Church History

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Past Views of Satan

The church’s battle with Satan did not end with the writing of the book of Revelation. Satan continued to work both within the church and from without. He sowed seeds of corruption, heresy, strife, and schism in the visible church. He instigated waves of persecution against the visible church across...

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Where to Begin reading the Puritans

If you are just starting to read the Puritans, begin with Thomas Watson’s Heaven Taken by Storm, John Bunyan’s The Fear of God, John Flavel’s Keeping the Heart, Thomas Brooks’s Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices, and Richard Sibbes’s Glorious Freedom, then move on to the works of John Owen, Thomas...

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Anthony Burgess

Anthony Burgess, “a pious, learned, and able scholar, a good disputant, a good tutor, an eminent preacher, a sound and orthodox divine” (Wallis, Sermons, p. 15), was born to the son of a schoolmaster at Watford, Hertfordshire. He entered St. John’s College, Cambridge, in 1623, and graduated with a Bachelor...

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History Stirs Us To Praise God

The study of church history should lead us to praise God, for history finds its significance in Him. Jesus Christ said, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last” (Rev. 22:13). Alpha and omega are the first and last letters of the Greek...

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History acquaints us with the wisdom of other Christians

It is exhilarating to stand on the east coast of North America and watch the Atlantic surf, feel the tang of saltwater in the air, and hear the pound of the waves. But this experience is of no benefit for sailing across the Atlantic to England. For that a map...

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History liberates us from the tyranny of the present

The study of church history also liberates us from what C. S. Lewis (1898– 1963) called “the idols of our marketplace.” Note Lewis’s argument for the need to read old books: Every age has its own outlook. It is specially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make...

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The Obstacles of Meditation

Here is a summary of their responses to such obstacles: Obstacle 1: Unfitness or ignorance. Such say they cannot confine their thoughts to a particular subject. Their “thoughts are light and feathery, tossed to and fro.” Answer: Disability, ignorance, and wandering thoughts offer no exemption from duty. Your “loss of...

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Contagious Love for the Scriptures

The Puritans shape our minds according to the Bible. They loved the Bible, lived the Bible, sang the Bible, preached the Bible, read the Bible, memorized the Bible. They were thinking about the Bible every day. They were Bible-shaped theologians and Bible-shaped preachers. They just thought that way—that’s who they...

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Extremism or Reasonable Service?

The Puritans were zealous not only to learn the Bible but to live the Bible. Some people think that such zealous attention to the Bible is a bit extreme. A common criticism that has been hurled at the Puritans is the charge of legalism. But their desire to honor the...

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Theocentric, Scripture-Shaped Piety

Because the Puritans had a high view of the Bible, they had a high view of God. Actually, it was their high view of God that led them to have such a high esteem for the Bible, because it is His self-attested, self-authenticating, inspired and precious Word. They “received it...

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