Letter to the Evangelical Times claiming that later Puritans and Dissenters were sounder than our Reformers in their understanding of Scripture – The letter was not published. Sir: Towards the end of the nineteen fifties, several Christian magazines served their readership well by re-introducing the teachings of the long-neglected Puritans. Subsequently, the Puritans have become the staple reading of Reformed men. Sadly, however, this has led to a great neglect of our first generation Reformers whose works were used as a basis for Puritan teaching. Reformers such as Jewel, Lever, Latimer, Coverdale, Cox, Grindal, Bullinger, Bucer and Peter Martyr, pillars of the Church of England, were most strong on doctrine,… Full Article
Posts Tagged Reformers
Robert Williams on Wycliffe
Dec 19
Letter to the Evangelical Times on reading articles critical of John Wycliffe in the Christian Newspaper Sir: Robert Williams (41:11) believes that Wycliffe was not in tune with later mainstream Reformers. He cannot mean the 16th century Reformers as they obviously built on Wycliffe. So he is probably thinking of the many evangelical scholars of today who have sadly little in common with either Wycliffe or the Reformation. Williams appears to have taken over the Lechler/Green, late nineteenth century, critical interpretation of Wycliffe which was excellent in reviving Wycliffe studies but extremely weak in understanding Wycliffe’s doctrines. Like modern Reformed systematic theological appreciation, it was too… Full Article
Apostate Church of England
Dec 17
Letter to the English Churchman concerning criticism of the Reformed Church of England and praise of the Cromwellian chaos. Sir: The Letters to the Editor on the spiritual state of the pre-Rebellion Church of England swing from one extreme to the other. Ignoring historical facts, they back-project later dark sectarian interpretations onto more luminous times. The rejection of the Restitution by an alleged 2,000 (nearer 800) ministers in 1662 was a direct result of the ejection of the alleged 10,000 (nearer 7,000) Anglican ministers and scholars who were outlawed in 1643. One cannot understand a ‘tit’ without consulting the ‘tat’ which gave rise to it. The number of true Reformers and Puritans were equally balanced on… Full Article
