A Collection Of The Lives Of Ten Eminent Divines Famous In Their Generations For Learning Prudence Piety And Painfulness In The Work Of The Ministry

Generations injects fresh energy into tired debates about England's plural and protracted Reformations by adopting the fertile concept of generation as its analytical framework. It demonstrates that the tumultuous religious developments that stretched across the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries not merely transformed the generations that experienced them, but were also forged and created by them. The book investigates how age and ancestry were implicated in the theological and cultural upheavals of the era and how these, in turn, reconfigured the relationship between memory, history, and time. It explores the manifold ways in which the Reformations shaped the horizontal relationships that early modern people formed with their siblings, kin, and peers, as well as the vertical ones that tied them to their dead ancestors and their future heirs. Generations highlights the vital part that families bound by blood and by faith played in shaping these events, as well as in mediating our knowledge of the religious past and in the making of its archive. Drawing on a rich array of evidence, it provides poignant glimpses into how people navigated the profound challenges that the English Reformations posed in everyday life.

This work examines Richard Baxter's understanding and practice of pastoral ministry from the perspective of his own stated concern for reformation and in the broader context of Edwardian, Elizabethan, and early Stuart pastoral ideals and practice. It investigates Baxter's major treatise on pastoral ministry, 'Gildas Salvianus, the Reformed Pastor' (1656), and explores the background of each aspect of his pastoral strategy. Far from being novel, Baxter's practice of pastoral ministry certainly reflects aspects of his puritan predecessors' practice, if not their rhetoric. Black argues, however, that the primary contours of Baxter's ministry look back, not to the puritan pastoral ideals and strategies dominant after the Elizabethan Settlement, but to the Edwardian reformation emphases of the exiled Strasbourg reformer Martin Bucer. The book concludes by considering the impact of Baxter's pastoral legacy, both on the lives of individual pastors and on the subsequent discussion of puritan ministry.

Godly Learning attempts to establish the relationship which Puritans worked out between faith and reason in the eighty years before the Civil War. This was a period of rapid expansion of educational facilities, of a clash between humanist values of the Renaissance and the fideism of the Reformation, and of confrontations between traditionalist (primarily Aristotelian) approaches to knowledge and the more experimental path signalled by Bacon. Taking an existential approach to the question of meaning, Puritans sought their solution in the development of a covenant theology based on a life of active faith. They argued vehemently that natural reason was incapable of finding the path to salvation and only faith could regenerate reason to its proper capabilities. At the same time, Puritans emphasised the value of learning for comprehension of Scripture and preparation of sermons. Starting with a fresh approach to the question of defining Puritans, Godly Learning proceeds to delineate the infrequently studied puritan mentalité which informed the better-known public political and ecclesiological positions. Not since the work of Perry Miller has there been such a thorough attempt to comprehend the Puritan view of reason, and the implications of that view.

Maintaining hope in Christ for the weary soul. In the face of trials and tribulations, persevering in the faith can be a difficult task. For Puritan pastor--theologian William Gouge, this question was of critical importance for those he shepherded. His theology of assurance during the difficult seasons in life provided direction and help to weary souls. In Christ Is Yours, Eric Rivera explores Gouge's theology, revealing a man who cared deeply about the truths of Scripture and the spiritual lives of his community. His theology was focused on the promises of God found in Scripture while staying grounded in the realities of life. This message of perseverance and hope is just as necessary for Christ-followers today as it was then. Written for academics and pastors alike, Rivera brings this important theology to a modern audience.

"This book analyzes James Ussher's doctrine of the covenant of works and argues that he composed his view by interacting with the broad Christian tradition, used it to integrate his theology, and formulated it in a way to support several other doctrines that are crucial within the Reformed tradition. This work highlights the ecumenical premises that undergirded the Reformed doctrine of the covenant of works, and how James Ussher played a major role in codifying that doctrine. It also sheds new light on how to describe the puritan movement, specifically by using the differing perspectives of the Irish and English established churches. The first half of the book considers Ussher and how he explained and developed this doctrine of a covenant between God and Adam that was based on the law, and the second half of the book examines how Ussher related the covenant of works to the doctrines of predestination, Christology, and salvation"--

This book examines the way in which early modern women writers conceived of grief and the relationship between the dead and the living.

"A portrait of Nicholas Ferrar and his family, to whom he dedicated his ministry, with a focus on his background and the education and experiences that shaped that ministry and the circumstances that brought them to Little Gidding. This book appeals for its detailed account of a family's life together as well as the spiritual aspirations that made their household a community. Later generations appealed to their example both for its mission and its method. Not only does Ransome describe the man and the family in a way that brings them alive but also encompasses both their strength and their human frailties and indicates their contemporary and future significance. The book is aimed at both an academic and general audience of readers interested in history, religion, education, and family relationships including the role of women."