed Theology. I hold unabashedly, unashamedly to the whole of Reformed Theology as we find it specifically in the Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) and the Longer and Shorter Catechisms.
"At the same time I hold to a position in regard to Apologetics generally known as Presuppositionalism, and particularly that view held by Cornelius Van Til.
"This book is an attempt to enlarge and to broaden the scope of Van Til's own Apologetical system, and also his Epistemology. By that I mean, and I worked this book with him, so anything that I say is not to be construed as a criticism of Cornelius Van Til. I might add he wrote me a letter. He is delighted with this book. But what I did was to take his principles, both of Apologetics and of Epistemology, and apply them to all realms of modern thought.
"Dr. Van Til, for good and sufficient reason, sought to limit to the main stream of what we might call pure Philosophy, that is from Saint Thomas, well even before then, back to the Greeks, but particularly in the more modern period, from Saint Thomas Aquinas, William of Ockham (Occam), down through Descartes, the Rationalists, the Empiricists, down to Kant and Hegel, and of course Modern Philosophy and Modern Theology. Very seldom has he gone into what we might call the arena of Political Philosophy, or the arena of Social Thought, or the arena of Psychology and Psychiatry, the realm of Educational Philosophy, and into Art, Music, and so on, to the Fine Arts.
"This book is an attempt to apply his system, and show what happens when the Western mind has forsaken his principles, or the principles which he has espoused, and turned into its own way. And thus the book is called FROM RATIONALISM TO IRRATIONALITY [Notice Singer seems to have gracefully embraced the best of Van Til in this work that, on a grand scale, disproves Van Til's inconsistent statements relating to epistimology. See the Robbins article below. -- sk] The thesis being that the irrationalism inherent in Saint Thomas and the post-Thomists, and more particularly, and more openly, in the Philosophy of the Renaissance, and Descartes, and Spinosa, and Leibniz has, as it's gained momentum in the modern world, brought Western Culture to its knees. We are living, as I would think, in the death throws of the Western Cultures, the Western Civilization." -- Dr. C. Gregg Singer, in the introductory address to his course in Apologetics soon after FROM RATIONALISM TO IRRATIONALITY came off the press in 1979
Apologetics: #01: Classical and Medieval Thought #1
Dr. C. Gregg Singer, Apologetics, 56 min.
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=2250511453
"Locke endeavored to set forth a political philosophy which would anchor his democratic political thought on what he felt were the firm foundations of his empiricism. However, his insistence that nature has bestowed upon mankind certain basic and inalienable rights was an assumption quite contrary to his empiricism. His denial of conscience as an innate possession or quality makes it impossible for men to know that they possess the rights of life, liberty, and property. The very concept of a human right is moral in nature and has its basis of authority in the human conscience. It is thus impossible for men to know through the senses that they have these cherished human rights. Granted that it was far from Locke’s intention to undermine or destroy the traditional English concept of personal rights, his empiricism removed from his political thought the necessary foundations on which a government could be built for the protection of these rights. His empiricism supported neither the idea that men have such rights nor that they are inalienable. (p. 61)
"Underlying the secular and naturalistic assumptions of the thought of the Enlightenment was a related and equally serious problem. In their political and economic thought the leaders of this era were passionately devoted to the pursuit of freedom, and yet they seemed to be completely unaware of this incompatibility between their quest for freedom on the one hand and their reliance upon natural law on the other. How can an impersonal and deterministic concept of law produce and sustain a meaningful concept of freedom? Blindly convinced that there was no problem involved in the contradiction, the leaders of the Enlightenment pushed boldly ahead in the quest for political and economic liberty. However, their failure to recognize the issues involved in this quest led not only to the disaster of the French Revolution but to the growth of the totalitarian political and economic philosophies which first appeared in Hegel and Marx during the nineteenth century and reached their culmination in the totalitarianism of the twentieth century." (p. 73) -- quoted at the blog, IMAGO VERITATIS: Post-modern Reformed Paleo-orthodoxy.
Singer used this as the textbook for his course in Apologetics. Epistemology is a recurring theme throughout the textbook and the course. The series of 24 addresses on Apologetics is available free online. See "Apolgetics" under:
Works of C. Gregg Singer
http://www.lettermen2.com/bcrr3ch.html#cgsinger
Cornelius Van Til, John W. Robbins
http://www.trinityfoundation.org/journal.php?id=33
"Now, frankly students, this course is presented from obviously the Reformed Theology. I hold unabashedly, unashamedly to the whole of Reformed Theology as we find it specifically in the Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) and the Longer and Shorter Catechisms.
"At the same time I hold to a position in regard to Apologetics generally known as Presuppositionalism, and particularly that view held by Cornelius Van Til.
"This book is an attempt to enlarge and to broaden the scope of Van Til's own Apologetical system, and also his Epistemology. By that I mean, and I worked this book with him, so anything that I say is not to be construed as a criticism of Cornelius Van Til. I might add he wrote me a letter. He is delighted with this book. But what I did was to take his principles, both of Apologetics and of Epistemology, and apply them to all realms of modern thought.
"Dr. Van Til, for good and sufficient reason, sought to limit to the main stream of what we might call pure Philosophy, that is from Saint Thomas, well even before them, back to the Greeks, but particularly in the more modern period, from Saint Thomas Aquinas, William of Ockham (Occam), down through Descartes, the Rationalists, the Empiricists, down to Kant and Hegel, and of course Modern Philosophy and Modern Theology. Very seldom has he gone into what we might call the arena of Political Philosophy, or the arena of Social Thought, or the arena of Psychology and Psychiatry, the realm of Educational Philosophy, and into Art, Music, and so on, to the Fine Arts.
"This book is an attempt to apply his system, and show what happens when the Western mind has forsaken his principles, or the principles which he has espoused, and turned into its own way. And thus the book called FROM RATIONALISM TO IRRATIONALITY. The thesis being that the Rationalism inherent in Saint Thomas and the post-Thomists, and more particularly, and more openly, in the Philosophy of the Renaissance, and Descartes, and Spinosa, and Leibniz has, as it's gained momentum in the modern world, brought Western Culture to its knees. We are living, as I would think, in the death throws of the Western Cultures, the Western Civilization." -- Dr. C. Gregg Singer, in the introductory address to his course in Apologetics soon after FROM RATIONALISM TO IRRATIONALITY came off the press in 1979
Apologetics: #01: Classical and Medieval Thought #1
Dr. C. Gregg Singer, Apologetics, 56 min.
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=2250511453
"Locke endeavored to set forth a political philosophy which would anchor his democratic political thought on what he felt were the firm foundations of his empiricism. However, his insistence that nature has bestowed upon mankind certain basic and inalienable rights was an assumption quite contrary to his empiricism. His denial of conscience as an innate possession or quality makes it impossible for men to know that they possess the rights of life, liberty, and property. The very concept of a human right is moral in nature and has its basis of authority in the human conscience. It is thus impossible for men to know through the senses that they have these cherished human rights. Granted that it was far from Locke’s intention to undermine or destroy the traditional English concept of personal rights, his empiricism removed from his political thought the necessary foundations on which a government could be built for the protection of these rights. His empiricism supported neither the idea that men have such rights nor that they are inalienable. (p. 61)
"Underlying the secular and naturalistic assumptions of the thought of the Enlightenment was a related and equally serious problem. In their political and economic thought the leaders of this era were passionately devoted to the pursuit of freedom, and yet they seemed to be completely unaware of this incompatibility between their quest for freedom on the one hand and their reliance upon natural law on the other. How can an impersonal and deterministic concept of law produce and sustain a meaningful concept of freedom? Blindly convinced that there was no problem involved in the contradiction, the leaders of the Enlightenment pushed boldly ahead in the quest for political and economic liberty. However, their failure to recognize the issues involved in this quest led not only to the disaster of the French Revolution but to the growth of the totalitarian political and economic philosophies which first appeared in Hegel and Marx during the nineteenth century and reached their culmination in the totalitarianism of the twentieth century." (p. 73) -- quoted at the blog, IMAGO VERITATIS: Post-modern Reformed Paleo-orthodoxy.
Singer used this as textbook for his course in Apologetics. Epistemology is a recurring theme throughout the textbook and the course. The series of 24 addresses on Apologetics is available free online. See "Apolgetics" under:
Works of C. Gregg Singer
http://www.lettermen2.com/bcrr3ch.html#cgsinger
This book portrays "the influence of theology and the changing doctrines in the life of the church on the pattern of American political, constitutional, social and economic development.
"The author shows that the decline of constitutional government in this country is the result of the departure from historical Christian faith and the resulting rise of alien political philosophies. Particularly does he emphasize the intimate relationship between theological liberalism on the one hand and political, social, and economic liberalism on the other. This theological liberalism has been a major agent in the decline of the Constitution in the political life of the people and in the appearance of a highly centralized government." -- Publisher's Annotation
"There is between the democratic philosophy and theological liberalism a basic affinity which has placed them in the same camp in many major political struggles.
"This condition exists because theological liberalism shares the basic postulates of the democratic philosophy. . . .
"Theological liberalism at heart has been a continuing protest against Calvinism, particularly against its insistence on the Sovereignty of God and the Total Depravity of the race. These two Biblical doctrines have often proved to be a stumbling block to theologians within the church as well as to the unbelieving world.
"The result of theological liberalism has been the movement away from constitutionalism and away from liberty, and a movement toward collectivistic society and totalitarian regime." -- C. Gregg Singer, Theological Interpretation of American History, p. 290
See also: "John Knox, the Scottish Covenanters, and the Westminster Assembly" (tape 3 of 5 in a series of addresses "History Notes on Presbyterianism, Reformation, and Theology") by Dr. C. Gregg Singer on SermonAudion.com
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=12607114250
See also:
Dr. C. Gregg Singer at SermonAudio.com (161 messages)
http://www.sermonaudio.com/search.asp?SpeakerOnly=true&currSection=sermonsspeaker&Keyword=Dr.^C.^Gregg^Singer
"This book is not calculated to win friends among adherents to the National Council of Churches. It provides convincing evidence of the tremendous gap that has developed between the NCC and its critics and demonstrates the NCC's inability to achieve its objectives." -- Cyril J. Barber
Unholy Alliance: The Definitive History of the National Council of Churches and Its Leftist Policies -- From 1908 to the Present
Freebooks online etext.
http://freebooks.entrewave.com/freebooks/docs/39be_47e.htm
Related WebLinks
Speaking on Calvinism
Dr. C. Gregg Singer, 53 min.
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=8110391415
Works of Saint Augustine
http://www.lettermen2.com/bcrr3ch.html#wosagst
Works of John Calvin
http://www.lettermen2.com/bcrr3ch.html#wojclvn
Works of C. Gregg Singer
http://www.lettermen2.com/bcrr3ch.html#cgsinger
Apologetics #08: The Enlightenment in Western Thought #1
Dr. C. Gregg Singer, Apologetics, 76 min.
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=3105182137
#02: Decline (Political, Economic, Cultural), Part 1
Dr. C. Gregg Singer, Decline of American Culture
http://www.sermonaudio.com/play.asp?ID=819021843
The Trinity Foundation
http://trinityfoundation.org/
Calvin Center for Christian Scholarship
"Since 1976, the CCCS has been a place where committed Christian thinkers from across the academic disciplines could reflect and write about pressing issues of public concern. Over the years its support has enabled scholars to produce some sixty-two books, several of which have gone into second editions, as well as numerous articles, lectures, conferences, and public presentations. Visit the CCCS bibliography."
http://www.calvin.edu/admin/cccs/
Calvin Center for Christian Scholarship: International Christain Scholarship: Bibliography
http://www.calvin.edu/admin/cccs/scholarship/publications.html
But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first. -- Jesus Christ (Matthew 19:30)
Our Triune God has ordained that authority, power, and leadership devolves to those who know the most Truth (the Apostle Paul, Saint Augustine, Martin Luther, John Calvin, The Scots Worthies . . . ). Preeminent among those is the Lord Christ, the God Man, Our Righteousness. (John 1:1-18; Matthew 19:30; Matthew 28:18-20; Isaiah 49:7; Colossians 1:16-19; Colossians 2:9,10; Hebrews 12:1,2; Revelations 5:1-14; Revelation 19:11-15; Revelation 20:11-15; Revelation 22:12, and so forth, and so on.)
Grace and election are the essence and meaning of history. -- St. Augustine, quoted by C. Gregg Singer
Our Triune God has ordained that authority, power, and leadership devolves to those who know the most Truth (the Apostle Paul, Saint Augustine, Martin Luther, John Calvin, The Scots Worthies . . . ). Preeminent among those is the Lord Christ, the God Man, Our Righteousness. (John 1:1-18; Matthew 19:30; Matthew 28:18-20; Isaiah 49:7; Colossians 1:16-19; Colossians 2:9,10; Hebrews 12:1,2; Revelations 5:1-14; Revelation 19:11-15; Revelation 20:11-15; Revelation 22:12, and so forth, and so on.)
"To the glory of His Divine Majesty, in propagating of the Christian religion to such people as yet live in ignorance of the true knowledge and worship of God
Whereas we all came into these parts of America with one and the same end and aim, namely, to advance the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ and to enjoy the liberties of the Gospel in purity with peace. (May 19, 1643) -- The Articles of Confederation
The history of the church has practical value for every Christian, as a storehouse of warning and encouragement, of consolation and counsel. It is the philosophy of facts, Christianity in living examples. If history in general be ... as Diodorus calls it, "the handmaid of providence, the priestess of truth, and the mother of wisdom," the history of the kingdom of heaven is all these in highest degree. Next to the holy Scriptures ... there is no stronger proof of the continual presence of Christ with His people, no more thorough vindication of Christianity, no richer source of spiritual wisdom and experience, no deeper incentive to virtue and piety, than the history of Christ's kingdom. -- Philip Schaff
It is this author's contention that the modern churches have let go of this important piece of the faith [Christ's Kingship over the nations-- sk] once for all delivered to the saints. Thereby they have delivered the church, not to kings as nursing fathers, but to the cruel civil domination of the enemies of the true religion, their sheep being taught that they must submit passively to every pretended civil authority as the ordinance of God. By this defection, these leaders of the flock have also undermined the magistracy, allowing and even encouraging wicked men to remove this blessed ordinance from its foundation in God its creator, and from its subjection to Christ His King, thereby directly opposing God's benevolent ends in instituting civil government: "Thus have [they] made the commandment of God of none effect by [their] tradition. . . . teaching for doctrines the commandments of men" (Matt. 15:6, 9). Furthermore, by their false teaching regarding civil government, they have made themselves guilty of the very sin of which we are often accused: opposing the ordinance of God. If this wasn't enough, however, consider that their sin is worse than that of the garden variety rebel, inasmuch as their opposition to God's institution is not so much practical as it is principial; and because of their position as teachers and guides of the flock of God. "Be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. . . . For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth." (James 3:1; II Cor. 13:8). -- Greg Price (Biblical Civil Government Verses the Beast, p. 64)
"The story of all of history is the story of Christians understanding that God enables them to change things. The story of all of history is the story of Christians either standing in the gap and remarkably changing their societies for good, or Christians walking away from their responsibilities and seeing havoc wreaked throughout all of culture. That is history. And so, if we understand anything about that at all, we know this: There is great hope for the future. This nation is not lost. We don't have to turn back the clock in order to turn back the tide. Instead, all we have to do is do our job." -- George Grant
Atkinson, Miles. The necessity of a national reformation. A sermon occasioned by the present critical state of the nation, preached at the parish-church of Leeds, July 11th 1779. ... By Miles Atkinson, A.B. Leeds, [1779?]. Eighteenth Century Collections Online. (ECCO) Gale Document Number CW3321648242
*Augustine, St. (author), Philip Schaff (editor), Marcus Dods (translator), St. Augustine's City of God and Christian Doctrine [A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church - Volume 2], new edition (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, September 2002), 624 pages, English, ISBN: 0802880991. A Christian classic.
THE HISTORY OF REFORMATION OF THE CHURCH
See Isaiah 40:1--55:13 and annotations in The Reformation Study Bible
. . . ." (April 10, 1606) -- King James I, in the charter for the settlement of Virginia
Augustine is said to be the greatest Christian thinker next to the Apostle Paul. Luther set the BIBLE and the CONFESSIONS OF SAINT AUGUSTINE above all other books.
"One of the classic texts of Western civilization [originally 22 volumes it explains the fall of Roman in terms of Scripture-- sk]. . . . DE CIVITATE DEI is an important contribution of interest to students of theology, philosophy, ecclesiastical history, the history of political thought, and late antiquity." -- Publisher's Annotation (from the Cambridge University Press edition)
"Augustine began writing THE CITY OF GOD at age 59 [shortly after the city of Rome had been sacked by the Goths in 410 A.D., much to the surprise, it is said, of both the Romans and the Goths.-- sk] and worked on it, off and on, for much of the next 14 years. The impetus for the beginning of this vast work (and its recurring focus) was the charge of Pagans (polytheists) that Christianity was responsible for the decay and demise of the Roman Empire. The charge put forward the claim that the prosperity and social stability of the state was dependent upon polytheistic worship. In response, Augustine arrays several lines of argument, rebutting the assumed 'goodness' of the Pagan state, as such, and detailing the ethical/moral and logical failings of Paganism. Augustine displays tremendous scholarship, employing the writings of Paganism's greatest historians and philosophers in his case against their religious claims. The result is a giant literary, philosophical, historical, theological and exegetical work. . . .
"Against the 'city', i.e., society, of many gods, there is but one alternate society, this Augustine calls The City of God, adopting the expression found in several of King David's psalms. Not only is the society of many gods the society of polytheists, it is also the 'city' of pantheists, atheistic materialists and philosophical Cynics. In the case of the Cynics and atheists, these false gods are the myriad gods of self, indeed, at least as many gods (selves) as there are believers in them. Thus there are two 'cities,' two loves, two ways to understand the big questions of existence, two destinations. Says Augustine:
"The one City began with the love of God; the other had its beginnings in the love of self." XIV:13.
"Augustine reflects deeply here on human nature and the meaning of eternal life and eternal punishment, within an explication of the 'meaning' of history. He writes of all human history as a single narrative. This also a work of Biblical exegesis, as Augustine treats Scripture as a historical document. For Augustine, creation is good, creation exists in time and has a history. Indeed, since God enters into history to show man His love, history itself is sanctified, through the City of God.
"The city of man seeks the praise of men, whereas the height of glory for the other is to hear God in the witness of conscience. The one lifts up its head in its own boasting; the other says to God: 'Thou art my glory, thou liftest up my head.' (Psalm 3.4) In the city of the world both the rulers themselves and the people they dominate are dominated by the lust for domination; whereas in the City of God all citizens serve one another in charity. . ." XIV:28-- Wesley L. Janssen, Reader's Comment
"The book contains the parallel histories of what Augustine terms the City of God and the City of Man, both descended from Adam. The City of Man is founded on murder (specifically fratricide, the murder of a brother, viz. Cain and Abel, Romulus and Remus). The City of Man has been deceived and debased, fallen under the sway of pagan gods, which appear to be either demons or, at best indifferent or benign spirits that are mistakenly worshipped. The City of God, on the other hand, is a pilgrim on this earth, toiling here in the joyous expectation of final salvation in God's Kingdom." -- Penn Jacobs, Reader's Comment
"His 'grand unifying theory' of Western civilization, uniting the organization of Rome with the thought of Greece and the revelation of the Bible, has been accepted as the de facto definition of what it means to be Western until only the very last few decades of our time. . . .
"This seamless blend of literary prowess from Rome's greatest scholar and highest ranking professor generates for the reader a powerful education in philosophy, history and theology, tied together with awesome rhetoric, that is uniquely powerful, erudite, insightful and useful all at once.
"From a historical and literary perspective, this may have been the very most important book ever written by reputedly human hands. ["Calvin paraphrased Augustine about 400 times in THE INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION." -- C. Gregg Singer]
"As it is written for the leaders of society and not for the average citizen, be ready to be intrigued, challenged to thought, and impressed with every line.
"By no means must the reader have any kind of religious belief to benefit from this book, nor must the reader agree with all that Augustine postulates, nor can the reader, due to the great distance of time separating him from us and improvements in scientific knowledge since his time. The importance, greatness and power of the writing itself commend it to us." -- Chris Miller, Reader's Comment
"One who has been introduced to Augustine through his auto-biographical CONFESSIONS may find it easier to follow his logic as he discusses the numerous topics of THE CITY OF GOD." -- Reader's Comment
"It would do the modern Church well to read this book since Augustine places the City of God (i.e., Christ and His Church) within the context of the pagan world in which we live, and its message is as applicable today as it was 1,500 years ago when he first wrote it." -- Reader's Comment
"History and theology in one rich volume." -- Reader's Comment
St. Augustine's final sentence of THE CITY OF GOD is "All things must be referred to the Glory of God."
"When you see that, then you will see the key to the story, and you will see the key to history." -- C. Gregg Singer
"The classic exposition of history in terms of Scripture." -- C. Gregg Singer
City of God, Saint Augustine, Philip Schaff (editor), Rev. Marcus Dods, D.D. (translator)
http://www.ccel.org/fathers/NPNF1-02/
The Confessions of Saint Augustine
"The story of his sinful pursuits before conversion, and of his conversion, then of his confession to God, and his discoveries of the greatness of God after his conversion." -- Publisher's Annotation.
http://www.ccel.org/a/augustine/confessions/confessions.html
The Works of Saint Augustine
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jod/augustine.html
The Comprehensive John Calvin Collection (CD-ROM) (Contains some works of Augustine.)
http://www.ageslibrary.com
The Comprehensive John Calvin Collection CD-ROM in Logos Library System (LLS) format
http://www.logosbiblesoftware.com/logosbiblesoftware/calcom.html
The Classical View of History (Augustine)
Dr. C. Gregg Singer, "The Christian View of History," lecture series.
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=7150273140
The Augustinian Approach to History
Dr. C. Gregg Singer, 47 min.
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=9150393751
Church History #09: Augustine #1
Dr. C. Gregg Singer, "Church History" lecture series.
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=41504163949
Church History #10: Augustine #2
Dr. C. Gregg Singer, "Church History" lecture series.
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=41504164048
Church History #11: Augustine #3
Dr. C. Gregg Singer, "Church History" lecture series.
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=41504164152
BAIRD, HENRY, History of the Rise of the Huguenots of France, 2 volumes (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books, 1886, 1895).
"Volume one covers the period from the beginning of the French Reformation to the Edict of January, 1562. Volume two takes in the period from the battle of Coutras to the death of Henry the Fourth (1610). The author notes that `the period of about half a century with which these volumes are concerned may properly be regarded as the formative age of the Huguenots in France. It included the first planting of the reformed doctrines, and the steady growth of the Reformation in spite of obloquy and persecution, whether exercised under the forms of law or vented in lawless violence. It was the gathering and the regular organization of the reformed communities, as well as their consolidation into one of the most orderly and zealous churches of the Protestant family.' The author has made use of manuscripts `previously known to few scholars -- if at all.' 1127 pages, including an extensive 26 page index covering both volumes." -- SWRB
King James Bible With the Geneva Bible Notes, 1672 (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books, 1998, 1672).
"The best Reformation translation (King James Version) combined with the best Bible notes of the first Reformation, the GENEVA BIBLE notes. A great tool for public, family and private worship and study. Printed from a marvelously clean original copy, surpassing the quality of all other printings (of the GENEVA BIBLE NOTES in particular) we have seen. Contains almost 1000 (8.5 X 11 inch) pages with notes on the complete Bible (Old and New Testaments) making this a veritable library of study and classic Protestant commentary in just one book." -- SWRB
Geneva Bible, 1599, Additional Title: (Bible. English. Geneva. 1599.) The Bible, that is, the Holy Scriptures conteined in the Olde and Newe Testament: translated according to the Ebrew and Greeke, and conferred with the best translations in diuers languages; with most profitable annotations upon all the hard places, and other things of great importance ... (London: Imprinted by the Deputies of C. Barker, 1599),
EEBO.
http://bible.crosswalk.com/Commentaries/GenevaStudyBible/,
Geneva Bible Notes, 1599
http://www.poconos.net/~reformed/documents/geneva/
The Geneva Bible Notes are also featured in the Online Bible CD-ROM. One keystroke brings the notes up in the second window.
Pierce, Larry, and the Woodside Bible Fellowship, The Online Bible CD-ROM (Winterbourne, Ontario, CANADA [Woodside Bible Fellowship,] 11 Holmwood Street, Ontario N0B 2V0, 1997).
Online Bible Homepage
http://www.onlinebible.org/
*Bradford, William, Of Plymouth Plantation: 1620-1647 (New York, NY: Capricorn Books, 1962). 31130
With notes and introduction by Samuel Eliot Morison. The journal of William Bradford. A Christian classic.
*BURGESS, ANTHONY, The Reformation of the Church, To Be Endeavoured More Than That of the Commonwealth, 1645 (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books), 28 pages. Available on Puritan Bookshelf CD #21. Available on The Amazing Christian Library, DVD Two, CD #9.
"A 'Sermon preached before the Right Honourable House of Lords at the publicke Fast, August 27, 1645,' (notes the cover) during the days of the sitting of the Westminster Assembly. Can you image these words (which are just a small sample from the preface to the godly exhortation contained in this sermon) directed, by request of the civil magistrate, to the leaders of your nation? Burgess writes, 'It was my endeavour in this Sermon to excite your Lordships to a speedy and exact Reformation of the Church from all the corruptions that have defiled her, and herein to attend unto God's Word, as the only starre that will conduct unto Christ. None are too great to undertake so good a work. Gregory said of David dancing before the Ark, Magis miror Davidum saltantem, quam pugnantem, David is to be more admired in his religious worship of God, than in his courageous conquest and slaughter of the Philistines, or other enemies. Hence, Jer. 9:23,24. where glory in wisdome, riches and might is forbidden, there is a kinde of an holy pride allowed in the knowledge of the Lord. Let Heathens glory, that they are saluted by the Common-wealth, Patres Pariae; but let those Christians, whom God honoureth with dignity and place, delight to be nursing Fathers to the Church, by speaking comfortably unto those who teach the good knowledge of God; and by commanding the Levites to carry all the filthiness out of the Temple. Which that your Lordships may faithfully and zealously doe, is the prayer of Your Lordships humble Servant, Anthony Burgesse'." -- SWRB
Buxbaum, Melvin H., BF (Benjamin Franklin) and the Zealous Presbyterians (Pennsylvania State Univiversity Press, 1975).
*Calvin, John, et.al., Gary DeMar (foreword), Marshall Foster (preface) 1599 Geneva Bible [enhanced] , hardcover (Tolle Lege Press; 1st edition (2006).
"When the Pilgrims arrived in America in 1620, they brought along supplies, a consuming passion to advance the Kingdom of Christ, a bright hope for the future, and the Word of God. Clearly, their most precious cargo was the Bible. The GENEVA BIBLE, printed over 200 times between 1560 and 1644, was the most widely read and influential English Bible of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This superb translation was the product of the best Protestant scholars of the day and became the Bible of choice for many of the greatest writers, thinkers, and historical figures of that time. The GENEVA BIBLE is unique among all other Bibles. It was the first Bible to use chapters and numbered verses and became the most popular version of its time because of the extensive marginal notes. These notes, written by Reformation leaders such as John Calvin, John Knox, Miles Coverdale, William Whittingham, Anthony Gilby, and others, were included to explain and interpret the scriptures for the common people. For nearly half a century these notes helped the people of England, Scotland, and Ireland understand the Bible and true liberty. King James despised the GENEVA BIBLE because he considered the notes on key political texts to be seditious and a threat to his authority. Unlike the KING JAMES VERSION, the GENEVA BIBLE was not authorized by the government. It was truly a Bible by the people and for the people. You can see why this remarkable version with its profound marginal notes played a key role in the formation of the American Republic. Until now, the only complete version available was a large, cumbersome, and difficult-to-read facsimile edition. But this new edition contains all the original words and notes, but the type set has been enlarged and the font style change for today's reader." -- Publisher's Annotation
"This is the Bible that eventually put an end to Feudalism in Europe, strengthened Puritans, Quakers, and came to America on the Mayflower. This was the first Bible published in the language of the common people, the first Bible to contain commentary and verse numbers, and the first Bible written in English from Greek and Hebrew texts available from Constantinople, not from the Latin Vulgate. The dynamite in this Bible, is" the commentary accounting for about one third of its length. "The Church of England and King James were so upset they determined to create a new translation. They called it the King James version. They choose to use language so formal and grand, even by the standards of those days, that the common people would find difficult to understand. The GENEVA BIBLE was found seditious by it's insertions of commentary that spoke directly about the priesthood of lay believers, the church as naturally anti-oligarchy, and setting forth some other ideas considered anarchy by the King, but meaning freedom to the masses who read it. . . .
"Important facts to remember about this Bible. The Reformation was strong in England and the Lollards were a lay group of huge influence that had to go underground. English Christian theologians, not Catholics and not Anglicans, fled in huge numbers to Geneva for freedom. Geneva was not part of Switzerland at that time, because Geneva was its own city-state. . . . The GENEVA BIBLE was printed 1560-1644. THE KING JAMES VERSION was published in 1611. The GENEVA BIBLE was against the law to own. . . ." -- M. Baker, Reader's Comment
"The GENEVA BIBLE has a unique place in history. It is some times called the "BREECHES BIBLE." That term comes from the reference in Genesis 3:7 where it says that Adam and Eve clothed themselves in 'breeches' made from fig leaves. It is the product of Protestant scholars who had taken refuge in Geneva, Switzerland during the reign of Queen 'Bloody Mary' of England (1553-1558). It is also known as the Bible that the Pilgrims brought to America. It is older than the KING JAMES VERSION and is considered by some to be more 'Protestant' than the KING JAMES VERSION." -- Reader's Comment
"I've seen the facsimile versions of the Geneva Bible and they don't even come close to this edition. The legibility and readability of this edition is" far superior to other editions. "There have also been concerns about textual errors, but Toll Lege Press has acknowledged and fixed them in the printings following the first." -- Reader's Comment
Tolle Lege Press edition of the 1599 Geneva Bible
http://www.GenevaBible.com
*Calvin, John, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, 2 volumes (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press, 1960). A Christian classic.
"Edited by John McNeill and translated by Ford Lewis Battles, this is the definitive English language edition of one of the monumental works of the Christian church -- Calvin's INSTITUTES.
"Still considered by many to be the finest explanation and defense of the Protestant Reformation available.
"The work is divided into four books: I. The Knowledge of God the Creator, II. The Knowledge of God the Redeemer in Christ, III. The Mode of Obtaining the Grace of Christ, IV. The External Means or Helps by Which God Allures Us Into Fellowship With Christ and Keeps Us in It. . . . THE INSTITUTES is praised by the secular philosopher, Will Durant, as one of the ten books that shook the world." -- GCB
Calvin spent a lifetime writing and perfecting INSTITUTES OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. His Prefatory Address makes it clear that he intended the work to be a defense of Christianity to the King of France.
Therefore, plainly stated, one of the most influential works ever published in the English language is a defense of Christianity to leaders of State.
Prefatory Address to His Most Christian Majesty, The Most Mighty and Illustrious Monarch, Francis, King of the French, His Sovereign, John Calvin
"Indeed, this consideration makes a true king: to recognize himself a minister of God in governing his kingdom. Now, that king, who in ruling over his realm does not serve God's glory, exercises not kingly rule but brigandage. [Footnote: 'Nec iam regnum ille sed latrocinium exercet.' An echo of Augustine's famous phrase: 'When justice is taken away, what are kingdoms [[regna]] but a vast banditry [[magna latocinia]]?' City of God IV. iv (MPL [[Migne, J.P., Patrologiae cursus completus, series Latina]] 41. 115; tr. NPNF [[A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, second series]] II. 66).] Furthermore, he is deceived who looks for enduring prosperity in his kingdom when it is not ruled by God's scepter, that is, his Holy Word; for the heavenly oracle that proclaims that 'where prophecy fails the people are scattered' [Prov. 29:18] cannot lie." (Battles translation)
"The characteristic of a true sovereign is, to acknowledge that, in the administration of his kingdom, he is a minister of God. He who does not make his reign subservient to the divine glory, acts the part not of a king, but a robber. He, moreover, deceives himself who anticipates long prosperity to any kingdom which is not ruled by the sceptre of God, that is, by his divine word. For the heavenly oracle is infallible which has declared, that where there is no vision the people perish (Prov. 29:18). (Beveridge translation)"
See the entire Prefatory Address, Beveridge translation:
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.ii.viii.html
"The doctrines of covenant liberty were rediscovered in the Reformation. John Calvin went further than anyone else in defining liberty and what Christians need to do to maintain it. Includes bibliographies."
It is recommended that INSTITUTES OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION be used for daily devotions and may be used in combination with Ford Lewis Battles and John Walchenbach, AN ANALYSIS OF THE INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION OF JOHN CALVIN (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House) and with CALVIN'S COMMENTARIES.
Nelson's Ultimate Bible Reference Library, Logos Library System format (LLS) (CD-ROM)
This library systems includes CALVIN'S INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, THE HOLY BIBLE KING JAMES VERSION, THE NEW TREASURY OF SCRIPTURE KNOWLEDGE, AUGUSTINE'S CONFESSIONS, WESTMINSTER CONFESSION OF FAITH (1646), WESTMINSTER LARGER CATECHISM, WESTMINSTER SHORTER CATECHISM, MATTHEW HENRY'S COMMENTARY, NEW NAVE'S TOPICAL BIBLE, PILGRIM'S PROGRESS, and other classic Bible study aids. THE REFORMATION STUDY BIBLE (Other title: THE NEW GENEVA STUDY BIBLE,) in LLS format, may be added to this library. Therefore, all the above works may be used in combination with each other in Bible study.
http://www.logos.com/products/details/3247
Calvin, Spurgeon and International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE) (LLS)
Contains Calvin's Commentaries.
http://www.logos.com/products/details/889
Calvin's Commentaries (22 Volumes) (LLS)
http://www.logos.com/products/details/887
The Comprehensive John Calvin Collection CD-ROM in Logos Library System (LLS) format
http://www.logosbiblesoftware.com/logosbiblesoftware/calcom.html
Calvin's Commentaries (online)
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/calcom
One Hundred Aphorisms, Containing, Within a Narrow Compass, the Substance and Order of the Four Books of THE INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION
http://www.lettermen2.com/pringle.html
The Comprehensive John Calvin Collection
From Ages Software. Includes both the Battles and the Beveridge translation of THE INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, CALVIN'S COMMENTARIES, and other works by Calvin.
http://www.ageslibrary.com/ages_calvin_collection_1.html
Institutes of the Christian Religion (Beveridge translation online)
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.i.html
Christensen, Merton A. "Franklin on the Hemphill Trial: Deism vs. Presbyterianism Orthodoxy." WMQ 10 (1953): 422-40.
Columbus, Christopher, Christopher Columbus' Book of Prophecies: Reproduction of the Original Manuscript With English Translation by Kay Brigham [90047]
Defoe, Daniel. The dissenters vindicated; or, a short view of the present state of the Protestant religion in Britain, as it is now profess'd in the Episcopal church in England, the Presbyterian church in Scotland, and the dissenters in both. In answer to some reflections in Mr. Webster's two books publish'd in Scotland. London, MDCVII [1707]. (ECCO) Gale Document Number CW3317773347
Dell, William, Right reformation, or the reformation of the church of the New Testament, 1646, Additional Title: Right reformation: or, The reformation of the church of the New Testament, represented in Gospell-light, EEBO.
*Edersheim, Alfred, Bible History [50024]
The Bible History: Old Testament, by Alfred Edersheim
http://philologos.org/__eb-bhot/default.htm
*Edersheim, Alfred, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1990, 1883). A Christian classic.
"The most important general work on the life of Christ in our language." -- Wilbur M. Smith
"From his prodigious study he produced an unrivaled picture of the life of Christ and of the whole Jewish background -- not merely of the archaeological details, but of the essential characteristics of Jewish thought and feeling. It is today the most extensively used life of Christ in the English language." -- Publisher's Annotation
The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, by Alfred Edersheim
http://www.ccel.org/e/edersheim/lifetimes/
*EDWARDS, JONATHAN, A History of the Work of Redemption (Unfinished) (Notable American Authors Series. Irvine, CA: Reprint Services Corporation, 1992) ISBN: 0781227747. Alternate title: HISTORY OF REDEMPTION, ON A PLAN ENTIRELY ORIGINAL: EXHIBITING THE GRADUAL DISCOVERY AND ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THE DIVINE PURPOSES IN THE SALVATION OF MAN; ... BY THE LATE REVEREND JONATHAN EDWARDS, ... TO WHICH ARE NOW ADDED NOTES, HISTORICAL, CRITICAL, AND THEOLOGICAL, WITH THE LIFE AND EXPERIENCE OF THE AUTHOR, LONDON, 1788. Available in THE WORKS OF JONATHAN EDWARDS. Available in THE WORKS OF JONATHAN EDWARDS on the forthcoming Protestant Bookshelf CD #21. An 18 volume edition is also available on The Amazing Christian Library, DVD One, CD #1 and DVD Four, CD #21. (ECCO) Gale Document Number CW3321372814
"Edwards powerfully shows how the work of redemption was carried on through the time from The Fall to the end of the world. It is truly amazing how Edwards cover the redemptive history with a strong link on the destruction of Jerusalem, the time of Constantine, Reformation, the rise of Anti-Christ, etc. . . ." -- Reader Comment
This is an unfinished work.
The Works of Jonathan Edwards
http://www.ccel.org/e/edwards/works/works.html
A History of the Work of Redemption, Jonathan Edwards
http://www.jonathanedwards.com/text/Hist%20of%20Redemption/Hist%20Outline.htm
Jonathan Edwards.com
http://www.jonathanedwards.com/
A History of the Work of Redemption, Jonathan Edwards
http://www.heritagebooks.org/item.asp?bookid=517
Fitzgerald, Allan D. (editor), Augustine Through The Ages: An Encyclopedia (Wm.B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, September 1999), 902 pages, ISBN: 080283843X 9780802838438.
"AUGUSTINE THROUGH THE AGES is an enormously informative work on the life and thought of Augustine of Hippo. Every serious student of Augustine would benefit from having this volume. Allow me to enumerate three reasons why this encyclopedia is so valuable in helping people to understand Augustine and his extraordinary contribution both to the history of Christianity and to the intellectual development of the Western world:
"1. This work contains hundreds of articles by the best Augustine scholars from both the Catholic and Protestant ranks. The result is that you can fairly evaluate Augustine's contribution to the history of Western Christianity. For example, this volume contains insightful articles on how Augustine's thought influenced the development of the Catholic, Lutheran, and Reformed theological traditions in particular.
"2. Because Augustine wrote more than five million words, it is often difficult to pull together his various treatments of issues and to attempt to summarize his overall position. This encyclopedia is quite helpful in systematizing the various categories of Augustine's thought.
"3. This work includes articles which address all areas of Augustine's thought, including biblical, theological, philosophical, ethical, historical, and his many literary works.
"AUGUSTINE THROUGH THE AGES contains more than 900 pages that attempt to capture the life, thought, controversies, and literary output of one of Christianity's greatest thinkers. This is indeed an extremely valuable volume." -- Reader's Comment
"Fitzgerald (patristics, Augustinian Patristic Institute, Rome, and editor of Augustinian Studies for Villanova U.) presents an encyclopedic treatment of the life, thought, and influence of arguably the most influential Western Christian thinker after the apostles, Augustine of Hippo (AD 354-430). Includes some 400 articles written by scholars whose academic backgrounds include classics, history, philosophy, political science, and theology, and which cover every aspect of Augustine's life and writings and trace his influence on the church and on the development of Western thought. Indexes, cross-references, and current bibliographies should make this volume a useful research tool." -- Publisher's Annotation
*Foxe, John, John Foxe's Book of Martyrs. Actes and Monuments of Matters Most Speciall and Memorable, the second edition of Foxe's Book of Martyrs Variorum Edition Online (version 1.1 - summer 2006).
This is "the revised version (v.1.1) of Foxe's Book of Martyrs Variorum Edition Online. This [free online] edition contains the full text of three of the four editions (1563, 1570, 1583). The 1570 edition is missing books 3 and 4. These will be added in subsequent versions."
http://www.hrionline.ac.uk/johnfoxe/index.html
Foxe, John, John Foxe's Book of Martyrs. Actes and Monuments of Matters Most Speciall and Memorable, ISBN: 0197262252 9780197262252.
Other editions: Acts and Monuments or Foxe's Book of Martyrs, 1554, 8 volumes (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series and Hardback Bound. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books, 1843-49 edition).
And the Early English Books Online (EEOB) digitized copy of the eight volume work.
" 'No book ever inflicted a wound so deep and incurable on the Romish system of superstition and bloody persecution . . . (it) was placed in . . . all churches and chapels throughout the kingdom, by order of Queen Elizabeth.' (Smith, Select Memoirs, p. 245). Contains much information not found in any of the liberally edited and severely shortened editions of this classic work which are in print today. Covering martyrs from the early church through to Foxe's day, it was one of the most influential books of the sixteenth century! It overflows with faith building testimony of the power of God to overcome the most cruel and barbarous acts of human depravity and demonic cruelty. 6890 pages. A very rare set, now back in print after 150 years!" -- SWRB
"After the Bible itself, no book so profoundly influenced early Protestant sentiment as the BOOK OF MARTYRS. Even in our time it is still a living force. It is more than a record of persecution. It is an arsenal of controversy, a storehouse of romance, as well as a source of edification." -- James Miller Dodds, English Prose
"When one recollects that until the appearance of the PILGRIM'S PROGRESS the common people had almost no other reading matter except the BIBLE and FOX'S BOOK OF MARTYRS, we can understand the deep impression that this book produced; and how it served to mold the national character. Those who could read for themselves learned the full details of all the atrocities performed on the Protestant reformers; the illiterate could see the rude illustrations of the various instruments of torture, the rack, the gridiron, the boiling oil, and then the holy ones breathing out their souls amid the flames. Take a people just awakening to a new intellectual and religious life; let several generations of them, from childhood to old age, pore over such a book, and its stories become traditions as individual and almost as potent as songs and customs on a nation's life." -- Douglas Campbell, The Puritan in Holland, England, and America
"If we divest the book of its accidental character of feud between churches, it yet stands, in the first years of Elizabeth's reign, a monument that marks the growing strength of a desire for spiritual freedom, defiance of those forms that seek to stifle conscience and fetter thought." -- Henry Morley, English Writers
"John Foxe was a prince among believers. He had his printing press on a cart, and had often to print at night, moving his press before dawn to escape capture and burning at the stake. He never faltered in his purpose to leave a voluminous written witness to the power of the Lord Jesus Christ to keep His saints in love and peace." -- Jay P. Green, Sr.
A Christian classic.
Grant, George, The Last Crusader: The Untold Story of Christopher Columbus (Wheaton, IL: Good News Publishers [Crossway Books], 1992). 90050
"This carefully researched and enlightening study shows that Columbus was not only a man of God, but that his voyage was largely motivated by godly zeal. Written in narrative to appeal to the heroic heart of all generations, it is designed to rekindle our natural wonder even as it recaptures the true meaning of Columbus." -- GCB
*Green, Edward M.B., Evangelism in the Early Church (London, England: SCM Press Ltd., 1954).
Guthrie, William D., Magna Carta and Other Addresses [31211]
*HOWIE, JOHN, The Scots Worthies. Biographia Scoticana: or, A Brief Historical Account of the Lives, Characters, and Memorable Transactions of the Most Eminent Scots Worthies . . . As also, an appendix, containing a short historical hint of the wicked lives . . . of the . . . apostates and . . . persecutors in Scotland . . . 2nd edition, corrected and enlarged, 1781 (Glasgow: Printed by John Bryce, and sold at his shop opposite Gibson's-Wynd, Salt-market, 1781) and (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books). A Christian classic.
The full book and the book series of 22 MP3 files, produced by Still Waters Revival Books, may be found on Reformation Bookshelf CD #1, ISBN: 0921148674 9780921148678.
This same book series of audio files is availabe at AudioSermons.com.
http://www.sermonaudio.com/search.asp?seriesOnly=true&currSection=sermonstopic&sourceid=swrb&keyword=Book%3A+SCOTS+WORTHIES&keyworddesc=Book%3A+SCOTS+WORTHIES
Biographia Scoticana, John Howie
Original from Oxford University, published 1885, digitized May 22, 2006. Described as a reprint of the 1781 edition.
http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC34190563&id=5iwAAAAAQAAJ&q=Scots+Worthies+1781&dq=Scots+Worthies+1781&ie=ISO-8859-1&pgis=1
(Gale: Eighteenth Century Collection Online [ECCO.] Gale Document Number CW3300757473). English Short Title Catalog, ESTCT110333.
"Most commonly known as SCOTS WORTHIES, this edition contains Howie's footnotes (defending the Covenanters) and Howie's appendix titled `The Judgment and Justice of God' (which chronicles God's judgments upon Reformation apostates and those who persecuted the Covenanters). It is the only edition in print which contains both these sections intended for publication by the author (as later editors often removed either one or both of these parts of this book). BIOGRAPHIA SCOTICANA covers the history of `noblemen, gentlemen, ministers and others from Mr. Patrick Hamilton, who was born about the year of our Lord 1503, and suffered martyrdom at St Andrews, Feb, 1527, to Mr. James Renwick, who was executed in the Grass-market of Edinburgh, Feb. 17, 1688. Together with a succinct account of the lives of other seven eminent divines, and Sir Robert Hamilton of Preston, who died about, or shortly after the Revolution.' This is one of our best history books (over 700 pages), covering all of the major Scottish Reformers. Howie summarizes his book as follows: `The design of the following was to collect, from the best authorities, a summary account of the lives, characters, and contendings, of a certain number of our most renowned SCOTS WORTHIES, who, for their faithful services, ardent zeal, constancy in sufferings, and other Christian graces and virtues, deserve honourable memorial in the Church of Christ; and for which their names have been, and will be savoury to all the true lovers of our Zion, while Reformation principles are regarded.' Furthermore, the momentous nature of the struggles chronicled in this book are succinctly noted when Howie writes: `the primitive witnesses had the divinity of the Son of God, and an open confession of Him, for their testimony. Our reformers from Popery had Antichrist to struggle with, in asserting the doctrines of the Gospel, and the right way of salvation in and through Jesus Christ. Again, in the reigns of James VI. and Charles I., Christ's REGALIA, and the divine right of Presbytery, became the subject matter of their testimony. Then, in the beginning of the reign of Charles II. (until he got the whole of our ancient and laudable constitution effaced and overturned), our Worthies only saw it their duty to hold and contend for what they had already attained unto. But, in the end of this and the subsequent tyrant's reign, they found it their duty (a duty which they had too long neglected) to advance one step higher, by casting off their authority altogether, and that as well on account of their manifest usurpation of Christ's crown and dignity, as on account of their treachery, bloodshed, and tyranny... which may be summed up. The Primitive martyrs sealed the prophetic office of Christ in opposition to Pagan idolatry. The reforming martyrs sealed His priestly office with their blood, in opposition to Popish idolatry. And last of all, our late martyrs have sealed His kingly office with their best blood, in despite of supremacy and bold Erastianism. They indeed have cemented it upon His royal head, so that to the world's end it shall never drop off again.' Moreover, the importance of this book can be clearly seen when Johnston, in TREASURY OF THE SCOTTISH COVENANT, reports that, Walter Scott refers to Howie as `the fine old chronicler of the Cameronians'. . . Howie's book has been for upwards of a century a household word, occupying a place on the shelf beside THE BIBLE and THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS.' Written for God, country and the covenanted work of Reformation. Stirring history!" -- SWRB
See also: Thomson, John Henderson (editor), A CLOUD OF WITNESSES FOR THE ROYAL PREROGATIVES OF JESUS CHRIST BEING THE LAST SPEECHES AND TESTIMONIES OF THOSE WHO HAVE SUFFERED FOR THE TRUTH IN SCOTLAND SINCE . . . 1680 (Harrisonburg, VA: Sprinkle Publications) and JOHN FOXE'S BOOK OF MARTYRS. ACTES AND MONUMENTS OF MATTERS MOST SPECIALL AND MEMORABLE, the second edition of Foxe's Book of Martyrs Variorum Edition Online (version 1.1 - summer 2006).
*Hughes, Philip E., The Register of the Company of Pastors of Geneva in the Time of Calvin (Wipf & Stock Publishers, January 2004), 396 pages, ISBN: 1592444865 9781592444861.
The last chapter, about Calvin's last meeting with his pastors, is said to be one of the great pieces of Reformation literature.
HUTCHISON, MATTHEW, The Reformed Presbyterian Church in Scotland: Its Origin and History, 1680-1876 (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books).
"This is the only book-length history covering the period after 1680 (to 1876), when the majority Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland merged with the Free Church of Scotland. The history after 1822, when the Auchensaugh Renovation was removed as a term of communion, merely chronicles the wholesale backsliding of the church and eventual split in 1863; from which a majority emerged which joined with the Free Church of Scotland in 1876. A remnant of the minority of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland still exists, however they never returned to the original position of the church from which it began to depart in 1822 (with the removal of the Auchensaugh bond -- which bond is the Auchensaugh Renovation listed under the Reformed Presbytery in this catalogue). This book is a fine illustration of the 'footsteps of the flock,' (as seen in the Protesters [paleopresbyterians] and their spiritual posterity), during the period of which it deals, while at the same time serving as a clear warning to those who have declined from Reformation attainments (i.e. the Resolutioners [neopresbyterians] and those who continue their deformation of the faith). 'By the National Covenant,' notes Thomas Sproull, 'our Fathers laid Popery prostrate. By the Solemn League and Covenant they were successful in resisting prelatic encroachments and civil tyranny. By it they were enabled to achieve the Second Reformation... They were setting up landmarks by which the location and limits of the city of God will be known at the dawn of the millennial day... How can they be said to go forth by the footsteps of the flock, who have declined from the attainments, renounced the covenants and contradicted the testimony of 'the cloud of witnesses.'... All the schisms (separations) that disfigure the body mystical of Christ... are the legitimate consequences of the abandonment of reformation attainments -- the violation of covenant engagements.' Understanding where the faithful covenanted servants of Christ have been historically, not only helps individuals to separate between truly constituted churches and the those that are false (because they have constitutionally backslidden from Reformation attainments); but is a necessary component to the keeping the fifth commandment, as the Reformed Presbytery has pointed out: ' Nor otherwise can a Christian know the time or place of his birth, or the persons whom God commands him to honor as his father and mother, than by uninspired testimony; and the same is true of his covenant obligation, if baptized in infancy. Against all who ignorantly or recklessly reject or oppose history as a bond of fellowship, in the family, in the state, but especially in the church, we thus enter our solemn and uncompromising protest' (Excerpted from: The Act, Declaration and Testimony for the Whole of Our Covenanted Reformation... by the Reformed Presbytery, pp. 177-178 -- a SWRB rare bound photocopy [1761], reprinted 1995 from the 1876 edition). This edition of The Reformed Presbyterian Church in Scotland: Its Origin and History, 1680-1876 also contains an introductory note by William Goold (the editor of John Owen's Works). In introducing this book Goold writes, 'This volume may claim attention as supplying an essential link in the ecclesiastical history of Scotland. It is the history of that body of men who adhered to the civil part of the Second Reformation, according to which Presbytery was established and recognized by the State between 1638 and 1649... The Church of which this volume is a history took its rise in its distinctive character at this period, and on the ground that it could not, while acknowledging the relief from oppression which the Revolution (of 1688) afforded, acquiesce in the arrangements made by the State for the recognition of the Church and the due exercise of its authority within its own spiritual domain (because the so-called 'glorious revolution' was Erastian to the core and also denied the previous national covenant engagements -- RB).... Apart, however, from their testimony in regard to this evil and danger, resulting from a Civil Government in which Prelacy was continued as an essential element, those who dissented from the Revolution Settlement, and from whom the Reformed Presbyterian Church arose, were animated with an earnest zeal for the maintenance of religious ordinances. They strove to exist as a Church, and how far they succeeded, and what difficulties they had to surmount in the attempt, is the interesting story recorded in this volume' (pp. v-vi). In summary, this book (of 450 pages) is an one-of-a-kind chronicle of an integral part of the history of the battle for the 'Crown Rights and Royal Prerogatives of the Lord Jesus Christ'." -- SWRB
*Jackson, Jeremy, No Other Foundation: The Church Through Twenty Centuries [70482]
*Josephus, Flavius, The Complete Works of Flavius Josephus [50025]
The Works of Flavius Josephus, translated by William Whiston
http://wesley.nnc.edu/josephus/
*Kelly, Douglas F., The Emergence of Liberty in the Modern World: The Influence of Calvin on Five Governments From the 16th Through 18th Centuries (Philadelphia, PA: The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co.). ISBN: 0875522971.
"Examines Calvin's influence on the civil governments of Geneva, Huguenot France, Knox's Scotland, Puritan England, and Colonial America. Shows how Calvin's legacy continues to bear upon the issues that guide and agitate Western nations today." --Publisher's Annotation
*Kennedy, D. James with Jerry Newcombe, What if Jesus Had Never Been Born? (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, c1994).
Hospitals, universities, literacy and education, capitalism and free-enterprise, representative government, separation of political powers, justice and common law, civil liberties, abolition of slavery, modern science, and so forth, can all be attributed to Christianity. Highly recommended.
Knox, John, 1505-1572, History of the Reformation of religion in Scotland, 1587, EEBO. Additional edition: The historie of the reformation of the Church of Scotland containing five books: together with some treatises conducing to the history. Edited, with a life of Knox and a preface, by David Buchanan. Includes: "The appellation of John Knox, from the ... sentence pronounced against him (p. 1-33); "The admonition of John Knox to his beloved brethren the commonalty of Scotland" (p. 34-42); "A faithfull admonition made by John Knox to the true professors of the Gospel of Christ within the kingdom of England, 1554" (p. 43-79); "The copie of a letter delivered to Queen Mary, Regent of Scotland" (p. 80-97); and "A sermon preached by John Knox [August 19, 1565]," EEBO.
Knox, John. The history of the reformation of religion within the realm of Scotland. ... Together with the life of the author, and several curious pieces wrote by him, ... By the Reverend Mr. John Knox, ... To which is added, I. An admonition to England and Scotland ... by Antoni Gilby. II. The first and second books of discipline; ... Glasgow, 1761. (ECCO) Gale Document Number CW3318181602
MacGregor, Gedes, The Thundering Scot: A Portrait of John Knox [90018A]
*McFETRIDGE, N.S., Calvinism in History (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, Alberta, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books, 1989). Available on the forthcoming Protestant Bookshelf CD #20.
"A splendid book." -- Loraine Boettner
The rich Reformation heritage of truth and freedom is set forth in four chapters: 1. Calvinism as a Political Force, 2. Calvinism as a Political Force in the History of the USA, 3. Calvinism as a Moral Force, 4. Calvinism as an Evangelizing Force." -- Publisher's Annotation
"Arminianism, taking to an aristocratic form of church government, tend toward a monarchy in civil affairs, while Calvinism, taking to a republican form of church government, tends toward a democracy in civil affairs."
M'CRIE, THOMAS, Life of John Knox, 1855 (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books). ISBN: 040419902X. Available on Reformation Bookshelf CD #1, ISBN: 0921148674 9780921148678. Available on the forthcoming Protestant Bookshelf CD #23. Available on The Amazing Christian Library, DVD One, CD #6. ATLA 1988-1305
Life of John Knox: Containing Illustrations of the History of the Reformation in Scotland: with Biographical Notices of the Principal Reformers, and Sketches of the Progress of Literature in Scotland During the Sixteenth Century; and an Appendix, Consisting of Original Papers
http://books.google.com/books?id=oAIFAAAAYAAJ&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html
Montgomery, Michael S. (compiler), American Puritan Studies: An Annotated Bibliography of Dissertations, 1882-1981.
http://info.greenwood.com/books/0313242/0313242372.html
*Murray, Iain, The Reformation of the Church: A Collection of Reformed and Puritan Documents on Church Issues (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1965).
"First published in 1965 and once again available. Documents are drawn largely from the 16th and 17th centuries and presents the finest thinking of the fathers on authority and freedom, the need for reformation, the nature of the government, unity, and membership of the Church of Jesus Christ." -- GCB
*Neal, Daniel, The History of the Puritans [31036]
New Liberty, The Forbidden Book (DVD, New 2006 Version), Closed-captioned, Collector's Edition, Color, Digital Sound, Director's Cut, Full length, Full Screen, Restored, Special Edition, Subtitled, NTSC) (New Liberty Videos: DVD Release Date, January 20, 2006).
On-camera spokesman: Dr. Craig Lampe; Narrator: Jim Birdsall; Director: Brian Barkley; Run Time: 60 minutes.
"The Forbidden Book is a DVD presentation examining the history of the Word of God in English. It is hosted by Dr. Craig Lampe, a Bible historian and International Director of the World Bible Society. Dr. Lampe owns the Rare Bible Showroom in Arizona and holds a virtual monopoly over rare and antique Bibles. His collection even includes a 1410 Wycliffe Manuscript valued at just under $3 million. It is one of the rarest Bibles in the world. He has a Coverdale Bible, Great Bibles, sells leaves of the Geneva Bible, and, amazingly enough, leaves from the Gutenberg Bible - the first book ever published. If you happen to have one of these complete Bibles sitting in your attic, you should have it insured for about $100 million.
"This DVD is an hour-long presentation on the history of the English Bible. The viewer will meet most of the historical figures responsible for bringing us the Bible as we know and love it today: Wycliffe, Hus, Gutenberg, Colet, Erasmus, Tyndale, Luther and so on. He will see some of the locations important to the history of the Bible, such as the Wittenberg door and Martin Luther's study. He will learn about the earliest English translations, in the Old World and in the New.
There are many amazing facts worked into the presentation. Lampe shows a scroll that is 1000 years old, and tells the viewer that it is word-for-word the same as the text of the Dead Sea Scrolls that were written a full millennium before. He describes how the Bible went from being available in 500 languages in 400 AD to being available in only 1 only 100 years later. He talks about a 110 year period in America during which 5000 editions of the Bible were produced. . . .
Before I close, I will warn that the host is quite harsh towards the Roman Catholic Church and their role in the history of the English Bible. And well he should be, as the papacy worked tirelessly to eradicate any person who dared to present the Scriptures to the common man. Of course the fears of the Church were founded, for when Scripture became accessible, the light quickly broke forth and spread throughout the world. -- Viewer Comments
"Did you know that during the period of AD 100 and AD 400 the Bible had been translated into nearly 500 languages? Did you know that from AD 400 to AD 500 it had been reduced to just one language? A language only know to the clergy and the educated. . . .
"John Wycliffe, the brilliant 14th century Oxford scholar, translated the Bible from Latin into English in order to enlighten the masses oppressed through ignorance. His work was so despised by the established church, that Pope Martin V ordered Wycliffe's bones to be dug up and burned. Martin Luther was one of the few who challenged church authority in the 16th century and lived to tell the tale. . . .
William Tyndale was not spared like his friend Luther. Tyndale spent the last 500 days of his life in a cold castle dungeon. He was then tied to a stake, strangled and burned. His crime? . . . printing Bibles in the English language! Discover the fascinating story behind the preservation of the English Bible . . ." -- JJCalvin
Reed, Kevin, "The Decline of American Presbyterianism" (A Book Review of Gary North's CROSSED FINGERS: HOW THE LIBERALS CAPTURED THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualnls/decline.htm
Crossed Fingers: How the Liberals Captured the Presbyterian Church, by Gary North
http://entrewave.com/freebooks/docs/html/gncf/table_of_contents.htm
*REID, JAMES, Memoirs of the Westminster Divines [31066]
*Reid, W. Stanford, Trumpeter of God: A Biography of John Knox, 372 pages (Baker Publishing Group, February, 1982).
Knox laid the foundation for Presbyterianism and the Covenanted Reformation.
RENWICK, JAMES, 1662-1688, The Testimony of Some Persecuted Presbyterian Ministers of the Gospel Unto the Covenanted Reformation of the Church of Scotland, and to the Present Expediency of Continuing to Preach the Gospel in the Fields, and Against the Present Antichristian Toleration in its Nature and Design, Tending to Bury all these in Oblivion, Lately Obtruded Upon, and Accepted by the Body of this Nation, EEBO.
Renwick, James, 1662-1688, The Testimony of some persecuted Presbyterian ministers of the Gospel unto the covenanted reformation of the Church of Scotland and to the present expediency of continuing to preach the Gospel in the fields and against the present antichristian toleration in its nature and design &c. / given in to the ministers at Edenburgh by Mr. James Renwick upon the 17 Janwarii, 1688, 1688, EEBO.
Renwick, James, Works of Renwick, at True Covenater
http://www.truecovenanter.com/renwick/index.htm
RENWICK, JAMES and ALEXANDER SHIELDS, An informatory vindication of a poor, wasted, misrepresented remnant of the suffering, anti-prelatic, anti-Erastian . . . , 1744
An Informatory Vindication, 1687, James, Renwick, Alexander Shields and Other "Society People"
http://www.truecovenanter.com/societies/informatory_vindication.html
Renwick, James. An informatory vindication of a poor, wasted, misrepresented remnant of the suffering, anti-popish, anti-prelatick, anti-erastian, anti-sectarian, true Presbyterian Church of Christ in Scotland. United together in a general correspondence. By way of reply to various accusations, ... Written at the Leadhills in the year 1687, conjunctly by Mr. James Renwick and Mr. Alexander Shiells ... Edinburgh, 1744. (ECCO) Gale Document Number CW3320326202
*Rushdoony, Rousas J., Christianity and the State (Vallecito, CA: Ross House Books)
"The need to return to a Biblical doctrine of civil government is evidenced by our century's worldwide drift into tyranny. Humanism invariably rushes in to fill the world's theological vacuums: the need of the hour is to restore a full-orbed, Biblical, theology of the state. This work sets forth that theology." -- GCB
*RUTHERFORD, SAMUEL, Lex, Rex (Harrisonburg, VA: Sprinkle Publications), ISBN: 0873779517. Available on Reformation Bookshelf CD #10, #25 ISBN: 0921148852 9780921148852. Available on the forthcoming Calvinism Bookshelf CD #7. Available on The Amazing Christian Library, DVD Three, CD #18. A Christian classic.
Lex, rex is Latin for "law is king."
"LEX, REX is `the great political text of the Covenanters' (Johnston citing Innes in Treasury of the Scottish Covenant, p. 305.) `Rutherford was the first to formulate the great constitutional principle Lex est Rex -- the law is King . . . much of the doctrine has become the constitutional inheritance of all countries in modern times.' (Idem.)"
"Gilmour writes [in SAMUEL RUTHERFORD], 'that, as regards religious fervour, scholastic subtlety of intellect, and intensity of ecclesiastical conviction, Samuel Rutherford is the most distinctively representative Scotsman in the first half of the seventeenth century'." -- SWRB
"Without a doubt one of the greatest books on political philosophy ever written. Rutherford here has penned a great Christian charter of liberty against all forms of civil tyranny -- vindicating the Scriptural duty to resist tyrants as an act of loyalty to God." -- SWRB
"That resistance to lawful authority -- even when that authority so called has, in point of fact, set at nought all law -- is in no instance to be vindicated, will be held by those only who are the devotees of arbitrary power and passive obedience. The principles of Mr. Rutherford's LEX, REX, however obnoxious they may be to such men, are substantially the principles on which all government is founded, and without which the civil magistrate would become a curse rather than a blessing to a country. They are the very principles which lie at the basis of the British Constitution, and by whose tenure the House of Brunswick does at this very moment hold possession of the throne of these realms." -- Rev. Robert Burns, D.D., in his Preliminary Dissertation to WODROW'S CHURCH HISTORY
"Though Rutherford is affectionately remembered in our day for his Letters, or for laying the foundations of constitutional government (against the divine right of kings) in his unsurpassed LEX, REX, his Free Disputation should not be overlooked for it contains the same searing insights as Lex, Rex. In fact, this book should probably be known as Rutherford's 'politically incorrect' companion volume to LEX, REX. A sort of sequel aimed at driving pluralists and antinomians insane. Written against 'the Belgick Arminians, Socinians, and other Authors contending for lawlesse liberty, or licentious Tolerations of Sects and Heresies,' Rutherford explains the undiluted Biblical solution to moral relativism, especially as it is expressed in ecclesiastical and civil pluralism! (Corporate pluralism being a violation of the first commandment and an affront to the holy God of Scripture)." -- SWRB
"This [THE DUE RIGHT OF PRESBYTERIES OR A PEACEABLE PLEA FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND . . . ,] could be considered the LEX, REX of church government -- another exceedingly rare masterpiece of Presbyterianism! Characterized by Walker as sweeping `over a wider field than most'." -- SWRB
A HIND LET LOOSE by Alexander Shields is sometimes referred to as 'Lex, Rex volume two.'
Lex, Rex, or The Law and the Prince, Samuel Rutherford
"Rutherford is to be praised for his teaching that the king is subject to the law of God. The Bible has nothing but condemnation for those who 'frame mischief by a law' and declares rhetorically, 'Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee?' (Ps. 94:20). Deuteronomy 17 is the classic passage in defense of Lex, Rex, wherein the king is charged to '...read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law....' (Deut. 17:19)."
http://www.natreformassn.org/lexrex/index.html
Lex, rex: the law and the prince, a dispute for the just prerogative of king and people, containing the reasons and causes of the defensive wars of the kingdom of Scotland, and of their expedition for the ayd and help of their brethren of England. In which a full answer is given to a seditious pamphlet, intituled, Sacro-sancta regum majestas, penned by J. Maxwell. By S. Rutherford. [Followed by] De jure regni apud Scotos; a dialogue, tr. by R. Macfarlan (repr. from the ed. of 1799).
http://books.google.com/books?id=jtYDAAAAQAAJ&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html
Lex, Rex, "Lawfulness to Resist Tyranny" (Samuel Rutherford)
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/7947/LexRex.html
The Covenant Between God and Kings, from A DEFENSE OF LIBERTY
http://www.constitution.org/vct/vindiciae1a.htm
*Schaff, Philip, Schaff's History of Christianity, 8 volumes (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.). 90001
"A brilliant, detailed account of the history of Christianity up to and including the continental Reformation. Well written, and easy to read. One of the most informative and valuable treatments available. Based on the edition published in 1910." -- Cyril J. Barber
The History of the Christian Church, Philip Schaff
http://www.reformedreader.org/history/schaff/
*Singer, C. Gregg, A Theological Interpretation of American History 1994 edition, 354 pages (Greenville, SC: A Press, 1994, 1981, 1975, 1974, 1964), ISBN: 0875524265 9780875524269. A Christian classic.
This book portrays "the influence of theology and the changing doctrines in the life of the church on the pattern of American political, constitutional, social and economic development.
"The author shows that the decline of constitutional government in this country is the result of the departure from historical Christian faith and the resulting rise of alien political philosophies. Particularly does he emphasize the intimate relationship between theological liberalism on the one hand and political, social, and economic liberalism on the other. This theological liberalism has been a major agent in the decline of the Constitution in the political life of the people and in the appearance of a highly centralized government." -- Publisher's Annotation
"There is between the democratic philosophy and theological liberalism a basic affinity which has placed them in the same camp in many major political struggles.
"This condition exists because theological liberalism shares the basic postulates of the democratic philosophy. . . .
"Theological liberalism at heart has been a continuing protest against Calvinism, particularly against its insistence on the Sovereignty of God and the Total Depravity of the race. These two Biblical doctrines have often proved to be a stumbling block to theologians within the church as well as to the unbelieving world.
"The result of theological liberalism has been the movement away from constitutionalism and away from liberty, and a movement toward collectivistic society and totalitarian regime." -- C. Gregg Singer, Theological Interpretation of American History, p. 290
See also: "John Knox, the Scottish Covenanters, and the Westminster Assembly" (tape 3 of 5 in a series of addresses "History Notes on Presbyterianism, Reformation, and Theology") by Dr. C. Gregg Singer on SermonAudion.com
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=12607114250
See also:
Dr. C. Gregg Singer at SermonAudio.com (161 messages)
http://www.sermonaudio.com/search.asp?SpeakerOnly=true&currSection=sermonsspeaker&Keyword=Dr.^C.^Gregg^Singer
"The Erastian Revolution, anno 1689, was "utterly inconsistent with the covenanted constitution of the Reformed Church of Scotland, anno 1648."
In fact, the relationship between Church and State has been in decline since 1661. "In early 1661 . . . the Scottish Parliament passed the Act Rescissory, which established the king as supreme judge in all matters civil and ecclesiastical, and which made owning the covenants [National and Solemn League] unlawful. These acts undid all the works of Reformation from 1638 to 1650 and made it high treason to acknowledge Jesus Christ as head of the church. . . ." See Act, Declaration, And Testimony, 1876, Part II.
Another turning point occurred in 1758 with the reunion of the Old Side and the New Side of American Presbyterian Church. "This signaled the end of the influence of Calvinism in American Politics." For a detailed discussion see:
"From Old School to New School" in Crossed Fingers: How the Liberals Captured the Presbyterian Church, by Gary North
http://entrewave.com/freebooks/docs/html/gncf/Chapter02.htm
An example of the positive influence of theological doctrine on American political development is the Presbyterian General Assembly meeting in 1774, in which the Assembly instructed local congregations to press for the dissolution of ties with Great Britain. The result was a flood of resolutions, the most important of which was the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence which became a pattern for our national Declaration of Independence. See, James Geddes Craighead (1832-1895), Scotch and Irish Seeds in American Soil the Early History of the Scotch and Irish Churches, and Their Relations to the Presbyterian Church of America ATLA 1988-0622
In 1787 there were two conventions in Philadelphia: the Constitution Convention and a convention of the Presbyterian Church. "In 1787-88, American Presbyterians revised the Westminster Confession of Faith [know as the "American Version (1789)"] in order to make it conform to the political pluralism that also lay behind the U.S. Constitution,(26) which was being ratified at the same time that the presbyteries were voting for the revision of the Confession. The Presbyterians removed that clause in Chapter XXIII:3 which had authorized the civil magistrate to call a synod for advice.(27) This was one of the last traces of the theocratic Calvinism of the Scottish Covenanters -- or Calvin's theocratic Calvinism, for that matter. (The final trace was the Confession's assertion that the failure to take an oath to a lawful authority is a sin [XXII:3]. That provision was abandoned in the 1903 revision, and Machen's Orthodox Presbyterian Church did not restore it in 1936.) From that time on, Presbyterians became defenders of a secularized republican order. They believed that God's civil covenant could be made on a common-ground confessional basis, without a mandatory covenantal civil oath, operating under a providential natural law order that did not mandate Trinitarian confession. Obedience to this natural order, they believed, would bring national prosperity.(28) This was the liberal worldview of English Whig politics, and no group in America was more dedicated to defending it than the Presbyterians.(29)" -- Gary North, Crossed Fingers, p. 106
It could be argued that alterations to the Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), originally compiled by the Westminster Assembly of Divines, are a "reverse plagiarism," analogous to plagiarism. "Plagiarize: to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own use (a created production) without crediting the source; to commit literary theft: present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source." (Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary)
Revisers have altered the content of the original WCF (1646), have removed key doctrine related to Christ's Crown and Covenant, and yet have retained the name given by the Westminster Assembly. Consequently, revisers have deceived many in the Church into believing that their alterations are the work of the Westminster Assembly of Divines in 1646.
Most Presbyterian and Reformed denominations and seminaries today prescribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith (1879), the "American Version." Ideas have consequences. Because theology is truth, when men delete or alter key doctrines, or replace sound doctrine deducted from God's infallible Word by logic, with human imaginations, then the course of history is changed.
For a detailed analysis of the devastating consequences to American history caused by non-Biblical alterations in the Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) and non-Biblical alterations to constitutional government in the United States see the following:
"A Theological Interpretation of American History"
http://www.lettermen2.com/bcrr9chc.html#stiahis
In Great Britain the Independents and Calvinistic Baptists edited the Westminster Confession (1646) for their own use, but they gave the new confessions a different name, the Savoy Declaration and the Baptist Confession. Certainly this was the honest procedure.
"In 1788 the U.S. Constitution and the revised Westminster Confession were ratified. For a detailed discussion see:
"Authority: Biblical, Confessional, Ecclesiastical" in Crossed Fingers: How the Liberals Captured the Presbyterian Church, by Gary North
http://entrewave.com/freebooks/docs/html/gncf/Chapter03.htm
See also the following:
Appendix A: Major Changes of the Savoy Declaration
http://www.bible-researcher.com/wescoappa.html
Appendix B: Major Changes of the PCUSA (1788-1958)
http://www.bible-researcher.com/wescoappb.html
Appendix C: Major Changes of the UPCUSA and PCUS (1958-1983)
http://www.bible-researcher.com/wescoappc.html
Preface to Confession and Catechisms of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC)
http://opc.org/documents/Preface.pdf
"Trinitarianism Verses Polytheism: Unresolved Questions of Article VI, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution"
http://members.aol.com/vtpa/pvtpa001.html
Selection of Covenant Heads for Positions of Leadership
http://www.lettermen2.com/bcrr9chc.html#covenantheads
"Timeline of the liberalization of the Presbyterian Church" in Crossed Fingers by Gary North
http://entrewave.com/freebooks/docs/html/gncf/timeline.htm
A THEOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION OF AMERICAN HISTORY, Chapter 6, "Theological Liberalism After 1920 and its Political Consequence."
Time-line of decline in American society after World War I
http://www.lettermen2.com/bcrr9chc.html#suffrage.
Price, Greg, Biblical Civil Government Versus the Beast; and, the Basis for Civil Resistance (Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books, 1996).
"This is the best modern testimony for the biblical principles of civil magistracy -- which were so prominent during the height of the Second Reformation -- that we have seen. Price documents the teachings of many of the major Reformers (and some of the church fathers) and in an easy reading manner simplifies what can at times become a very complex subject. This particular Reformation message, proclaiming Christ's Kingship over the nations (and the practical outworking of the same), has been buried from the view of the general public for some time now, but is once again being brought to light in this very helpful introductory book. A sobering appendix has been added (written by a friend of the covenanted Reformation) which shows why it is unlawful for a Christian to swear any oath to uphold and defend the U.S. Constitution. This appendix also compares the points of difference between classic (or historic) Reformed teaching and modern Reformed teaching regarding magistracy and religion. Special attention is given to the OPC, the PCA and the RPCNA and the changes that these groups have made to second Reformation confessional standards (concerning matters related to the civil magistrate). Statements by B.B. Warfield are also contrasted to the older Reformed views. You won't find a better easy-to-read and easy to understand introduction to this important topic -- a topic which impacts directly on every Christian's testimony for the crown rights of King Jesus!" -- SWRB
"It is this author's contention that the modern churches have let go of this important piece of the faith [Christ's Kingship over the nations-- sk] once for all delivered to the saints. Thereby they have delivered the church, not to kings as nursing fathers, but to the cruel civil domination of the enemies of the true religion, their sheep being taught that they must submit passively to every pretended civil authority as the ordinance of God. By this defection, these leaders of the flock have also undermined the magistracy, allowing and even encouraging wicked men to remove this blessed ordinance from its foundation in God its creator, and from its subjection to Christ His King, thereby directly opposing God's benevolent ends in instituting civil government: 'Thus have [they] made the commandment of God of none effect by [their] tradition. . . . teaching for doctrines the commandments of men' (Matt. 15:6, 9). Furthermore, by their false teaching regarding civil government, they have made themselves guilty of the very sin of which we are often accused: opposing the ordinance of God. If this wasn't enough, however, consider that their sin is worse than that of the garden variety rebel, inasmuch as their opposition to God's institution is not so much practical as it is principal; and because of their position as teachers and guides of the flock of God. 'Be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. . . . For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth' (James 3:1; II Cor. 13:8). -- Greg Price (Biblical Civil Government Verses the Beast, p. 64)
Biblical Civil Government Versus the Beast; and, the Basis for Civil Resistance, Greg Price
http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualnls/BibCG_GP.htm
After 1920 "Forces of liberalism were able to gain a commanding position in the liberal arts colleges and seminaries run by most of the major denominations. . . .
"The denial of the inspiration and infallibility of the Scripture proved to be tantamount to a rejection of their doctrinal authority; one by one, the great evangelical doctrines of the past were rewritten in such a way as to be scarcely recognizable. . ." -- C. Gregg Singer, Theological Interpretation of American History, p. 187
"The basic issue is the reduction of the total scope of government, on both the federal and state level, to those spheres which are clearly conferred upon it by the Scriptures, and the surrender of those extra-Biblical powers which liberal political philosophies and practice have given to it during the last one hundred years or so. . . .
"When Jesus Christ returns, this span of history will cease. Perhaps at this point the cleavage between the biblical position and the views of Hegel, Marx, Spengler, Toynbee, and other contemporaries, becomes most obvious. The modern mind simply cannot accept the idea that humanity does not control its own destiny. It refuses to believe that the ultimate manifestation of the glory of Jesus Christ is beyond all human manipulation, whether they be statesmen or educators. It denies that the sovereign Ruler of the universe will bring all sinful humanity to judgment in a final accounting for its long history of willful rebellion against His righteousness, goodness, and mercy." -- Gregg C. Singer
The roots of liberty and limited government are in the Protestant Reformation. We believe the key to the maintenance of liberty and limited government are to be found in the Scottish covenanting struggle.
*HOWIE, JOHN, The Scots Worthies. Biographia Scoticana: or, A Brief Historical Account of the Lives, Characters, and Memorable Transactions of the Most Eminent Scots Worthies . . . As also, an appendix, containing a short historical hint of the wicked lives . . . of the . . . apostates and . . . persecutors in Scotland . . . 2nd edition, corrected and enlarged, 1781 (Glasgow: Printed by John Bryce, and sold at his shop opposite Gibson's-Wynd, Salt-market, 1781) and (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books). A Christian classic.
The full book and the book series of 22 MP3 files, produced by Still Waters Revival Books, may be found on Reformation Bookshelf CD #1, ISBN: 0921148674 9780921148678.
This same book series of audio files is availabe at AudioSermons.com.
http://www.sermonaudio.com/search.asp?seriesOnly=true&currSection=sermonstopic&sourceid=swrb&keyword=Book%3A+SCOTS+WORTHIES&keyworddesc=Book%3A+SCOTS+WORTHIES
Biographia Scoticana, John Howie
Original from Oxford University, published 1885, digitized May 22, 2006. Described as a reprint of the 1781 edition.
http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC34190563&id=5iwAAAAAQAAJ&q=Scots+Worthies+1781&dq=Scots+Worthies+1781&ie=ISO-8859-1&pgis=1
(Gale: Eighteenth Century Collection Online [ECCO.] Gale Document Number CW3300757473). English Short Title Catalog, ESTCT110333.
"Most commonly known as SCOTS WORTHIES, this edition contains Howie's footnotes (defending the Covenanters) and Howie's appendix titled `The Judgment and Justice of God' (which chronicles God's judgments upon Reformation apostates and those who persecuted the Covenanters). It is the only edition in print which contains both these sections intended for publication by the author (as later editors often removed either one or both of these parts of this book). BIOGRAPHIA SCOTICANA covers the history of `noblemen, gentlemen, ministers and others from Mr. Patrick Hamilton, who was born about the year of our Lord 1503, and suffered martyrdom at St Andrews, Feb, 1527, to Mr. James Renwick, who was executed in the Grass-market of Edinburgh, Feb. 17, 1688. Together with a succinct account of the lives of other seven eminent divines, and Sir Robert Hamilton of Preston, who died about, or shortly after the Revolution.' This is one of our best history books (over 700 pages), covering all of the major Scottish Reformers. Howie summarizes his book as follows: `The design of the following was to collect, from the best authorities, a summary account of the lives, characters, and contendings, of a certain number of our most renowned SCOTS WORTHIES, who, for their faithful services, ardent zeal, constancy in sufferings, and other Christian graces and virtues, deserve honourable memorial in the Church of Christ; and for which their names have been, and will be savoury to all the true lovers of our Zion, while Reformation principles are regarded.' Furthermore, the momentous nature of the struggles chronicled in this book are succinctly noted when Howie writes: `the primitive witnesses had the divinity of the Son of God, and an open confession of Him, for their testimony. Our reformers from Popery had Antichrist to struggle with, in asserting the doctrines of the Gospel, and the right way of salvation in and through Jesus Christ. Again, in the reigns of James VI. and Charles I., Christ's REGALIA, and the divine right of Presbytery, became the subject matter of their testimony. Then, in the beginning of the reign of Charles II. (until he got the whole of our ancient and laudable constitution effaced and overturned), our Worthies only saw it their duty to hold and contend for what they had already attained unto. But, in the end of this and the subsequent tyrant's reign, they found it their duty (a duty which they had too long neglected) to advance one step higher, by casting off their authority altogether, and that as well on account of their manifest usurpation of Christ's crown and dignity, as on account of their treachery, bloodshed, and tyranny... which may be summed up. The Primitive martyrs sealed the prophetic office of Christ in opposition to Pagan idolatry. The reforming martyrs sealed His priestly office with their blood, in opposition to Popish idolatry. And last of all, our late martyrs have sealed His kingly office with their best blood, in despite of supremacy and bold Erastianism. They indeed have cemented it upon His royal head, so that to the world's end it shall never drop off again.' Moreover, the importance of this book can be clearly seen when Johnston, in TREASURY OF THE SCOTTISH COVENANT, reports that, Walter Scott refers to Howie as `the fine old chronicler of the Cameronians'. . . Howie's book has been for upwards of a century a household word, occupying a place on the shelf beside THE BIBLE and THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS.' Written for God, country and the covenanted work of Reformation. Stirring history!" -- SWRB
See also: Thomson, John Henderson (editor), A CLOUD OF WITNESSES FOR THE ROYAL PREROGATIVES OF JESUS CHRIST BEING THE LAST SPEECHES AND TESTIMONIES OF THOSE WHO HAVE SUFFERED FOR THE TRUTH IN SCOTLAND SINCE . . . 1680 (Harrisonburg, VA: Sprinkle Publications) and JOHN FOXE'S BOOK OF MARTYRS. ACTES AND MONUMENTS OF MATTERS MOST SPECIALL AND MEMORABLE, the second edition of Foxe's Book of Martyrs Variorum Edition Online (version 1.1 - summer 2006).
*SYMINGTON, WILLIAM, Messiah the Prince or, The Mediatorial Dominion of Jesus Christ (Pittsburgh, PA: The Christian Statesman Press [National Reform Association], 1999, 1884), ISBN: 0966004434, and (Hardbound [ISBN: 0921148054] or Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books, 1990, 1884). The 1884 edition is also available on Reformation Bookshelf CD #13, #25, and #26, ISBN: 0921148917 9780921148913. Available on the forthcoming Calvinism Bookshelf CD #6.
"It was deemed essential to the salvation of men that their Redeemer should possess the powers at once of a prophet, a priest, and a king. These offices, while essentially distinct, are necessarily and inseparably connected with one another. Such a union has been by some utterly denied; and its denial has laid foundation for some capital errors, which have exerted a pernicious influence on the Christian church. By others it has been criminally overlooked; and the neglect with which it has been treated has occasioned vague and conflicting conceptions regarding the great work of man's deliverance from sin and wrath by the mediation of the Son of God." -- William Symington
"It is the standard work on the kingdom of God in English! There is nothing else like it; it is one-of-a kind! It covers the necessity, reality, and qualifications of Christ's dominion over not only the church, but all nations too. Anything less is to rob Christ of His magnificent, majestic, mediatorial glory -- for He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. 'While books on the priestly work of the Redeemer, and especially on the Atonement, are numerous,' notes the introduction to the American edition, 'no formal and exhaustive discussion of the kingly office of the Messiah . . . and its application to various classes of moral agents is elsewhere to be found . . . It is cause for satisfaction that the only treatise, as yet, upon this subject, is a work of signal ability, lucid in arrangement, reverent in spirit, and with hardly an exception, sound and judicious in its conclusion. Its very merits are probably, in part, the reason why no other work on the same subject has appeared, and until it is supplanted by a better work--an event not likely soon to occur--it will have a value peculiar to itself'." -- SWRB
Chapters include "The Necessity of the Mediatorial Dominion," "The Universality of the Mediatorial Dominion," "The Mediatorial Dominion Over the Church," and "Over the Nations," plus much more.
Messiah the Prince or, The Mediatorial Dominion of Jesus Christ, William Symington
Online free etext of the 1999 Christian Statesman Press edition.
http://www.reformed.org/eschaton/symington/index.html?mainframe=/eschaton/symington/index_mtp.html
*Tocqueville, Alexis de, Democracy in America, 2 volumes, revised edition (New York, NY: Harper and Row, 1988), ISBN: 0060915226.
Translated by Henry Reeve and revised by Francis Bowen. Edited by Philip Bradley
"Tocqueville in the early part of the 19th century was commissioned by the French government to travel throughout the United States in order to discover the secret of the astounding success of this experiment in democracy. . . . A classic of political and sociological reporting and analysis . . ." -- Publisher's Annotation
Democracy in America
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/DETOC/home.html
*Woodbridge, John D., Mark A. Noll, and Nathan O. Hatch, The Gospel in America: Themes in the Story of America's Evangelicals [20112]
Bainton, Roland Herbert, The Church of Our Fathers (New York, NY: Charles Scribners Sons, 1969), ISBN: 0880192119 9780880192118.
"A popular presentation of the historic drama, intrigues, rivalry, persecution, suffering, courage, and heroism displayed by Christian leaders from Paul to the establishment of the church in the New World." -- Cyril J. Barber
Bainton, Ronald H., Yesterday, Today and What Next? Reflections on History and Hope, ISBN: 0806616709 9780806616704.
Cairns, Earl E., God and Man in Time: A Christian Approach to Historiography (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1979). 90002
Carden, Allen, Puritan Christianity in America: Religion and Life in Seventeenth-Century Massachusetts [31160]
Christian History Magazine (Worchester, PA [Christian History Magazine, Box 540, 2030 Wentz Church Road, Worchester 19490]: Christian History Magazine). 90003
A quarterly magazine devoted to giving the reader an awareness of our Christian heritage. Request a listing of back issues.
Christian History Magazine CD-ROM (Worchester, PA [Christian History Magazine, Box 540, 2030 Wentz Church Road, Worchester 19490]: Christian History Magazine).
Christian History CD-ROM
http://www.christianityonline.com/christianhistory/current/
Columbus, Christopher, Christopher Columbus' Book of Prophecies: Reproduction of the Original Manuscript With English Translation by Kay Brigham [90047]
Davis, Clair, Church History (part 3): Awakening and Revivalism [30162]
Davis, Clair, Church History (part 4): Awakening and Revivalism; Modern Church [30163]
Dawson, Jan C., The Unusable Past: America's Puritan Tradition, 1830 to 1930 [31165]
Edersheim, Alfred, Sketches of Jewish Life (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.). 90004
Sketches of Jewish Social Life in the Days of Christ, by Alfred Edersheim
http://www.ccel.org/e/edersheim/sketches/
*Eerdmans Publishing Co., Church Fathers Series, 38 volumes (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.). 90005
Roberts and Donaldson (editors), The Ante-Nicene Fathers, 10 volumes. 90006
Christian Classics Ethereal Library CCEL CD-ROM 2000
http://www.ccel.org/cdrom/cdrom.html
*Renwick, A.M., and A.M. Harman, The Story of the Church, 2nd enlarged edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1985, 1958). 70480
"First published in 1958, this concise summary of the history of the church is one of the very best for laypeople. Since its first appearance, this work has attained the status of a classic. . . ." -- Cyril J. Barber
*Schaff, Philip (editor), The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: First Series, 14 volumes.
Christian Classics Ethereal Library CCEL CD-ROM 2000
http://www.ccel.org/cdrom/cdrom.html
Frend, W.H.C., Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church: A Study of a Conflict From the Maccabees to Donatus (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1981, 1965), ISBN: 9780227172292 0227172299.
"First published in 1965, this work remains the standard treatment of the interplay between church and state in the early centuries of the Christian era. . . ." -- Cyril J. Barber
Grant, George, The Last Crusader: The Untold Story of Christopher Columbus [90050]
Grant, Robert McBride, Early Christianity and Society [90293]
Hambrick-Stowe, Charles E., The Practice of Piety: Puritan Devotional Disciplines in Seventeenth-Century New England [31213]
HETHERINGTON, WILLIAM, History of the Westminster Assembly of Divines (1856), ISBN: 0921148321 9780921148326. (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books). Available on Reformation Bookshelf CD #10 (and #30), ISBN: 0921148852 9780921148852. Available on the forthcoming Calvinism Bookshelf CD #10
"This book is one of the best easy reading historical accounts published concerning this unsurpassed Assembly. Hetherington's purpose for writing this book is stated in the preface as follows:
In common with all true Presbyterians, I have often regretted the want of a History of the Westminster Assembly of Divines . . . Especially in such a time as the present, when all distinctive Presbyterian principles are not only called in question, but also misrepresented and condemned, such a want has become absolutely unendurable, unless Presbyterians are willing to permit their Church to perish under a load of unanswered, yet easily refuted, calumny. And as the best refutation of calumny is the plain and direct statement of truth, it is by that process that I have endeavored to vindicate the principles and the character of the Presbyterian Church (p. i.)."The Puritan history leading up to the Assembly (which this book takes a in-depth look at) is especially important and not only set the context for what became the major debates among the ministers present, but even dictated who was selected to this august body of scholars. Civil wars, national upheavals, emigration to the 'new world' and a host of other epoch making events surrounded this momentous period of history. These debates and their resolutions have defined and directed Christian thought and national cultures ever since their original ratification -- and Hetherington is not shy about noting the significance of this Assembly when he writes,
But the man who penetrates a little deeper into the nature of those unrevealed but powerful influences which move a nation's mind, and mould its destinies, will be ready to direct his attention more profoundly to the objects and deliberations of an assembly which met at a moment so critical, and was composed of the great master-minds of the age; and the theologian who has learned to view religion as the vital principle of human nature, equally in nations and in the individual man, will not easily admit the weak idea, that such an assembly could have been an isolated event, but will be disposed earnestly to inquire what led to its meeting, and what important consequences followed. And although the subject has not hitherto been investigated with such a view, it may, we trust, be possible to prove, that it (the Westminster Assembly--RB) was the most important event in the century in which it occurred; and that it has exerted, and in all probability will yet exert, a far more wide and permanent influence upon both the civil and the religious history of mankind than has generally been even imagined (p. 17)."Hetherington covers the period from 1531 to 1662. Many consider this era a historical high water mark for doctrinal and practical Puritan precision. Also included is a chapter on the theological productions of the Westminster Assembly and six valuable appendices (one containing six biographical notices of the Scottish Commissioners including Rutherford, Gillespie, Henderson and Baillie).
There was one great, and even sublime idea, brought somewhat indefinitely before the Westminster Assembly, which has not yet been realized, the idea of a Protestant union throughout Christendom, not merely for the purpose of counterbalancing Popery, but in order to purify, strengthen, and unite all true Christian churches, so that with combined energy and zeal they might go forth, in glad compliance with the Redeemer's commands, teaching all nations, and preaching the everlasting gospel to every creature under heaven. This truly magnificent, and also truly Christian idea, seems to have originated in the mind of that distinguished man, Alexander Henderson. It was suggested by him to the Scottish commissioners, and by them partially brought before the English Parliament, requesting them to direct the Assembly to write letters to the Protestant Churches in France, Holland, Switzerland, and other Reformed Churches. . . . and along with these letters were sent copies of the Solemn League and Covenant, a document which might itself form the basis of such a Protestant union. The deep thinking divines of the Netherlands apprehended the idea, and in their answer, not only expressed their approbation of the Covenant, but also desired to join in it with the British kingdoms. Nor did they content themselves with the mere expression of approval and willingness to join. A letter was soon afterwards sent to the Assembly from the Hague, written by Duraeus (the celebrated John Dury), offering to come to the Assembly, and containing a copy of a vow which he had prepared and tendered to the distinguished Oxenstiern, chancellor of Sweden, wherein he bound himself 'to prosecute a reconciliation between Protestants in point of religion'. . . . [O]n one occasion Henderson procured a passport to go to Holland, most probably for the purpose of prosecuting this grand idea. But the intrigues of politicians, the delays caused by the conduct of the Independents, and the narrow-minded Erastianism of the English Parliament, all conspired to prevent the Assembly from entering farther into that truly glorious Christian enterprise. Days of trouble and darkness came; persecution wore out the great men of that remarkable period; pure and vital Christianity was stricken to the earth and trampled under foot. (pp. 337-339)."Further demonstrating his grasp of the most important events of the second Reformation, Hetherington comments on the Solemn League (the epitome of second Reformation attainments),
no man who is able to understand its nature, and to feel and appreciate its spirit and its aim, will deny it to be the wisest, the sublimest, and the most sacred document ever framed by uninspired men (p. 134)."Anyone interested in the work of the Westminster Assembly -- and the men, teaching and events which were at the heart of the Puritan revolution against the forces of antichrist -- should read this book at least once. Third edition, 413 pages." -- SWRB
Holifield, E. Brooks, A History of Pastoral Care in America: From Salvation to Self-Realization (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, c1983). 90008
Includes bibliographical references.
Jackson, Jeremy, No Other Foundation: The Church Through Twenty Centuries [70482]
Knox, John, The Early Church and the Coming Great Church [70387]
Miller, Perry, and James Hoopes (editor), Sources for the New England Mind: The Seventeenth Century (Williamsburg, VA: Institute of Early American History and Culture, c1981). 50048
Includes bibliography.
Noll, Mark A. (editor), Eerdman's Handbook to Christianity in America (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1983). 50027
Includes bibliography and index.
Packer, J.I. (editor), The Bible Almanac: A Comprehensive Handbook of the People of the Bible and How They Lived (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1980). 50028
Paul, Robert S., The Assembly of the Lord: Politics and Religion in the Westminster Assembly and the Grand Debate (Herndon, VA: Books International, Incorporated). [20283]
"Too bad this excellent book is so expensive. It is the kind of book that anybody interested in the background of the Westminster Assembly would enjoy reading. Detailed, scholarly, and thoroughly documented. We think it is well worth the price for the understanding that it imparts." -- GCB
Pfeiffer, Charles F., Old Testament History (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House). 90009
"This is an up-to-date history of Israel. It is illustrated by 260 pictures, and has a comprehensive index. It is suitable for class use. He upholds the historicity of the Scriptures from Genesis to Malachi. There is much use made of the findings of archaeological and other scientific discoveries. Yet he does not take the attitude that any of these are needed to authenticate the reliability of the Scriptures." -- Jay P. Green, Sr.
Phillips, Thomas, The Welsh Revival: Its Origin and Development [10526]
*Powlison, David A.C., The History of Biblical Counseling [20514]
*REFORMED PRESBYTERY (AMERICA), DAVID STEELE, 1803-1887, Act, Declaration, And Testimony, For The Whole Of The Covenanted Reformation, As Attained To, And Established In, Britain and Ireland; Particularly Betwixt The Years 1638 and 1649, Inclusive. As, Also, Against All The Steps Of Defection From Said Reformation, Whether In Former Or Later Times, Since The Overthrow Of That Glorious Work, Down To This Present Day (1876) (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books). Available on Reformation Bookshelf CD #1, ISBN: 0921148674 9780921148678.
"Upholds the original work of the Westminster Assembly and testifies to the abiding worth and truth formulated in the Westminster family of documents. Upholds and defends the crown rights of King Jesus in church and state, denouncing those who would remove the crown from Christ's head by denying His right to rule (by His law) in both the civil and ecclesiastical spheres. Testifies to the received doctrine, government, worship, and discipline of the Church of Scotland in her purest (reforming) periods. Applies God's Word to the Church's corporate attainments 'with a judicial approbation of the earnest contendings and attainments of the faithful, and a strong and pointed judicial condemnation of error and the promoters thereof' (The Original Covenanter and Contending Witness magazine, Dec. 17/93, p. 558). Shows the church's great historical victories (such as the National and Solemn League and Covenant, leading to the Westminster Assembly) and exposes her enemies actions (e.g. the Prelacy of Laud; the Independency, sectarianism, covenant breaking and ungodly toleration set forth by the likes of Cromwell [and the Independents that conspired with him]; the Erastianism and civil sectarianism of William of Orange, etc.). It is not likely that you will find a more consistent working out of the principles of Calvinism anywhere. Deals with the most important matters relating to the individual, the family, the church and the state. Sets forth a faithful historical testimony of God's dealings with men during some of the most important days of church history. A basic text that should be mastered by all Christians." -- SWRB
Act, Declaration, And Testimony (1876)
http://www.covenanter.org/RefPres/actdeclarationandtestimony/acttitle.htm
Act, Declaration, & Testimony for the Whole of our Covenanted Reformation (1876 Reformed Presbytery, America, Steelite)
The Project Gutenberg text was prepared by members of The Reformed Presbytery North America using the Reformed Presbytery (America, Steelite) text of the 1876 edition.
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/13200/13200.txt
The electronic text found at ManyBooks.com is the Project Gutenberg text.
http://manybooks.net/pages/presbyteryr13201320013200-8/0.html
Act, Declaration, & Testimony, For The Whole Of The Covenanted Reformation, As Attained To & Established In Britain #1
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=81907517162
Act, Declaration, & Testimony, For The Whole Of The Covenanted Reformation, As Attained To & Established In Britain #2
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=926071233170
Act, Declaration, & Testimony, For The Whole Of The Covenanted Reformation, As Attained To & Established In Britain #3
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=92707111830
Act, Declaration, & Testimony, For The Whole Of The Covenanted Reformation, As Attained To & Established In Britain #4
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=927071140420
*Reformed Presbytery (Scotland), Thorburn, John, 1730?-1788, Courtass, John, d. 1795, et al, Act, Declaration, & Testimony for the Whole of our Covenanted Reformation, as Attained to, and Established in Britain and Ireland; Particularly Betwixt the Years 1638 and 1649, Inclusive (Hard Press, November 3, 2006). ISBN: 1406909106.
Reformed Presbytery, Act Declaration and Testimony: for the Whole of our Covenanted Reformation as Attained to and Established in Britain and Ireland; Particularly Betwixt the Years 1638 and 1649 Inclusive (IndyPublish, March 12, 2007).
Reformed Presbytery, Act Declaration and Testimony: for the Whole of our Covenanted Reformation as Attained to and Established in Britain and Ireland; Particularly Betwixt the Years 1638 and 1649 Inclusive (BiblioBazaar, June 2, 2007).
Ringenberg, William C., The Christian College: A History of Protestant Higher Education in America [70332]
*ROBERTS, WILLIAM L., The Duty of Nations, in Their National Capacity, to Acknowledge and Support the True Religion, 1853 (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books). Available on Reformation Bookshelf CD #25, ISBN: 0921148208 9780921148203.
"Excerpted from THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CATECHISM below, this book deals with the inescapable necessity, of the demand found in the Word of God, for the Civil establishment of Christ as King and Lawgiver over every nation on earth. If you are sick of the cease-fire with humanism, set forth by the syncretistic, Satanic and pragmatic pagan politicians of our day (those who bargain with votaries of Antichrist [the Pope], publicly tolerate all manner of false religions (e.g. Islam) and idolatry, and compose their policy and draw their pretended authority from the beast [and not the Word of God], this book is for you! For all pagan politics is summed up in the words of the Cameronian (Covenanter) political philosopher Alexander Shields, as 'rotting away under the destructive distempers of detestable neutrality, loathsome lukewarmness, declining, and decaying in corruptions, defections, divisions, distractions, confusions; and so judicially infatuated with darkness and delusions, that they forget and forego the necessary testimony of the day' (A Hind let Loose, 1797 edition, p. 20). Pick up this book and begin the political walk in the 'footsteps of the flock,' traveling the covenanting road of Reformation and Scripture (with the magisterial Reformers of the past)!" -- SWRB
On the Duty of Covenanting and the Permanent Obligations of Religious Covenants, being section 11 in the Reformed Presbyterian Catechism, 1853, by William L. Roberts
http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualnls/PresCatCov.htm
A Hind Let Loose; Or An Historical Representation OF THE TESTIMONIES OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. . . . by Mr. ALEXANDER SHIELDS, Minister of the Gospel, in St. Andrews. , EEBO.
http://www.covenanter.org/AShields/Hind/Hindletloosetitle.htm
Reformed Presbyterian Catechism, William L. Roberts D.D.
http://www.covenantedreformation.com/EssaysCR/RP%20Catechism/RP%20Index.html
*ROBERTS, WILLIAM L., Reformed Presbyterian Catechism (Cerlox bound photocopy. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books) and (New York, NY: R. Craighead, 1853). Available on the forthcoming Calvinism Bookshelf CD #1. ATLA 1991-2638. ISBN: 0524065543 9780524065549.
A magnificent catechism that sets forth the Crown Rights of The King of Glory and Lord of Lords. It also presents incontrovertible evidence that the United States Constitution is not a Christian document, and that it is, in fact, a slavery document.
See also: The Scottish Covenanting Struggle, Alexander Craighead, and the Mecklenburg Declaration, SECRET PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION, CONSPIRACY IN PHILADELPHIA, and THEOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION OF AMERICAN HISTORY.
"A manual of instruction, drawing from such notable authors as William Symington and J.R. Willson, presenting 'arguments and facts confirming and illustrating the 'Distinctive Principles' of the Reformed Presbyterian Church. Chapters deal with: 'Christ's Mediatorial Dominion in general;' Christ's exclusive Headship over the Church;' 'The Supreme and Ultimate Authority of the Word of God in the Church;' Civil Government, the Moral Ordinance of God;' Christ's Headship over the Nations;' 'The Subjection of the Nations to God and to Christ;' The Word, or Revealed Will of God, the Supreme Law in the State;' 'The Duty of Nations, in their National Capacity, to acknowledge and support the True Religion:' 'The Spiritual Independence of the Church of Christ:' 'The Right and Duty of Dissent from an immoral Constitution of Civil Government;' 'The Duty of Covenanting, and the Permanent Obligations of Religious Covenants;' 'The Application of these Principles to the Governments, where Reformed Presbyterians reside, in the form of a Practical Testimony;' and finally 'Application of the Testimony to the British Empire.' A most important book, as we approach (possibly) the end of the great apostasy and will be in need of preparing for the dawning of the glorious millennial blessings to come; the days prophesied in which the church 'shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings' (Isa. 60:16)." -- SWRB
Reformed Presbyterian Catechism, William L. Roberts D.D.
http://www.covenantedreformation.com/EssaysCR/RP%20Catechism/RP%20Index.html
Robertson, Edwin, Wycliffe: Morning Star of the Reformation [90041]
Scharpff, Paulus, History of Evangelism: Three Hundred Years of Evangelism in Germany, Great Britain and the United States of America [10532]
*SHIELDS, ALEXANDER, A Hind Let Loose, or An Historical Representation of the Testimonies of the Church of Scotland for the Interest of Christ with the True State thereof in all its Periods. Together with a Vindication of the Present Testimony Against Popish, Prelatical, and Malignant Enemies of that Church, as it is now Stated, for the Prerogatives of Christ, Privileges of the Church, and Liberties of Mankind; and Sealed by the Sufferings of a Reproached Remnant of Presbyterians there, Witnessing Against the Corruptions of the Time: Wherein Several Controversies of Greatest Consequence are Enquired into, and in Some Measure Cleared; Concerning Hearing of the Curates, Owning of the Present Tyranny, Taking of Ensnaring Oaths and Bonds, Frequenting of Field-Meetings, Defensive Resistance of Tyrannical Violence, with Several Other Subordinate Questions Useful for these Times, 1797, 1744, 1687 (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books), Available on Reformation Bookshelf CD #2, #26 ISBN: 0921148690 9780921148692. Available on The Amazing Christian Library, DVD Four, CD #22. A Christian classic.
"First printed in 1687 (near the end of the 'killing times'), we have used the 1797 edition for this rare bound photocopy because all of the Latin has been translated into English (an obvious improvement for English readers). This rare Covenanter classic, concerning Calvinistic political philosophy and tactics of civil resistance, is comparable to Samuel Rutherford's LEX, REX; in fact it could rightly be referred to as 'Lex, Rex volume two.' It is solidly in the line of John Knox's teachings on civil disobedience and addresses numerous topics that are relevant to today's Christian. 'In A HIND LET LOOSE, Shields justified the Camerionian resistance to royal absolutism and the divine right of kings. He argued that government is divinely ordained, but the people are entitled to bring a king to judgement for wrongdoing. Parliament is commissioned by the people to oversee the nation's affairs, but the compact between the people and their rulers does not entail a forfeiture of the people's power to depose tyrants and confer authority on someone else. Government is by consent, and must justify itself to the consciences of the people. God has given men the right of self defence, and this extends to a right not only passively to resist, but also to kill relentless persecutors' writes Isbell (in the Dictionary of Scottish Church History and Theology, p. 773). Controversial chapter titles include: 'Concerning Owning of Tyrants Authority;' 'Defensive Arms Vindicated;' 'Of Extraordinary Execution of Judgement by Private Men;' and 'Refusing to Pay Wicked Taxation Vindicated.' This book sets forth the Crown rights of King Jesus, against all usurpers in both church and state, giving a history of some of faithful sufferings endured by the elect, in maintaining this truth. It bears testimony against 'the popish, prelatical and malignant enemies' of Christ and proclaims the only true basis of liberty for mankind. 'The matter is argued with a vast abundance of Biblical illustration, and with much reference to Reformation and Puritan divines. It should be consulted, if practicable, by all who wish fully to understand the inner spirit of the Covenanting Movement,' writes Purves in FAIR SUNSHINE (p. 202). Isbell interestingly notes that Shields was once 'amanuensis to the English Puritan John Owen'." -- SWRB
A Hind Let Loose; Or An Historical Representation OF THE TESTIMONIES OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. . . . by Mr. ALEXANDER SHIELDS, Minister of the Gospel, in St. Andrews..
http://www.covenanter.org/AShields/Hind/Hindletloosetitle.htm
A Hind Let Loose; Or, An Historical Representation of the Testimonies of the Church of Scotland; for the Interest of Christ: With the True State Thereof in All Its Periods . . .
The Covenant Between God and Kings, from A DEFENSE OF LIBERTY
http://www.constitution.org/vct/vindiciae1a.htm
http://books.google.com/books?id=boAAAAAAMAAJ&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html
*Singer, C. Gregg, (1910-1999) From Rationalism to Irrationality: The Decline of the Western Mind From the Renaissance to the Present (Philadelphia, PA: The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1979), ISBN: 0875524281 9780875524283 and a reprint of the P&R Publishing edition of 1979 (Wipf and Stock, 2006), 479 pp.
"Now, frankly students, this course is presented from obviously the Reformed Theology. I hold unabashedly, unashamedly to the whole of Reformed Theology as we find it specifically in the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Longer and Shorter Catechisms.
"At the same time I hold to a position in regard to Apologetics generally known as Presuppositionalism, and particularly that view held by Cornelius Van Til.
"This book is an attempt to enlarge and to broaden the scope of Van Til's own Apologetical system, and also his Epistemology. By that I mean, and I worked this book with him, so anything that I say is not to be construed as a criticism of Cornelius Van Til. I might add he wrote me a letter. He is delighted with this book. But what I did was to take his principles, both of Apologetics and of Epistemology, and apply them to all realms of modern thought.
"Dr. Van Til, for good and sufficient reason, sought to limit to the main stream of what we might call pure Philosophy, that is from Saint Thomas, well even before them, back to the Greeks, but particularly in the more modern period, from Saint Thomas Aquinas, William of Ockham (Occam), down through Descartes, the Rationalists, the Empiricists, down to Kant and Hegel, and of course Modern Philosophy and Modern Theology. Very seldom has he gone into what we might call the arena of Political Philosophy, or the arena of Social Thought, or the arena of Psychology and Psychiatry, the realm of Educational Philosophy, and into Art, Music, and so on, to the Fine Arts.
"This book is an attempt to apply his system, and show what happens when the Western mind has forsaken his principles, or the principles which he has espoused, and turned into its own way. And thus the book called FROM RATIONALISM TO IRRATIONALITY. The thesis being that the Rationalism inherent in Saint Thomas and the post-Thomists, and more particularly, and more openly, in the Philosophy of the Renaissance, and Descartes, and Spinosa, and Leibniz has, as it's gained momentum in the modern world, brought Western Culture to its knees. We are living, as I would think, in the death throws of the Western Cultures, the Western Civilization." -- Dr. C. Gregg Singer, in the introductory address to his course in Apologetics soon after FROM RATIONALISM TO IRRATIONALITY came off the press in 1979
Apologetics: #01: Classical and Medieval Thought #1
Dr. C. Gregg Singer, Apologetics, 56 min.
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=2250511453
"Locke endeavored to set forth a political philosophy which would anchor his democratic political thought on what he felt were the firm foundations of his empiricism. However, his insistence that nature has bestowed upon mankind certain basic and inalienable rights was an assumption quite contrary to his empiricism. His denial of conscience as an innate possession or quality makes it impossible for men to know that they possess the rights of life, liberty, and property. The very concept of a human right is moral in nature and has its basis of authority in the human conscience. It is thus impossible for men to know through the senses that they have these cherished human rights. Granted that it was far from Locke’s intention to undermine or destroy the traditional English concept of personal rights, his empiricism removed from his political thought the necessary foundations on which a government could be built for the protection of these rights. His empiricism supported neither the idea that men have such rights nor that they are inalienable. (p. 61)
"Underlying the secular and naturalistic assumptions of the thought of the Enlightenment was a related and equally serious problem. In their political and economic thought the leaders of this era were passionately devoted to the pursuit of freedom, and yet they seemed to be completely unaware of this incompatibility between their quest for freedom on the one hand and their reliance upon natural law on the other. How can an impersonal and deterministic concept of law produce and sustain a meaningful concept of freedom? Blindly convinced that there was no problem involved in the contradiction, the leaders of the Enlightenment pushed boldly ahead in the quest for political and economic liberty. However, their failure to recognize the issues involved in this quest led not only to the disaster of the French Revolution but to the growth of the totalitarian political and economic philosophies which first appeared in Hegel and Marx during the nineteenth century and reached their culmination in the totalitarianism of the twentieth century." (p. 73) -- quoted at the blog, IMAGO VERITATIS: Post-modern Reformed Paleo-orthodoxy.
Singer used this as textbook for his course in Apologetics. Epistemology is a recurring theme throughout the textbook and the course. The series of 24 addresses on Apologetics is available free online. See "Apolgetics" under:
Works of C. Gregg Singer
http://www.lettermen2.com/bcrr3ch.html#cgsinger
Smith, Timothy Lawrence, Revivalism and Social Reform: American Protestantism on the Eve of the Civil War [10533]
Sylvester, Nigel, God's Word in a Young World: The Story of Scripture Union (London, England: Scripture Union, c1984). 90010
"A wonderful retelling of the Scripture Union story from its inception in 1867 to the present day."
*THOMSON, JOHN HENDERSON (editor), JOHN MCMAIN, and DAVID SCOTT (introduction) A Cloud of Witnesses for the Royal Prerogatives of Jesus Christ Being the Last Speeches and Testimonies of Those who Have Suffered for the Truth in Scotland Since . . . 1680. Alternate title: "The Fifteenth Edition, Enlarged and Corrected: A Cloud of Witnesses, for the Royal Prerogatives of Jesus Christ: or, The Last Speeches and Testimonies Of those who have Suffered for the Truth in Scotland, since the year 1680: With an Appendix, Containing the Queensferry Paper; Torwood Excommunication; a Relation concerning Mr. Richard Cameron, Mr. Donald Cargil, and Henry Hall; and an Account of those who were killed without Process of Law, and banished to Foreign Lands: With a short View of some of the oppressive Exactions.
"With the Testimonies of John Nisbet the Younger, John Nisbet of Hardhill, Robert Miller, Thomas Harkness, &c. A Letter of John Semple's and of Archibald Stewart's. The Paper found upon Mr. Cameron at Airsmoss, and an Acrostick upon his name. The Testimony of John Finlay in Kilmarnock. The Epitaphs upon the Grave Stones of Mr. Samuel Rutherford, Mr. John Welwood, and the noble Patriots who fell at Pentland-hills, &c.
"Also includes The Testimony of some persecuted Presbyterian Ministers of the Gospel, unto the Covenanted Reformation of the Church of Scotland, and to the present expediency of continuing to preach the Gospel in the fields, and against the present Antichristian Toleration in its nature and design, &c. Given in to the Ministers at Edinburgh, by Mr. James Renwick, upon the 17th Jan. 1688. And Mr. Richard Cameron's Last Sermon; preached on Kype Water in Evandale, July 18th, 1680, three days before he was killed at Airs-moss. (Pittsburgh: Printed for David Reed, by Eichbaum & Johnston, 1824), (Hess Publications), (Harrisonburg, VA: Sprinkle Publications), (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series and Hardback Bound. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books (1884 edition), ISBN: 0873779231. Available on the forthcoming Calvinism Bookshelf CD #10. Available on the forthcoming Protestant Bookshelf CD #1.
"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:1,2)
"Presbyterian Covenanter martyrs of Scotland, their last speeches and testimonies. The first edition appeared in 1714, and as more material was collected it was added to the 15 editions that were printed over the next 100 years."
"An amazing book compiled to show how -- and especially why (from their own dying testimonies) -- the Covenanters suffered, bled and died. These brave martyrs for Christ laid the foundation for liberty and truth in both church and state. They have much to say to us today . . . . Though the issues and ferocity of persecution (by the Popes, prelates, and Erastians) were more obvious during the times covered in this book, the message to contemporary Christians could not be clearer: we are involved in a life and death struggle. Few books are this moving or this edifying -- a real treasure! (658 pp., 1884 ed.)." -- SWRB
The 1871 edition was praised by Spurgeon.
A Cloud of Witnesses, 1871 edition, free online e-text. Original from Oxford University. Digitized Aug 31, 2006.
http://books.google.com/books?id=4vMCAAAAQAAJ&dq=thomson+a+cloud+of+witnesses&ie=ISO-8859-1
See also, McMain, John, and John H. Thomson (editor); Thomson, John H.; and Scott, David (introduction).
Tracy, Joseph, Great Awakening: A History of the Revival of Religion in the Time of Edwards and Whitefield, new edition (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, June 1989, 1976).
"This volume remains second to none in its definitive treatment of the 'Revival of Religion in New England in 1740', one of the most important and remarkable eras in the history of the Christian church in modern times." -- Publisher's Annotation
"The most comprehensive account of the major 18th century revival." -- Roberts
"The author follows his theme from the local revivals of the 1730s to the floodtide of 1740-1742. The material is broad-based and includes numerous quotes from the time period." -- GCB
"I have read a number of works on revivals and this revival in particular. This is the one book on the subject that I have gone back to time and again. It is scholarly, thorough, and devotionally helpful. As I read of the changes in the lives in the villagers of New England I became more and more impressed with how true revivals are such awesome and precious things.
"This book is very helpful for our day as well. In describing the excesses of this revival (especially those that had to do with Davenport) and in the detailed accounts of unwanted side-phenomena, we see sad similarities to what has been experienced in some of our churches today. This book shows what a true revival looks like." -- Reader's Comment
WILLSON (WILSON), JAMES M., (1809-1866), Some Reasons for Retaining the Westminster Confession as the Basis of Ecclesiastical Union (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books). Available on Reformation Bookshelf CD #24, ISBN: 0921148186 9780921148180. Available on the forthcoming Protestant Bookshelf CD #1. Also available on the forthcoming Protestant Bookshelf CD #1
*WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY (1643-1652), The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) (Glasgow, Scotland [Free Presbyterian Publications, 133 Woodlands Road, Glasgow G3 6LE]: Free Presbyterian Publication, 1994). ISBN: 0902506080 (casebound) and ISBN: 0902506358 (paperback). Available from Crown and Covenant Publications. Also, available from Still Waters Revival Books). A Christian classic.
" 'The product of Puritan conflict,' stated Shedd, reaching 'a perfection of statement never elsewhere achieved.' All that learning the most profound and extensive, intellect the most acute and searching, and piety the most sincere and earnest, could accomplish, was thus concentrated in the Westminster Assembly's Confession of Faith, which may be safely termed the most perfect statement of Systematic Theology ever framed by the Christian Church,' writes Hetherington (The History of the Westminster Assembly of Divines), p. 345. Concerning the Shorter Catechism, which is one of the items also included in this book, Mitchell notes: 'it is a thoroughly Calvinistic and Puritan catechism, the ripest fruit of the Assembly's thought and experience, maturing and finally fixing the definitions of theological terms to which Puritanism for half a century had been leading up and gradually coming closer and closer to in its legion of catechisms' (Westminster Assembly: Its History and Standards, p. 431). THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION OF FAITH (1646) is the greatest of all the creeds of the Christian church. The church of Christ cannot be creedless and live. Especially in an age of doubt and confusion, it is her duty to define and proclaim the one true faith. Nowhere has the Reformed church done this so effectively as in the WESTMINSTER CONFESSION [1646] and family of documents. This book represents Reformed thinking at its purest and best. It was intended, as part of the Covenanted Reformation taking place during its compilation, to be adopted as the binding confessional standard for every individual, family, court, church, and legislature in the British Isles." -- SWRB
This is considered to be the definitive publication of the Westminster family of documents. It includes the following:
Woods, David Walker, John Witherspoon [90063]
Workman, Herbert B., Persecution in the Early Church (New York: Oxford University Press, 1980), ISBN: 0192830252 9780192830258.
"This important assessment of persecution in the early centuries of the Christian era analyzes the clash between church and state, probes the causes of hatred, chronicles the great persecutions, and recounts the experiences of those who were persecuted for their faith." -- Cyril J. Barber
WYLIE, JAMES A., The History of Protestantism, 2 volumes (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books).
*WYLIE, SAMUEL B., (1773-1852), The Two Sons of Oil; or, the Faithful Witness for Magistracy and Ministry Upon a Scriptural Basis (1850 edition, reprinted 1995), (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books. Available on Reformation Bookshelf CD #13, #26 ISBN: 0921148917 9780921148913. A Christian classic.
"A Covenanter classic opening Revelation 11:3-4 and Zechariah 4:14. It has been hailed as the 'best presentation of the position of the Covenanter Church that has been written.' Noting that the '[t]ime has been, when the whole body of Presbyterians, in Scotland, England, and Ireland, unanimously subscribed' to these principles, '[f]or civil and ecclesiastical reformation' and that thousands bled and died for the glorious covenanted cause of civil and ecclesiastical reformation; Wylie sets out to explain and defend 'that cause. Not because it is an ancient cause; not because many have sealed it with their blood; but, because,' as he says, 'I thought it the doctrine of the Bible, and the cause of Christ.' This book explains how to tell if a government (especially a civil government) is faithful to Christ and thus to be obeyed for conscience's sake. It also gives direction regarding when and how to resist (and disassociate) yourself from governments which get their power from 'the beast.' Moreover, this book gives clear testimony as to what the Bible requires of civil magistrates, noting 'that civil rulers should exercise their power in protecting and defending the religion of Jesus.' It also gives plain reasons why dissent from the government of the United States (and other covenant breaking nations) is the legitimate Scriptural pattern." -- SWRB
The Two Sons of Oil; or, the Faithful Witness for Magistracy and Ministry Upon a Scriptural Basis, Samuel B. Wylie
http://www.covenanter.org/Wylie/twosonsofoil.htm
The Two Sons of Oil; Or, The Faithful Witness for Magistracy and Ministry Upon a Scriptural Basis
http://books.google.com/books?id=nMO1JQAACAAJ&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html
See also: The sovereign grace of god: his everlasting mercy and lovingkindness, The doctrine of man (human nature, total depravity), Christ's influence on western civilization, Church history, The providence of god, The history of reformation of the church, The protestant reformation, The dutch reformation, Calvinism, Christian biography, Selection of covenant heads for positions of leadership, Works of c. Gregg singer, The history of martyrs, Persecution, Church government, Servant leadership, Selection of covenant heads for positions of leadership, God's sovereign hand in history, "his-story," The application of scripture to the corporate bodies of church and state, Unity and uniformity in the visible church: unity in the truth, National establishment of religion: establishmentarianism, Corporate faithfulness and sanctification, Background and history of the covenanted reformation of scotland, Covenant theology and the ordinance of covenanting, The covenanted reformation of scotland, The covenanted reformation of scotland short title listing, The westminster confession of faith (1646) (westminster standards) and related works a study guide, The puritan revolution, The reformed presbytery of scotland and the reformed presbytery of america, Covenanting in america, Toleration, liberty of conscience, pluralism, and neutrality, Unfaithful reformed ministries, The counter reformation, The destruction of American liberty, A theological interpretation of american history, The decline of American society, Modern myths and fallacies, History, God's sovereign hand in history, "his-story," The love and justice of God, Revisionist history, Reformation eschatology, Books considered to be among the ten greatest in the english language
#01: Introduction: A Span of History
Dr. C. Gregg Singer, Decline of American Culture
http://www.sermonaudio.com/play.asp?ID=72902195856
"John Knox, the Scottish Covenanters, and the Westminster Assembly" (tape 3 of 5 in a series of addresses "History Notes on Presbyterianism, Reformation, and Theology") by Dr. C. Gregg Singer on SermonAudion.com
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=12607114250
Apologetics #04: The Renaissance and the Reformation
Dr. C. Gregg Singer, Apologetics, 47 min.
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=3105181649
Apologetics #24: The Recovery of Christian Theism
Dr. C. Gregg Singer, Apologetics, 58 min.
http://www.sermonaudio.com/play.asp?ID=3205142039
The topical listing for "A Theological Interpretation of American History"
http://www.lettermen2.com/bcrr9chc.html#stiahis
"The One Foundation," a sermon by C.H. Spurgeon
Preaching on the text "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 3:11)
Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, 1879, Sermon 1494.
"As churches we are not legislators, but subjects; it is not for us to frame constitutions, invent offices, and decree rites and ceremonies, but we are to take everything out of the mouth of Christ, and to do what he bids us, as he bids us, and when he bids us. Parliaments and kings have no authority whatever in the church, but Christ alone rules therein. If any portion of a church be not based upon Christ it is a mere deforming addition to the plan of the great Architect, and mars the temple which God has built, and not man. What a blessed thing it is to feel that you belong to a church which has a rock under it, because it is constituted by Christ's authority. We feel safe in following an ordinance which is of his commanding, but we should tremble if we had only custom and human authority for it. . . .
"When sermons are preached without so much as the mention of Christ's name, it takes more than charity, it requires you to tell a lie to say 'That was a Christian sermon;' and if any people find their joy in a teaching which casts the Lord Jesus into the background, they are not his church, or else such teaching would be an abomination to them. . . .
"All the decrees of popes and councils, all the resolutions of assemblies, synods, presbyteries, and associations, and all the ordinances of men as individuals, however great they be, when they are all put together, if they at all differ from the law of Christ, are mere wind and waste paper, nay, worse, they are treasonable insults to the majesty of King Jesus. Those who build apart from the authority of Christ build off of the foundation, and their fabric will fall. There is no law and no authority in a true church but that of Christ himself; we who are his ministers are his servants and the servants of the church, and not lords or law-makers. To his law a faithful church brings all things as to the sure test. As churches we are not legislators, but subjects; it is not for us to frame constitutions, invent offices, and decree rites and ceremonies, but we are to take everything out of the mouth of Christ, and to do what he bids us, as he bids us, and when he bids us. Parliaments and kings have no authority whatever in the church, but Christ alone rules therein."
"Let us put this, our first point, in a few sentences. It is not the union of men with men that makes a church if Jesus Christ be not the centre and the bond of the union. The best of men may come into bonds of amity, and they may form a league, or a federation, for good and useful purposes, but they are not a church unless Jesus Christ be the basis upon which they rest. He must be the ground and foundation of the hope of each and of all." -- C.H. Spurgeon
http://www.spurgeongems.org/vols25-27/chs1494.pdf
Forgotten Principles of the Reformation John W. Robbins
"These also are principles of the Reformation, largely forgotten among those who call themselves Reformed. We ought to remember and defend the solas, [Sola Scriptura, Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Solus Christus, Soli Deo Gloria-- sk] but we ought also to remember and defend the equally Biblical principles of logical consistency, Scripture alone, the right of private judgment, and separation of church and state."
http://www.trinityfoundation.org/journal.php?id=202
*Robbins, John W., (editor) "Christ and Civilization" (Unicoi, TN: The Trinity Foundation, 2003).
Reprinted from The Trinity Review, Numbers 214-217, December 2002 -- March 2003.
"A new 48-page booklet. Includes a complete listing (in an additional 16 pages) of the books currently available from The Trinity Foundation."
"Christ and Civilization"
http://www.trinityfoundation.org/PDF/200a-ChristandCivilization.pdf
*Presbyterian Heritage Publications, Library of Presbyterian Heritage Publications and Protestant Heritage Press CD-ROM Library and Library of Presbyterian Heritage Publications and Protestant Heritage Press CD-ROM Library (Dallas, TX [Presbyterian Heritage Publications, P.O. Box 180922, Dallas, 75218]: Presbyterian Heritage Publications, 1999).
Geneva Bible, 1599, Additional Title: (Bible. English. Geneva. 1599.) The Bible, that is, the Holy Scriptures conteined in the Olde and Newe Testament: translated according to the Ebrew and Greeke, and conferred with the best translations in diuers languages; with most profitable annotations upon all the hard places, and other things of great importance ... (London: Imprinted by the Deputies of C. Barker, 1599), EEBO.
http://bible.crosswalk.com/Commentaries/GenevaStudyBible/
Reformation Bookshelf 30 CD Series
http://www.swrb.com/Puritan/reformation-bookshelf-CDs.htm
The Historicism Research Foundation
http://www.historicism.net
Christian Classics Ethereal Library CCEL CD-ROM 2000
http://www.ccel.org/cdrom/cdrom.html
Christian History CD-ROM
http://www.christianityonline.com/christianhistory/current/
Our Triune God has ordained that authority, power, and leadership devolves to those who know the most Truth (the Apostle Paul, Saint Augustine, Martin Luther, John Calvin, The Scots Worthies. . . ). Preeminent among those is the Lord Christ, the God Man, Our Righteousness. (John 1:1-18; Matthew 19:30; Matthew 28:18-20; Isaiah 49:7; Colossians 1:16-19; Colossians 2:9,10; Hebrews 12:1,2; Revelations 5:1-14; Revelation 19:11-15; Revelation 20:11-15; Revelation 22:12, and so forth, and so on.)
*Anderson, William, The Voice Of Renwick, The Last of the Scottish Martyrs (1882) (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books, 1998).
Anonymous, The book of martyrs, with an account of the acts and monuments of church and state, from the time of our blessed saviour, to the year 1701. ... Abstracted from the best authors and original papers. Illustrated with ... plates. In two volumes. . . . Vol. 1. London, 1702. 2 vols. (ECCO) Gale Document Number CW3320211815
Anonymous. The book of martyrs: or, the history of paganism and popery. ... Abstracted from the best authors, both antient and modern. The second edition Coventry, 1764. (ECCO) Gale Document Number CW3323293178
ANONYMOUS, Life of George Wishart: The Most Distinguished Martyr for the Reformation in Scotland..., 1829
Bilton, Henry. The history of the English martyrs, who suffer'd death for opposing the Romish religion, from the reign of King Henry the IVth, 1400, to the end of the reign of Queen Mary the 1st, ... London, 1720. (ECCO) Gale Document Number CW3317908401
Bray, Thomas. Papal usurpation and persecution, as it has been exercis'd in ancient and modern times with respect both to princes & people; ... The whole divided into two tomes, ... and design'd as supplemental to the Book of martyrs, ... By a sincere lover of our Protestant establishment both in church and state. London, 1712. (ECCO) Gale Document Number CW3317853872
Burnet, Gilbert. The lives and sufferings of the English martyrs, who were executed and burnt for their religion, from the reign of Henry the IVth, to the end of the reign of Queen Mary I. and to the reformation of the Church of England. Published by Bishop Burnet, ... London, 1755. (ECCO) Gale Document Number CW3319892220
CARSLAW, W.H., Three Heroes of the Covenant: The Life and Times of William Guthrie, Donald Cargill and James Renwick, Last of the Martyrs, 1902
CARSLAW, W.H., Six Martyrs of the Scottish Reformation, 1907 edition, 1907
Carter, Robert, and Brothers. Martyrs and Covenanters of Scotland. (New York: Robert Carter, 1847).
Clarke, Samuel (1599-1682) A general martyrology: containing a collection of all the greatest persecutions which have befallen the Church of Christ from the Creation to our present times: where is given an exact account of the Protestant sufferings in Queen Mary's reign: together with a large collection of lives of great persons, eminent divines, and singular Christians: to which is added the state and sufferings of the Church of Scotland, from the Revolution (Glasgow: Printed by J. Galbraith).
Clergyman and others. The biographical and martyrological dictionary: containing the lives, sufferings, and deaths, of the most eminent martyrs and confessors of Christ, ... To the whole is annexed, a general index, ... By a clergyman and others. Newcastle upon Tyne, 1790. (ECCO) Gale Document Number CW3322011412
Frend, W.H.C., Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church: A Study of a Conflict From the Maccabees to Donatus (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1981, 1965), ISBN: 9780227172292 0227172299.
Guthrie, James. The ordinary of Newgate his account, of the behaviour, confession, and dying words of the malefactors who were executed at Tyburn, on Monday the 12th of this instant February, 1728. [London ], [1728]. (ECCO) Gale Document Number CW3305077189
Hefley, James, and Marti Hefle, By Their Blood: Christian Martyrs of the 20th Century (Milford, MI: Mott Media), ISBN: 0915134284 9780915134281.
*HOWIE, JOHN, The Scots Worthies. Biographia Scoticana: or, A Brief Historical Account of the Lives, Characters, and Memorable Transactions of the Most Eminent Scots Worthies . . . As also, an appendix, containing a short historical hint of the wicked lives . . . of the . . . apostates and . . . persecutors in Scotland . . . 2nd edition, corrected and enlarged, 1781 (Glasgow: Printed by John Bryce, and sold at his shop opposite Gibson's-Wynd, Salt-market, 1781) and (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books). A Christian classic.
McFeeters, J.C., Sketches of the Covenanters (Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books).
Nisbet, John. A true relation of the life and sufferings of John Nisbet in Hardhill, his last testimony to the truth; with a short account of his last words on the scaffold, December 4. 1685. Never hitherto published.. Edinburgh, 1718. (ECCO) Gale Document Number CW3302457089
R.B. The history of the lives of those famous English divines, that were most zealous in promoting the reformation: ... By R. B.. London, 1709. (ECCO) Gale Document Number CW3303551768
Ridpath, George. The massacre of Glenco. Being a true narrative of the barbarous murther of the Glenco-men, in the highlands of Scotland, by way of military execution, on the 13th of Feb. 1692. ... 1704 The second edition (London : printed, and sold by B. Bragg, 1704).
SHIELDS, ALEXANDER, The Life and Death of That Eminently Pious, Free, and Faithful Minister and Martyr of Jesus Christ, Mr. James Renwick: With a Vindication of the Heads of His Dying Testimony, 1806, second edition
Simpson, Robert. The banner of the covenant; or, Historical notices of some of the Scottish martyrs whose lives and sufferings have not hitherto been sketched in a separate from ... 1847 (Edinburgh, London, UK, John Johnstone, 1847).
Staughton, S. A selection of remarkable events in the lives of the primitive fathers, eminent reformers, and martyrs, in the Christian Church: ... By S. Staughton. Coventry, 1791. (ECCO) Gale Document Number CW3321715941
*THOMSON, JOHN HENDERSON (editor), JOHN MCMAIN, and DAVID SCOTT (introduction) A Cloud of Witnesses for the Royal Prerogatives of Jesus Christ Being the Last Speeches and Testimonies of Those who Have Suffered for the Truth in Scotland Since . . . 1680. Alternate title: "The Fifteenth Edition, Enlarged and Corrected: A Cloud of Witnesses, for the Royal Prerogatives of Jesus Christ: or, The Last Speeches and Testimonies Of those who have Suffered for the Truth in Scotland, since the year 1680: With an Appendix, Containing the Queensferry Paper; Torwood Excommunication; a Relation concerning Mr. Richard Cameron, Mr. Donald Cargil, and Henry Hall; and an Account of those who were killed without Process of Law, and banished to Foreign Lands: With a short View of some of the oppressive Exactions.
Walker, Patrick, Six Saints of the Covenant, 2 volumes (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books, 1901).
Wheatley, James. The lives, tryals, and sufferings, of the holy apostles, primitive fathers and martyrs, who have ... suffered for the faith and gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ. By James Wheatley. Bristol, 1751. (ECCO) Gale Document Number CW3317952642
See also: Chapter 10: christian biography, Biography of covenanters, The covenanted reformation short title listing, persecution, Selection of covenant heads for positions of leadership
BROWN, JOHN (of Haddington, 1722-1787), Letters on the Constitution, Government, and Discipline, of the Christian Church; Humbly Submitted to the Ensuing Venerable Assembly, of the Church of Scotland, 1767, ISBN: 0921148798 9780921148791. Available on Reformation Bookshelf CD #7. Available [OF THE NATURE, FORMATION, AND FELLOWSHIP OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH] on The Amazing Christian Library, DVD One, CD #6. (ECCO) Gale Document Number CW3323346036
*Brown, John (of Haddington), Reformation Attainments Versus Backsliding Religious Professors (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books).
Brown, John (of Edinburg, 1784-1858), The exclusive claims of Puseyite Episcopalians to the Christian ministry indefensible: with an inquiry into the divine right of episcopacy and the apostolic succession: in a series of letters to the Rev. Dr. Pusey by John Brown. To which is prefixed an article on the Anglican reformation ... (Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board of Publication, 1844).
*CHURCH OF SCOTLAND GENERAL ASSEMBLY, 1638-1649, The Acts of the General Assemblies of the Church of Scotland, From the Year 1638 to the Year 1649 Inclusive, 1682 (Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books). A Christian classic. Also available on Reformation Bookshelf CD #11 ISBN-10: 0921148224 ISBN-13: 9780921148227.
*GILLESPIE, GEORGE, Aaron's Rod Blossoming; or, the Divine Ordinance of Church Government Vindicated, 1646 (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books), ISBN: 0873779673. Available on the forthcoming Calvinism Bookshelf CD #7. Available on The Amazing Christian Library, DVD Two, CD #12.
*GILLESPIE, GEORGE, The Presbyterian's Armoury, 3 volumes, 1846 (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books).
*GOODMAN, C., How Superior Powers Ought to be Obeyed of Their Subjects: And Wherein They May Lawfully by God's Word be Disobeyed and Resisted, 1558. Available on Puritan Bookshelf CD #2. Available on Reformation Bookshelf CD #26, ISBN: 0921148224 9780921148227. Also available on Library of Presbyterian Heritage Publications and Protestant Heritage Press CD-ROM Library. Available on the forthcoming Calvinism Bookshelf CD #3.
Guthrie, William, and John Howie. A collection of lectures and sermons, preached upon several subjects, mostly in the time of the late persecution. Wherein a faithful doctrinal testimony is transmitted to posterity for the doctrine, worship, discipline and government of the Church of Scotland against popery, prelacy, Erastianism, &c. (Glasgow, Printed and sold by J. Brice, 1779).
*DURHAM, JAMES, 1622-1658, Concerning Scandal (Dallas, TX: Naphtali Press, c1990, 1680), Still Waters Revival Books 1659 edition, Additional Titles: The Dying Man's Testament to the Church of Scotland: Or, A Treatise Concerning Scandal. A Christian classic.
*GOODMAN, C., How Superior Powers Ought to be Obeyed of Their Subjects: And Wherein They May Lawfully by God's Word be Disobeyed and Resisted, 1558. Available on Puritan Bookshelf CD #2. Available on Reformation Bookshelf CD #26, ISBN: 0921148224 9780921148227. Also available on Library of Presbyterian Heritage Publications and Protestant Heritage Press CD-ROM Library. Available on the forthcoming Calvinism Bookshelf CD #3.
*KNOX, JOHN, and KEVIN REED (editor), The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment [government] of Women, With the "Summary of the Second Blast" appended, (Dallas, TX [Presbyterian Heritage Publications, P.O. Box 180922, 75218-0922]: Presbyterian Heritage Publications, 1993), trade paperback, 96 pages, marginal notes, scripture index, and subject index. This edition appears in three additional formats: SELECTED WRITINGS OF JOHN KNOX: PUBLIC EPISTLES, TREATISES, AND EXPOSITIONS TO THE YEAR 1559, pages 370-436, the LIBRARY OF PRESBYTERIAN HERITAGE PUBLICATIONS AND PROTESTANT HERITAGE PRESS CD-ROM LIBRARY, and e-text that includes the marginal notes as endnotes, but does not include the scripture index, and subject index. Citations for these three additional formats are listed below.
*MILLER, SAMUEL, The Ruling Elder: An Essay on the Warrant, Nature, and Duties of the Office (1832), (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books).
*PRICE, GREG Terms of Communion: The Westminster Standards (Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books). Five audio cassettes.
*PRICE, GREG, The Auchensaugh Renovation (Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books, 1997), 2 audio cassettes.
REID, H.M.B., A Cameronian Apostle: Being Some Account of John Macmillan of Balmaghie, 1896 (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books, 1997).
*RUTHERFORD, SAMUEL, A Free Disputation Against Pretended Liberty of Conscience, 1649 edition (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books, 1997).
*RUTHERFORD, SAMUEL, The Divine Right of Church Government and Excommunication: A Peaceable Dispute for the Perfection of the Holy Scripture in Point of Ceremonies and Church Government in Which the Removal of the Service Book Is Justified. . . , facsimile, 1646, also contains: "Scandal and Christian Libertie" (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books), EEBO.
*RUTHERFORD, SAMUEL, The Due Right of Presbyteries or a Peaceable Plea for the Government of the Church of Scotland . . . , 1644 (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books, 1997), EEBO.
*RUTHERFORD, SAMUEL, GEORGE GILLESPIE, and many others (compiled by Martin A. Foulner) Theonomy and the Westminster Confession: An Annotated Sourcebook (1997), (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books).
*SUNDRY MINISTERS OF LONDON, The Divine Right of Church Government (Jus Divinum Regiminis Ecclesiastici), c. 1646 (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books), EEBO.
*Westminster Assembly (1643-1652), The Form of Presbyterial Church Government
See: *Westminster Assembly The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) (Glasgow, Scotland [Free Presbyterian Publications, 133 Woodlands Road, Glasgow G3 6LE]: Free Presbyterian Publication, 1994). ISBN 0902506080 (casebound) and ISBN 0902506358 (paperback), Still Waters Revival Books, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Willison, John. A letter from a parochial bishop to a prelatical gentleman in Scotland: concerning the government of the church; wherein the controversie anent bishops, and Presbyterian ordination, is set in a true light, and distinctly handled ... (Edinburgh : Printed for Mr. James M'Euen, 1714).
The History of Martyrs
But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first. -- Jesus Christ (Matthew 19:30)
"A rare work setting forth the stirring story of the young minister and martyr James Renwick. It explains the main points (of Covenanted Reformation) for which he and many other Covenanters suffered and died. Also makes practical applications which can be applied to today. -- SWRB
"First published in 1965, this work remains the standard treatment of the interplay between church and state in the early centuries of the Christian era. . . ." -- Cyril J. Barber
"Too often we forget that God's people are suffering and being martyred. Here in a vivid book we are awakened. What FOXE'S BOOK OF MARTYRS did for generations past this book does for our generation." -- GCB
"The book begins with accounts of the martyrs during the Boxer Rebellion in China, continues with martyrs in Japan and Korea, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, Nazi Germany, and of the Soviet Union and its communist regimes. Then there are martyrs from the Middle East, Africa, the Caribbean, and from Latin America. . . .
"The stories themselves are gruesome. There is no viciousness like the viciousness of those who worship humanly-conceived gods. Like the Roman Catholic inquisitors in the sixteenth century, men in all nations have at one time or another sought to physically torture Christians to make them recant their testimonies. It is said that for every Christian Stalin murdered in Russia, two or more were raised up by God, until Stalin ordered the killing stopped for fear the whole nation would become Christians. Despite the lurid details of the torture, we recommend that everyone read the books that tell of martyrs dying for the cause of God and truth. This goes for children. Before you cry out, remember what they are watching on television, and seeing in movies, yes, and reading in Stephen King books, and others of that kind. Horror stories are best-sellers in our times. Let the children learn what horrible things are being done to Christians merely because they believe and obey God's word, and because of it worship the Lord Jesus Christ. . . ." -- Jay P. Green, Sr.
The full book and the book series of 22 MP3 files, produced by Still Waters Revival Books, may be found on Reformation Bookshelf CD #1, ISBN: 0921148674 9780921148678.
This same book series of audio files is availabe at AudioSermons.com.
http://www.sermonaudio.com/search.asp?seriesOnly=true&currSection=sermonstopic&sourceid=swrb&keyword=Book%3A+SCOTS+WORTHIES&keyworddesc=Book%3A+SCOTS+WORTHIES
Biographia Scoticana, John Howie
Original from Oxford University, published 1885, digitized May 22, 2006. Described as a reprint of the 1781 edition.
http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC34190563&id=5iwAAAAAQAAJ&q=Scots+Worthies+1781&dq=Scots+Worthies+1781&ie=ISO-8859-1&pgis=1
(Gale: Eighteenth Century Collection Online [ECCO.] Gale Document Number CW3300757473). English Short Title Catalog, ESTCT110333.
"Most commonly known as SCOTS WORTHIES, this edition contains Howie's footnotes (defending the Covenanters) and Howie's appendix titled `The Judgment and Justice of God' (which chronicles God's judgments upon Reformation apostates and those who persecuted the Covenanters). It is the only edition in print which contains both these sections intended for publication by the author (as later editors often removed either one or both of these parts of this book). BIOGRAPHIA SCOTICANA covers the history of `noblemen, gentlemen, ministers and others from Mr. Patrick Hamilton, who was born about the year of our Lord 1503, and suffered martyrdom at St Andrews, Feb, 1527, to Mr. James Renwick, who was executed in the Grass-market of Edinburgh, Feb. 17, 1688. Together with a succinct account of the lives of other seven eminent divines, and Sir Robert Hamilton of Preston, who died about, or shortly after the Revolution.' This is one of our best history books (over 700 pages), covering all of the major Scottish Reformers. Howie summarizes his book as follows: `The design of the following was to collect, from the best authorities, a summary account of the lives, characters, and contendings, of a certain number of our most renowned SCOTS WORTHIES, who, for their faithful services, ardent zeal, constancy in sufferings, and other Christian graces and virtues, deserve honourable memorial in the Church of Christ; and for which their names have been, and will be savoury to all the true lovers of our Zion, while Reformation principles are regarded.' Furthermore, the momentous nature of the struggles chronicled in this book are succinctly noted when Howie writes: `the primitive witnesses had the divinity of the Son of God, and an open confession of Him, for their testimony. Our reformers from Popery had Antichrist to struggle with, in asserting the doctrines of the Gospel, and the right way of salvation in and through Jesus Christ. Again, in the reigns of James VI. and Charles I., Christ's REGALIA, and the divine right of Presbytery, became the subject matter of their testimony. Then, in the beginning of the reign of Charles II. (until he got the whole of our ancient and laudable constitution effaced and overturned), our Worthies only saw it their duty to hold and contend for what they had already attained unto. But, in the end of this and the subsequent tyrant's reign, they found it their duty (a duty which they had too long neglected) to advance one step higher, by casting off their authority altogether, and that as well on account of their manifest usurpation of Christ's crown and dignity, as on account of their treachery, bloodshed, and tyranny... which may be summed up. The Primitive martyrs sealed the prophetic office of Christ in opposition to Pagan idolatry. The reforming martyrs sealed His priestly office with their blood, in opposition to Popish idolatry. And last of all, our late martyrs have sealed His kingly office with their best blood, in despite of supremacy and bold Erastianism. They indeed have cemented it upon His royal head, so that to the world's end it shall never drop off again.' Moreover, the importance of this book can be clearly seen when Johnston, in TREASURY OF THE SCOTTISH COVENANT, reports that, Walter Scott refers to Howie as `the fine old chronicler of the Cameronians'. . . Howie's book has been for upwards of a century a household word, occupying a place on the shelf beside THE BIBLE and THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS.' Written for God, country and the covenanted work of Reformation. Stirring history!" -- SWRB
See also: Thomson, John Henderson (editor), A CLOUD OF WITNESSES FOR THE ROYAL PREROGATIVES OF JESUS CHRIST BEING THE LAST SPEECHES AND TESTIMONIES OF THOSE WHO HAVE SUFFERED FOR THE TRUTH IN SCOTLAND SINCE . . . 1680 (Harrisonburg, VA: Sprinkle Publications) and JOHN FOXE'S BOOK OF MARTYRS. ACTES AND MONUMENTS OF MATTERS MOST SPECIALL AND MEMORABLE, the second edition of Foxe's Book of Martyrs Variorum Edition Online (version 1.1 - summer 2006).
"Stirring accounts of sacrifice and martyrdom for the Reformed Faith that will bring tears to eyes of all but the backslidden. Follows the chain of events which gave Scotland two Reformations and a Revolution. Knox, the National Covenant, the Westminster Assembly, the Field Meetings, and much more is covered. The history of great battles for Christ and His royal rights are recounted in this moving history book. Sheds much light upon the warfare with the dragon for true liberty. One of our best history books, highly recommended!" -- SWRB
"With the Testimonies of John Nisbet the Younger, John Nisbet of Hardhill, Robert Miller, Thomas Harkness, &c. A Letter of John Semple's and of Archibald Stewart's. The Paper found upon Mr. Cameron at Airsmoss, and an Acrostick upon his name. The Testimony of John Finlay in Kilmarnock. The Epitaphs upon the Grave Stones of Mr. Samuel Rutherford, Mr. John Welwood, and the noble Patriots who fell at Pentland-hills, &c.
"Also includes The Testimony of some persecuted Presbyterian Ministers of the Gospel, unto the Covenanted Reformation of the Church of Scotland, and to the present expediency of continuing to preach the Gospel in the fields, and against the present Antichristian Toleration in its nature and design, &c. Given in to the Ministers at Edinburgh, by Mr. James Renwick, upon the 17th Jan. 1688. And Mr. Richard Cameron's Last Sermon; preached on Kype Water in Evandale, July 18th, 1680, three days before he was killed at Airs-moss. (Pittsburgh: Printed for David Reed, by Eichbaum & Johnston, 1824), (Hess Publications), (Harrisonburg, VA: Sprinkle Publications), (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series and Hardback Bound. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books (1884 edition), ISBN: 0873779231. Available on the forthcoming Calvinism Bookshelf CD #10. Available on the forthcoming Protestant Bookshelf CD #1.
"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:1,2)
"Presbyterian Covenanter martyrs of Scotland, their last speeches and testimonies. The first edition appeared in 1714, and as more material was collected it was added to the 15 editions that were printed over the next 100 years."
"An amazing book compiled to show how -- and especially why (from their own dying testimonies) -- the Covenanters suffered, bled and died. These brave martyrs for Christ laid the foundation for liberty and truth in both church and state. They have much to say to us today . . . . Though the issues and ferocity of persecution (by the Popes, prelates, and Erastians) were more obvious during the times covered in this book, the message to contemporary Christians could not be clearer: we are involved in a life and death struggle. Few books are this moving or this edifying -- a real treasure! (658 pp., 1884 ed.)." -- SWRB
The 1871 edition was praised by Spurgeon.
A Cloud of Witnesses, 1871 edition, free online e-text. Original from Oxford University. Digitized Aug 31, 2006.
http://books.google.com/books?id=4vMCAAAAQAAJ&dq=thomson+a+cloud+of+witnesses&ie=ISO-8859-1
See also, McMain, John, and John H. Thomson (editor); Thomson, John H.; and Scott, David (introduction).
"Covers the lives of Peden, Semple, Welwood, Cameron, Cargill and Smith. These two volumes are edited with illustrative documents, introduction, notes, and a glossary by David Hay Fleming. Walker's advantage in writing of these men, as Hay Fleming points out, can be seen in `that he lived in the times of which he wrote, that he personally knew many of the Covenanters and martyrs of whom he wrote, and that he was himself a shrewd observer and was endowed with a tenacious memory.' Walker himself had endured imprisonment and torture for the Covenanted cause of Christ and Burton writes that his `unadorned descriptions of suffering and heroism convey a lesson to the heart which no genius or learning could strengthen.' 629 pages, indexed." -- SWRB
Church Government
Baillie, Robert (1599-1662), The unlavvfulnesse and danger of limited episcopacie (London: printed for Thomas Vnderhill, at the Bible in Woodstreet, 1641), EEBO.
"Here Brown deals with three major Reformation attainments (anti-tolerationism, establishmentarianism and the obligations of lawful covenants as they biblically bind posterity) that Satan has always been especially concerned to overthrow -- in every major demonic move to open the floodgates of lawlessness, anarchy and misrule. Fletcher, in the preface to the 1797 edition, relates this truth as it comes to bear on various religious professors, stating, 'Papists were enemies to our covenants because they were a standard lifted up against their system of abominable idolatries. Episcopalians were enemies to them, because they were a standard lifted up against their anti-scriptural church-officers and inventions of men in the worship of God. Some Presbyterians are enemies to them in our day through ignorance of their nature and ends; and others through fear of being too strictly bound to their duty.' (Cited in Johnston, TREASURY OF THE SCOTTISH COVENANT, p. 486)." -- SWRB
"Exceedingly rare, these are the acts from what many consider the greatest general assembly gatherings since the days of the apostles. The work accomplished and ratified at these meetings has been called 'the most perfect model' of Presbyterial Church Government 'as yet attained.' Sitting during the momentous days of the Covenants (National and Solemn League) and the Westminster Assembly, this general assembly included the likes of Samuel Rutherford and George Gillespie. Judicially binding on covenanted Presbyterians (WCF 31:3), these Acts demonstrate how these godly leaders officially dealt with individual, family, ecclesiastical and civil Reformation (including national and international matters). Furthermore, it should not be forgotten that these rulings had major national and international ramifications in their day and that they still guide faithful Presbyterians at the close of the twentieth century (as terms of ministerial and Christian communion in the Reformed Presbyterian church). Moreover, they contain 'noble examples to be followed in testifying against all corruptions embodied in the constitutions of either churches or states' (Reformed Presbytery, Act, Declaration and Testimony for the Whole of Our Covenanted Reformation, p. 216). Christ's Kingship has never since been so boldly and clearly proclaimed to the nations by a duly constituted general assembly -- neither has His rule and reign been upheld and actually embodied into the laws of a nation (civil and ecclesiastical) as it was during these days in Scotland. Much of this can be attributed to the work (humanly speaking) done by the ministers present while these Acts were debated and passed. Regarding doctrine, worship, government and discipline there are few books that will be as helpful -- especially to elders and those advanced in the faith. Additionally, if you want a glimpse at the heart of the Second Reformation this is one of the best places to look. It may also be considered 'the eye of the Puritan storm,' seeing that the Scottish Covenanters exerted such a godly influence among their English Presbyterian brothers (and the Westminster Assembly) during these days -- the two nations having covenanted with God (in the Solemn League and Covenant) for the international 'reformation and defense of religion . . . the peace and safety of the three kingdoms . . . the glory of God, and the advancement of the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, etc.' Over 500 pages and indexed for easy reference to all major topics." -- SWRB
"The remainder of the title reads: `So as the Present Erastian Controversy Concerning the Distinction of Civil and Ecclesiastical Government, Excommunication and Suspension, is Fully Debated and Discussed, from the Holy Scriptures, for the Jewish and Christian Antiquities, from the Consent of Later Writers, from the True Nature and Rights of Magistracy, and from the Groundlessness of the Chief Objections made Against the Presbyterial Government, in Point of a Domineering Arbitrary Unlimited Power.' In short, this book deals with the biblical view of the separation of church and state, and is especially pertinent concerning the modern political climate, in which the old Erastian tree of civil ecclesiastical interference is growing strong and spreading much poisonous fruit. As with just about everything else Gillespie wrote, this book has been widely recognized as THE classic in its field. Three major sections cover `Of the Jewish Church Government;' `Of Christian Church Government;' and `Of Excommunication from the Church, and of Suspension from the Lord's Table.' Lachman, in his Preface writes, `It presents the classic Reformed point of view, one now little heard and perhaps less understood. Gillespie writes carefully and clearly, in many respects resembling the better know John Owen in the clarity and power of his reasoning.' Bannerman states, `This famous treatise is unquestionably the most able, learned, systematic, and complete work on the Erastian controversy in existence. It deserves, and will repay, the most careful study' (The Church of Christ, vol. 2., p. 432). Beattie (Memorial Volume, p. xxxvi, 1879) called this book, `the ablest plea for Presbytery ever made'." -- SWRB
"In terms of `bang for your book buying buck,' you will not find more fire-power `under one roof' than in The Presbyterian's Armoury! Can be purchased as the three volume set or individually as listed below."
Volume One of The Presbyterian's Armoury
"Contains `Gillespie's Life and Writings' by Hetherington, plus all of the following works by George Gillespie: `A Dispute Against English Popish Ceremonies, 1637;' An Assertion of the Government of the Church of Scotland, 1644;' '111 Propositions Concerning the Ministry and Government of the Church, 1644;' two of Gillespie's sermons, preached before the House of Common (1644), and the House of Lords (1645); and Gillespie's answers to Coleman which defend Presbyterian polity against Erastianism. `Noted for his erudition, keen mind, powerful debating skills and articulate speech and often called `Great Mr. Gillespie' in his day, he has been referred to as the prince of Scottish theologians and the supreme defender of Presbyterian church government' (Nigel Cameron, editor, Dictionary of Scottish Church History and Theology, p. 359). 474 pages."
Volume Two of The Presbyterian's Armoury
"Contains all of the following works by George Gillespie: `Aaron's Rod Blossoming, or the Divine Ordinance of Church Government Vindicated;' `A Treatise of Miscellany Questions;' Notes of Debates and Proceedings of the Assembly of Divines at Westminster (February 1644 to January 1645).' Gillespie is most famous for his Aaron's Rod which Walker called `the chef d'oeuvre' of Scottish ecclesiastical theology (cited in Cameron, Dictionary, p. 359-360). He was a thundering preacher and a prominent member of the famous Westminster Assembly. Johnston, TREASURY OF THE SCOTTISH COVENANT cites the following concerning Gillespie: `That is an excellent youth; my heart blesses God in his behalf. There is no man whose parts in a public dispute I do so admire. He has studied so accurately all the points that are yet to come to our Assembly; he has got so ready, so assured, so solid a way of public debating; that however there be in the Assembly divers very excellent men, yet, in my poor judgement, there is not one who speaks more rationally and to the point than that brave youth has done ever (Baillie from his Letters and Journals). He was one of the great men that had a chief hand in penning our most excellent Confession of Faith and Catechisms. He was a most grave and bold man, and had a most wonderful gift given him for disputing and arguing. The end of a dispute held by him with some of the promoters of the Engagement was, that Glencairn said, `There is no standing before this great and mighty man.' He was called malleus Malignantium, `the hammer of the Malignants' (Woodrow's Analecta). 558 pages."
Volume Three of The Presbyterian's Armoury
"Contains: Samuel Rutherford's LEX, REX, or the Law and the Prince; John Brown of Wamphray's Apologetical Relation; David Calderwood's Pastor and Prelate, or Reformation and Conformity Shortly Compared; and Causes of the Lord's Wrath Against Scotland agreed upon by the General Assembly, 1651. Lex, Rex is `the great political text of the Covenanters' (Johnston citing Innes in TREASURY OF THE SCOTTISH COVENANT, p. 305.) `Rutherford was the first to formulate the great constitutional principle Lex est Rex -- the law is King . . . much of the doctrine has become the constitutional inheritance of all countries in modern times' (Idem.). Brown's anti-prelatical work deals with the lawfulness of defensive wars, ecclesiastical and civil government, the hearing of curates, etc. Brown's writing has been said to be `decidedly superior to most of the Scottish writers of his day, and even to Owen.' Calderwood upholds Presbyterianism over and against prelacy. THE CAUSES OF GOD'S WRATH was written anonymously (James Guthrie was the reputed author), and was at one time burnt along with LEX, REX. 615 pages." -- SWRB
"From 1555 to 1558, Christopher Goodman served as co-pastor, with John Knox, of the congregation of English exiles in Geneva. During the course of his ministry, Goodman preached upon Acts 4:19 and 5:29: `Whether it be right in the sight of God, to obey you rather than God, judge ye. We ought rather to obey God than men.' At the request of his brethren, Goodman subsequently published an expanded version of his exposition, HOW SUPERIOR POWERS OUGHT TO BE OBEYED OF THEIR SUBJECTS: AND WHEREIN THEY MAY LAWFULLY BY GOD'S WORD BE DISOBEYED AND RESISTED. WHEREIN ALSO IS DECLARED THE CAUSE OF ALL THIS PRESENT MISERY IN ENGLAND, AND THE ONLY WAY TO REMEDY THE SAME. In this book, Goodman contends against both ecclesiastical and political tyranny.
"This new edition of SUPERIOR POWERS includes a scripture index, a subject index, a biographical essay on the life of Christopher Goodman, and the original foreword by William Whittingham." -- Publisher's Annotation from Library of Presbyterian Heritage Publications and Protestant Heritage Press CD-ROM Library
"Very rare. One of the dozen most important political writings appearing in English in the latter half of the sixteenth century. Together with THE FIRST BLAST OF THE TRUMPET and THE APPELLATION (retitled REFORMATION, REVOLUTION AND ROMANISM in this catalogue) by John Knox, and Ponet's TREATISE OF POLITIQUE POWER, this book marks the first definite shift of opinion under the pressure of religion, away from the doctrine of almost unlimited obedience which characterized the political thought of the first half of the century laying the foundation for future ideas about civil disobedience. In that day, a proclamation of Philip and Mary had decreed the death of a rebel for anyone found in possession of the book." -- SWRB
"The Rise of The Following Treatise
"Having had occasion to consider the Book of the Revelation, and being on the Epistle to the Church of Pergamos in the second chapter, ground was given to speak something of Scandal, by reason of several doctrines clearly arising from that place. Upon this occasion I did first essay the writing of something of the doctrine of scandal in general, intending only to have spent a sheet or two thereupon, as elsewhere on some other subjects. When this was brought to a close, I found the place to give ground to speak of public church offenses, as they are the object of church discipline and censures. And being convinced, that that subject was not impertinent to be spoken of, I yielded to spend some thoughts upon it also, which did draw to a greater length than at first was intended or was suitable for a digression. This being finished, as it is, and any more thoughts of this subject laid by, it occurred again to me to think of doctrinal scandals or of scandalous errors. And considering that the scandals mentioned in that place, are of such nature, and that such are very frequent in this time, I yielded also to put together what thoughts the Lord would furnish concerning the same, whereupon followed the third part of this treatise.
"When this was even at the closing, there was a fourth part of the same subject that did occur to me to be thought on, which before that had never been minded, and that was concerning scandalous church divisions. To this my mind and inclination was exceedingly averse at first, as knowing it not only to be difficult in itself to be meddled in, but also exceedingly above me, who am altogether unsuitable to hazard on such a subject. Yet considering the rise of the motion, and how the Lord had helped through the other parts, I did resolve to condescend to follow it, at least so far till it might appear what was his mind to me therein, and accordingly did follow it till it came to the period (whatever it be) that now it is at.
"This is the true rise and occasion of this treatise, and of the several parts thereof, and therefore I have continued its entry in the original mold thereof, to wit, in laying down some general doctrines from that place of Scripture, and if there is afterward any more particular relation to the second and third chapters of the Revelation than to other Scriptures, this simple narration of the rise thereof may satisfy any concerning the same. Whereof we shall say no more, but first lay down grounds of all from that text, and then proceed in the treatise, which is divided in four parts, upon the reasons formerly hinted."
"The Grounds Of This Treatise
"Among other things that troubled the church in the primitive times, scandal, or offense, was a chief one. The many directions that are given concerning it, and the reproofs that are of it, show that it is a main piece of a Christian's conversation to walk rightly in reference thereto, and a great evidence of looseness where it is not heeded. On verse 6 [Rev. 2], we show that this was a sole fault of the Nicolaitans to be careless of offending, or of giving of offense, and not to regard scandal; and here the Lord holds it forth to be so by comparing it with Balaam's practice (v. 14), which is aggreaged from this, that he taught Balak to lay a stumbling block before Israel. From which these doctrines may be gathered:
1. That there is such a fault incident to men in their carriage, even to lay stumbling-blocks before others and to offend them.
2. That men ought to walk so as not to offend others, or so as to lay no stumbling-block before them. So that it is not enough not to stumble themselves (if this could be separated from the other), but also they ought to be careful not to stumble others.
3. The Lord takes special notice how men do walk in reference to others in this, and is highly provoked where he sees any guilty of it.
4. The Devil has ever endeavored to have offenses abounding in the church, and to make some lay such stumbling-blocks before others.
5. It is most hurtful to the church, and destructive to souls where offenses abound, and men walk not tenderly in reference to these; so that the Lord expresses it with a twofold woe (Matt. 18), as being a woe beyond sword and pestilence.
6. We may gather that corrupt doctrine never [lacks] offenses joined with it, and that ordinarily those who spread that, are untender in this.
7. That offenses often accompany the rise and beginning of any work of Christ's among a people; these tares of offenses are ordinarily then sown.
8. That some offenses are of a public nature, and that church officers should take notice of such, and that it is offensive to Christ when they are overlooked and not taken heed unto.
9. Church officers, even such as other ways are approved in their carriage and ministry, may fall in this fault, as by comparing the Epistles to Pergamos and Thyatira, is clear.
10. When officers fall in this fault, it is yet no reprovable thing in members that are pure in respect of their own personal carriage, to continue in communion with such a church, the ordinances other ways being pure." -- Author's Introduction
"In this work Mr. Durham, in opening and examining the different scandals which deface the visible church, causing both the professed people of God, and the heathen to stumble and fall in the snares of sin and the devil, shows carefully and clearly the various means of avoiding and remedying these offenses, and what the people of God in their various places and stations must do to maintain the beauty of Zion in godliness and holiness, in purity and in peace.
"James Durham's work on scandal and offense is the first of several books Naphtali Press plans to publish by 17th century Scottish Presbyterians. Many of the works of this group of writers are classic statements on the subjects they treat. This book of Durham's is such a work.
"John Macleod (SCOTTISH THEOLOGY) says, `His book on the Scandal of Church divisions has long been looked upon as the Scottish classic on its topic.' John Macpherson (DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH IN SCOTTISH THEOLOGY) says, `Taken all in all it is the very best book we have on the subject.' According to James Walker (THE THEOLOGY AND THEOLOGIANS OF SCOTLAND): `He is the author of a book which once was very famous. For a hundred years and more you find it constantly referred to. Unhappily, as in so many other instances, it has a forbidding, or at all events not an attractive name. Yet I am not sure that anywhere a better idea is to be obtained of our old ecclesiasticism, and of its freedom to a large extent from the severity and rancorousness which have been so often attributed to it, than from the book `On Scandal,' by this judicious man, who, with his thorough, searching, cumbrous intellect, reminds you not seldom of John Owen.'
"The work is divided into four parts. The first deals with scandal and offense in general, where he defines these terms, and discusses private offenses between individuals, and how they are given and taken. In the second part he writes concerning public scandals, or such that need to be in some way taken notice of by the government of the church, and the various scriptural teachings on the order, implementation, and motive of church discipline. The third is about scandalous errors; the spreading of error, why it spreads, the Lord's design in it, Satan's devices in spreading error, and the duties of Christians in a time when error prevails. Of particular interest is a lengthy treatment of the minister's duty toward those seduced to error, where the four steps of discovery (or trial), conviction, admonition and rejection of an heretic are discussed. The last part concerns scandalous divisions in the church, how they arise, the evil of them, grounds for unity, things to overlook in order to unite, things to do in order to unite, and how to unify where the division concerns differences in church government.
"Excerpted from The Dying Man's Testament to the Church of Scotland, or, A Treatise Concerning Scandal by James Durham. Copyright. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved." Publisher's Annotation
"This book ought to be required reading in seminaries and, indeed, for all who would serve as elders in Christ's church. It will repay careful study and breathe grace into our handling of the disciplinary problems that often confront us. Sessions will find real blessing if they study together Part Two [public scandals], especially." -- Gordon J. Keddie, Semper Reformanda, vol. 2 No 3
"The appearance of a new and handsomely reset edition of James Durham's classic and unique work on ecclesiastical discipline is a timely and welcome event in these days of laxity in doctrine and morality within the church. The author was a Covenanter who ministered in the Church of Scotland during the Cromwellian interregnum. Possessed of a fragrant saintliness and an irenic spirit, he completed this volume on his deathbed, at age 36, under the title, 'The Dying Man's Testament to the Church of Scotland.' Durham grieved over the divisions that racked the Christian community of his time and was concerned that church discipline not be abused either by flagrant neglect or excessive rigor. The weighty scriptural balance he brings to his subject is unequalled." -- Gordon J. Keddie, Semper Reformanda, vol. 2 No 3
"The book is divided into four parts -- Part One: Concerning Scandals in General -- dealing with offences between individual Christians. Part Two -- Concerning Public Scandals -- dealing with church discipline. Part Three: Concerning Doctrinal Scandals -- dealing with the spread of error in the church. Part Four: Concerning Scandalous Divisions -- dealing with divisions between godly men occasioned by such things as different outlooks and practices. The editor has spared no effort to make this old classic readable and useful." -- Austin R. Walker, Banner of Truth, Issue 337
"In this work Mr. Durham, in opening and examining the different scandals which deface the visible church, causing both the professed people of God, and the heathen to stumble and fall in the snares of sin and the devil, shows carefully and clearly the various means of avoiding and remedying these offenses, and what the people of God in their various places and stations must do to maintain the beauty of Zion in godliness and holiness, in purity and in peace. This edition is based on the text of the edition printed in 1680, with revisions to contemporize the spelling, punctuation, and usage. This book has long been looked upon as the Scottish classic on this topic." -- GCB. A Christian classic.
Concerning Scandal (extracts)
http://www.naphtali.com/scanextr.htm
"From 1555 to 1558, Christopher Goodman served as co-pastor, with John Knox, of the congregation of English exiles in Geneva. During the course of his ministry, Goodman preached upon Acts 4:19 and 5:29: `Whether it be right in the sight of God, to obey you rather than God, judge ye. We ought rather to obey God than men.' At the request of his brethren, Goodman subsequently published an expanded version of his exposition, HOW SUPERIOR POWERS OUGHT TO BE OBEYED OF THEIR SUBJECTS: AND WHEREIN THEY MAY LAWFULLY BY GOD'S WORD BE DISOBEYED AND RESISTED. WHEREIN ALSO IS DECLARED THE CAUSE OF ALL THIS PRESENT MISERY IN ENGLAND, AND THE ONLY WAY TO REMEDY THE SAME. In this book, Goodman contends against both ecclesiastical and political tyranny.
"This new edition of SUPERIOR POWERS includes a scripture index, a subject index, a biographical essay on the life of Christopher Goodman, and the original foreword by William Whittingham." -- Publisher's Annotation from Library of Presbyterian Heritage Publications and Protestant Heritage Press CD-ROM Library
"Very rare. One of the dozen most important political writings appearing in English in the latter half of the sixteenth century. Together with THE FIRST BLAST OF THE TRUMPET and THE APPELLATION (retitled REFORMATION, REVOLUTION AND ROMANISM in this catalogue) by John Knox, and Ponet's TREATISE OF POLITIQUE POWER, this book marks the first definite shift of opinion under the pressure of religion, away from the doctrine of almost unlimited obedience which characterized the political thought of the first half of the century laying the foundation for future ideas about civil disobedience. In that day, a proclamation of Philip and Mary had decreed the death of a rebel for anyone found in possession of the book." -- SWRB
"The text of this edition is based on the definitive edition of THE WORKS OF JOHN KNOX, edited by David Laing (Edinburgh, 1895).
"In this controversial work, John Knox contends that 'to promote a woman to bear rule, superiority, dominion, or empire above any realm, nation, or city, is repugnant to nature, contumely [insult] to God, a thing most contrary to his revealed will and approved ordinance; and finally, it is the subversion of good order, of all equity and justice'." -- Publisher's Annotation
Subheading used in this edition:
"The SUMMARY OF THE SECOND BLAST was originally appended to the APPELLATION FROM THE SENTENCE PRONOUNCED BY THE BISHOPS AND CLERGY: ADDRESSED TO THE NOBILITY AND ESTATES OF SCOTLAND (1558), published in KNOX'S WORKS, VOL. IV, pp. 539-40." (see citation below) -- Publisher's Annotation
Other publications of THE FIRST BLAST OF THE TRUMPET follow:
http://www.swrb.com/Puritan/presbyterian-heritage.htm
This is the same Presbyterian Heritage Publications edition cited above. It includes the marginal notes as endnotes, but does not include the scripture index, and subject index.
http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualnls/FirBlast.htm
"Roger Mason has provided an excellent and useful edition of four of John Knox's 1558 tracts. . . . In keeping with earlier volumes in this Cambridge series, Mason has modernized the spelling, punctuation, and paragraphing besides providing a useful glossary, all of which make the works accessible to students without sacrificing scholarly integrity." -- Richard Greaves, Church History
" `One of the classics in the field,' notes Morton Smith. G.I. Williamson writes, `We . . . heartily welcome the reprint of this excellent survey of the biblical data and warmly recommend it to those who are -- or desire to be -- elders in the church.' The most extensive study of its kind available. For ruling elders this is must reading! Over 300 pages of sound biblical quidance." -- SWRB
The Ruling Elder, Samuel Miller
http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualnls/RulElder.htm
"Explains and defends the second term of communion, which is 'That the whole doctrine of the Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), and the Catechisms, Larger and Shorter, are agreeable unto, and founded upon the Scriptures.' Price not only explains why we need creeds and confession (answering the question: Isn't the Scripture sufficient?), but he shows how everyone has a creed and how such statements of faith are actually inescapable -- for as soon as one says what he believes the Bible means, he has (by definition) put forth his creed ('credo' in Latin means 'to believe'). There is no neutrality! He also gives a summary of the Westminster Standards and the history of this august assembly, demonstrating why these standards are agreeable to the word of God. After showing how faithful creeds and confessions (i.e. human testimony) have brought untold blessings to the church he gives a history of the Westminster Assembly (setting the context for the study of the Standards themselves). The doctrines contained in the confessional standards are then summarized. Price also exposes and rebukes much false teaching and false practice (contrary to the standards) using the specific names associated with each heresy refuted. The following doctrines are covered: sola Scripture (refuting popery, neo-orthodoxy, liberalism and the charismatics), the doctrine of God (refuting Unitarianism, Oneness theology [Modalism, Sabellianism], and tritheism), God's decrees and predestination (refuting Arminianism, fatalism [Islam]), creation (refuting Evolutionism, Pantheism and New Age and Eastern mysticism), the covenant of works, Providence (against 'luck' and 'accidents'), the fall of man (refuting Arminianism and Pelagianism), the covenant of grace (refuting dispensationalism), Christ our mediator (refuting Arianism [JW's], Apollinarianism, Nestorianism, Eutychianism [which led to the transubstantiation and consubstantiation heresies], the free offer of the gospel, effectual calling (contra Arminianism), justification by faith alone through Christ alone (contra Rome and the Arminians), sanctification and good works (condemning antinomianism and legalism), assurance of faith, perseverance of the saints, the law of God, Christian liberty (against pretended liberty of conscience and the imposition of legalistic standards outside of the law of God), worship (against the anti-regulativists and promoters of will-worship), the regulative principle (condemning Arminianism in worship), the Sabbath (taking the high Scottish view), lawful oaths and vows (condemning covenant breaking [churches and nations included], perjury, etc.), the civil magistrate (against pluralism, false toleration, Erastianism, and for biblical establishments), marriage, the church (contra popery, prelacy and independency [all of which are forms of sectarianism]), and the resurrection and general judgement." -- SWRB
"This is the story of the renewal of the National and Solemn League and Covenant, which took place under the leadership of John Macmillan (cf. The Cameronian Apostle by Reid) at Auchensaugh, July 24, 1712. Events leading up to this renewal are especially pertinent, as they expose the Satanic tactics which often become most useful to the devil in attacking all revivals and those seeking to return to covenanted attainments. Price notes how Cromwell's tolerationism opened the floodgates of iniquity and helped pave the way (though not intended by the covenant breaking Cromwellians) for the tyranny of Charles II. This set the stage for the corrupted and defective revolution of 1688 and the malignant Revolution church, which left the covenanted Reformation buried under the debris of William's Erastianism, Prelacy (in England and Ireland) and the compromised Presbyterianism of the Revolution Church in Scotland (cf. Clarkson's Plain Reasons for Presbyterians Dissenting from the Revolution Church of Scotland; this Revolution church was the root of much modern day Presbyterian defection and this book still eloquently denounces this defection). The Auchensaugh Renovation cleared away all the Reformation denying rubbish that had accumulated from 1649 to 1712, and 'being agreeable to the Word of God' became part of the terms of communion of the Reformed Presbyterian church on Nov. 3, 1712 (cf. Terms of Ministerial and Christian Communion in the Reformed Presbyterian Church, point 4 of 6). It is also interesting to note that at the Lord's Supper (on July 27, 1712) following this covenant renewal, Macmillan, in 'fencing the tables' proclaimed, 'I excommunicate and debar from this Holy Table of the Lord, all devisers, commanders, users, or approvers, of any religious worship not instituted by God in His Word, all tolerators and countenancers thereof; and by consequence I debar and excommunicate from this Holy Table of the Lord, Queen and Parliament, and all under them, who spread and propagate or tolerate a false and superstitious worship, ay, and until they repent.' Furthermore, concerning those who opposed the covenants and the work of reformation, Macmillan trumpeted these faithful words, 'I excommunicate and debar all who are opposers of our covenants and covenanted Reformation, and all that have taken oaths contrary to our covenants, and such particularly as are takers of the Oath of Abjuration, whether Ministers or others, until they repent' (Reformed Presbytery, The Auchensaugh Renovation . . ., p. 55). Beyond the fascinating and detailed story of the history and reasons for the Auchensaugh renovation of the covenants, these studies also clearly and biblically explain the continuing obligation to renew lawful covenants, makes application to our day, and demonstrates how covenanting was foundational to the Second Reformation. A fine (and unique) set of tapes defending the attainments of our covenanted Reformation! For more information see our bound photocopy The Auchensaugh Renovation . . . by the Reformed Presbytery." -- SWRB
The Auchensaugh Renovation
http://www.covenanter.org/RefPres/auchensaugh.htm
"The author wrote this book `considering the renewed interest taken at present in questions of Church government and establishment,' noting that `there seemed to be some room for a detailed treatment of a career which covers so interesting a period as that embraced between 1690 and 1750.' Macmillan is an important historical link to those who still fight for Christ's Crown and Covenant. `For many years he fought the battle of the Covenants alone, and he fought it on lines of policy and wisdom.' states Reid. Furthermore, the author continues, `I have tried to indicate his position among the `Suffering Remnant' by calling him `a Cameronian Apostle;' for, during the long period of 36 years, he was the sole ordained minister among the scattered congregations of the `Society' people. The name seems not unfitting, and it receives a certain sanction from the authority of Dr. Cunningham, who styled him the `high-priest' of the Societies . . . Further, Macmillan's story is also the record of the development of a most interesting side of Scottish Church life. He may be said, indeed, to have made the history of what, at last, became the Reformed Presbyterian Church. This is so true, that that Church long bore the popular name of the `Macmillanites.' And the name of Macmillan is bound up with more than one congregation still existing.' An important book for those who would trace the backsliding of modern Presbyterianism (the neopresbyterians) and also be encouraged by the remnant of those who remain faithful to the position of the original Covenanters (the paleopresbyterians). This book's 308 pages includes illustrations and a detailed appendix containing important church documents." -- SWRB
"Rutherford's Free Disputation, though scarce, is still one of his most important works with maybe only a few copies of the actual book left in existence. Though Rutherford is affectionately remembered in our day for his Letters, or for laying the foundations of constitutional government (against the divine right of kings) in his unsurpassed LEX, REX, his Free Disputation should not be overlooked for it contains the same searing insights as Lex, Rex. In fact, this book should probably be known as Rutherford's 'politically incorrect' companion volume to LEX, REX. A sort of sequel aimed at driving pluralists and antinomians insane. Written against 'the Belgick Arminians, Socinians, and other Authors contending for lawlesse liberty, or licentious Tolerations of Sects and Heresies,' Rutherford explains the undiluted Biblical solution to moral relativism, especially as it is expressed in ecclesiastical and civil pluralism! (Corporate pluralism being a violation of the first commandment and an affront to the holy God of Scripture). He also deals with conscience, toleration, penology (punishment), and the judicial laws, as related to both the civil and ecclesiastical realms. Excellent sections are also included which address questions related to determining the fundamentals of religion, how covenants bind us, the perpetual obligation of social covenants (with direct application to the Solemn League and Covenant and the covenant-breaking of Cromwell and his sectarian supporters), whether the punishing of seducing teachers be persecution of conscience, and much more. Walker adds these comments and context regarding Rutherford's Free Disputation, 'The principle of toleration was beginning to be broached in England, and in a modified shape to find acceptance there. Samuel Rutherford was alarmed, or rather, I should say, he was horrified, for he neither feared the face of man or argument. He rushed to the rescue of the good old view . . . It is not so easy to find a theoretical ground for toleration; and Rutherford has many plausible things to say against it. With the most perfect confidence, he argues that it is alike against Scripture and common sense that you should have two religions side by side. It is outrageous ecclesiastically, it is sinful civilly. He does not, however, take what I call the essentially persecuting ground. He does not hold that the magistrate is to punish religion as religion. Nay, he strongly maintains that the civil magistrate never aims at the conscience. The magistrate, he urges, does not send anyone, whether a heretic (who is a soul murderer -- RB) or a murderer, to the scaffold with the idea of producing conversion or other spiritual result, but to strengthen the foundations of civil order. But if he gives so much power to the king, he is no lover of despotism withal: the king himself must be under law. To vindicate this great doctrine is the object of another book, the celebrated LEX, REX; of which it has been said by one competent to judge, that it first clearly developed the constitutionalism which all men now accept' (Theology and Theologians . . ., pp. 11-12). In our day Francis Schaeffer, and numerous others, have critiqued many of the problems found in modern society, but most have spent little time developing explicitly Biblical solutions especially regarding the theoretical foundations that Rutherford addresses here. Rutherford's Free Disputation provides a detailed blueprint for laying the foundations that must be laid before any lasting, God-honoring solutions will be found. Furthermore, Rutherford and his writings were the enemies of all governments not covenanted with Christ. This book will give you a very clear picture as to why "the beast" (civil and ecclesiastical) has reserved his special hatred for such teaching. As Samuel Wylie noted '[t]he dispute, then, will not turn upon the point whether religion should be civilly established . . . but it is concerning what religion ought to be civilly established and protected, -- whether the religion of Jesus alone should be countenanced by civil authority, or every blasphemous, heretical, and idolatrous abomination which the subtle malignity of the old serpent and a heart deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, can frame and devise, should be put on an equal footing therewith" (Two Sons of Oil: or, The Faithful Witness For Magistracy and Ministry Upon a Scriptural Basis, softcover). Can our generation swallow Rutherford's hard, anti-pluralistic, Covenanter medicine, poured forth from the bottle of the first commandment, without choking on their carnal dreams of a free and righteous society divorced from God (and His absolute claims upon everyone and everything)? Not without the enabling power of the Holy Spirit -- that is for sure! In summary, this book answers all the hardest questions theonomists (and their wisest and best opponents) have been asking for the last 20-30 years (and these answers are much more in depth than any we have seen in the last couple of millennia [less about a century to account for the apostles]). As the reader will discover, Rutherford was a wealthy man when it came to wisdom (and much advanced theologically), and those who take the time to gaze into the King's treasure house, as exhibited in this book, will find that they are greatly rewarded. Furthermore, because of its uncompromising stand upon the Word of God, this book is sure to be unpopular among a wicked and adulterous generation. However, on the other hand, it is sure to be popular among the covenanted servants of King Jesus! This is one of the best books (in the top five anyway) for advanced study of the Christian faith. We have now obtained an easy-to-read, amazingly clear copy of this very rare, old treasure. Great price too, considering that a copy of the 1649 edition, containing this quality of print, would likely cost upwards of $1000 on the rare book market -- though it is unlikely you would ever see a copy for sale!" -- SWRB
The Covenant Between God and Kings, from A DEFENSE OF LIBERTY
http://www.constitution.org/vct/vindiciae1a.htm
"Over 750 pages which Walker says `contains the amplest exposition and vindication of our old ecclesiastical principles.' Rutherford here gives a classic defense of Presbyterianism, touching on both church government and `the due and just power of the Magistrate in matters of Religion.' Regarding worship, he touches on imagery, idolatry, things indifferent, ceremonies and will worship. Sherman Isbell describes this book as follows: `Rutherford asserts that there is delineated in the NT a form of Church government by elders and Presbyteries which is of permanent obligation; more-over, that discipline and suspension from the sacraments are vested with church officers rather than with the Christian civil magistrate. The book also expounds the Westminster Assembly's principle that the mode of acceptable worship is regulated by the will of Christ as king speaking in the Scriptures; the Church is not at liberty to alter or invent anything in worship or government which goes beyond the pattern in God's Word. Rutherford's writings during the London years provide a significant commentary on the theology of the Westminster Confession and Catechisms' DICTIONARY OF SCOTTISH CHURCH HISTORY AND THEOLOGY, pp. 735-36). An exceedingly rare gem by this celebrated Presbyterian divine and Scottish commissioner to the famous Westminster Assembly." -- SWRB
"Almost 800 pages long, Rutherford here deals with church membership, separation from the visible church, the civil magistrate and religion, communion among churches, the errors of the independents (specifically in New England) and much more. This could be considered the LEX, REX of church government -- another exceedingly rare masterpiece of Presbyterianism! Characterized by Walker as sweeping `over a wider field than most. Most essential points which Gillespie has barely touched, Rutherford carefully considers; as, for instance, the nature of the visible church as such, and its constituent elements. Even in the Erastian controversy he is a necessary supplement to his great contemporary. It is something to me altogether amazing, the mass of thinking about Church questions you have in those writings.' Bannerman, in his Church of Christ calls this a `very learned and elaborate treatise.' Here is a sample of Mr. Rutherford's writing: `A private subtraction and separation from the Ministry of a known wolf and seducer, . . . this the Law of nature will warrant . . . as Parker saith from Saravia, `it is lawful to use that blameless and just defence, if the bad church-guide cannot be deposed.' So the son may save himself by a just defence in fleeing from his mad father, or his distracted friend coming to kill him. Now this defence is not an authoritative act, nor [a] judicial act of authority, but a natural act that is common to any private person, yea to all without the true Church as well as within to take that care in extreme necessity, for the safety of their souls, that they would do for the safety of their bodies' (1642), cited in The Original Covenanter and Contending Witness magazine." -- SWRB
The Covenant Between God and Kings, from A DEFENSE OF LIBERTY
http://www.constitution.org/vct/vindiciae1a.htm
"A compilation of rare citations taken from Puritans, Covenanters, Reformers and others bearing on questions related to God's law, its application to society and the question of negative civil sanctions. Illustrates, on one hand, where the modern Theonomists agree with the older Reformed writers, but on the other hand, clearly shows where the Reconstructionists have fallen short of the historic testimony given by the best Reformed Divines. A great deal of research has gone into this title and quotations are taken from a number of very rare and hard to find books. Sections from the works of Rutherford and Gillespie alone cover pages 11-26. Durham, Dickson, Ferguson, Brown, the London Covenanters (of the Westminster Assembly), Burroughs, Shields, Jenkyn, Usher, Knox, Luther, Calvin, Bullinger, Bucer, Perkins, Shepard, Ridgeley, Dabney, Thornwell, and a host of others all appear in the useful reference manual." -- SWRB
"This is one of the all time classic defenses of the divine right of Presbyterianism. David Hall, the editor, states, the book `was not written as a polemical tract, as if to prop up some moribund tradition; rather it is an exemplar of gentle and reasoned discourse.' Published anonymously, during the sitting of the Westminster Assembly -- because of the Erastian leaning Parliament's `gag rule' -- this work is considered by some as `an even truer record of the Westminster divines' views of government than the final (politically suppressed) standards,' notes the editor. Moreover, Hall goes so far as to state that `perhaps no single work is as illuminating for original intent [of the Westminster Standards] as this rare work printed contemporaneously with the meeting of the Assembly.' It is the third title in a uniform collection of books by 17th century Presbyterians to be published by Naphtali Press. It contains an historical introduction, subject and bibliographic indices, and is retypeset and edited to reflect contemporary spelling, punctuation and usage. David Hall's `The Original Intent of Westminster,' added to this printing, is also very useful. A helpful chart comparing Independency with Presbyterianism is also included. (Hardcover, a limited edition of which only 200 copies have been printed.)" -- SWRB
http://www.naphtali.com/jusextrc.htm
Also available from Crown and Covenant Publications:
http://www.crownandcovenant.com/product_p/ds115.htm
The Form of Presbyterial Church Government
Related WebLinks
Jure Divino Church Government
http://www.covenanter.org/ChurchGovt/churchgovt.htm
Presbyterian Church Government
What the Bible Has to Say About the Nature of Government
Dr. C. Gregg Singer, 48 min.
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=12160372131
Presbyterian Church Government #01: Introduction to Biblical Church Government
Dr. C. Gregg Singer, Presbyterian Church Government
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=1270518133
Presbyterian Church Government #02: Different Forms of Church Government
Dr. C. Gregg Singer, Presbyterian Church Government
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=12705181353
Presbyterian Church Government #03: The Visible Church Offices #1
Dr. C. Gregg Singer, Presbyterian Church Government
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=12705181435
Presbyterian Church Government #04: The Visible Church Offices #2
Dr. C. Gregg Singer, Presbyterian Church Government
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=12705181925
Presbyterian Church Government #05: The Visible Church Offices #3
Dr. C. Gregg Singer, Presbyterian Church Government
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=12705181547
Presbyterian Church Government #06: The Visible Church Offices #4
Dr. C. Gregg Singer, Presbyterian Church Government
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=12705181925
Presbyterian Church Government #07: Presbytery
Dr. C. Gregg Singer, Presbyterian Church Government
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=12705182013
Presbyterian Church Government #08: General Assembly
Dr. C. Gregg Singer, Presbyterian Church Government
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=12705182052
Presbyterian Church Government #09: Commission and Committee
Dr. C. Gregg Singer, Presbyterian Church Government
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=12705182214
Presbyterian Church Government #10: Ordination and Candidates
Dr. C. Gregg Singer, Presbyterian Church Government
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=12705182250
Presbyterian Church Government #11: Licensure and Worship
Dr. C. Gregg Singer, Presbyterian Church Government
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=12705182348
Presbyterian Church Government #12: Worship
Dr. C. Gregg Singer, Presbyterian Church Government
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=12705182423
*Presbyterian Heritage Publications, Library of Presbyterian Heritage Publications and Protestant Heritage Press CD-ROM Library and Library of Presbyterian Heritage Publications and Protestant Heritage Press CD-ROM Library (Dallas, TX [Presbyterian Heritage Publications, P.O. Box 180922, Dallas, 75218]: Presbyterian Heritage Publications, 1999).
Arminianism
See: "Arminianism" in Appendix D: A Selection of Works on Pseudo-Christian Movements
http://www.lettermen2.com/bcrrappd.html#arminianism
Antinomianism
See: Appendix D: A Selection of Works on Pseudo-Christian Movements
http://www.lettermen2.com/bcrrappd.html#antinomianism
Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD. And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them. And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king. And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day. Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles. And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD. And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city. (1 Samuel 8:4-22)
The Treasury of David, Psalm 72, C.H. Spurgeon
Growth of government is the greatest tragedy of the 20th Century. -- Gordon H. Clark in A Christian View of Men and Things
"At Sinai the Lord gave his people a religious and national constitution that would provide permanent guidelines for the moral, physical, and spiritual well-being of his people. The directives given pointed to the uniqueness and transparency of their divine Author." -- John Reid, commenting on Psalm 111
The term "judge," in the Hebrew Scriptures, is often used as equivalent to, `to rule,' or `to govern;' and such a use of the term is quite natural (In the early age there was little division of labour. The judicial, legislative, and executive functions were not separated.), for not only does just judgment, in the strict sense of the word, form an important part of good government, but all proper government is the exercise, not of arbitrary will, but of sound judgment. During a considerable period of the Israelitish history, their supreme magistrates, under Jehovah their King, were termed judges. The use I refer to of the word may be understood by one as well as a hundred instances. Speaking of the Divine government, the psalmist, in the sixty-seventh psalm, says, "Thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth." -- John Brown (of Edinburgh, 1784-1858) commenting on John 12:31 in Discourses and Sayings of Our Lord Jesus Christ, II:244,245
The medieval structure of ecclesiastical authority could not withstand the Protestant idea of sola scriptura -- the Bible alone. One Christian man with a Bible was superior to any pope or council or tradition without it. Luther translated the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into German so the people could read it in their own language and not be subject to an ecclesiastical ruling class. By translating the Bible into the common language, Luther freed the German people from ecclesiastical totalitarianism: The Bible was the written constitution of the church, which the people could now read for themselves. His second major contribution to Western political thought was the idea of a written constitution -- the Bible -- limiting the power and authority of the church (and later political) leaders. There is a direct connection between the Reformation cry of sola scriptura and the American idea of the Constitution -- not any man or body of men -- as the supreme law of the land. -- John W. Robbins, in a tract, Civilization and the Protestant Reformation
"Government seems to me a part of religion itself..." -- William Penn
"If thou wouldst rule well, thou must rule for God, and to do that, thou must be ruled by him....Those who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants." -- William Penn
"Whereas the glory of Almighty God and the good of mankind is the reason and the end of government . . . therefore government itself is a venerable ordinance of God . . ." (April 25, 1689) -- The Great Law of Pennsylvania
"A simple democracy is the devil's own government." -- Benjamin Rush
"Bad men cannot make good citizens. It is impossible that a nation of infidels or idolators should be a nation of freemen. It is when a people forget God that tyrants forge their chains. A vitiated [defective] state of morals, a corrupted public conscience, are incompatible with freedom." -- Patrick Henry
"Let men be good, and the government cannot be bad; if it be ill, they will cure it. But, if men be bad, let the government be never so good, they will endeavor to warp and spoil it to their turn. I know some say, let us have good laws, and no matter for the men that execute them: but let them consider, that though good laws do well, good men do better; for good laws may want good men, and be abolished or evaded by ill men; but good men will never want good laws, nor suffer ill ones." -- William Penn
ANONYMOUS, The Mystery of Magistracy Unveiled: or, God's Ordinance of Magistracy Asserted, Cleared, and Vindicated from Heathenish Dominion, Tyrannous and Antichristian Usurpation, Despisers of Dignities, and Contemners of Authorities (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books).
*Augustine, St. (author), Philip Schaff (editor), Marcus Dods (translator), St. Augustine's City of God and Christian Doctrine [A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church - Volume 2], new edition (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, September 2002), 624 pages, English, ISBN: 0802880991. A Christian classic.
Civil Government
Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. (Psalm 33:12)
http://www.spurgeon.org/treasury/ps072.htm
"If we compare the US Federal Budget to entire economic growth, that is, if we compare Federal Spending as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) we find that in 1900 it was 02.8 percent of GDP, but by 1993 it had grown to 27 percent of (GNP). The US economy grew, of course, during this period, but Federal spending grew ten (10) times as fast as the GDP.
Federal spending growing at ten (10) times the economy partially explains growth in the Cost of Health Care.
Health Care Spending in real terms (adjusted for inflation) increased from negligible in real terms in 1900, to 1 billion in 1930, to 210 billion in 1994. That is an increase of over 2,000 times.
This explains, in part, the skyrocketing cost of Health Care. Increased demands of Federal Spending on Health Care drives up the costs for everyone." -- John W. Robbins, in a lecture, "The Growth of Government in the United States"
"Though the author is unknown, this work has been thought by some to have been written by George Gillespie. It is a fine introduction to Second Reformation thought on civil government. Some sample headings extracted from its pages include: `Of the qualifications required in the Judge or Ruler;' `Of the promised blessing that is to attend the latter days in a righteous rule and ruler;' `Of the judgement and curse attending no rule, or
an evil ruler;' `Of the people's duty under wicked rulers, both towards God and them." 28 pages." -- SWRB
http://www.covenanter.org/CivilGovt/Mystery/themysteryofmagistracyunvailed.htm
Augustine is said to be the greatest Christian thinker next to the Apostle Paul. Luther set the BIBLE and the CONFESSIONS OF SAINT AUGUSTINE above all other books.
"One of the classic texts of Western civilization [originally 22 volumes it explains the fall of Roman in terms of Scripture-- sk]. . . . DE CIVITATE DEI is an important contribution of interest to students of theology, philosophy, ecclesiastical history, the history of political thought, and late antiquity." -- Publisher's Annotation (from the Cambridge University Press edition)
"Augustine began writing THE CITY OF GOD at age 59 [shortly after the city of Rome had been sacked by the Goths in 410 A.D., much to the surprise, it is said, of both the Romans and the Goths.-- sk] and worked on it, off and on, for much of the next 14 years. The impetus for the beginning of this vast work (and its recurring focus) was the charge of Pagans (polytheists) that Christianity was responsible for the decay and demise of the Roman Empire. The charge put forward the claim that the prosperity and social stability of the state was dependent upon polytheistic worship. In response, Augustine arrays several lines of argument, rebutting the assumed 'goodness' of the Pagan state, as such, and detailing the ethical/moral and logical failings of Paganism. Augustine displays tremendous scholarship, employing the writings of Paganism's greatest historians and philosophers in his case against their religious claims. The result is a giant literary, philosophical, historical, theological and exegetical work. . . .
"Against the 'city', i.e., society, of many gods, there is but one alternate society, this Augustine calls The City of God, adopting the expression found in several of King David's psalms. Not only is the society of many gods the society of polytheists, it is also the 'city' of pantheists, atheistic materialists and philosophical Cynics. In the case of the Cynics and atheists, these false gods are the myriad gods of self, indeed, at least as many gods (selves) as there are believers in them. Thus there are two 'cities,' two loves, two ways to understand the big questions of existence, two destinations. Says Augustine:
"The one City began with the love of God; the other had its beginnings in the love of self." XIV:13.
"Augustine reflects deeply here on human nature and the meaning of eternal life and eternal punishment, within an explication of the 'meaning' of history. He writes of all human history as a single narrative. This also a work of Biblical exegesis, as Augustine treats Scripture as a historical document. For Augustine, creation is good, creation exists in time and has a history. Indeed, since God enters into history to show man His love, history itself is sanctified, through the City of God.
"The city of man seeks the praise of men, whereas the height of glory for the other is to hear God in the witness of conscience. The one lifts up its head in its own boasting; the other says to God: 'Thou art my glory, thou liftest up my head.' (Psalm 3.4) In the city of the world both the rulers themselves and the people they dominate are dominated by the lust for domination; whereas in the City of God all citizens serve one another in charity. . ." XIV:28-- Wesley L. Janssen, Reader's Comment
"The book contains the parallel histories of what Augustine terms the City of God and the City of Man, both descended from Adam. The City of Man is founded on murder (specifically fratricide, the murder of a brother, viz. Cain and Abel, Romulus and Remus). The City of Man has been deceived and debased, fallen under the sway of pagan gods, which appear to be either demons or, at best indifferent or benign spirits that are mistakenly worshipped. The City of God, on the other hand, is a pilgrim on this earth, toiling here in the joyous expectation of final salvation in God's Kingdom." -- Penn Jacobs, Reader's Comment
"His 'grand unifying theory' of Western civilization, uniting the organization of Rome with the thought of Greece and the revelation of the Bible, has been accepted as the de facto definition of what it means to be Western until only the very last few decades of our time. . . .
"This seamless blend of literary prowess from Rome's greatest scholar and highest ranking professor generates for the reader a powerful education in philosophy, history and theology, tied together with awesome rhetoric, that is uniquely powerful, erudite, insightful and useful all at once.
"From a historical and literary perspective, this may have been the very most important book ever written by reputedly human hands. ["Calvin paraphrased Augustine about 400 times in THE INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION." -- C. Gregg Singer]
"As it is written for the leaders of society and not for the average citizen, be ready to be intrigued, challenged to thought, and impressed with every line.
"By no means must the reader have any kind of religious belief to benefit from this book, nor must the reader agree with all that Augustine postulates, nor can the reader, due to the great distance of time separating him from us and improvements in scientific knowledge since his time. The importance, greatness and power of the writing itself commend it to us." -- Chris Miller, Reader's Comment
"One who has been introduced to Augustine through his auto-biographical CONFESSIONS may find it easier to follow his logic as he discusses the numerous topics of THE CITY OF GOD." -- Reader's Comment
"It would do the modern Church well to read this book since Augustine places the City of God (i.e., Christ and His Church) within the context of the pagan world in which we live, and its message is as applicable today as it was 1,500 years ago when he first wrote it." -- Reader's Comment
"History and theology in one rich volume." -- Reader's Comment
St. Augustine's final sentence of THE CITY OF GOD is "All things must be referred to the Glory of God."
"When you see that, then you will see the key to the story, and you will see the key to history." -- C. Gregg Singer
"The classic exposition of history in terms of Scripture." -- C. Gregg Singer
City of God, Saint Augustine, Philip Schaff (editor), Rev. Marcus Dods, D.D. (translator)
http://www.ccel.org/fathers/NPNF1-02/
The Confessions of Saint Augustine
"The story of his sinful pursuits before conversion, and of his conversion, then of his confession to God, and his discoveries of the greatness of God after his conversion." -- Publisher's Annotation.
http://www.ccel.org/a/augustine/confessions/confessions.html
The Works of Saint Augustine
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jod/augustine.html
The Comprehensive John Calvin Collection (CD-ROM) (Contains some works of Augustine.)
http://www.ageslibrary.com
The Comprehensive John Calvin Collection CD-ROM in Logos Library System (LLS) format
http://www.logosbiblesoftware.com/logosbiblesoftware/calcom.html
The Classical View of History (Augustine)
Dr. C. Gregg Singer, "The Christian View of History," lecture series.
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=7150273140
The Augustinian Approach to History
Dr. C. Gregg Singer, 47 min.
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=9150393751
Church History #09: Augustine #1
Dr. C. Gregg Singer, "Church History" lecture series.
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=41504163949
Church History #10: Augustine #2
Dr. C. Gregg Singer, "Church History" lecture series.
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=41504164048
Church History #11: Augustine #3
Dr. C. Gregg Singer, "Church History" lecture series.
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=41504164152
BARROW, REG, John Knox, Oliver Cromwell, God's Law and the Reformation of Civil Government (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books.
"Many consider Knox one of the greatest Reformers ever and God used him to win the nation of Scotland to Christ. Knox laid the foundations for the Covenanters that followed, and they in turn gave us the clearest foretaste of the millennium glory to come in the magnificent Solemn League and Covenant. Speaking of these Reformation attainments McFeeters notes, 'The fathers are worthy of all praise for this unprecedented effort to build the national government upon the true foundation of God's will, and administer it by men in Covenant with Jesus Christ, the King of kings. This was the first attempt to erect a Christian government, in which the fear of God should pervade every department and characterize every official' (Sketches of the Covenanters, p. 155-156). This book deals with some of Knox's most controversial political writings, demonstrating that he was what Barrow calls a 'historic' theonomist (like Rutherford and Gillespie after him). It also offers some fine tuning for 'modern' theonomists, which aims at leading them into the 'footsteps of the flock' and closer to the classic or historic Presbyterian/Covenanter view of law (and away from some of the anabaptist/libertarian tendencies that sometimes arise among modern theonomists). Numerous resources, recently published, dealing with civil disobedience and opposition to tyranny are also listed. The first appendix in this book contains Barrow's letter to Christian Renewal expressing his strong disagreement with an unfavorable and inaccurate review of Michael Wagner's Presbyterian Political Manifesto. In it he shows how the Reformers and their confessions of faith supported the civil establishment of the one true Christian religion, while at the same time publicly excluding Papist's, pagans and other heretics from places of civil rule (in countries blessed with the light of the gospel). The second appendix contains a series of letters dedicated to proving why Barrow calls Cromwell the 'Judas of the Covenant.' It demonstrates Cromwell's reckless abandon in violating his sacred vows to the Lord in the Solemn League and Covenant, while also showing why Cromwell's wicked, antichristian views concerning toleration and liberty of conscience led people away from Scriptural standards and helped open the floodgates to modern atheistic pluralism. In short, Cromwell was the prototype of our contemporary pragmatic politician, adept at equivocation and setting his own glory and government above all other concerns, including the glory and government of God. In this vein Barrow contends that Cromwell, unaffectionately dubbed the 'late usurper' by the covenanted Presbyterians of the mid seventeenth-century, was used of the devil to accomplish things in the civil and ecclesiastical realm that he (i.e. satan) could never have accomplished with the more obviously antichristian religions of that day (which were not pluralistic theologically, such Romanism, Episcopalianism, etc.). For Cromwell laid his axe of ungodly toleration and pretended liberty of conscience to the root of the tree of covenanted Reformation in a much more subtle manner than the previous 'midwives to antichrist,' and thus his sectarianism better served the devious designs of the devil during those days. This section also exposes Cromwell as a Erastian tyrant, a liar, and a dictator, who (with the help of his sectarian army) executed the covenanted Presbyterian minister Christopher Love (Cromwell's soldiers even threatened to shoot Thomas Manton for preaching at Love's funeral), sent many other Presbyterian ministers to jail (including Thomas Watson), disbanded the Scottish general assembly (at gunpoint), and eventually began negotiations with Papists (with the intent of granting them a measure of 'liberty' to more freely practice their superstitions and soul murder). This is not the view of Cromwell that you will hear from modern historians and theologians who have abandoned the context of covenanted Reformation (how could it be?), for as Rushdoony has correctly pointed out, 'Men cannot give a meaning to history that they themselves lack, nor can they honor a past which indicts them for their present failures' (A Biblical Philosophy of History, p. 135)." -- SWRB
John Knox, Oliver Cromwell, God's Law and the Reformation of Civil Government
http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualnls/Crom.htm
Courtois, Stéphane (author), Nicolas Werth (author), Jean-Louis Panné (author), Andrzej Paczkowski (author), Karel Bartosek (author), Jean-Louis Margolin (author), Mark Kramer (Editor), Jonathan Murphy (translator), Stephane Courtois (author), Jean-Louis Panne (author), The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression (Harvard University Press, October 15, 1999), 912 pages, ISBN: 0674076087 9780674076082.
"Already famous throughout Europe, this international bestseller plumbs recently opened archives in the former Soviet bloc to reveal the actual, practical accomplishments of Communism around the world: terror, torture, famine, mass deportations, and massacres. Astonishing in the sheer detail it amasses, the book is the first comprehensive attempt to catalogue and analyze the crimes of Communism over seventy years.
" 'Revolutions, like trees, must be judged by their fruit,' Ignazio Silone wrote, and this is the standard the authors apply to the Communist experience." -- Publisher's Annotation
*DAVIES, SAMUEL, The Divine Government the Joy of the World (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books).
"Expands upon the reign and rule of King Jesus and the great blessings that this entails." -- SWRB
Hall, David W., Savior or Servant? Putting Government in Its Place (Kuyper Institute).
Table of Contents
"Savior or Servant? is the single best volume of Christian thinking on the issue of the increasingly intrusive state . . . Theology at its very best: orthodox, relevant, and provocative." -- George Grant
"SAVIOR OR SERVANT? PUTTING GOVERNMENT IN ITS PLACE is an attempt to define the role of the state: Shall it be a minister or a Messiah? Using ancient but timeless information, David W. Hall has surveyed the Bible and arrived at a coherent theology of the state. This study succeeds in identifying the responsibilities that the civil state is mandated to do, permitted to do, and prohibited from doing. Along the way, it is discovered that all political schemes and issues are fraught with theological value. Moreover, the most enduring grid to keep government in its rightful place is found in the Bible. Drawing upon thousands of verses and hundreds of thinkers, this volume is comprehensive yet readable. Theologians from Augustine to Calvin and from Aquinas to Barth are studied and presented in a non-technical manner. The Christian who is interested in politics should absorb these summaries before launching out into unstudied political activism. Rather than adopting a politics-as-usual posture, Hall challenges partisans from the right and from the left. He summons Christians to the old paths, which God's Word has occupied for centuries. Discussed in these chapters are perennial matters of practical importance, such as: taxation; resistance to evil governments; methods of influence; the escalation of rights; limited government; moral qualities for leaders; separation of powers. This book will provide excellent fodder for discussion and guidance. It returns spiritual principles to their place, while seeking to put government in its proper place.
Savior or Servant? Is a revival of a classic approach to limited government. In a time when nations are finally beginning to shrink bloated governments, a surprising source commends itself as an able assistant in reform. The scriptural view of the state, removed from the varied fads of political science, provides an enduring perspective by which to measure all states. This study begins with a survey of biblical teaching on pressing matters of state today. Following the contours of the Old and New Testaments, Savior or Servant? calls all levels of government to a servant posture, rather than allowing officials to dominate. A historical tracing of the best and most pertinent that theology has to offer on the subject is contained in these pages." -- Publisher's Annotation
From Reformation to Revolution: 1500-1650, Chapter 10: Savior or Servant? Putting Government in Its Place
http://capo.org/premise/96/mar/p960304.html
*KNOX, JOHN, Against Romish Rites and Political and Ecclesiastical Tyranny, 1554. Alternate title: A FAITHFUL ADMONITION TO THE PROFESSORS OF GOD'S TRUTH IN ENGLAND (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books). Available on Reformation Bookshelf CD #15, ISBN: 0921148941 9780921148944. EEBO.
"Formerly titled A FAITHFUL ADMONITION TO THE PROFESSORS OF GOD'S TRUTH IN ENGLAND, this letter is said to be 'undoubtedly the most important' of Knox's writings (up to that time) by W. Stanford Reid in TRUMPETER OF GOD (p. 114). Furthermore Reid notes that Knox's '[v]iews on the magistrate expressed in the FAITHFUL ADMONITION, were to have an important influence upon much of his future conduct, and upon the development of the Reformation in both England and Scotland.' The editor of KNOX'S WORKS states, '[t]he object of the ADMONITION was twofold. The one was to animate those who had made a good profession to perseverance, and to avoid the sin of apologetical, or appearing to conform to the 'abominable idolatry' re-established in England; the other, to point out the dangers to be apprehended in when the kingdom became subjected to the dominion of strangers.' Knox uses very strong language here, in the hopes of getting through to those who came to be termed Nicodemites (i.e. those who thought that they could 'keep faith secretly in the heart, and yet do as idolaters do,' in Knox's own words). Written at a time when the true church had been driven underground by Roman Catholic persecution, it was said concerning this letter that 'many other godly men besides have been exposed to the risk of their property, and even life itself, upon the sole ground of either having had this book in their possession, or having read it.' Kevin Reed gives an excellent summary of this letter in SELECTED WRITINGS OF JOHN KNOX, when, in part, he writes, '[w]hile acknowledging the risk of persecution to the faithful, the reformer perceives a greater danger in compromising with idolatry. Government persecution may bring disfavour of men, loss of personal goods and, in some cases, physical death; but idolatry brings down the wrath of God, resulting in grievous punishments, now and through eternity. Idolatry also invites a curse upon the posterity of the nation. In an intense pastoral appeal, Knox strongly admonishes his readers to avoid conforming to the Romish rites of worship' (p. 220). For those who would rather read many of these Knox items with contemporary spelling, punctuation, and grammar we highly recommend the SELECTED WRITINGS OF JOHN KNOX." -- SWRB
http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualnls/FaithAdm.htm
*KNOX, JOHN, John Knox Debates Theonomy, Idolatry and Civil Resistance in the General Assembly of 1564 (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books).
" 'Perhaps the most thoroughgoing Calvinist,' writes W. Stanford Reid (in Christian History magazine, Vol. 5, No. 4), 'who took the teacher's (Calvin-RB) ideas to their logical conclusions, was the Scot, John Knox.' This debate is a perfect example of Knox's consistent Calvinism. In fact one wonders about a person's claim to consistent Calvinism at all if he denies the sovereignty of God in the civil arena (i.e. by denying the applicability of the first table of the law, especially the first two commandments, to the realm of the civil magistrate -- along with their penal sanctions as displayed in the Judicial laws of the Old Testament). Knox certainly did not shrink back from the binding nature of the law on these points. He even openly proclaimed, in this debate, that the death penalty should be carried out against idolaters -- and this was in the context of debating the Queen's Mass and her favoring the idolatry of Romanism. With boldness like this, it is easy to see why it was said over Knox's open grave, '[h]ere lies a man who neither flattered nor feared any flesh.' This debate shows conclusively that Knox was a theonomist, in the sense that he believed in the continuing binding validity of OT penal sanctions. Moreover it demonstrates that it is the duty of all ministers to preach that the civil magistrate is bound to uphold the law of God and promote and protect only the one true Reformed religion. Furthermore Knox argued, from the OT, that to tolerate public idolatry is to disobey God and bring a curse upon the land. Though Knox's Reformation, Revolution and Romanism is his most important political writing, this debate displays the very same principles, as Knox applied them in 'the heat of battle,' against the queen's secretary, William Maitland of Lethington. This particular debate, as well as many other large sections, are edited out of The History of the Reformation in Scotland as presently reprinted by The Banner of Truth Trust. However, this debate can also be found in the bound photocopy edition of volume 2 of Knox's Works or, with contemporary spelling and punctuation, in On Rebellion (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1994, see page XX in this catalogue). Reid (TRUMPETER OF GOD, pp. 234-235) notes that '[t]he implications of this debate were far reaching' and that '[a]s far as Knox personally was concerned, this debate also marked a turning point in his career.' Also of great importance was the situation that occurred '[w]hen Maitland quoted Luther, Musculus, Calvin, and others to support the requirement of absolute obedience, Knox replied that they either spoke in a situation in which they had no power to resist the ruler or they were refuting arguments of Anabaptists who rejected all civil government. Unfaithful rulers could therefore be removed by the people if they had the power to do so. In this position he was supported by John Craig, his colleague in St. Giles, and by most, although not all, of the other ministers' (Trumpeter, p. 234). As present civil governments continue to promote defiance of the laws of 'the Prince of the kings of the Earth,' our great King the Lord Jesus Christ, these arguments will become more and more useful, among those who seek to obey the Lord in all matters." -- SWRB
Reformation, Revolution and Romanism (1558), John Knox
"This has been called John Knox's most important political writing. It also deals with Romanism, God's law and much more. The full printed version of this text is free at http://www.swrb.com/ newslett/FREEBOOK/JKn ox.htm or for sale in Knox's 6 volume works at http://www.swrb.com/ catalog/K.htm."
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?currSection=sermonssource&sermonID=1030075041
*KNOX, JOHN, National Repentance and Reformation (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books).
"Formerly titled 'A Brief Exhortation to England for the Speedy Embracing of the Gospel, 1559.' Mitchell in The Scottish Reformation (p. 80) cites Dr. Merle D'Aubigne on Knox: 'The blood of warriors ran in the veins of the man who was to become one of the most intrepid champions of Christ's army . . . He was active, bold, thoroughly upright and perfectly honest, diligent in his duties, and full of heartiness for his comrades.' The warrior in Knox was certainly roused for battle in this production. Kevin Reed (Selected Writings of John Knox), p. 580 comments, 'Some historians have reflected negatively on the vehemence of Knox's remarks. Perhaps they should peruse the long list of the martyrs named in the appendix to this work. Critics may then find a clue for understanding the reformer's zeal. Knox is discussing serious matters of life and death -- spiritual issues which affect us deeply in this life, and for eternity.' Magistrates everywhere today need to hear this message again; God has not changed -- there are still corporate curses for disobedience at a national level and corporate blessings for those nations 'that kiss the Son' (cf. Psalm 2)." -- SWRB
*KNOX, JOHN, The Works of John Knox, 6 volumes, David Laing (editor), (New York, NY: AMS Press Incorporated). Available on Reformation Bookshelf CD #1, ISBN: 0921148674 9780921148678. Also available in the (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books). Available on The Amazing Christian Library, DVD One, CD #6. A Christian classic.
Vol. 1 - Unedited History of the Reformation in Scotland (Book 1 and 2) and 18 appendices. | Vol. 2 - Unedited History of the Reformation in Scotland (Book 3, 4 and 5) and six appendices, index, etc. | Vol. 3 - EPISTLES, ADMONITIONS, etc. Includes That the Sacrifice of the Mass is Idolatry, also, writings on justification by faith, prayer, the Lord's Supper, obedience to magistrates, an exposition of the sixth Psalm, letters of warning, comfort and more. | Vol. 4 - Includes The Appellation . . . to the Scottish Nobility, The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women, Answers Concerning Baptism, Form of Prayers/Sacraments in Geneva 1556, Letter to the Queen, Summary of the Proposed Second Blast of the Trumpet, and much more. | Vol. 5 - Includes On Predestination, in Answer to the Cavillations by an Anabaptist (462 pp.), which Boettner, in his Reformed Doctrine of Predestination, calls Knox's chief theological work. Also, A Letter to John Foxe, Names of Martyrs, etc. | Vol. 6 - Includes the Life of Knox, Letters relating to Reformation in Scotland, The Book of Common Order, a debate concerning the Mass, Fasting, The Order of Excommunication and Public Repentance, indices of names, places and the general index, etc., Still Waters Revival Books, 1864.
"Here is a chance to touch the flame that ignited whole nations for covenanted Reformation. John Knox is considered by many to have been the most biblically consistent and thoroughgoing of all the great Reformers of the sixteenth century. `John Knox was in fact the embodiment of the Scottish Reformation as its preacher, theologian, liturgist, historian, and catalyst for reform.' (Hall and Hall, [editors] Paradigms in Polity: Classic Readings in Reformed and Presbyterian Church Government [Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1994], p. 219).`With this concern for purity of worship,' notes Kevin Reed regarding Knox, `it is no wonder that the Scottish Reformation was the most thorough among any of the Protestant nations.' (From the introduction to John Knox, True and False Worship: A Vindication of the Doctrine that the Sacrifice of the Mass is Idolatry [Dallas, TX: Presbyterian Heritage Publications, 1550 reprinted 1994], p.14.). `I know not,' states George Smeaton, `if ever so much piety and genius were lodged in such a frail and weak body. Certain I am, that it will be difficult to find one in whom the gifts of the Holy Spirit shone so bright to the comfort of the church.' (Cited in Thomas M'Crie, The Life of John Knox [1831], p. 272.) The Works of John Knox listed here is the complete six volume set collected by David Laing, 1895. Concerning this 6 volume collection, Kyle, in The Mind of John Knox (p. 14) notes, `The only real basis for a study of Knox's thought must be the writings of the reformer himself. From 1846 to 1864, David Laing collected and edited nearly all of Knox's extant writings. This remarkable collection, which scholars regard highly, is indispensable for any serious study of John Knox.' Contains much that is related to worship questions and the blessings that God pours out upon Churches that keep the second commandment -- as well as the curses that follow those who reject the regulative principle of worhsip." -- SWRB. A Christian classic.
Knox, John, Vol. 1 - Unedited History of the Reformation in Scotland (Book 1- 2) and 18 appendices.
"Reid, in his Trumpeter of God, notes that Knox `wrote history as a prophet' and that, wherever he could, he used original sources, many of which he reproduced. Furthermore, he proclaims that this `is still a work that no one interested in this area can afford to neglect.' As W.C. Dickinson has commented, `it is his monument, for in it he puts flesh and blood on the whole Reformation movement.' Innes (John Knox, p. 45) says of this work, `[t]he author who has enabled us to see his own confused and changing age under 'the broad clear light of that wonderful book' the History of the Reformation in Scotland, and who outside that book was the utterer of many an armed and winged word which pursues and smites us to this day, must have been born with nothing less than genius -- genius to observe, to narrate, and to judge. Even had he written as a mere recluse and critic, looking out upon his world from a monk's cell or from the corner of a housetop, the vividness, the tenderness, the sarcasm and the humour would still have been there.' Moreover, Burton writes, `[t]here certainly is in the English language no other parallel to it in clearness, vigour, and picturesqueness with which it renders the history of a stirring period' (cited in Innes, John Knox, p. 45). This photocopy edition far surpasses the edited down version that is available in paperback. Over 600 pages of stirring Reformation history." -- SWRBKnox, John, Vol. 2 - Unedited History of the Reformation in Scotland (Book 3, 4 and 5) and six appendices, index, etc.
"Knox portrayed the origins and development of a movement and not a mere chronology of events... Knox based his arguments on original sources and he often cited the documents in full. When Knox's History is compared to the contemporary vernacular narratives of Bishop Leslie and Sir James Melville, the superiority of Knox's work becomes evident. For the most part, these writers were preoccupied with petty details and had no conception of the momentous issues that hung on the events they recorded... Knox used history to demonstrate his single-track philosophy. And his philosophy said: 'The hearts of men, their thoughts, and their actions are but in the hands of God.' Lee said Knox's History was a sermon without an audience, a preaching book, one long inflammatory speech in behalf of God's truth as the reformer saw it.' (Kyle, The Mind of John Knox, p. 13). Our editions of volumes one and two of Knox's Works contain the only full, unedited version of Knox's massive History of the Reformation in Scotland available today." -- SWRBKnox, John, Vol. 3 - EPISTLES, ADMONITIONS, etc.
"Includes `... That the Sacrifice of the Mass is Idolatry.' Also, writings on justification by faith, prayer, the Lord's supper, obedience to magistrates, an exposition of the sixth Psalm, letters of warning, comfort and more." -- SWRBKnox, John, Vol. 4
"Includes `The Appellation... to the Scottish Nobility,' `The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women,' Answers Concerning Baptism, Form of Prayers/Sacraments in Geneva 1556, `Letter to the Queen,' `Summary of the Proposed Second Blast of the Trumpet,' and much more." -- SWRBKnox, John, Vol. 5
"Includes `On Predestination, in Answer to the Cavillations by an Anabaptist' (462 pp.), which Boettner, in his Reformed Doctrine of Predestination, calls Knox's `chief theological work.' Also, A Letter to John Foxe, Names of Martyrs, etc. 536 pages." -- SWRBKnox, John, Vol. 6
"Includes the Life of Knox, Letters relating to Reformation in Scotland, The Book of Common Order, a debate concerning the Mass, Fasting, `The Order of Excommunication and Public Repentance,' indices of names, places and the general index, etc. 755 pages." -- SWRB
Knox, John. The history of the reformation of religion within the realm of Scotland. ... Together with the life of the author, and several curious pieces wrote by him, ... By the Reverend Mr. John Knox, ... To which is added, I. An admonition to England and Scotland ... by Antoni Gilby. II. The first and second books of discipline; ... Glasgow, 1761. (ECCO) Gale Document Number CW3318181602
*OWEN, JOHN, God's Presence With a People the Spring of Their Prosperity; With Their Special Interest in Abiding in Him (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series and Hardcover. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books). Available on Reformation Bookshelf CD #25, ISBN: 0921148208 9780921148203. A Christian classic.
Owen preaches at length, 21 pages, on God's presence with a people both individually and corporately in a sermon on the text "And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you." (2 Chronicles 15:2) delivered to Parliament October 30, 1656.
"The great concernment of any people or nation is, to know that all their prosperity is from the presence of God amongst them, and to attend to that which will give continuance thereunto. . . .
"There is a presence of God in respect of providential dispensations. . . . -- attended with peculiar love, favor, good-will, special care towards them with whom he is so present. So Abimelech observed that he was with Abraham, Genesis 21:22, "God is with thee in all that thou doest," -- with thee to guide thee, bless thee, preserve thee, as we shall see afterward. So he promised to be with Joshua, "I will be with thee," Joshua 1:5; and so he was with Gideon, "The Lord is with thee," Judges 6:12, -- to bless him in his great undertaking; and so with Jeremiah, "I am with thee," Jeremiah 15:20. This is fully expressed, Isaiah 43:1,2, "I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee." And this is the presence of God here intimated, -- his presence with the people as to special providential dispensations, as is manifest from the whole discourse of the prophet; and wherein this consists, shall be afterward at large declared. . . .
"There is an abiding with God in national administrations; -- this is a fruit of the other, in those who are called to them. And that this is principally here intended is evident from that use that Asa made of this information and exhortation of the prophet. He did not only look to his personal walking thereupon, but also immediately set upon the work of ordering the whole affairs of the kingdom so as God might be glorified thereby. How this may be effected, shall at large afterward be declared. What hath already been spoken may suffice for a foundation of that proposition which I shall this day insist upon; and it is this, --
"The presence of God with a people, in special providential dispensations for their good, depends on their obediential presence with him in national administrations to his glory: "The Lord is with you, while ye be with him. . . ."
"What is the rule and measure of God's continuance with his people in the covenant of grace? Plainly this, -- that he will never forsake them; and, on that account, will take care that they shall never forsake him, but abide with him forever. It is not whilst they do so and so, he will abide with them; and when they cease so to do, he will forsake them, as to his federal and covenant presence; -- there is not such a sandy foundation left us of our abiding with God in Christ. See the tenor of the covenant, Jeremiah 31:33, 32:38-40. The sum is, that God will be with them, and take care that they always abide with him; and therefore hath he provided for all interveniences imaginable, that nothing shall violate this union. God lays his unchangeableness as the foundation of the covenant, Malachi 3:6, and he therein makes us unchangeable; -- not absolutely so, for we change every moment; but with respect to the terms and bounds of the covenant, he hath undertaken that we shall never leave him. The law of God's presence in respect of providential dispensations, and all special privileges attending it, is quite of another importance: it is purely conditional, as you may see in my text. The tenor of it is expressed to the height, 1 Samuel 2:30, "I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me forever: but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." Here is no alteration of counsel or purpose in God; but merely an explanation of the rule, law, and tenor of providential dispensations; -- no interpretation of the covenant of grace (Eli held not the priesthood by that covenant); but an explication of the tenor of a privilege given in special providence, Psalm 89:32,33. Hence is that variety of God's dealings with men mentioned in the Scripture; which yet are always righteous, according to one or other of these rules and laws. . . .
"I suppose I need not go for proof beyond the observation of the constant tenor of God's proceedings with his people of old. When did he not deal thus with them? What instance can be given of transgressing this rule? Is the whole story of the nation of the Jews any thing but the illustration of this proposition? Some ruled well, and sought the Lord; and the Lord was with them, and prospered them in all their ways; — some fell from him, and walked according to their own imaginations; and the Lord cut them short on that account; -- yea, sometimes the same man, as Solomon, Asa, Uzziah, experienced both these states and conditions. Hath not the state of all nations, since they came into the power of men professing the knowledge of him, been the same? Look on the Roman empire; did it not flourish under the hand of men who ruled with God, and were faithful with the saints? Is not the present distraction of it, under the fury and cruelty of Turk and Pope, the issue of the violence, unrighteousness, idolatry, luxury, and persecution of ill governors? Doth not the demonstration of all God's people in the world -- the consideration whereof, in particular, might be insisted on as the ground and reason of the truth insisted on -- require that it should be thus Leviticus 26:1, and almost the whole book of Deuteronomy, are sermons on this text; and every verse, almost, in them would afford a new confirmation of the truth in hand. . . .
"The second use of this pillar was, to give them protection and defense in their ways; so Exodus 14:19,20,24. This protected them from the Egyptians; -- and from thence God troubled their enemies out of the pillar; that is, from his especial presence. This use of it is insisted on, Isaiah 4:5,6. The cloud, that was as smoke by day, and as fire by night, was also a shadow, a place of refuge, and a covert; in one word, a protection or a defense. And this is a second thing which is in God’s special presence, -- he will protect or defend them with whom he is so present. He is their dwellingplace, Psalm 90:1, then, when in this world they have none; their refuge in the time of trouble: so Isaiah 25:4, 26:1, 31:4. Promises and instances to make this good abound; — they are known to all; the time would fail me to insist upon them. I might go over all the causes, means, and ways of the fears, dangers, ruin of such a people, and show you how a defense is provided against them all. Are their fears from themselves, because of their folly, weakness, and division? or from pretended friends, because of their envy and desertion? or from open enemies, because of their power, cruelty, malice, and revenge? A defense is provided on every account. Heat, rain, tempests, storms, adversity, prosperity, -- all are provided against, where God is present, Isaiah 32:1,2.
"And if any people in the world have experience of this truth, we have it this day. Had not the Lord been with us, who had not destroyed us? Enemies, friends, abroad, at home, our own follies, — all, any of them, had done the work, had not the Lord himself been with us. . . .
"That we may abide with God, this is indispensably required, -- that we may have peace with him in Jesus Christ. If we are never with him, we cannot abide with him; no man can abide where he never cornea The acceptance of our persons lies at the bottom of the acceptance of our duties. As the special presence of God with any, is in and by Christ, and no otherwise, so is our abiding with God in and through him. "God with us" is the name of Christ: our being with God is in him who is our peace. Two cannot walk together, unless they be agreed, Amos 3:3.
"Now, because this is not to be expected from all the individuals of a nation, yet this thing is to be endeavored, -- that the rulers of it be such as have this interest. I do not divest of a share in government, those who have no share in Christ, if lawfully called thereunto; but I say, when God gives governors whom he intends to make a blessing unto a people, they shall be such as are blessed of him in Christ. And if ever the government of this nation, in this present constitution, -- suppose it the most exactly framed and balanced, in the several parts of it, for the furtherance of public good, -- be devolved into the hands of men not interested in God by Christ, though the constitution may be absolutely good, yet the government will not be blessed, and the nation will be ruined; for God and his glory will depart, Micah 5:5,6. It is Christ that is our peace, even in outward troubles. . . .
"This, then, I say, is pre-required, as a qualification of any person to the performance of this duty of abiding with God. It is the psalmist's advice, Psalm 2:11,12. Let this principle be always owned amongst you; by it honor Christ in the world. Give him the pre-eminence; it is the Father's will he should have it in all things. Expect not the presence of God, but upon this account. Bear testimony herein against the world of profane men, who despise these things. Seeing, then, it cannot be expected to have this qualification diffused universally, as yet, through the body of the people, let the rulers take care that they be not the cause of God's departure from us. . . ." -- John Owen
This sermon is also availabe on Reformation Bookshelf CD #25, ISBN: 0921148208 9780921148203.
Owen, John, 1616-1683, God's presence with a people, the spring of their prosperity; with their speciall interest in abiding with Him. A sermon, preached to the Parliament of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland, at Westminster, Octob. 30. 1656. A day of solemn humiliation. By John Owen, D.D. a servant of Jesus Christ, in the work of the Gospel. Printed by Order of Parliament, 1656, EEBO.
The sermons is also found in the various editions of THE COMPLETE WORKS OF JOHN OWEN.
*Owen, John, (1616-1683) The Complete Works of John Owen, 16 volumes, Alternate title: THE WORKS OF JOHN OWEN (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust). ISBN-10: 0851513921 ISBN-13: 9780851513928. See Chapter 1 for annotation on all 16 volumes. Available on The Amazing Christian Library, THE COMPLETE WORKS OF JOHN OWEN including HEBREWS (OCR digital text), DVD One, CD #1. Many separate works by Owen may be found in the Reformation Bookshelf 30 CD Set, the
forthcoming Calvinism Bookshelf 30 CD Set (as of August 2008), and the forthcoming forthcoming Protestant Bookshelf 30 CD Set (as of August 2008)
John Owen (1616-1683) "is by common consent not the most versatile, but the greatest among Puritan theologians. For solidity, profundity, massiveness and majesty in exhibing from Scripture God's ways with sinful mankind there is no one to touch him. . . ." -- J.I. Packer in A Quest for Godliness, p. 81
"To master his works is to be a profound theologian." -- C.H. Spurgeon
"The Banner of Truth Trust completed in May, 1968, the re-issue of the complete English works of Owen, his seven volumes on the Epistle of Hebrews excepted. All of these volumes `are of the greatest value' (Dr. Lloyd-Jones) but for newcomers to Owen we especially recommend the four volumes in the Practical Division (vols. 6-9.) . . ." -- William J. Grier
"His works on communion, Christian life, and the person and glory of Christ, the work of the Holy Spirit, etc. are of the utmost value to any serious-minded Christian." -- Jay P. Green, Sr.
John Owen is an example of a great theologian who prescribed to independency, and was unable to attain to covenanted reformation. He was not a member of the Westminster Assembly of Divines.
*PRICE, GREG, The Extent of God's Law, Antichrist, Beastly Civil Governments, the Family, Christian Education, Contentment and the Eight Commandment (Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books), 1 audio cassette.
"An amazing unfolding of the eighth commandment, as well as the rest of the decalogue, which includes numerous specific applications to various areas of thought and life (most relevant to the contemporary Christian). Price explains how to avoid the extremes of legalism and antinomianism, while expounding the classic Reformed view of the law as it applies to the individual, family, church and state." -- SWRB
*RENWICK, JAMES, The Right of Dissent From an Immoral Civil Government (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books). Available on Reformation Bookshelf CD #26, ISBN: 0921148224 9780921148227.
"Maintains the hard-core covenanter position, the great principle of dissent and separation from immoral civil governments. Argues that mere existence does not qualify a civil government as 'the ordinance of God' (Romans 13:2). Answers common objections to this position, including how Joseph, Nehemiah and Daniel could hold office under immoral civil governments. Renwick was a hunted Covenanter minister, who was martyred (at 26 years of age) for his uncompromising defense of the work of covenanted reformation. Willson's book, CIVIL GOVERNMENT and Samuel B. Wylie's softcover book TWO SONS OF OIL: OR, THE FAITHFUL WITNESS FOR MAGISTRACY AND MINISTRY UPON A SCRIPTURAL BASIS." -- SWRB
*Rushdoony, Rousas J., Institutes of Biblical Law, 3 volumes (Vallecito, CA: Ross House Books), ISBN: 1879998130.
Volume 1, INSTITUTES OF BIBLICAL LAW, 890 pages, ISBN-10: 0875524109.
"A monumental volume . . . Deeply explores the meaning and application of the Ten Commandments for today in civil government, social ethics, and personal conduct." -- GCB
"Many consider this to be the author's most important work. With indices. -- Publisher's Annotation
Volume 2, LAW AND SOCIETY, 752 pages, ISBN-10: 1879998238.
"The relationship of Biblical Law to communion and community, the sociology of the Sabbath, the family and inheritance, and much more are covered in the second volume. Contains an appendix by Herbert Titus. With indices." -- Publisher's Annotation
Volume 3, THE INTENT OF THE LAW, 252 pages, ISBN-10: 1879998130.
" 'God's law is much more than a legal code; it is a covenantal law. It establishes a personal relationship between God and man.' The first section summarizes the case laws. The author tenderly illustrates how the law is for our good, and makes clear the difference between the sacrificial laws and those that apply today. The second section vividly shows the practical implications of the law. The examples catch the reader's attention; the author clearly has had much experience discussing God's law. The third section shows that would-be challengers to God's law produce only poison and death. Only God's law can claim to express God's 'covenant grace in helping us'. With indices." -- Publisher's Annotation
Theft: Commentary and Cases of Conscience. A Listing Excerpted From THE INSTITUTES OF BIBLICAL LAW by Rousas John Rushdoony, 1973 edition
http://www.lettermen2.com/theft.html
*Kelly, Douglas F., The Emergence of Liberty in the Modern World: The Influence of Calvin on Five Governments From the 16th Through 18th Centuries (Philadelphia, PA: The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co.). ISBN: 0875522971.
"Examines Calvin's influence on the civil governments of Geneva, Huguenot France, Knox's Scotland, Puritan England, and Colonial America. Shows how Calvin's legacy continues to bear upon the issues that guide and agitate Western nations today." --Publisher's Annotation
*Wylie, James A., History of The Scottish Nation in 3 volumes (London, England: Hamilton, Adams, and Company and Edinburg, Scotland: Andrew Elliot, 1886)
http://www.reformation.org/history1.html
*WYLIE, SAMUEL B., (1773-1852), The Two Sons of Oil; or, the Faithful Witness for Magistracy and Ministry Upon a Scriptural Basis (1850 edition, reprinted 1995), (Cerlox Bound Photocopy Series. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Still Waters Revival Books. Available on Reformation Bookshelf CD #13, #26 ISBN: 0921148917 9780921148913. A Christian classic.
"A Covenanter classic opening Revelation 11:3-4 and Zechariah 4:14. It has been hailed as the 'best presentation of the position of the Covenanter Church that has been written.' Noting that the '[t]ime has been, when the whole body of Presbyterians, in Scotland, England, and Ireland, unanimously subscribed' to these principles, '[f]or civil and ecclesiastical reformation' and that thousands bled and died for the glorious covenanted cause of civil and ecclesiastical reformation; Wylie sets out to explain and defend 'that cause. Not because it is an ancient cause; not because many have sealed it with their blood; but, because,' as he says, 'I thought it the doctrine of the Bible, and the cause of Christ.' This book explains how to tell if a government (especially a civil government) is faithful to Christ and thus to be obeyed for conscience's sake. It also gives direction regarding when and how to resist (and disassociate) yourself from governments which get their power from 'the beast.' Moreover, this book gives clear testimony as to what the Bible requires of civil magistrates, noting 'that civil rulers should exercise their power in protecting and defending the religion of Jesus.' It also gives plain reasons why dissent from the government of the United States (and other covenant breaking nations) is the legitimate Scriptural pattern." -- SWRB
The Two Sons of Oil; or, the Faithful Witness for Magistracy and Ministry Upon a Scriptural Basis, Samuel B. Wylie
http://www.covenanter.org/Wylie/twosonsofoil.htm
The Two Sons of Oil; Or, The Faithful Witness for Magistracy and Ministry Upon a Scriptural Basis
http://books.google.com/books?id=nMO1JQAACAAJ&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html
See also: The Ten Commandments, The application of scripture to the corporate bodies of church and state, Church and state, Selection of covenant heads for positions of leadership, Politics and government, Corporate faithfulness and sanctification, Covenant theology and the ordinance of covenanting, The Scottish Reformation, Covenanting in America, Reformation eschatology
Noah Webster on Republican Principles
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/7947/NoahWeb.html
The Biblical Test of Character for Candidates for Public Office, all Civil Servants, Magistrates, Judges, and all Lawyers
http://members.aol.com/vtpa/pvtpa002.html
Basic Principles of Christian Civil Government, extracts from CHRISTIAN CIVIL GOVERNMENT by David McAllister
http://www.natreformassn.org/ccGov.html
Christians and Civil Government
http://www.covenanter.org/CivilGovt/civilgovernment.htm
Great Moments in Presbyterian History #8: What the Bible Has to Say About the Nature of Government
Dr. C. Gregg Singer, Great Movements in Presbyterian History
http://www.sermonaudio.com/play.asp?ID=12160372131
*Presbyterian Heritage Publications, Library of Presbyterian Heritage Publications and Protestant Heritage Press CD-ROM Library and Library of Presbyterian Heritage Publications and Protestant Heritage Press CD-ROM Library (Dallas, TX [Presbyterian Heritage Publications, P.O. Box 180922, Dallas, 75218]: Presbyterian Heritage Publications, 1999).
National Reform Association
http://www.natreformassn.org/index.html
Hitech Polygraphy as a Means of Broadscale Reform (Preliminary DRAFT)
http://members.aol.com/vtpa/pvtpa010.html
Bailyn, Bernard, The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution (Belknap Press, March 1992).
Bailyn, Bernard, To Begin the World Anew: The Genius and Ambiguities of the American Founders (Knopf, 1st edition, January 7, 2003).
Beard, Charles Austin, Forrest McDonald (Introduction), An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States (Free Press, reissue edition, September 1986).
Davies, Samuel. Religion and patriotism the constituents of a good soldier. A sermon preached ... in ... Virginia, August 17, 1755. By Samuel Davies, ... [Glasgow], 1756. (ECCO) Gale Document Number CW3321738212
Trenchard, John, Thomas Gordon, Ronald Hamowy (editor) Cato's Letters or Essays on Liberty, Civil and Religious, and Other Important Subjects: Four Volumes in Two (Liberty Fund, Inc., April 1999).
Ferling, John E., A Leap in the Dark: The Struggle to Create the American Republic (Oxford Press, April 2003).
Maier, Pauline, American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence (Vintage, May 26, 1998).
McDonald, Forrest, Novus Ordo Seclorum: The Intellectual Origins of the Constitution (University Press of Kansas, reprint edition, November 1986).
McDonald, Forrest, and Russell Kirk, We the People: The Economic Origins of the Constitution (Library of Conservative Thought. Transaction Pub, reprint edition, March 1992).
*North, Gary, Conspiracy in Philadelphia: The Origins of the U.S. Constitution, an e-book.
Peters, Madison Clinton, The Masons as Makers of America: The True Story of The American Revolution, third edition (Brooklyn, NY: The Patriotic League, January 1, 1917), 80 pages.
Robbins, Caroline, Eighteenth-Century Commonwealthman: Studies in the Transmission, Development, and Circumstance of English Liberal Thought from the Restoration of Charles II Until the War With the . . . (Liberty Fund, Inc., January 2004).
Robbins, John W., Slavery Christianity: Paul's Letter to Philemon (Unicoi, TN: The Trinity Foundation, November, 2005). ISBN: 189177173
Sidney, Algernon, (author) and Hans W. Blom (editor), Eco Haitsma-Mulier (editor), Ronald Janse (editor), Raymond Geuss (editor), Quentin Skinner (editor), Sidney: Court Maxims (Cambridge University Press, February 23, 1996).
Sidney, Algernon, Discourses on Government: To Which Is Added, an Account Of the Author's Life (The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd., December 2002).
Yates, Robert, John Lansing, and Luther Martin Secret Proceedings and Debates of the Constitutional Convention, 1787 (Reprint. University Press of the Pacific, December 1, 2002). Alternate title: SECRET PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE CONVENTION ASSEMBLED AT PHILADELPHIA, IN THE YEAR 1787, FOR THE PURPOSE OF FORMING THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (Louisville, Ky., A. Mygatt, 1844).
See also: The sovereign grace of god: his everlasting mercy and lovingkindness, The doctrine of man (human nature, total depravity), Corporate faithfulness and sanctification, True Republicanism, Selection of covenant heads for positions of leadership, The Destruction of American Liberty
The Ideology of the American Revolution
Ideas have consequences. The following works dispel denominational Christianity's "Founder's chick" and "Mount Rushmore Christianity," so prevalent during the last 30 years. The Articles of Confederation provided for Christian government of the Colonies. The intellectually honest acknowledge that the U.S. Constitution did not provide Christian government for the States. Here is some of the scholarship to prove it.
"This is the critically acclaimed book by Bernard Bailyn that stands in contradistinction to Charles Baird's ECONOMIC INTERPRETATION. With unusual courage, Bailyn attempts to understand the founders as they understood themselves. In the preface, Bailyn recalls the 'intense excitement' and 'sense of discovery' he felt at Harvard Universtiy when he studied the ideological themes of revolutionary America. This excitement and sense of discovery is passed along to the reader.
"This is a very scholarly work. The extensive footnotes are fabulous.
"I especially enjoyed the chapter called 'Power and Liberty.' Bailyn develops the pre-revolutionary idea that the ultimate explanation of every political controversy is the disposition of power. Power is defined as 'dominion' or the human control of human life. With dozens of fascinating examples, Bailyn illustrates why power is essential to the maintenance of liberty, but dangerous and in need of restraint, lest it extend itself beyond legitimate boundaries.
"I found it refreshing to read a book about America's founding that didn't condescend or politicize. It wasn't until I read this book that I fully appreciated how impoverished my public school education was on the topic. You wont be disappointed." -- Tom Bouthillet
"The leaders of the American Revolution, writes the distinguished historian Bernard Bailyn, were radicals. But their concern was not to correct inequalities of class or income, not to remake the social order, but to 'purify a corrupt constitution and fight off the apparent growth of prerogative power.' They wished, in other words, to mend a broken system and improve upon it. In doing so they drew on many traditions of political and social thought, ranging from English conservative philosophers to exponents of the continental Enlightenment, from backward-looking interpretations of ancient Roman civilization to forward-looking views of a new American people. Bailyn carefully examines these sources of sometimes conflicting ideas and considers how the framers of the Constitution resolved them in their inventive doctrine of federalism." -- Amazon.com
When it comes to American history, arguably the most important . . . event is the American Revolution. The dates run from about 1764, with the passage of the Sugar Act, to 1783, when the Peace of Paris was decided, or even as late as 1787, when Delaware became the first state in the Union. . . . This is the most thorough and most balanced fusion of primary documents and secondary analysis. . . . It receives my highest recommendation. -- Reader's Comment
"Interestingly, the country's revolutionary thinking originated from the very country we were fighting againt - ENGLAND! In arguing the continuous debates over the tension between liberty and power, the pamphlet writers of the day turned to 17th and 18th century thinkers to make their case. The best parts of the book are the last two chapters. In the second to last . . . Bailyn discusses concepts like democracy, representation, and slavery. In the final chapter, 'Fulfillment,' apparently written much later, Bailyn focuses on the Constitutional Convention and the arguments between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists, particularly, what they felt about virtue residing among the country's people, and how best to form a government. One final note: Bailyn's sources from other scholarly journals will lead the read to many interesting gems -- especially a few of the articles from William and Mary Quarterly, a must-have journal for anyone interested in the time-period." -- Jack Lechelt
"His work was based on an extensive survey and analysis of the large number of political pamphlets published in the years leading up to the revolution. His work benefited as well greatly from a number of other significant works of scholarship, such as Caroline Robbins' book on the Commonwealth tradition in 18th century thought. More than anything else, Bailyn succeeded in determining what key terms like 'power', 'liberty', and 'republicanism' meant to the Revolutionary generations. In doing so, he was able to strip away anachronistic accretions from these terms and ideas and to recover the actual thinking of the Revolutionaries and their opponents.
"Bailyn's achievement is manifold. He was able to show that dominant intellectual influence on the Revolutionaries was a compound of classical models, Common Law legal tradition, Enlightenment ideology, Covenant theology, and a strong tradition of British intellectual and political dissent that had its roots in the Commonwealth period of the 17th century. The latter tradition was especially important and acted as the binding matrix for other traditions and interpretative lens through which other received ideas were focused. Bailyn shows how these ideas were articulated in the specifically American context and how they led inevitably to confrontation with the expanding imperial authority of Britain. This conflict led to new expansions of the basic ideology, some of which would represent completely novel ideas. The traditional ideas of representation and consent, constitutional basis of society, and sovereignty were overthrown and replaced to a very large extent by the concepts we still uphold.
"The development of these new ideas and the necessity to give them practical scope would lead to what Bailyn artfully termed 'The Contagion of Liberty,' the expansion of concepts of rights and freedom well beyond the original categories of thought received by the Revolutionary generations. These would include attacks on slavery, the questioning of establishment of religion, speculation about democracy as a legitimate and potentially stable form of government, and an increasing emphasis on social equality generated from the realization of political equality. As Bailyn remarks, the thinking and writing on these topics provides the bridge between the world of the 18th century intellectuals and what would become the world of Madison and de Toqueville.
"Bailyn's analysis and scholarship are superb. The organization and quality of writing in this book are outstanding. Just as important, Bailyn is very good at supporting his analysis with well chosen excerpts from contemporary political pamphlets. His judicious choice of quotations not only serves to support his conclusions, but gives a fine idea of the words and thoughts of the Revolutionaries and their opponents.
"This is a fundamental book for understanding the American past." -- Roger Albin
"Bailyn discusses in detail how the colonists took English political thought and applied it to the nature of representative government, constitutional thought, and the nature of divided sovereignty. He then explains how the manner in which the colonists transformed thinking about the nature of government had ramifications in the colonists' view of slavery, the disestablishment of religion, a classless society, and the nature of democracy. The intellectual transformation required for an independent United States thus occurred well before the Declaration of Independence and the Federalist Papers.
"Bailyn's book is a work of detailed scholarship and not easy to read. It is a major achievement of intellectual history and will more than repay the effort. John Adams is among the major heros of this book. Readers that want to follow-up McCollough's popular biography and learn about the ideas of the time might well explore this book. Bailyn's study affirms the power of thought and of the American experiment. In our troubled times, it may help take us back to the origins of our country to learn where we have been so that we may intelligiently decide where we are going." -- Robin Friedman
"Of course, the other large conclusion one takes from the book is just how much the thoughts behind the revolution were affected by Enlightenment thought: Montesqui, Locke, the ancient romans, and how little christianity influenced it in any substantive way." -- Patrick Luck
"There is an unfortunate, somewhat politically correct, movement today attempting to 'prove' that the Founding Fathers, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution, were motivated by, and the documents based on, the Bible and Christianity.
This forlorn hope relies on tenuous ties to Biblical scripture to illustrate sections of both documents, and the alleged religious piety of the Founders. ...
"This excellent volume, written before all the present quasi religious whoop-de-do, dispels all of these misbegotten theories and presents in clear, concise, and documented prose what motivated the Founders to start a Revolution against the mother country and set out on 'the noble experiment. . . .'
"What they wrought was not a state founded on religion or religiuos principles, but on English Common Law, which had as its antecedents Roman Law, Saxon Law, and the Danelaw, none of which were based either on the Bible or on Christianity in any of its forms. What Bailyn has given us is a clear and concise history of the Founders that needs to be read and studied by present and future citizens to understand our bdginnings as a nation." -- Kevin F. Kiley
"Bernard Bailyn did his undergraduate work at Williams College and his graduate work at Harvard, where he is currently Adams University Professor Emeritus and director of the International Seminar on the Atlantic World. His previous books include THE NEW ENGLAND MERCHANTS IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY; EDUCATION IN THE FORMING OF AMERICAN SOCIETY; PAMPHLETS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1750-1776; THE IDEOLOGICAL ORIGINS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, which received the Pulitzer and Bancroft Prizes in 1968; THE ORDEAL OF THOMAS HUTCHINSON, which won the 1975 National Book Award for History; VOYAGERS TO THE WEST, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1987; and FACES OF REVOLUTION: PERSONALITIES AND THEMES IN THE STRUGGLE FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE. -- Publisher's Annotation
"While the five essays in this slim volume neither pack the stylistic wallop nor make the powerful contributions to knowledge of so many of the author's previous works, they are vintage Bailyn. The two-time Pulitzer-winning historian's focus is the creative imagination applied to statecraft. His subjects are the nation's founders, whom he believes to be idealists as much as realists. As usual, Bailyn's ebullient if nuanced admiration for the Framers carries the reader along. Characteristically, he emphasizes how the Framers' provincialism allowed them to spring free of European modes of thought to create something genuinely new. Bailyn (Voyagers to the West, etc.) brilliantly uses pictures to reveal the different aspirations and bearing of the British and founding gentry. A superb chapter also uses iconography to demonstrate how Benjamin Franklin took an active hand in fashioning and altering his own likeness in paintings and medals and then used them to create crucial sympathy in France for the American cause. Of all the 'tempered idealists' he deals with, none tangles Bailyn up, as he does just about everyone else, like Thomas Jefferson. But essays on the Federalist Papers and the complex, paradoxical, ever-changing reception of American constitutionalism abroad rescue the work from momentary confusion. One comes away with a rounded appreciation of the founders' limitations, failures and moral failings as well as their extraordinary achievements." -- Publisher's Weekly
"In this classic and controversial interpretation of the economic conditions of the United States between 1783-1787, Beard proposes the thesis that the Framers were motivated by economic concerns. In his landmark work THE GROWTH OF AMERICAN LAW Hurst describes AN ECONOMIC INTERPRETATION... as 'one of ''the basic works'' on the Federal Convention of 1787.' Hurst, The Growth of American Law: 458. Beard [1874-1948] was a founder of The New School for Social Research." -- Book Description
"An annotated edition of the famous libertarian letters originally published in the London Journal between 1720 and 1723. The immediate occasion of the letters (in November 1720) was the bursting of the South Sea Bubble, which had precipitated a financial crisis earlier in the year. However, only about a dozen of the 144 letters are devoted to the subject, while the remainder range over a wide variety of topics of public concern, including questions of public morality and, most importantly, theoretical discussions of the idea of liberty and the nature of tyranny. Edited, introduced, and annotated by Ronald Hamowy." -- Book News, Inc.
"Cato's Letters are a must have for any lover of liberty. They are filled with enough passion, wisdom, and wit to make them shining gems on any bookshelf. The philosophy expounded in these letters is that of radical liberty according to the laws of nature. It is made clear throughout that governments are the servants of people, not there masters. The only just role of government is to protect the life, liberty, and property of the governed, any other role being usurped and explicitly tyrannical. It was this radical philosophy that made Cato's Letters such a huge influence in America throughout the 18th century. . . . Above all, these letters are classics of reason and resistance. In my opinion, they are the best exposition of libertarian principles ever written." -- Will Murphy
"It was an age of fascinating leaders and difficult choices, of grand ideas eloquently expressed and of epic conflicts bitterly fought. Now comes a brilliant portrait of the American Revolution, one that is compelling in its prose, fascinating in its details, and provocative in its fresh interpretations. In A LEAP IN THE DARK, John Ferling offers a magisterial new history that surges from the first rumblings of colonial protest to the volcanic election of 1800. Ferling's swift-moving narrative teems with fascinating details. We see Benjamin Franklin trying to decide if his loyalty was to Great Britain or to America, and we meet George Washington when he was a shrewd planter-businessman who discovered personal economic advantages to American independence. We encounter those who supported the war against Great Britain in 1776, but opposed independence because it was a 'leap in the dark.' Following the war, we hear talk in the North of secession from the United States. The author offers a gripping account of the most dramatic events of our history, showing just how closely fought were the struggle for independence, the adoption of the Constitution, and the later battle between Federalists and Democratic-Republicans. Yet, without slowing the flow of events, he has also produced a landmark study of leadership and ideas. Here is all the erratic brilliance of Hamilton and Jefferson battling to shape the new nation, and here too is the passion and political shrewdness of revolutionaries, such as Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry, and their Loyalist counterparts, Joseph Galloway and Thomas Hutchinson. Here as well are activists who are not so well known today, men like Abraham Yates, who battled for democratic change, and Theodore Sedgwick, who fought to preserve the political and social system of the colonial past. Ferling shows that throughout this period the epic political battles often resembled today's politics and the politicians -- the founders -- played a political hardball attendant with enmities, selfish motivations, and bitterness. The political stakes, this book demonstrates, were extraordinary: first to secure independence, then to determine the meaning of the American Revolution. John Ferling has shown himself to be an insightful historian of our Revolution, and an unusually skillful writer. A Leap in the Dark is his masterpiece, work that provokes, enlightens, and entertains in full measure." -- Jack Rakove, author of Original Meanings
"This is a well-written, well-researched, entertaining account of the creation of the United States' Declaration of Independence as well as an analysis of how the declaration has been enshrined as something of a sacred document (a place it did not always hold). Pauline Maier, a history professor at MIT, will no doubt surprise many readers with detective work demonstrating that Jefferson's Declaration of Independence was actually preceded by many local declarations, which have been generally overlooked by historians but which were published throughout the colonies and were well known in their day. American Scripture holds many surprises as it details Jefferson's drafting of the document, the editing process, and the varying regard with which the Declaration of Independence has been held in the past two centuries." -- Publisher's Annotation
"McDonald does a great job here unwinding the ideas and institutions developed by the founding generation to produce our system of dual sovereignty. He retains a reverence for what our founders accomplished, and constrains himself to an explanation of what happened to bring into operation our 'New Order' which now looks quite old.
"McDonald is critical of the Charles Beard brand of economic reductionism, and has no patience for the relentless deconstruction of the constitutionalist era by modern historians who insist on showing us that they, rather than these founders, are actually superior moral beings with better insights, as well as more slavish devotion to the current strains of academic obsessions.
"This should be on the list of the 10 best books to understand the American system of government." -- Reader's Comment
"Forrest McDonald, widely considered one of the foremost historians of the Constitution and of the early national period, reconstructs the intellectual world of the Founding Fathers --including their understanding of law, history political philosophy, and political economy, and their firsthand experience in public affairs -- and then analyzes their behavior in the Constitutional Convention of 1787 in light of that world. No one has attempted to do so on such a scale before. McDonald's principal conclusion is that, though the Framers brought a variety of ideological and philosophical positions to bear upon their task of building a 'new order of the ages,' they were guided primarily by theiy own experience, their wisdom, and their common sense." -- Publisher's Annotation
"Few vices are easier to arouse than envy. Politicians and ideologues have had great success exploiting the resentment that arises when pitting rich against the poor.
"From the time of its publication in 1913 until the 1960s, Charles Beard's thesis dominated discussion of the founders' motives. In the mode of the Marxist interpretation of history as class struggle, Beard argued that economic self-interest, rather than concern for the general good, determined the writing and outcome of the Constitution.
"Interestingly, Beard asserted his system of alignment without actually proving it, admitting that his work was fragmentary because it failed to fill in the blanks. The real legwork of research wasn't done until over fifty years later, when historian Forrest McDonald put Beard's thesis to the test. McDonald dug through numerous public records to write economic biographies of the delegates (the 55 who attended the Constitutional Convention and the 1,750 members at the state conventions), analyzing their occupations, income, and assets. By comparing these to how the delegates voted, he found that Beard's thesis was incompatible with the facts.
"In We the People McDonald analyzed the geographical and political factions represented by delegates, their property holdings and occupations, their voting patterns, if any, and whether they benefited directly from the proposed Constitution. For the state conventions he divided chapters into states favorable, divided, and opposed to the Constitution. At the end he re-evaluated Beard's thesis and discussed whether any economic interpretation could be applied to our founding given the complexity and variety of occupations and opinions that existed.
"The result was a remarkable, though at times necessarily tedious, bit of historical detective work. Very likely it came as a great relief to many Americans to learn that the founders had something other than their own economic gain at heart. Probably few were surprised that the founders were a much more diverse group than Beard had realized.
"We may find that independence difficult to believe today, when the forces of selfishness, materialism, and special interest seem so dominant, not merely among political and business leaders but among the general populace. Today propagandists still want to align people into absolutes, much like trial lawyers who portray their clients as angels and their opponents as devils. Our shallow political debates revolve around false dichotomies such as the Party of Business and the Party of the Common Man. But I imagine this adversarial, intellectually dishonest approach will continue to be used as an effective tool as long as there is envy to be harvested in the heart of man. -- Reader's Comment
"In addition to primary sources, North relies on the work of the most well respected members of the historical community -- Bailyn, Wood, Mcdonald, Gaustad, Boller, Koch, Adair, and Rakove to name a few.
"The thesis of the book is that the key US Founders -- the ones who pushed through the ideas upon which America declared independence and then constructed the Constitution -- were secret theological unitarians, whose heterodox religious creed inspired them to found American government upon the notion of religious neutrality, and consequently break the tradition of covenanting with the Triune Christian God. His book focuses on Article VI Clause 3 of the US Constitution (no religious tests) as the device for achieving secular government.
"From what I have researched, North is correct in his essential claim. Other scholars have noted something similar. For instance, in this post I noted Thomas Pangle and Cushing Stout, whose work North cites, concluding that there is a connection between the US Constitution's benign approach to religion and the key Founders' enlightened and benign personal religious creed. Indeed, one could argue, as does Dr. Gregg Frazer, that the Founders' unitarianism or theistic rationalism was the political theology of the American Founding.
"Ideas have consequences and it was these heterodox unitarian ideas, not orthodox Christianity, that drove the US Founding's approach to religion and government. However, such heterodoxy or heresy wasn't a popular creed, but rather was disproportionately believed in by the elite Whigs. Whatever the religion of a majority of the US population (either nominal Protestant Christianity, which itself can tend towards Deism, or orthodox Protestant Christianity) orthodox Churches held a great deal of institutional power. With such power, they had to essentially consent to the elite Whig's new plan on government. And they did. But not all of them, for instance, the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (Covenanters) to whom North dedicates his book. From the very beginning they smelled a rat in Philadelphia.
"So the notion that there was a secret coup, a bait and switch as Michael Zuckert put it, to sell a Christian audience non-authentically Christian ideas is not new. James Renwick Willson was one of those covenanters who in 1832 made arguments very similar to North's. And he was burned in effigy for this sermon which called all of the Presidents from Washington to Jackson infidels and not more than unitarians. I think Willson got at the truth, but did so by shattering a sacred cow -- a social myth. The kernel of truth that David Barton et al. have is that many folks in the 19th Century did believe in the Christian America social myth as a cultural prejudice. And many of their bogus, unconfirmed quotations source back to 19th Century places that pushed this social myth.
"Now the non-respectable has become the respectable and secular scholars more or less agree with the claims of James Renwick Willson and Gary North that America didn't have an authentically orthodox Christian Founding. . . ." -- Jonathan Rowe, June 8, 2008 (http://www.positiveliberty.com/2008/06/gary-norths-ebook.html).
Download a copy at:
Conspiracy in Philadelphia: The Origins of the U.S. Constitution
http://www.demischools.org/philadelphia.pdf
Conspiracy in Philadelphia, an article by Gary North
http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north291.html
It is said that George Washington became a Freemason at an early age, that his lieutenants during the American Revolution were Masons, and that Benjamin Franklin was able to solicite war support during a trip to France because of his Masonic connections among government officials there. It is claimed that a delegation of Masons, headed by President Washington, who was dressed in formal Masonic attire, including apron, laid the cornerstone for the US Capitol and dedicated it as a "Temple of the People" were there would be government by the people and for the people.
Masonry attracted men who rejected the authority of the Church in favor of freedom of conscience and the rule of reason. Of course, both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution excluded the authority of the Triune God in favor of government by men who ignore the highest ethical standard known to mankind.
Conspiracy in Philadelphia: The Origins of the U.S. Constitution
http://www.demischools.org/philadelphia.pdf
Conspiracy in Philadelphia, an article by Gary North
http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north291.html
Not yet released (January 15, 2004).
"Slavery. Racism. Rebellion. Civil disobedience. The problems are as pressing today as they were 1900 years ago when the Apostle Paul wrote a letter to a slave-owner, Philemon, about his runaway slave – and the runaway slave carried Paul’s letter back to his legal owner.
"What did the letter say? Did Paul -- does Christianity -- approve of slavery? Does Christianity condone slavery? Or does the Gospel abolish slavery and establish freedom wherever it is believed? Jesus said, If you abide in my Word, you are my disciples indeed; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
"Paul's letter to Philemon is a masterpiece of divinely inspired political philosophy. It provides the basis for the non-violent abolition of slavery wherever the Gospel of Jesus Christ is preached and believed.
"Dr. John W. Robbins holds the Ph.D. in Political Philosophy from The Johns Hopkins University. His most recent book is FREEDOM AND CAPITALISM: ESSAYS ON CHRISTIAN POLITICS AND ECONOMICS." -- Publisher's Annotation
"This remarkable expression of republican thought has never before been published. Algernon Sidney was among the most unrelenting republican partisans of the seventeenth century, and was executed for his opposition to Charles II. Written during Sidney's continental exile, the vivid Court Maxims was only recently rediscovered. The work presents a lively discussion about the principles of government and the practice of politics, articulating a vital tradition of republicanism in an absolutist age." -- Publisher's Annotation
"Until quite recently, this wonderful book was lost to the world. Sidney was one of the most eloquent advocates for republicanism and liberty in his or any period of history. This work offers a clear and direct exposition of his political philosophy. Although it is no substitute for his great DISCOURSES CONCERNING GOVERNMENT it is certainly a worthy compliment." -- Will Murphy
"Discourses on Government. To which is Added, An Account of the Author's Life, and a Copious Index. New York: Richard Lee, 1805. Three volumes. Reprinted 2002 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. LCCN 2001038948. ISBN 1-58477-209-3. Cloth. $250.
"This important work appeared fifteen years after Sidney's execution for treason in 1683. A reply to Filmer's PATRIARCHA, the DISCOURSES is one of the earliest modern statements of republican ideals. He proposes a doctrine of natural justice and governmental order from which all institutions vary at their peril. More important, Sidney asserts that a king's authority is granted by parliament, which has the additional power to depose him, indeed a controversial idea during the Restoration period. Thomas Jefferson, one of several individuals influenced by this text, described it as '...probably the best elementary book of the principles of government, as founded in natural right which has ever been published in any language; and it is much to be desired in such a government as ours that it should be put into the hands of our youth as soon as their minds are sufficiently matured for that branch of study.' (Sowerby). Sidney [1622-1683] was beheaded by Charles II in part for his involvement in the Rye House plot. One of the other charges against him was that he had committed treasonable libel in this work, which was still in manuscript at that time. Sowerby, Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson, III: 12. Marke, A Catalogue of the Law Collection at New York University (1953) 953. Catalogue of the Library of the Harvard Law School (1909) II: 588. Sweet and Maxwell, A Legal Bibliography of the British Commonwealth of Nations I: 107. Wing, Short Title Catalogue of English Books 1641-1700 S3761." -- Publisher's Annotation
"One of the most important collections of documents pertaining to the formation of the Constitution of the United States. Notes on the convention taken by Robert Yates, Chief Justice of New York, and copied by John Lansing, Jun. Esquire, late chancellor of that state, members of that convention. Including "The Genuine Information," laid before the Legislature of Maryland, by Luther Martin, Esquire, then attorney-general of that state, and member of the same convention. James Madison thought that Yates and Martin 'appear to have reported in angry terms what they observed with jaundiced eyes.' It must be added that in many particulars Yates' notes were fuller than Madison's own. Luther Martin's Genuine Information is a general summary of the course of the Debates, with a running criticism on the provisions of the Constitution. Also contains an appendix with documents by Edmund Randolf, and others." -- Publisher's Annotation
"The delegates, of the free states (in the national convention), in their extreme anxiety to conciliate the ascendency of the Southern slaveholders, did listen to a compromise between right and wrong -- between FREEDOM and SLAVERY, of the ultimate fruits of which they had no conception, but which already, even now, is urging the Union to its inevitable ruin and depopulation, by a civil, servile, foreign, and Indian war, all combined in one; a war, the essential issue of which will be between freedom and slavery, and in which the unhallowed standard of slavery will be the desecrated banner of the North American Union -- that banner first unfurled to the breeze inscribed with the self-evident truths of the Declaration of Independence." -- John Quincy Adams, commenting on proceeding in the Constitutional Convention and prophetic of the War Between the States
Related WebLinks
"A Study Guide for the Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) (The Westminster Standards) and Related Works"
http://www.lettermen2.com/suggest.html
The Scottish Covenanting Struggle, Alexander Craighead, and the Mecklenburg Declaration
http://www.lettermen2.com/craig.html
The Articles of Confederation of the United Colonies of New England, May 19, 1643
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/art1613.htm
The Articles of Confederation: The Avalon Project at Yale Law School
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/artconf.htm
Rethinking the Articles of Confederation, H.A. Scott Trask
http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1296
Statements Supporting the Original Consensus That Christianity Is the Highest Ethical Standard Known to Mankind and, Therefore, Should Be the Basis of Law and Government
http://members.aol.com/vtpa/agc002.html
Religious Test Clauses in Colonial and State Constitutions and Other Documents and Statements Supporting the Original Consensus That There Should Be a Religious Test For Positions of Authority and Trust
http://members.aol.com/vtpa/agc001.html
Conspiracy in Philadelphia, Gary North
http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north291.html
Trinitarianism Verses Polytheism: Unresolved Questions of Article VI, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution
http://members.aol.com/vtpa/pvtpa001.html
National Establishments of Religion
http://www.covenanter.org/NatlEstabl/natlestablihome.htm
The Biblical Test of Character for Candidates for Public Office, all Civil Servants, Magistrates, Judges, and all Lawyers
http://members.aol.com/vtpa/pvtpa002.html
"Selling the Birthright: The Ratification of the U.S. Constitution," Appendix H, Tools of Dominion: The Case Laws of Exodus, by Gary North, pages 1190-1216.
http://www.freebooks.com/
Furthermore, individuals, not corporate bodies, will be finally judged for their actions in this life.
"Of the Last Judgment," The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), Chapter XXXIII)
Great and marvellous are thy works,
Q. What kind of submission may be rendered to immoral and tyrannical governments, the ordinance of Satan, such as now exist?
A. Christians, in the exercise of their Christian liberty, and in the performance of the duty of "proving all things, and holding fast what is good," can submit to such governments "for wrath's sake," ONLY, which kind of submission has no respect to the power as legitimate authority, but simply, from dread of the cruelty of the tyrant, who pours forth his fury upon all who oppose his misrule. To God's moral ordinance as described, is allegiance due for conscience sake. Submission to this, is submission to God.
Q. When Christians reside under an immoral government, is not conformity to the general order of society a duty, provided this can be done without violating the divine law?
A. If the constituted authorities of a nation are not in voluntary subserviency to the Mediator, but opposed to his authority, law, and religion, for the sake of peace and order, and for the sake of contributing as much as possible to the ease and happiness of society, and from a spirit of resignation to the Divine providence, and in order to make legitimate provision for themselves and relatives, so much conformity to the prevailing system as is consistent with their oath of allegiance to Messiah, is a duty conscientiously to be practiced, although very distinct from that obedience for conscience sake which they would render to the government of their choice, to the authority which has the sanction of the Divine approbation. Jer. xxix. 4-7, "Seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
Q. Whilst it is the duty of Christians thus to live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty, in conformity to the laws of Christ, which are everywhere, and at all times, obligatory upon them -- is it not their duty publicly to declare their dissent from an immoral constitution of civil government, within the reach of whose power they may reside ?
A. This is, indeed, their duty. Because, 1. They are bound to defend God's moral ordinance of civil government, in the purity of which, God's own honor as "the Governor of the nations," is deeply involved. Rev. ii. 25, 26, "That which you have already hold fast till I come; and he that overcometh -- and keepeth my works unto the end -- to him will I give power in the nations," &c. Isa. viii. 16, "Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples." 2. The purity of this holy ordinance cannot be preserved, if it is confounded with the existing immoral systems, and by an indiscriminate exercise of allegiance. 3. Christians are witnesses for God among men; and having in their possession "the testimony of God," in the Holy Scriptures, respecting the true character of civil government, and the duty of national subjection to Christ and his law, and respect for his holy religion, it is their duty to apply the doctrines of inspiration upon this subject, in stating and defending the truth, and condemning the existing immoral systems, and in bearing public testimony against all who uphold them. Isa. xliii. 10, "Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord." Rev. xi. 3, "I will give power to my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and three score days, clothed in sackcloth;" xii. 17, "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." See also Rev. xvii. 14, Acts v. 32, xxvi. 16, Micah iv. 8-18, Mark vi. 11. 4. The witnesses in Revelation are raised up not only to testify against the ecclesiastical apostasy, "The scarlet woman," or Roman church -- and "the image of the beast," -- the Papacy -- but also against "the seven-headed and ten-horned" beast -- or the civil powers -- upon which the woman rides. The nations which sustain Antichrist, and are equally, with "the man of sin," Antichristian, and are at war with the Lamb. See passages last quoted, together with Rev. xiii. 1, 2, xvii. 3-14, and xii. 11, "And they overcame him, (the devil embodied in the Roman church papacy, and civil powers,) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony;" xvii. 14, "These, (the civil powers,) shall make war with the Lamb-and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful."
Q. Are not virtuous persons, who, in their private capacity, are endeavoring to further the true end of civil government -- the maintenance of peace and quietness in all godliness and honesty, although they dissent from the constitution of civil government of the nation in which they reside, entitled to protection ?
A. They certainly are entitled to protection in their lives, liberties, and property; "but they are not to act inconsistently with their declared dissent, and it would be tyranny to constrain them to such measures." Exod. xxii. 21, "Thou shalt neither vex a stranger nor oppress him." See also Rom. xiii. 3, 1 Tim. ii. 2, Jer. xxi. 12, Esther iii. 8, 9.
Q. Should not "Christians, testifying against national evils, and striving, in the use of moral means, to effect a reformation, relinquish temporal privileges, rather than do any thing which may appear to contradict their testimony, or lay a stumbling-block before their weaker brethren?"
A. This is unquestionably their duty. Because they cannot convince men of their own sincerity, and of the immorality of a principle or practice, whilst they themselves are found actually maintaining the immoral principle or practice, (by oath of allegiance, voting, and holding offices, &c.) and enjoying the emoluments of iniquity decreed by law. Heb. xi. 24, 26, 36, "By faith, Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Esteeming the reproach of Christ to be greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. And others had trials of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover, of bonds and imprisonments." Numb. xxiii. 9, "Lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations." Rom. xiv. 21, "It is good neither to eat flesh, nor drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended."
Q. Will not such a public dissent from immoral governments, and faithful testimony against them, ultimately prevail to their overthrow?
A. Yes. By these means the witnesses will prevail, however much they may suffer in the meantime, and will be the honored instruments of establishing the millennial kingdom of the Lamb. Rev. xii. 11 , "And they overcame him, by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death." Dan. vii. 22, "The Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom." Rev. xx. 4, "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them; and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, (the civil powers,) neither his image, (the Papacy,) neither had received his mark, (yielded allegiance,) upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." -- William L. Roberts, The Reformed Presbyterian Catechism, p. 130-133
But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first. -- Jesus Christ (Matthew 19:30)
Our Triune God has ordained that authority, power, and leadership devolves to those who know the most Truth (the Apostle Paul, Saint Augustine, Martin Luther, John Calvin, The Scots Worthies . . . ). Preeminent among those is the Lord Christ, the God Man, Our Righteousness. (John 1:1-18; Matthew 19:30; Matthew 28:18-20; Isaiah 49:7; Colossians 1:16-19; Colossians 2:9,10; Hebrews 12:1,2; Revelations 5:1-14; Revelation 19:11-15; Revelation 20:11-15; Revelation 22:12, and so forth, and so on.)
*Bugliosi, Vincent, The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder (Vanguard Press, May 26, 2008), ISBN: 9780792756064 0792756061, 352 pages.
Powell, James, The Triumph of Liberty: A 2,000 Year History Told Through the Lives of Freedom's Greatest Champions (Free Press, July 4, 2000), ISBN: 068485967X 9780684859675, 574 pages.
Robbins, John, Freedom and Capitalism: Essays on Christian Politics and Economics (Unicoi, TN: The Trinity Found
Individual Responsibility for Corporate Faithfulness and Sanctification
See Isaiah 40:1--55:13 and annotation in The Reformation Study Bible
For it is written,
As I live, saith the Lord,
every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall confess to God.
So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. (Romans 14:11,12).
I. God has appointed a day, wherein He will judge the world, in righteousness, by Jesus Christ,[1] to whom all power and judgment is given of the Father.[2] In which day, not only the apostate angels shall be judged,[3] but likewise all persons that have lived upon earth shall appear before the tribunal of Christ, to give an account of their thoughts, words, and deeds; and to receive according to what they have done in the body, whether good or evil.[4]
[1] ACT 17:31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
[2] JOH 5:27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
[3] 1CO 6:3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? JUD 6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. 2PE 2:4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.
[4] 2CO 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. ECC 12:14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. ROM 2:16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. 14:10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. MAT 12:36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. 37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
http://www.reformed.org/documents/wcf_with_proofs/indexf.html
Lord God Almighty;
just and true are thy ways,
thou King of saints.
Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name?
for though only art holy:
for all the nations shall come and worship before thee;
for thy judgments are made manifest. (Revelations 15:3b,4)
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)
We receive what we deserve as citizens. Bugliosi's book offers hope in these ominous times, when practically all of our institutions, including the three branches of government, seem to be broken beyond repair. THE PROSECUTION OF GEORGE W. BUSH FOR MURDER demonstrates that one person can bring an unfaithful leader to trial in the courtroom of American public opinion, can call for justice, outside the reach of the politicized monopoly that our Court System has become, and without astronomical legal costs and delays -- by publishing a lawsuit.
We hope upright, law-abiding citizens will follow Bugliosi's example and will publish lawsuits calling for justice against unfaithful leaders in the courtroom of American public opinion.
Notice this book is actually a lawsuite. Vince Bugliosi explained in a broadcast interview that his intention is to present all the facts and arguments necessary to win a lawsuite against George W. Bush. He said it is his intention to make it possible for any County or State District Attorney, where a son or daughter has died in the Iraq war, to file a suite against George W. Bush. Furthermore, he is offering to act as a consultant or associate Prosecuting Attorney with any local District Attorney. There is no statute of limitations on murder.
"Famed Charles Manson prosecutor and three time #1 New York Times bestselling author Vincent Bugliosi has written the most powerful, explosive, and thought-provoking book of his storied career.
"In THE PROSECUTION OF GEORGE W. BUSH FOR MURDER, Bugliosi presents a tight, meticulously researched legal case that puts George W. Bush on trial in an American courtroom for the murder of nearly 4,000 American soldiers fighting the war in Iraq. Bugliosi sets forth the legal architecture and incontrovertible evidence that President Bush took this nation to war in Iraq under false pretenses -- a war that has not only caused the deaths of American soldiers but also over 100,000 innocent Iraqi men, women, and children; cost the United States over one trillion dollars thus far with no end in sight; and alienated many American allies in the Western world.
"As a prosecutor who is dedicated to seeking justice, Bugliosi, in his inimitable style, delivers a non-partisan argument, free from party lines and instead based upon hard facts and pure objectivity.
"A searing indictment of the President and his administration, THE PROSECUTION OF GEORGE W. BUSH FOR MURDER also outlines a legally credible pathway to holding our highest government officials accountable for their actions, thereby creating a framework for future occupants of the oval office.
"Vincent Bugliosi calls for the United States of America to return to the great nation it once was and can be again. He believes the first step to achieving this goal is to bring those responsible for the war in Iraq to justice.
"Vincent Bugliosi received his law degree in 1964. In his career at the L.A. County District Attorney's office, he successfully prosecuted 105 out of 106 felony jury trials, including 21 murder convictions without a single loss. His most famous trial, the Charles Manson case, became the basis of his classic, HELTER SKELTER, the biggest selling true-crime book in publishing history. Two of Bugliosi's other books -- AND THE SEA WILL TELL and OUTRAGE -- also reached #1 on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list. No other American true-crime writer has ever had more than one book that achieved this ranking. His latest book, RECLAIMING HISTORY: THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY, has been heralded as 'epic' and 'a book for the ages.'
"Bugliosi has uncommonly attained success in two separate and distinct fields, as an author and a lawyer. His excellence as a trial lawyer is best captured in the judgment of his peers. 'Bugliosi is as good a prosecutor as there ever was,' Alan Dershowitz says. F. Lee Bailey calls Bugliosi 'the quintessential prosecutor.' 'There is only one Vince Bugliosi. He's the best,' says Robert Tanenbaum, for years the top homicide prosecutor in the Manhattan D.A.'s office. Most telling is the comment by Gerry Spence, who squared off against Bugliosi in a twenty-one-hour televised, scriptless 'docu-trial' of Lee Harvey Oswald, in which the original key witnesses to the Kennedy assassination testified and were cross-examined. After the Dallas jury returned a guilty verdict in Bugliosi's favor, Spence said, 'No other lawyer in America could have done what Vince did in this case.'
Bugliosi lives with his wife, Gail, in Los Angeles." -- Publisher's Annotation
"This volume contains the stories of men and women who have overcome great obstacles to give freedom to the world. Through the lives of 65 people, these stories cover the struggle to abolish slavery, stop wars, and overthrow tyrants, as well as the fight for human rights, religious toleration, individualism, the liberation of women and other such freedoms. The entries are based on biographies, diaries and interviews with scholars to provide an instructive narrative." -- Publisher's Annotation