May the Lord imprint these truths, so well expressed by Charles Bridges, on the heart of every Gospel minister:
“The book of God is indeed the living voice of the Spirit. To be intent therefore upon the study of it, must result in a clear apprehension of the mind of God. Hence the maxim—’ Bonus textuarius, [...]
Archive for July, 2009
The man of God: the man of the Book
Posted in Cure of Souls on July 16, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Baxter, qualifying his establishmentarianism
Posted in Establishments, Richard Baxter, Thomas Chalmers on July 7, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Baxter was an establishmentarian. It is good that kings and queens should be nursing fathers and mothers to the Church. He lamented in his Reformed Pastor that magistrates did not make adequate provision of Reformed pastors throughout the England of his day.
Yet, he did not lay the main blame at the feet of civic leaders. [...]
Baxter on gathered churches
Posted in Gathered church ecclesiology, Richard Baxter, Thomas Chalmers on July 7, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
“It is easy to separate from the multitude, and to gather distinct churches, and to let the rest sink or swim; and if they will not be saved by public preaching, to let them be damned: but whether this be the most charitable and Christian course, one would think should be no hard question” (Reformed Pastor, p. [...]
The influence of locality on the Gospel laborer
Posted in Parish Theory & Practice, Thomas Chalmers on July 1, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The following is an excellent quote from Thomas Chalmers in his Christian and Economic Polity of a Nation (1821). In it, he demonstrates one particular viture of the locality principle, on which the parish system is built – it facilitates the zeal and perseverance of the Christian missionary:
” He, with a select and appropriate vineyard [...]
