The Westminster Confession Of Faith And The Cessation Of Special Revelation

In the opening chapter of the Confession, the divines of Westminster included a clause that implied that there would no longer be any special immediate revelation from God. Means by which God had once communicated the divine will, such as dreams, visions, and the miraculous gifts of the Spirit, were said to be no longer available. However, many of the authors of the WCF accepted that prophecy continued in their time, and a number of them apparently believed that disclosure of God's will through dreams, visions, and angelic communication remained possible. How is the cessationist clause of WCF 1:1 to be read in the light of these claims? This book reconciles this paradox in a detailed study of the writings of the authors of the Westminster Confession of Faith.

The church needs good theology that engages the head, heart, and hands. This four-volume work combines rigorous historical and theological scholarship with application and practicality—characterized by an accessible, Reformed, and experiential approach. In this volume, Joel R. Beeke and Paul M. Smalley explore the first two of eight central themes of theology: revelation and God.

In three carefully researched volumes, this ground-breaking study examines the gift of tongues through 2,000 years of church history. Starting in the present and working back in time, these volumes consider (1) the modern redefinition of “tongues” as a private prayer language; (2) the church’s perennial understanding of “tongues” as ordinary human languages; and (3) the Corinthian “tongues,” which, in light of Jewish liturgical tradition, turn out to have been a foreign liturgical language (Hebrew or Aramaic) requiring bilingual interpreters. In the first volume, the authors establish that modern glossolalia, far from being a supernatural gift enjoyed by certain believers since the time of Pentecost and undergoing a resurgence in modern times, has no precedent in church life prior to the nineteenth century. They discuss why German theologians, responding to the Irvingite revival, coined the term “glossolalia” in the 1830s; why Pentecostals between 1906–8 quietly began redefining “tongues” to mean a heavenly language unintelligible to human beings but pleasing to God, instead of foreign languages useful for evangelism; why Protestant cessationists believed miraculous tongues had ceased; and why interpolated idioms like “unknown tongues” in Protestant Bibles were aimed originally at Rome’s use of Latin.

Rowland S. Ward's guide has served as an invaluable resource for many wishing to understand the rich theological tapestry of the Westminster Confession. In this revised and expanded volume, Ward has sought to bring further clarity to, and appreciation for, this great summary of doctrinal truth. If you are looking for an easy to read exposition of the Confession with sharp analysis of its contents and relevant discussion questions -- look no further.

For centuries, countless Christians have turned to the Westminster Standards for insights into the Christian faith. These renowned documents—first published in the middle of the 17th century—are still considered by many to be some of the most beautifully written summaries of the Bible's teaching ever produced. Church historian John Fesko walks readers through the background and theology of the Westminster Confession, the Larger Catechism, and the Shorter Catechism, helpfully situating them within their original context. Organized according to the major categories of systematic theology, this book utilizes quotations from other key works from the same time period to shed light on the history and significance of these influential documents.

All God's people have been given the ability not only to hear his voice, but to speak his words. Yet some still believe that the gift of prophecy ceased with the death of the New Testament apostles. Others believe that gifts are reserved only for those specially anointed and appointed. Grounded in Scripture, international speaker and author Kim Maas will help you understand · the history of the modern prophetic movement · key misunderstandings and misconceptions about prophecy · where prophetic community fits into God's kingdom plan When the body of Christ recognizes that we are called to be a prophetic community, the voice of God will be released with fresh power in the church and the family, in the halls of justice and of education, in places of business and of leisure, and in the streets of every neighborhood, city, and nation. Lives will be changed. Communities will be transformed. Culture will be influenced. And history will be made.

The free offer of the gospel has been a matter of significant debate within Reformed theology. However, despite this controversy, Reformed theologians such as James Durham preached a gospel offer which was a sincere and free invitation from God to all, to embrace Jesus Christ as Saviour. This gospel offer expressed God's grace and goodness to all. Donald MacLean argues that Durham's doctrinal position is representative of the Westminster Standards and embraced by his contemporaries and evidenced by the later disputes concerning the meaning of the teaching of the Westminster Confession of Faith.

God's Irishmen describes the theological debates that tore the Cromwellian movement apart and caused its eventual failure. An informed analysis of the texts that survive from the period, Gribben dissects the contentious theological issues and reflects on larger questions about the characteristics of the Protestant churches in Cromwellian Ireland.