Puritans

Lecture 15, Grace Abounding the Puritans. Last time we looked at the Anglicans, today we're going to look at a very distinctive part of the Church of England, the movement that we call the Puritan movement, but like to use a prayer from Richard Baxter, before I do that, let me quote from one of Baxter's books, well many books, one was called How to Lead a Heavenly Life upon Earth, and when I was reading that some time ago I came across this statement which I felt was particularly appropriate to those of us studying in a seminary, because Baxter warns those that are employed in leading the devotions of others, especially he says preachers of the gospel, and this is what he says, oh how easily may such be deceived, while they do nothing so much as read and study of heaven, preach and pray and talk of heaven is not this the heavenly life, it's really what we're doing at the seminary, we're reading and talking and praying and preaching about the Bible, and about God, and about heaven, is this the heavenly life Baxter ask, alias all this is but mere preparation, this is but collecting the materials, not erecting the building itself, it is but gathering the mana for others and not eating and digesting it ourselves, so that's a good statement from Richard Baxter, the Puritan for us as we are gathering and preparing the mana for others to be sure that we too are eating it ourselves. Let's come now to the prayer from Richard Baxter, let us pray. Lord Jesus, take my spirit, I trust I love and merit, take home this wandering sheep for thou hast sought it, this soul in safety keep for thou hast bought it. Amen. This is from the USA Today, every inauguration brings on a course of moaners determined to take the fun out of the celebration, they appear in many forms, first the Puritans who can't stand to see money spent on anything impractical. This is from the writer Frederick Beakner, one of the grammar notions that we seem to inherit from our Puritan forebears is that work is not even supposed to be glad but rather a kind of penance, a way of working off the guilt that you accumulate during the hours when you're not working. This is from the book listening to Prozac, the author quotes someone who uses the phrase pharmacological Puritanism to express the judgmental quality of the objection to medication. This is from fashion designer Tom Ford, too much style in America is tacky. In fashion you can really tell that America is descended from the Puritans and this is from novelist John Mortimer. My daughter who I hope would grow up like you, understanding the weakness of mankind is starting not to be a Puritan. Well I could read many more statements like this because I've collected these through the years and I have a rather large file full of statements telling us all about Puritanism. Who are these people, the Puritans, that all these people are saying these bad things about? There are spoil sports, work, obsessed, judge metal, and even tacky people according to the quotations that I just read. Today we're going to study the Puritans, the cheerful old Puritans. J.I. Packer sometimes says just to shock people into examining their prejudices and looking at the Puritans in a new light. And we're going to study the history of the Puritans to see what the word really does mean.

In the quotation from C.S. Lewis at the top of page 91, he reminds us in the Scrutape letters that the devil has taken over this word, as Scrutape says to Wormwood. The value we have given to that word is one of the really solid triumphs of the last hundred years. By it we rescue annually thousands of humans from temperance, chastity, and sobriety of life. A historical definition of Puritanism is the bottom of page 90 in the syllabus. It's a spiritual movement which developed under Elizabeth I in the late 16th century or somewhere you even earlier. It blossomed in the interregnum of the 1640s and the 1650s. And it withered in the persecution between the restoration of 1660 and toleration in 1689. The Puritans at first were part of the Church of England, a group within the Church of England whose goal was to push the reform which had begun and begun well under Edward VI toward greater perfection in particularly worship and church discipline and a movement which was concerned to establish righteousness in the culture and a movement which attempted to convert everyone to a vigorous evangelical faith. We like to use the analogy of a plant, a tree as we think of Puritanism growing from small beginnings to vigorous point in its development and then finally withering and breaking apart. All that takes place in the 17th century so we're going to scan the history of the 17th century in England to see the rise and the triumph and the collapse of Puritanism. First of all roots and early growth Puritan pioneers include such people, people we've already talked about as William Tyndall and John Bradford and John Knox and John Hooper. William Tyndall the Bible translator John Bradford one of the Marion martyrs John Knox the Scottish reformer who ministered in England during the time of Edward VI then fled to the continent when Mary Tudor began her reign. It was in Frankfurt on the continent that we see the issue develop and express between the Anglican side of the English church and the Puritan side of the English church. It was a man named Cox Richard Cox who felt that the refugee church in Frankfurt the British refugee church in Frankfurt should be as close as possible to the church in England. They should do Cox said as they had done in England. They should have the face of an English church and John Knox replied the Lord granted to have the face of Christ church. That's a Puritan answer a Puritan statement already before the reign even of Queen Elizabeth and with John Hooper we have an early English champion of the regulative principle we'll talk about that in a few minutes the reform principle or the regulative principle or it's sometimes called even the Puritan principle that in worship we only are allowed to do with God commands. Another great moment in the history of early Puritanism was the translation of the Bible into English which was accomplished in Geneva it's called the Geneva version based on tindles work but what is particularly important about the Geneva version is the notes the notes the marginal notes which set forth Calvinism and Puritan teaching influence very much by the theology of John Calvin this was the Bible beloved by the Puritan this was the Bible brought to America on the Mayflower by the Pilgrim fathers and mothers and this is the Bible that was used as the Bible of the Westminster divine even though the King James version had been translated by this time it comes from the year 1600 and 11 but that version King James version for sometimes was viewed as a kind of modern new translation of the Bible and people wanted to stick to the old familiar Geneva version which they did was not until the middle of the 17th century that the King James version gained wide acceptance these people within the church of England had great hopes that Queen Elizabeth would become their champion but it was not too long into that imported Queen's long reign that the Puritans realized that they were doomed to be disappointed with Elizabeth in their opinion she did not continue and complete the good beginnings that had already been made under her half-brother Edward but only swept the rubbish behind the door and the Puritan spelled it much more had to be done to bring the English church into line with Christ church if they were disappointed with Elizabeth they became disillusion with the next ruler the first of the stewards to rule in England James the first of England Scottish King reared among Scottish Presbyterians I'm sure many people in England thought as James made his way south from Edinburgh to London or the year 1600 and three God is really in this because at last we've got a Presbyterian King who will be sympathetic to our ideals and to our hopes in fact many of those Puritans did not wait for James to reach his capital but marched out to meet him on the way to London and presented him with a petition in which they asked him to commit himself to the kind of church reform that they had long hoped for and worked for was called a military petition because according to tradition a thousand Puritan ministers signed that petition asking James to continue and further the reform of the church well they were soon to be greatly disappointed and disillusioned because the English Puritans learned what the Scottish Presbyterians already knew and that was that King James was no friend of the reform faith in the Hampton Court conference he made it clear that he was the king and he preferred bishops and that he would not tolerate any divergence in the church or in the state one thing he did is I mentioned a moment ago was authorize the translation a new translation of the Bible generally called in England the authorize version and in other places the King James version in the year 1600 and 11 there is a very false dedication to King James in the opening pages of the King James version of the Bible but as somebody has said he will be sorely misled who extends the doctrine of scriptural and erudgy to the dedication preface to the King James version of the Bible King James was not nearly as good a king and friend of Protestant Christianity or Puritan Christianity as the dedication in the King James Bible would lead you to believe well disappointment with Elizabeth disillusionment with James the first and despair Charles the first I suppose the preacher in me is coming out here with those three poets and all line up with these I was quite pleased when it happened that way but I didn't work real hard to make it happen that way I think it's accurate despair finally comes to the Puritans as they realize that their high hopes are not going to be realized with the reign of the Stuart Kings with Charles the first there was a high church movement that began to take over in the church of England Archbishop William Lloyd symbol of Puritan troubles rule in the church as Charles ruled in the state Arminian theology began to infiltrate the church of England for the first time in a significant way there was a common saying about this time what do the Arminians hold and the answer was the best bishoprix and denaries in England so the Arminians with Archbishop Lloyd's approval and support began to gain places of prestige in the church and with that despair you had many of the Puritans leaving a few had left before the reign of Charles the first to go to the Netherlands and then later to New England or now to go directly to New England as thousands of Puritans had given up on Old England and the immigration to New England which as we'll see later was to be just that a new England where God would be honored and the gospel would be preached in its purity a light settle the hill for the nations in the 1630s immigration reached its highest peak and then in the 1640s civil war broke out between the king and the parliament that resulted as you know in victory for the parliament and the execution of the king Charles the first was put to death in the year 1649 we talk a little bit about that victory in the period of the Commonwealth 1649 to 1660 for about a decade England had no king or queen and this is the period in English history that we call the Commonwealth it's also the period of Puritan ascendancy so Puritans now rather than being a despised minority became the ruling class in England under famous man named Oliver Cromwell I think you'll want to add his name to the syllabus at this point Oliver Cromwell who was born in 1599 died in 1658 he had a very meteoric career it's the kind of gentleman farmer your Cambridge elected as an empty and then rose to be the military and political leader of the long parliament and then after the death of the king the execution of the king and the victory of parliament he became the lord protector of England one point almost became the king of England a new line of kingship would have been established with Oliver Cromwell but he did not become king but lord protector I think Oliver Cromwell is one of the most misunderstood people in English history certainly one of the most despised people in English history even though you can see today before the houses of parliament your Westminster Abbey that very impressive statue of Oliver Cromwell most people in England would not think of him as a hero but as a rebel man who was responsible for the execution of the king and for the period of the Commonwealth which is a period that most English people look to as a great time in English history but some people see more there in that period of the Commonwealth and certainly more in Oliver Cromwell 20 months after he died September 3rd 1658 during one of the greatest storms in memory Charles the Second sat on his father's throne so once again the steward's rule in what's called the restoration kind of people were singing a song about Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell is dead and gone it's the way that song began but to say something about Oliver Cromwell to try to set him more in a proper perspective let me make several points here first of all he certainly was an honest man he did not try to pretend to be something that he was not you know the famous story about him when a painter was painting his picture and he looked at it and said no it won't do you've got to paint the warts and all make it more ugly my guy really am not so idealized as you have painted it and that story says something about Oliver Cromwell I think he was a humble man even though he became strong leader and almost a dictator in some ways she read his prayer as he said that here is the man who was humble before the Lord Lord he prayed though I am a miserable and wretched creature I am in covenant with you through grace and I may I will come to you for your people prayed for the people of England he prayed in that prayer teach those who look too much on your instruments to depend more on yourself people not look to me in the parliament but to you as their guide and their help and Cromwell was a great man in many ways one of the most recent books on Oliver Cromwell by the British historian Christopher Hill called God's Englishman says as long as the great issues of liberty and equality which Oliver raised remained unresolved so long will he continue to fascinate and the debate over him will continue there are many warts as we look at Oliver Cromwell many shortcomings many problems many things that he did wrong some of the antagonism between Protestants and Catholics in northern Ireland today goes back to the time of Oliver Cromwell so I don't by any means want to make Oliver Cromwell sound better than he really is but probably no danger in doing that because Oliver Cromwell is generally made to sound a lot worse than he really is and I'm trying to balance the scales just a little bit here so roots and growth fjord and movement begins and it grows into a great tree and actually during the time of the common wealth it is the dominant movement religiously and politically in England let me talk a little bit now about blossoms and fruit just to keep the agricultural the horticultural metaphor going some of the products fruits of the Puritan movement and I'll live it myself although it's hard to do this to just five names this list could go on and on and on actually we could have a whole course we could just stop right here and not do anything else but the Puritans for the rest of the semester and summer school and next semester and for several other years after that because there's a lot to read and a lot to study but I'll have to do it in five minutes but here are some of the great names John Milton great Puritan poet and scholar you undoubtedly have read some of his works paradise lost paradise regain samps and agonisties one of Milton's biographers has written that John Milton was in all likelihood the last person to read everything that had ever been published that's an amazing statement and of course nobody could say anything like that today but it's hard to imagine even in the 17th century that somebody could read everything that had ever been published I imagine we have to limit that to English and Latin and a few of the European languages but publishing at least printing was not all that all it could be that John Milton did read about everything that had been written or published read Milton read him for the greatness of his language it's get caught up in these great poems and the greatness and grandeur of the ideas and language of John Milton but be a little cautious be more than a little cautious with his theology even though this man is a Puritan he's tainted a bit with Aryanism and Arminianism at least seems to be certain points in his writing so you don't really go to John Milton for theology go to him for the splendor of his imagination and the greatness of his poems and then Richard Vaxter the great preacher pastor he spent 15 years in the little town of Kittermenster you're Birmingham in England left his mark on that place that lasted 100 years it's a great preacher Vaxter's preaching aphorism was this first light then heat not a bad thing to remember in preaching first light then heat and he was a great pastor one of the important books in pastoral theology is Vaxter's the reformed pastor that is not really a word that means the Calvinist pastor although many in most of the pastors that would read this book would have been Calvinist but reformed in the sense of revived or renewed reformed pastor stocking with one of the students just before coming over here to teach and I had not said anything about the reformed pastor and Richard Vaxter but he was telling me he had just read this book and he said I almost decided I couldn't be a pastor this was it this was the end Richard Vaxter has such a high standard and makes it seem impossible that I don't think I could ever do this well read the reform pastor but don't have that reaction because that book is a goal that we can set before us and a few of anybody is ever going to reach that goal in its perfection in fact Richard Vaxter himself did not read Richard Vaxter reading for evangelism a call to the unconverted read him for his spiritual counsel the wonderful saints everlasting rest read him for church renewal the reformed pastor it's just talking about which he so incisively touches the life and part of ministers some people had complained that he wrote that book in English as he wrote his other books in English and Vaxter's response was if the ministers have of England had sin only in Latin I would have admonished them in Latin but if they will send in English they must hear of it in English and he certainly lets them hear of it in English but watch out a little bit for Vaxter's theology for his neo-nomeanism and then John Owen you don't have to watch out for John Owen's theology read John Owen for his theology here is the John Calvin of England in his death of death in the death of Christ one of the great theological books of England and we have the theology of John Owen in concentrated form which is something of a miracle in the Savoy Declaration as Owen's on Puritan Westminster confession convictions are expressed in that document which represents English congregationalism Spurgeon said it is unnecessary to say that Owen is the prince of divides to master his works is to be a profound theologian but large task because Owen writes a lot and isn't always easy to read but if you can master his style a very concise style you'll learn to appreciate how much Owen can pack into a very few pages and then John Bunyan one of my favorites the tinker of Bedford who wrote wonderful spiritual autobiography called Grace Abounding to the Chief of Centers and then certainly one of the greatest books ever written pilgrims progress the Westminster confession of faith with people in it somebody has called pilgrims progress I have 36 editions of pilgrims progress in my library and I try to read it once every year or two I'm reading it now I have all those editions because I like the different illustrations and some different languages and different ways in which pilgrims progress has been published through the years and then there's time to just mention one other great Puritan John Flavle call the Siemens preacher he was pastor at Dartmouth in England ejected at the time of the restoration but he continued to serve his seafaring congregation even though he was locked out of his church preaching from a rock in the harbor plain earnest Puritan writer so typical of the Puritans Flavle said a crucified style best suits the preachers of a crucified Christ and I had John Flavle to this short list which could be much longer because of the influence that Flavle had on the old Princeton seminary and through that on both northern and southern Presbyterianism now let's come to the withering and the breaking of the great Puritan tree what went wrong commonwealth was the realization of a long dream that English Puritans and their allies the Scottish Presbyterians would be in control of the church and the state I think two things went wrong and we can learn from these so let me take a few moments to set these before you first divisions in Puritan ranks the Puritans were better in opposition than they were in authority they were good pointing out what was wrong with other people but when they gain authority they had our time getting along with each other Presbyterians versus independence crumbles army fought not only the Catholics in our land but also the Presbyterians in Scotland and then many other groups developed radical groups in the Puritan movement the Baptist the levelers the diggers the ranchers the fifth monarchist the Quakers Puritanism began to splinter and the Puritans had adopted a kind of all or nothing approach so they found it very difficult to compromise with people that they probably should have compromised with in order to have a more united front and to represent more of the people of England Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones wrote if the Puritans had but stood together for religious toleration in general rather than any one system the history at that time and during the next 300 years would have been very different the second thing that went wrong is that there was too much of a mixture of religion and politics now I certainly admire the Puritans for their concern to represent Christ over all culture to be involved in science and education and in statecraft that is an ideal that we all hold before us with a reform world and life you but John Owen himself said that the influence of civil or political intrigues and considerations undermined the Puritan movement was not that they made a mistake in wanting to have influence in culture but they made a mistake in the way they attempted to go about it. Dr. Lloyd Jones wrote may we learn the lesson of 1640 to 1662 and keep clear of any such worldly entanglements let us fight the battle of the Lord with spiritual weapons Puritans were fighting the battle of the Lord with spiritual weapons but also with very real swords in their battles with the Catholics of Ireland for instance in which many of those people were killed by Puritans. The restoration came in 1660 with Charles II the son of the executed king back on the throne or on the throne now of England the act of uniformity in 1662 meant that all English ministers had to conform to the Anglican ideal those who could not or would not were ejected in the great ejection of 1662 when some 2000 ministers like Flavall left their churches and freaks them out of doors or wherever they could this was the beginning of official non-conformity in religious history in England followed by two decades of suffering in prison as in the case of John V onion was put in prison and wrote his great book at least partially during his years in prison until finally the glorious revolution of William and Mary and toleration of 1689 which we will come to later. In the end by giving a few words to summarize the Puritan mine and so as we did for the Anglicans in the previous lecture. One word we would use here is thoroughness I use the word comprehensiveness for the Anglicans but thoroughness for the Puritans the Puritans were thorough exhausted in anything they did or anything they wrote about you'll realize that if you try to read Richard Baxter's million-word book the Christian directory it's called or a sum of practical theology in cases of conscience directing Christians how to use their knowledge in faith how to improve all helps and means and to perform all duties how to overcome temptations and to escape or modify every sin all in one book there's a big book and the Puritans leave no stone unturned in there until to deal with every single thing. Baxter could see this spirit in others particularly in his wife he would remind her from time to time overdoing is undoing you do too much you won't do anything but he never could see it in his own wonder if Richard Baxter should have gone fishing more that could be an interesting exam question although it's not in my list should the Puritans have spent more time fishing like Isaac Walton Walton actually praised one of the Puritans in his complete angler he praised our learn William Perkins one of the great Puritans theologians he praised Perkins because of his commendations of angling at man also fished and so the Puritans and the Anglican saw eye on at least one thing biblical worship with the Anglican's high-stress beauty in worship with the Puritans biblical worship the regulative principle or the reform principle now becomes the Puritan principle and in the name of that principle the Puritans refused vestments and removed crosses and pictures and organs and candles and feast days including Easter and Christmas and the list goes on and on. The regulative principle is a very important principle but not always easy to apply in they're preaching the Puritans for champions of grace grace subounding to the chief of sinners the name of Bunyan's book and I could stand for the whole period and they were very concerned to teach the law to set forth the Ten Commandments and God's requirements for Christian living sometimes it's thought that the Puritans fell into legalism and they probably did we know Baxter did in his neo-nomeanism and even in John Bunyan's Pilgrim's progress Charles Virgin is disappointed when in the beginning of the story evangelist since poor Christian not really yet a Christian although that's his name already sends him to the wicked gate and not directly to the cross well Bunyan doesn't often get it wrong but there he perhaps did the way from the preaching of the gospel was an indirect way not a direct way to the cross and the Puritans do stress that law work it preaches the law it's important I think and they do it well and they do it right but you can preach the law so long you should not wait too long to get to the gospel and I think the Puritans kept people often marinating in the law too long they needed to let them go on to the gospel and be forgiven when the conviction was there but by and large the Puritans were as J. I. Packer put it law oriented without lapsing into legalism I would agree with that by saying the Puritans were usually law oriented and did not usually lapse into legalism that I think there are places where we can see that but there's much good in what the Puritans do with the law great stress and the third use of the law and careful teaching of what God requires but it can produce books that seem beyond us and as you read the Puritans don't allow Puritan writing to discourage you as sometimes it can there are many great encouraging things in the Puritans too but the standards are so high that we can feel like we can never make it of course the standards in the Bible are so high that we can feel like we can never make it but remember reading once that John Duncan the 19th century Scottish theologian was reading the Puritan Thomas Sheppard and he said Sheppard is fine but the problem with Sheppard is I wish I was as good as one of his hypocrites and can kind of get that feeling occasionally reading the Puritans we have a right to criticize some of the Puritans perhaps many of the Puritans for pruning the tree too closely but it's wrong to suppose that there should be no pruning whether we look at worship or at Christian conduct something corresponding to the Puritan criticism is always needed therefore since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses let us throw off everything that hinders and the sand that so easily entangles and let us run with Puritans the race marked out for us hmm quite make it two minutes yes Neil Nelson is the expression that's used for Baxter's teaching in which he was attempting to answer the opposite position to him which seemed to be something like an easy beliefism not really too much grace but grace taught in a certain way that would lead to an anti-nomeanism so both in English history and Scottish history for a long time maybe all the way down to the present really in the American history there's that tension between anti-nomeanism not thinking significantly enough of the law and neo-nomeanism bringing the law back in in some way in a way that perhaps clouds what justification by grace and faith really is all about I think that's that's a danger that we need to constantly be on guard against particularly on the reform side of things that we can with our stress and the third use of the law bring laws sort of back in it doesn't save us but it keeps us saved or it does something else like that on the Lutheran side there's the opposite problem so we're good for each other you know a Lutheran should talk to a Presbyterian occasionally and we should talk to Lutheran citation well we'll have to stop