Comments on: Meet the Puritans http://reformedforum.org/podcasts/ctc106/ Reformed Theological Resources Tue, 22 Nov 2011 04:58:33 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.2 By: Jim Barger II http://reformedforum.org/podcasts/ctc106/#comment-30817 Sun, 19 Dec 2010 21:18:49 +0000 http://reformedforum.wpengine.com/?p=962#comment-30817 I appreciate the hard stand that many of the ‘puritans’ took on sin, judgement, etc, but they held the erroneous reformed positions on election, grace, sovereign control by decree and so on, which were rooted in the fallen opinions of a Calvin or Beza and the like. The emphhasis on the need to be holy and not sin, seems to mark the difference that exists between the puritans and the staunch Calvanist. The sad part is that they missed the distinction between salvation (presently walking after the Spirit and within the realm of time) and election (those that endured to the end with oil in their lamps, without spot and blameless, relized in the realm of eternity). One can presently know that they have the witness of the Spirit, but one cannot know absolutely that they will be elect while they are in the dimension of time. I know all too well the default position that the reformed opinion would take by citing creeds and parsing words, but all this is null and void when measured by the standard laid down by Jesus Himself when describing the fool that is building his house (soul) on the sand. Herein lies the great line of distinction between the puritans, and the early church, when it comes to the doctrine which is “according to godliness”. The former believed it to be a monstrous opinion to believe that sin was compatable with being one of the elect, while acknowledging that all of the elect do in fact sin daily, although with detestation. The early martyrs of the faith actually believed that one must be following and obeying the Sermon on the Mount, in thought word and deed, or certain doom was awaiting any and all, regardless of their preferred creed. Election was therefore conditional, upon ones continuing in the faith that “worketh by love”, which implies the fact that the same person may not continue, and therefore depart from the faith. I don’t see any other explanation for how the puritans stumbled so badly when it comes to the soverignty of God in relation to the liberty of the will. They can’t see how the almighty can know a contingent evnt without making the event necessary. They force God to know things in the way that mortal man does ie, cause & effect. The evidence is in the puritan writings and sermons continually, railing and thundering against those that promise themselves peace, while practising some gross sin that affronts the God of all purity. At the same time, I have read and heard statements alluding to the fact that there are persons that can be considered ‘christians’ while committing adultery, coveting, lying, unforgiving, vengeful, etc, since they somehow have Jesus to ‘cover’ them while in this condition. This always ends up with the assumption that one can be ‘saved’ at a moment in time, and subsequently project that moment in time, into and eternal reality, based on the twisting of scripture to support this opiinion. I believe that many of the puritans, and possibly many of their converts, did in fact perserver in holiness and faith to the end, but many could have stumbled fatally due to their neglect of circumspection, which often results from refusing to take heed while we think we stand. In fairness to the class of men termed ‘puritans’, they were not all of the persuasion that the moderns assert, ie, Bunyan, Baxter, Mead, and others. They seemed to have clearly taken an uncompromising stand for Gods moral law (Love the Lord thy God..& thy neighbor as thyself), and aginst unholiness (lust of the eyes, flesh, & pride of life). Classifications seem to re-shape many into something that they were not. Bottom line “Fear God and keep His commands”, any other belief is building on the sand, and nothing short of solemn self deception. Jesus words will judge every man for the deeds done in the body. The result is joy or everlaswting contempt. Jesus said that those who refuse to obey Him do not love Him. Thats what Jesus said, and one Word from the creator is sufficient. Though every man be a liar, yet God is true.

]]> By: Reformed Forum - Reformed Theology Podcasts, Videos, Blogs and More - » Blog Archive » Christ the Center 2010 March Madness http://reformedforum.org/podcasts/ctc106/#comment-15956 Thu, 25 Mar 2010 19:21:52 +0000 http://reformedforum.wpengine.com/?p=962#comment-15956 […] K. Scott Oliphint #ctc97 (3) The Erosion of Inerrancy in Evangelicalism with Greg Beale #ctc54 (62) Meet the Puritans with Joel Beeke #ctc106 (30) The Relationship of Philosophy to Theology with (none) #ctc71 (35) […]

]]> By: emonseordergy http://reformedforum.org/podcasts/ctc106/#comment-14032 Fri, 12 Feb 2010 03:41:09 +0000 http://reformedforum.wpengine.com/?p=962#comment-14032 i seriously adore your posting type, very attractive,
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]]> By: Meet the Puritans with Joel Beeke « Faith by Hearing http://reformedforum.org/podcasts/ctc106/#comment-13935 Thu, 11 Feb 2010 14:24:12 +0000 http://reformedforum.wpengine.com/?p=962#comment-13935 […] Meet the Puritans >>> […]

]]> By: Thomas Sullivan http://reformedforum.org/podcasts/ctc106/#comment-12931 Fri, 29 Jan 2010 10:57:20 +0000 http://reformedforum.wpengine.com/?p=962#comment-12931 I started narrating puritan works on tapes back in 1985. These works are now on http://www.sermonaudio.com

So far I have done parts of a number of Owen’s works. Especially volume 6 and of number 7 “The Grace and Duty of Being Spiritually Minded.” and “of the Dominion of Sin and Grace. I am presently the computer tutor for Albert Martin who has commenced a writing ministry. I was surprised to learn that he is working his way through “The Grace and Duty of Being Spiritually Minded” for the 7th time. I have looked in the margins of his books and he writes in pencil the date he finished reading through a work. Last year he was reading through John Flavel volume 1 for the third time. I am reading the Fountain of Life, by Flavel now, which I converted for my Amazon Kindle.

]]> By: Robert Lombardi http://reformedforum.org/podcasts/ctc106/#comment-12860 Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:39:50 +0000 http://reformedforum.wpengine.com/?p=962#comment-12860 That was great. I like his recommendations for reading the Puritans. My first step into the puritans was John Owen. I bought the entire works from Logos.

I recently was inspired to read large amounts of Owen when I began discussions with someone who had a different take on justification and the nature of those that fall away. He had more of a continual justification theology, considering that people are justified as long as they stand in a stage of grace (by faith of course). He claimed that Owen believed something similar based on Owen’s Moritification of Sin. So I dug into Owen’s work on apostacy and found mountains of information to the contrary. Owen firmly believed that those who fall away were never truly saved.

Anyways, I agree that Owen is hard to read; but I was so motivated to find what I was looking for that I read dozens of pages not realizing the difficulty of what I was reading. I highly recommend being similarly motivated when you read Owen. 😉 You sorta just have to push through it and not dwell on little sections that are hard to understand; often there will be other sections that are easier to understand. But I’ve also found that the more you read, the easier it gets because you begin to get familiar with the thought process and the way he lays out his ideas.

]]> By: Jason D. http://reformedforum.org/podcasts/ctc106/#comment-12756 Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:29:31 +0000 http://reformedforum.wpengine.com/?p=962#comment-12756 Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary’s blog just posted this:

Purchase Meet the Puritans here: http://www.heritagebooks.org/products/Meet-the-Puritans.html

Use the coupon code “Puritan” when checking out at Reformation Heritage Books and receive $5.00 off.

]]> By: Thomas Sullivan http://reformedforum.org/podcasts/ctc106/#comment-12726 Sun, 24 Jan 2010 23:12:00 +0000 http://reformedforum.wpengine.com/?p=962#comment-12726 Interesting material, as usual, from Dr. Beeke. I am one of those persons he refers to about asking his regarding leaving out certain puritans. I was teasing him at the door at our church in Holland, MI. after he preached an ordination sermon for one of my pastors, a graduate of PRTS. I said that I toss his book, Meet the Puritans, to the ground before I read it because he left out John Brown of Wamphray. {Good price on his works here, by the way…
http://www.discountbible.com/bible-study-software/s-r8.html

Anyway, http://www.monergism.com is doing a great job linking all the online puritan sources on one site at
http://www.puritanlibrary.com I enjoyed the discussion about supplementing the puritans with modern authors like Geehardus Vos, though when I was under awakening I would have felt safer sitting at the feet of Owen or Edwards than Vos or Bavinck to draw me out of my fears to Christ.

]]> By: Christ the Center Interviews Joel Beeke « Heritage Booktalk http://reformedforum.org/podcasts/ctc106/#comment-12550 Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:31:48 +0000 http://reformedforum.wpengine.com/?p=962#comment-12550 […] You can listen here […]

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