“The gift of the Westminster Standards to the world”

[I]f I were to essay to express in one word what it is in [the Westminster Standards] which has proved so perennial a source of strength to generation after generation of Christian men, and which causes us still to cling to them with a devotion no less intelligent than passionate, I think I should but voice your own conviction were I to say that it is because these precious documents appeal to us as but the embodiment in fitly chosen language of the pure gospel of the grace of God.

—Benjamin B. Warfield, The Significance of the Westminster Standards as a Creed: An Address Delivered before the Presbytery of New York, November 8, 1897, on the occasion of the celebration of the Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Completion of the Westminster Standards (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1898), 1, 2.

“I mean the elect”

For whom did [the Father] smite [Jesus Christ]? For sinners, for straying sheep, for covenant-breakers, for such as had gone a-whoring from God, and were bent to sin against him, I mean the elect.

—James Durham (1622–1658), Christ Crucified, 165.

Review of Dictionary of Christian Spirituality ed. by Glen G. Scorgie

Dictionary of Christian Spirituality edited by Glen G. Scorgie. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011. 852 pp. $39.99 hardcover.

The Dictionary of Christian Spirituality (DCS) is an evangelical reference work for the emerging field of study that analyzes the Christian life (or “Christian formation” or “Christian spirituality”) from a globalist and ecumenical perspective.

“Broad” and “global” are fitting descriptors both for DCS’ intended audience and for its international cast of contributors. The latter is primarily comprised of Protestant scholars from a wide array of Protestant traditions. Contributions from Roman Catholic scholars, Eastern Orthodox scholars, “and even a few [scholars] who are not going to church at all right now” also appear throughout the volume, albeit less frequently (p. 11).

DCS is arranged into two parts. The first contains thirty-four short essays on propaedeutic and substantive topics such as:

• the nature of “Christian spirituality,”
• various methodological approaches to the field,
• Old-Testament and New-Testament foundations for the field,
• the history of the field,
• surveys of Christian spirituality throughout various times and places in the history of Christianity,
• liturgy and spirituality,
• spirituality and interfaith relationships,
• spirituality and missions,
• and the future of Christian spirituality.

Each of the essays conclude with a bibliography of citations and suggestions for further reading.

Part two is a dictionary with nearly 700 concise entries that cover all manner of people, places, events, and ideas that have influenced Christian spirituality from its inception in the New Testament era through its contemporary global expression. Including everything from African Christian Spirituality and Alfred the Great to Zen and Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf, the dictionary’s wide scope is impressive even if its entries are modest and brief. Interested students will appreciate the suggestions for further reading that are appended to each entry.

In sum, anyone who is seeking a broadly-evangelical, contemporary introduction to the vast field of contemporary Christian spirituality that is

1. biblically engaged,
2. accessible and relevant to contemporary Christian practitioners,
3. generous in its regard for the full range of Christian traditions of spirituality,
4. attentive to otherwise neglected topics, concerns, and formative figures in the evangelical tradition of spirituality,
5. global and international in both topical scope and contributors,
6. reflective of interdisciplinary engagement with related fields of inquiry,
7. and reasonably priced,

will benefit heartily from this fine reference work (list quoted from “Preface,” p. 8).

Brief: Guide to the Writings of Herman Bavinck by Eric D. Bristley

Guide to the Writings of Herman Bavinck
by Eric D. Bristley
Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2008.
ISBN: 9781601780546

Summary: Bristley’s guidebook is designed to aid English readers in their study of Herman Bavinck’s writings, a growing number of which are being translated into English (e.g., Reformed Dogmatics, 4 vols.). Given the breadth and depth of Bavinck’s (mostly Dutch) corpus, this guidebook is an indispensable tool for non-Dutch-speaking students. In other words, if you want to study Bavinck’s works but you can’t read this, then you need this!

The guide is arranged into five sections:

1. A brief overview of Bavinck’s life and major works
2. A complete re-print of John Bolt’s article, “Herman Bavinck Speaks English: A Bibliographic Essay,” Mid-America Journal of Theology 19 (2008): 117-126,
3. A comprehensive bibliography of Bavinck’s writings arranged chronologically with cross-references to later editions (where applicable),
4. A summary of the materials available in the Bavinck Archives at the Vrije Universiteit,
5. A bibliography of secondary literature on Bavinck, including English, Dutch, and Korean studies.

One of the most useful features of the guide is Bristley’s cross references. He lets you know, for example, when Bavinck has re-published an earlier article as a chapter in a later book. Likewise, he lets you know when a revised edition of a work has been published. He also clearly explains everything you need to know about the seven editions of Bavinck’s magnum opus, the Gereformeerde Dogmatiek.

It should be noted that not every section of Bristley’s guide is entirely comprehensive. His section on the Bavinck Archives, for example, does not include any of the archives located beyond De Vrije Universiteit. Nevertheless, the guide is impressive in its breadth and depth, and it will undoubtedly be a boon to Bavinck-related scholarship for years to come. Even if you read Dutch this guidebook will facilitate your Bavinck studies.

Related Links

• Bavinck Society members can purchase Bristley’s guidebook for 50% off.
• Readers of Cornelius Van Til’s works may recall that Bristley also published a guide to Van Til’s works: A Guide to the Writings of Cornelius Van Til 1895–1987, Chicago: Olive Tree Communications, 1995 (included in the Logos Van Til software). In terms of format the Bavinck guide is similar, yet sleeker and slightly simplified.
• For an important recent discovery in the Bavinck Archives of Bavinck’s Reformed Ethics manuscript, see Dirk Van Kuelen’s article in TBR 1 (2010).

Bavinck Books

Christ’s Death: Our Acquittal and our Freedom

This is our acquittal: the guilt that held us liable for punishment has been transferred to the head of the Son of God [Isa. 53:12]. We must, above all, remember this substitution, lest we tremble and remain anxious throughout life–as if God’s righteous vengeance, which the Son of God has taken upon himself, still hung over us.

–John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, ed. John T. McNeill, 2 vols., Library of Christian Classics (Westminster John Knox Press, 1960), 1:509-10.

Related Reads

“Nothing, nothing, I say, nothing, but sound sanctification can abide the Lord’s fan” — Rutherford Thursdays No. 38

To Mr. William Dalgleish

Reverend and Well-Beloved Brother,

Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you. I have heard somewhat of your trials in Galloway. My witness is above, my dearest brother, that ye have added much joy to me in my bonds, when I hear that ye grow in the grace and zeal of God for your Master. Our ministry, whether by preaching or suffering, will cast a smell through the world both of heaven and hell (II Cor. 2.15, 16). I persuade you, my dear brother, that there is nothing out of heaven, next to Christ, dearer to me than my ministry.

And, let me speak to you now, how kind a fellow prisoner is Christ to me! Believe me, this kind of cross (that would not go by my door, but would needs visit me) is still the longer the more welcome to me. It is true, my silent Sabbaths have been, and still are, as glassy ice, whereon my faith can scarce hold its feet, and I am often blown on my back, and off my feet, with a storm of doubting; yet truly, my bonds all this time cast a mighty and rank smell of high and deep love in Christ. I cannot, indeed, see through my cross to the far end; yet I believe I am in Christ’s books, and in His decree (not yet unfolded to me), a man triumphing, dancing, and singing, on the other side of the Red Sea, and laughing and praising the Lamb, over beyond time, sorrow, deprivation, prelates’ indignation, losses, want of friends, and death.

Woe is me, my dear brother, that I say often, ‘I am but dry bones, which my Lord will not bring out of the grave again’; and that my faithless fears say, ‘Oh, I am a dry tree, that can bear no fruit: I am a useless body, who can beget no children to the Lord in His house!’ Hopes of deliverance look cold and uncertain and afar off, as if I had done with it. If my sufferings could do beholders good and edify His kirk and proclaim the incomparable worth of Christ’s love to the world, then would my soul be overjoyed and my sad heart be cheered and calmed!

Dear brother, I cannot tell what is become of my labours among that people! If all that my Lord builded by me be casten down, and the bottom be fallen out of the profession at that parish, and none stand by Christ, whose love I once preached as clearly and plainly as I could (though far below its worth and excellence) to that people; if so, how can I bear it! And if another make a foul harvest, where I have made a painful and honest sowing, it will not soon digest with me. But I know that His ways pass finding out.

Yet my witness, both within me and above me, knoweth. And my pained breast upon the Lord’s Day at night, my desire to have had Christ awful, and amiable, and sweet to that people, is now my joy. It was my desire and aim to make Christ and them one; and, if I see my hopes die in the bud, see they bloom a little, and come to no fruit, I die with grief.

But, my dear brother, go on in the strength of His rich grace, whom ye serve. Stand fast for Christ. Deliver the Gospel off your hand, and your ministry to your Master with a clean and undefiled conscience. Let us make our part of it good, that it may be able to abide the fire, when hay and stubble shall be burned to ashes. Nothing, nothing, I say, nothing, but sound sanctification can abide the Lord’s fan.

Now, remember my love to all my friends, and to my parishioners, as if I named each one of them particularly. I recommend you, and God’s people, committed by Christ to your trust, to the rich grace of our all-sufflcient Lord. Remember my bonds. Praise my Lord, who beareth me up in my sufferings. As you find occasion, according to the wisdom given you, show our acquaintance what the Lord has done for my soul. This I seek not, verily, to hunt my own praise, but that my dearest Master may be magnified.

Aberdeen, 17 June 1637

About “Rutherford Thursdays”

• See my introduction to the “Rutherford Thursdays” series of blog posts.
• Selection from His Letters is a public domain text hosted by CCEL. I have arranged and formatted Rutherford’s text and Hugh Martin’s editorial comments, added headings, paragraph separations, etc., for presentation on this blog.
• Letters of Samuel Rutherford is a nice print edition of Rutherford’s letters for under $5.
• For a brief biographical sketch of Rutherford’s life, see Hugh Martin’s forward to Selections. And see Martin’s glossary for help with outdated vocabulary.
• Rutherford Resources:
  • The Post-Reformation Digital Library lists free e-books by Rutherford.
  • Samuel Rutherford by Andrew Thompson. This book, now freely available via Google Books, presents two parts: First, a biography of Rutherford’s life; Second, a selection of Rutherford’s letters entitled “Honey from the Honeycomb.”
  • Fire and Ice index to S. R.
  • Samuel Rutherford: A New Biography of the Man & His Ministry. This biography by Kingsley G. Rendell provides an excellent introduction to Rutherford’s life and work.

Rutherford Reads

The Covenant of Works as Guardian of Religious Vitality

One can certainly raise the objection against the doctrine of the covenant as it has been developed in Reformed theology, that it was overly detailed and treated too scholastically. Although later theologians still defended the doctrine, they no longer felt its significance and its theological and religious importance. Since it had lost its vitality, it was easy to combat it. But the doctrine of the covenant of works is based on Scripture and is eminently valuable.

– Herman Bavinck, God and Creation, vol. 2 of Reformed Dogmatics, 4 vols., ed. John Bolt, trans. John Vriend (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2004), 568.

Bavinck Books

Trinitarian Reality

The creation thus proceeds from the Father through the Son in the Spirit in order that, in the Spirit and through the Son, it may return to the Father.

– Herman Bavinck, God and Creation, vol. 2 of Reformed Dogmatics, 4 vols., ed. John Bolt, trans. John Vriend (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2004), 426.

Bavinck Books

Satisfaction Views All of Life from the Trinitarian Mountaintop

The God who created and sustained us is also he who re-creates us in his image. Grace, though superior to nature, is not in conflict with it. While restoring what has been corrupted in it by sin, it also clarifies and perfects what is still left in it of God’s revelation. The thinking mind situates the doctrine of the Trinity squarely amid the full-orbed life of nature and humanity. A Christian’s confession is not an island in the ocean but a high mountaintop from which the whole creation can be surveyed. And it is the task of Christian theologians to present clearly the connectedness of God’s revelation with, and its significance for, all of life. The Christian mind remains unsatisfied until all of existence is referred back to the triune God, and until the confession of God’s Trinity functions at the center of our thought and life.

– Herman Bavinck, God and Creation, vol. 2 of Reformed Dogmatics, 4 vols., ed. John Bolt, trans. John Vriend (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2004), 330.

Bavinck Books

“Beware of a green young devil that has never been buried” — Rutherford Thursdays No. 37

To Earlston, the Younger

Much Honored and Well Beloved in the Lord,

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you. Your letters give a dash to my laziness in writing.

I must first tell you, that there is not such a glassy, icy, and slippery piece of way betwixt you and heaven, as Youth; and I have experience to say with me here, and to seal what I assert. The old ashes of the sins of my youth are new fire of sorrow to me. I have seen the devil, as it were, dead and buried, and yet rise again, and be a worse devil than ever he was: therefore, my brother, beware of a green young devil, that has never been buried. Yet I must tell you, that the whole saints now triumphant in heaven, and standing before the throne, are nothing but a pack of redeemed sinners.

I shall be loath to put you off your fears, and your sense of deadness: I wish it were more. There be some wounds of that nature, that their bleeding should not be soon stopped. Ye must take a house beside the Physician. It will be a miracle if ye be the first sick man whom He put away uncured, and worse than He found you. ‘Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out’ (John 6.37). Take ye that. It cannot be presumption to take that as your own, when you find that your wounds stound you. He that can tell his tale and send such a letter to heaven as he has sent to Aberdeen, it is very like he will come speed with Christ. It bodeth God’s mercy to complain heartily for sin.

Now for myself; alas! I am not the man I go for in this nation: men have not just weights to weigh me in. Oh, but I am a silly, feckless body, and overgrown with weeds; corruption is rank and fat in me. Oh, if I were answerable to this holy cause, and to that honorable Prince’s love for whom I now suffer! If Christ should refer the matter to me (in His presence I speak it), I might think shame to vote my own salvation. I think Christ might say, ‘Thinkest thou not shame to claim heaven, who does so little for it?’ I am very often so, that I know not whether I sink or swim in the water.

Grace be with you,

Aberdeen 16 June 1637

About “Rutherford Thursdays”

• See my introduction to the “Rutherford Thursdays” series of blog posts.
• Selection from His Letters is a public domain text hosted by CCEL. I have arranged and formatted Rutherford’s text and Hugh Martin’s editorial comments, added headings, paragraph separations, etc., for presentation on this blog.
• Letters of Samuel Rutherford is a nice print edition of Rutherford’s letters for under $5.
• For a brief biographical sketch of Rutherford’s life, see Hugh Martin’s forward to Selections. And see Martin’s glossary for help with outdated vocabulary.
• Rutherford Resources:
  • The Post-Reformation Digital Library lists free e-books by Rutherford.
  • Samuel Rutherford by Andrew Thompson. This book, now freely available via Google Books, presents two parts: First, a biography of Rutherford’s life; Second, a selection of Rutherford’s letters entitled “Honey from the Honeycomb.”
  • Fire and Ice index to S. R.
  • Samuel Rutherford: A New Biography of the Man & His Ministry. This biography by Kingsley G. Rendell provides an excellent introduction to Rutherford’s life and work.

Rutherford Reads