The Learned Doctor William Ames

Notable scholars like Mark Noll and Sinclair Ferguson invite you to sit at the feet of classic Puritain writers to experience a living, three-dimensional portrait of the devoted life that emphasizes the Christian experience of communion with God, corporate revival, biblical preaching and the sanctifying working of God's Holy Spirit. Edited by Kelly M. Kapic and Randall C. Gleason.

William Perkins and the Making of Protestant England presents a new interpretation of the theology and historical significance of William Perkins (1558-1602), a prominent Cambridge scholar and teacher during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Though often described as a Puritan, W. B. Pattersonargues that Perkins was in fact a prominent and effective apologist for the established church whose contributions to English religious thought had an immense influence on an English Protestant culture that endured well into modern times. The English Reformation is shown to be a part of theEuropean-wide Reformation, and Perkins himself a leading Reformed theologian.In A Reformed Catholike (1597), Perkins distinguished the theology upheld in the English Church from that of the Roman Catholic Church, while at the same time showing the considerable extent to which the two churches shared common concerns. His books dealt extensively with the nature of salvationand the need to follow a moral way of life. Perkins wrote pioneering works on conscience and "practical divinity". In The Arte of Prophecying (1607), he provided preachers with a guidebook to the study of the Bible and their oral presentation of its teachings. He dealt boldly and in down-to-earthterms with the need to achieve social justice in an era of severe economic distress. Perkins is shown to have been instrumental to the making of a Protestant England, and to have contributed significantly to the development of the religious culture not only of Britain but also of a broad range ofcountries on the Continent.

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Carmichael argues that Johannes Cocceius's theology of the Sabbath serves as a window through which one can view more clearly his federal theology or covenant theology. Covenant theology was the most distinctive feature of his theology. Moreover, Cocceius spent a notable portion of his life engaging in the Leiden Sabbath Controversies from 1655 to 1659, which played a key role in the split of the Reformed Dutch Republic into two socio-political blocs—Cocceians and Voetians. So far scholars have tended to overlook this critical phase in Cocceius's theological development. Carmichael sheds light on it by looking at the theological texts that Cocceius wrote that absorbed his attention during this significant period. Casey Carmichael examines first the evolution of the problem of the Sabbath in Cocceius's theological tradition—Reformed Orthodoxy—in Chapters 2–4 and second the development of Cocceius's doctrine of the Sabbath, structured around the Leiden Sabbath Controversies, in Chapters 5–8.

American educators have consistently splintered our humanity into pieces throughout higher education’s history. Although key leaders of America’s colonial colleges shared a common functional understanding of humans as made in God’s image with a robust but vulnerable moral conscience, latter moral philosophers did not build upon that foundation. Instead, they turned to shards of our identity to help students find their moral bearings. They sought to create ladies and gentlemen, honorable students, and finally, good professionals. As a result, fragmentation ensued as university leaders pitted these identity fragments against each other inciting a war of attrition. As the war of identities raged, its effects spilled out beyond the bounds of the curriculum into the co-curricular dimension that struggled with moving beyond being en loco parentis. The major identity they cultivated was that of being a political citizen. Thus, the major identity and story of students’ lives became the American political story of democracy—what I call Meta-Democracy. In higher education guided by Meta-Democracy, students lose their autonomy to administrators who reduce the student identities they try to develop along with the range of virtues that comprise the good life. The Dismantling of Moral Education: How Higher Education Reduced the Human Identity explains why and how we arrived at diminishing ourselves.

William Ames (1576 – 1633) was an English Protestant theologian who spent most of his life in the Netherlands. His work was hugely influential on the English Puritans of the following generations, especially in New England. His Marrow of Theology (originally entitled The Marrow of Sacred Divinity drawne out of the Holy Scriptures) is organized as follows: Book I I. Of the Definition, or Nature of Divinity II. Of the Distribution or Parts of Divinity III. Of Faith IIII. Of God, and His Essence V. Of the Subsistence of God VI. Of the Efficiency of God VII. Of the Decree, and Counsel of God VIII. Of Creation IX. Of Providence X. Of Special Gubernation About Intelligent Creatures XI. Of Man’s Apostacy, or Fall XII. Of the Consequences of Sin XIII. Of Original Sin XIV. Of Actual Sin XV. Of Corporal Death XVI. Of the Consummation of Death XVII. Of the Propagation of Sin XVIII. Of the Person of Christ, the Mediator XIX. Of the Office of Christ XX. Of Satisfaction XXI. Of the Life of Christ Being Humbled XXII. Of the Death of Christ XXIII. Of the Exaltation of Christ XXIV. Of the Application of Christ XXV. Of Predestination XXVI. Of Calling XXVII. Of Justification XXVIII. Of Adoption XXIX. Of Sanctification XXX. Of Glorification XXXI. Of the Church Mystically Considered XXXII. Of the Church Instituted XXXIII. Of the Extraordinary Ministers of the Church XXXIIII. Of the Holy Scripture XXXV. Of Ordinary Ministers, and Their Office in Preaching XXXVI. Of the Sacraments XXXVII. Of Ecclesiastical Discipline XXXVIII. Of the Administration of the Covenant of Grace Before the Coming of Christ XXXIX. Of the Administration of the Covenant From Christ Exhibited to the End of the World XL. Of Baptism and the Supper of the Lord XLI. To the End of the World Book II I. Of Observance in General II. Of Virtue III. Of Good Works IIII. Of Religion V. Of Faith VI. Of Hope VII. Of Charity VIII. Of Hearing of the Word IX. Of Prayer X. Of an Oath XI. Of a Lot XII. Of Tempting of God XIII. Of Instituted Worship XIIII. Of the Manner of Divine Worship XV. Of the Time of Worship XVI. Of Justice and Charity Toward Our Neighbour XVII. Of the Honour of Our Neighbour XVIII. Of Humanity Toward Our Neighbour XIX. Of Chastity XX. Of Commutative Justice XXI. Of Telling Truth. Veracity XXII. Of Contentment