Drawn into Controversie

By their very nature, traditions are diverse. This is particularly the case with theological traditions, even including those cases where they have been named for a single individual (e. g. Augustinianism, Thomism, Lutheranism, and Calvinism). In the eras of the Reformation and of Reformed orthodoxy there was intense theological debate, leading to confessional identity and confessional boundaries; hence the Remonstrant controversy in the early seventeenth century. What the essays of this volume look at, however, are the debates that took place within the Reformed theological tradition, particularly within Puritan England. Some of the debates considered here threatened to rise to a confessional level whereas others were not so serious insofar as they did not press on confessional boundaries. The Puritan tradition surveyed in these essays looks at both major and minor intra-Reformed debates. Most of these debates analyzed have been passed over in the older scholarship in its quest to find the few true Calvinians to oppose to the so-called Calvinists. By contrast, none of the studies included in the present volume brands one side of a seventeenth-century debate as un-Calvinian or identifies an alteration of doctrinal perspective as a declension from Reformation-era purity. Calvin no longer appears as a norm, although he does appear, with other Reformers, as an antecedent of certain lines of argument. Lastly, the essays document the ongoing concern among Reformed theologians to further the Reformation cause. In this pursuit, Reformed theologians, as they did during the time of the Reformation theologians, often found themselves disagreeing on a number of theological doctrines.

1;Contents;6 2;Preface;11 3;1. Diversity in the Reformed Tradition: A Historiographical Introduction;12 3.1;1.1 Introduction: Tradition, Diversity, and the Interpretation of Reformed Thought;12 3.2;1.2 Debate Within the Reformed Tradition;18 3.3;1.3 Debates Concerning Confessional Boundaries Crossing Over or Pressing the Boundary;19 3.4;1.4 Debates Over Philosophical Issues;23 3.5;1.5 Debates Concerning Issues of Significant Import that Threatened to Rise to a Confessional Level;24 3.6;1.6 Debates over Theological Topics that did not Press on Confessional Boundaries;26 3.7;1.7 Concluding Comment;30 4;2. The Imputation of the Active Obedience of Christ at the Westminster Assembly;32 4.1;2.1 Introduction;32 4.2;2.2 Historiography;33 4.3;2.3 Recent Evidence;36 4.4;2.4 Article 11 of the Thirty-Nine Articles;37 4.5;2.5 The Problem of Antinomianism;39 4.6;2.6 Vines, Gataker, and Twisse;40 4.7;2.7 The Wider Context of the Westminster Assembly;47 4.8;2.8 Conclusion;51 5;3. October 1643: The Dissenting Brethren and the Proton Dektikon;53 5.1;3.1 Introduction;53 5.2;3.2 The builders must have a platform;57 5.3;3.3 We are now on the foundation of all;61 5.4;3.4 The Grand Charter of the Church;65 5.5;3.5 The Apologists Proton Dektikon;68 5.6;3.6 Ecclesiae Primae and Ecclesiae Ortae: an untrodden path;72 5.7;3.7 A break from the fathers & the schoolmen;80 5.8;3.8 Conclusion;83 6;4. Millennialism;84 6.1;4.1 Introduction;84 6.2;4.2 The Tradition Established;86 6.3;4.3 The Tradition Challenged;93 6.4;4.4 Conclusion;98 7;5. Lapsarian Diversity at the Synod of Dort;100 7.1;5.1 Introduction;100 7.2;5.2 The Debate over Infra- and Supralapsarianism;103 7.3;5.3 The Supralapsarian Position;108 7.4;5.4 The Infralapsarian Position;112 7.5;5.5 The Lapsarian Outcome of the Canons;115 7.6;5.6 Analysis of the Outcome;118 7.7;5.7 The Maccovius Case;120 7.8;5.8 Was Supralapsarianism Rejected?;121 7.9;5.9 Why no Rejection of Supralapsarianism?;122 7.10;5.10 Summary;123 7.11;5.11 Conclusion;124 8;6
. The Extent of the Atonement: English Hypothetical Universalism versus Particular Redemption;125 8.1;6.1 Introduction;125 8.2;6.2 John Owen & Particular Redemption;126 8.3;6.3 John Davenant & English Hypothetical Universalism;137 8.4;6.4 English Hypothetical Universalism & Reformed Confessions;144 8.5;6.5 The Case of Richard Baxter;153 8.6;6.6 A Softening of Reformed Theology?;157 9;7. Adams Reward: Heaven or Earth?;163 9.1;7.1 Introduction;163 9.2;7.2 Thomas Goodwin (16001680);166 9.3;7.3 Francis Turretin (16231687);170 9.4;7.4 Examining Their Positions;172 9.5;7.5 Seventeenth-Century Divines and Adams Reward;176 9.6;7.6 Conclusion;182 10;8. The Old Covenant;184 10.1;8.1 Introduction;184 10.2;8.2 Taxonomies;188 10.3;8.3 The Majority Position: Dichotomist;190 10.4;8.4 Foedus Subserviens: Trichotomist;195 10.5;8.5 John Owen: Dichotomist or Trichotomist?;200 10.6;8.6 Conclusion;203 11;9. The Necessity of the Atonement;205 11.1;9.1 Introduction;205 11.2;9.2 Owens Early Position;207 11.3;9.3 The Argument of the Dissertation;210 11.4;9.4 The Evidence for Essential Vindicatory Justice;214 11.5;9.5 Revelation and the Doctrine of God;218 11.6;9.6 Conclusion;222 12;10. That Error and Pillar of Antinomianism: Eternal Justification;224 12.1;10.1 Introduction;224 12.2;10.2 The Antinomian Endorsement;227 12.3;10.3 The Westminster Resistance;238 12.4;10.4 The Anti-Arminian Foundations;247 12.5;10.5 The Anti-Antinomian Connections;256 12.6;10.6 Conclusion;260 13;11. The Assurance Debate: Six Key Questions;264 13.1;11.1 Introduction;264 13.2;11.2 Is the Seed of Assurance Embedded in Faith?;266 13.3;11.3 Is Faith a Condition of the Covenant?;268 13.4;11.4 Is Assurance Primarily Grounded in Gods Promises?;271 13.5;11.5 How Important is Syllogistic Reasoning for Validating Inward Evidences of Grace?;274 13.6;11.6 Does the Inward Witness of the Holy Spirit Coincide with the Inward Evidences of Grace?;277 13.7;11.7 Is Assurance Normative?;282 13.8;11.8 Conclusion;284 14;12. Particular
Baptist Debates about Communion and Hymn- Singing;285 14.1;12.1 Introduction;285 14.2;12.2 The Communion Controversy of the 1670s and 1680s;286 14.3;12.3 The Hymn-Singing Controversy of the 1690s;297 14.4;12.4 Isaac Marlow and His Opposition to Hymn-Singing;301 14.5;12.5 Benjamin Keach and an Old Ordinance Reclaimed;305 14.6;12.6 The Outcome;308 15;Bibliography;310 15.1;Primary and Secondary Sources;310 16;About the Authors;334 17;Index;335