In his discussion of baptismal debates in early New England, Holifield emphasizes that for most New England ministers baptism did not constitute the church but served rather to confirm and seal a covenant that was created by the voluntary agreement among the members of the body. Nor did they . . . . Continue Reading »
One of the curiosities in Holifield’s study is the appearance of a Protestant form of what Louis Bouyer and others have called “mysteriological piety” among Puritans. Here, for instance, is Holifield’s summary of Perkins’s interpretation of the rite of the Supper: . . . . Continue Reading »
In his classic The Covenant Sealed: The Development of Puritan Sacramental Theology in Old and New England, 1570-1720 , E. Brooks Holifield (who has the classiest name among all church historians) describes the oscillation of Reformed sacramental theology and practice. High views of the real . . . . Continue Reading »
Thomas Goodwin compared the benefits of sermons to the benefits of participation in the Supper, and the Supper came out slightly ahead: “Many things in a Sermon thou understandest not, and haply not many Sermons; or if thou doest, yet findest not thy portion in them; but here to be sure thou . . . . Continue Reading »
The Calvin v. Calvinists debate has rocked back and forth. Perhaps it could be better resolved by focusing less on doctrinal shifts and more on liturgical ones. In his The Worship of the English Puritans (Puritanism) , Horton Davies highlights the movement of English Puritans away from Calvin: . . . . Continue Reading »
First comes the flood, wiping away the world that then was. Then God calls Abram from the nations, inserting Himself into the world through His chosen. First comes the flood of Babylonians, wiping out the temple. Then Yahweh sends Israel out into the nations, inserting Himself into the world . . . . Continue Reading »
Noah is the restart of the human race after the whole human race has been wiped out. Abraham, also a new Adam, restarts the human race, begins a renewal of humanity and creation, within the world. He is leaven in the lump. A restart for humanity within post-Babelic humanity is a trickier business . . . . Continue Reading »
Craig Allert’s A High View of Scripture? The Authority of the Bible and the Formation of the New Testament Canon (Evangelical Ressourcement: Ancient Sources for the Church’s Future) is mostly about the implications of the history of canon-formation for our understanding of what the . . . . Continue Reading »
As the subtitle suggests, Carlos Bovell’s By Good and Necessary Consequence: A Preliminary Genealogy of Biblicist Foundationalism is a genealogical critique of what he calls biblicist foundationalism, defined as “the decision to restrict confessional theology to the deduction of good . . . . Continue Reading »
In John 10:30, Jesus says “I and the Father are One.” The Jews think it blasphemous. Why? Jesus’ statement seems to be a riff on the Shema - “Hear, O Israel, YHWH your God is One.” Jesus sticks Himself into the Shema: Not YHWH along, but “I and YHWH” are . . . . Continue Reading »
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