1994 issue 3 - the puritan vision, the six great truths that formed the puritan vision - counsel of...

8/12/2019 1994 Issue 3 - The Puritan Vision, The Six Great Truths That Formed the Puritan Vision - Counsel of Chalcedon

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The Puritan

Vision

The

modem graduate

of

our

government-controlled schools

knows little about the Puritans

of

the

17th cenuuy (except of course that

they were a cheerless and superstitious

folkwho dressed in black, persecuted

witches,

and

once invited

some

Indians to Thanksgivingdinner). This

ignorance is emblematic ofourpresent

difficulties.

What

is "known" about

the Puritans serveS only to reinforce

the percep tion that serious ChristianS

are strange

and

dangerous people who

ought to be keptmcages and never let

out

without strict supervision.

Unaccountably, the view

of

the

Puritans is not much more

complementary in many "Christian"

history books.

It

would

not

be at a

ll

surprising i some readers

of

this

magazine have latent suspicions

of

things "Puritan." Together, these

realities

demand

that we take a fresh

look at the Puritans.

Although Spain and France had

far larger land holdings and vigorously

sought

out

volunteers to settle their

new lands, neither country had much

success in finding those willing to

come to America. By contrast, the

English did not attempt settlement of

the land until over one hundred years

after Columbus' discovery. Yet, by

the year 1700, there would be more

English settlements in t is country

than those

of

Spain

and

France

combined.

Why

was

t is

so?

The

answer lies in the Reformation.

England was more thoroughly

affected by .the Reformation than any

other country. One obvious result of

.the gospel (Le., "the true Reformed

.religion," as the Puritans would say)

is

to

increase the desire

for

political

liberty. Men wanted the liberty to

follow the dictates of the Scriptures m

the church

as

well,

as

the state, in

private as well

as

public

life.

For this reason, over one thousand

Puritans left England for America in

1630 (follOwing the earlier, smaller

groupswho came in 1607, 1620, and

1628). In the twenty-year period

between 1620 and 1640 over fifteen

thousand people left England

to

come

to these shores. Not all came for the

4 THE COUNSEL

of

Chalcedon

f

April, 1994

same reasons, but the vast majority

shared a Common vision. The

Puritans, whether they settled in

Massachusetts

Bay or

the Jamestown

colony

had

a vision inspired and

molded by the Reformation

of

the

sixteenth century. The central theme

of the Reforrnation, "Sola SCriptura

,

drove them to seek reformation in all

areas of life. Christ was Lord of all

and thus all things mus tbe conformed

to His Word.

The

crown rights of

IGngJesus" demanded a reformed

SOCiety.

When it became apparent that

England was

going to

oppose

thorough reformation, many Puritans

left to seek to establish the "crown

rights" of Christ in a foreign land.

They

preferred, they would say, a

wilderness governed by Puritans to a

civilized land governedby Charles

I.

what

were the driving motives of

those who came

to

America in the

early 17th century? Remember, the

central fact

in

the history of a people

is the faith

or

theology of that people.

This is the case here. There are

six

great Reformation truths that formed

the Puritan vision and made up the

foundation upon

which this country

was built. For the next couple of

articles, I want to consider each of

them in turn.

1. The ovenant o God

The

Bible

teaches that God

in

His

rich mercy has voluntarily entered a

Iivingre ationship through Christwith

His people and so obligated Himself

to be their God.This gracious act in

tum

meant that the redeemed are

bound toHim to be His people. This,

in short, is the covenant and t is

'

doctrine had a molding influence on

Puritan thought and life. "These

Puritan settlers conceived

of

themselves

as

bound

by

the terms of

a divine covenant. f hey pleased the

Lordby living according to sCriptural


2/4

law, they knew they could expect

to

see more of God's 'wisdome power

goodness and truthe then formerly

weehave beene acquainted with.' The

colonists were on a special rrllssion,

and each was personally responsible

foritssuccessorfailure. (T.

H

Breen,

The

Character

of

the Good Ruler pp.

35,36

The covenant involves not merely

a responsibility to worship God,

but

to live faithfully before

we have

propounded, and

dissembling with our God, shall fall

to

embrace this present world and

prosecute our carnal intentions ,

seeking great things for ourselves and

our posterity, the Lord will surely

break out in wrath against us [and) be

revenged of such a perjured people

and make us know the price of the

breach of such a Covenant. (A Model

oj Christian Charity 1630 .

large, for the maintenance oflaw and

order, and for so ruling the state that

it would provide an atmosphere

favorable for the preachlng of the

Gospel. He was to so rule that the

people of God, the elect, could live

individually and collectively a life that

was truly Christian.

In

Puritan

political theory the magistrate derived

his powers from God and not from

the people His powers did not

come from the people,

Him in all areas

of

life. It

was notmerely freedom

to

worship according

to

their

consciences which moved

the Puritans to come to

this continent, but the

desire to found a Biblical

culture. They wanted to

build

not

merely a church,

but a city on a hilL

Freedom

to

worship

according to the Scriptures

was to be the centerpiece

of a culture patterned after

the Word of God. Tins

(and nothing

less)

was the

demand of God's

God's sovereign rule over ll

things is a fundamental element

of the covenant. Because 'ije is

nor

was he primarily

responsible

to

them for

the stewardship of hls

office

. . . it mustnever be

forgotten that both the

votersand the magistrates

were

to

look to

the

Scriptures as a guide for

the general conduct of

their government. The

rulers and the people

were thus subject to the

revealed will of God, and

the will of the people

could

never

take

precedence over the

Lord. 'ijis Word is law for

ll

men and the authoritative rule

for

ll

of Hie. fvel'V re of Hie

(family. chmch.

un

state) is to

be

gO\7erned by

'ijis Word.

covenant .

The covenant concept,

bound

these men togethel' as one body. Their

political and social structures were

profoundly influenced by

it.

As those

in covenant with God, they were

obligated to conform their civil order

to

His Word. Their individual

accountability

to

God would restrain

theirownnative rebelliousness as well

as

thaLOf

their rulers. If either citizens

or rulers failed to keep covenant, they

would suffer God's

just

judgment.

John Winthrop would say, Thus

stands the cause between God and

us:

we are entered into Covenant with

him for this work,

we

have taken out

a Commission, The Lord hath given

us leave to draw our own Articles, .

But ifwe shall neglect the observance

o[ these Articles which are the ends

2. The Absolute

Sovereignty o God.

God's sovereignrule overall things

s a fundamental element of the

covenant. Because He is Lord, His

Word is law for all men and the

authoritative rule for all oflife. Every

area oflife (family, church, and state)

is to

be governed by His Word. This

had quite obvious and far reaching

implicatiOns for Puritan political views

as Dr. Gregg Singer has noted,

It was the sovereign God who

created the state and gave

to

it its

powers and [unctions. The earthly

magistrate held his position

and

exercised his power by a divine decree,

He was a minister of God under

common grace for the execution of

the laws of God among the people at

divinely ordained powers

and functionsofhuman government.

c.

Gregg Singer.

A Theological

Interpretation

ojAmerican

History pp.

13, 14)

The rulers were the guardians of

the covenant. T.

H.

Breen has noted,

The mlers of New England saw

themselves as the keepers of the

Lord's covenant, citing Moses as their

political ideal. They claimed that

God had armed them with a sword to

defend the First and Second Tables

and to preserve the New Israel from

moral decay. Cotton called the

magistrates The Ministers of God:

since their principal task was the

administration of'thingswherein God

is most directly and immediately

honored, which

is

promoting man's

Spiritual good.' (Breen, op.

cit.,

pp.

37, 38) Rulers, as the ministers of

April,

1994

TIlE COUNSEL of Chalcedon 5


3/4

God, were to be bold, self-conscious

advocates of righteousness and

defenders of God's honor.

"religiously neutral" was

inconceivable to our forefathers. If

God is sovereign; the State cannot be

For this reason, the Puritans placed neutral

religiously.

IfGodissovereign,

greater weight on a man's spiritual no neutrality is possible You are

condition than anything else when either submitting to the King or in

considering his fimess for public rebellion against im

unlimited power. Allauthorityamong

men must be carefully limited. John

Cotton,

in

his

essay,

"Limitation of

Government," says, Let all the world

learn to give mortal men no greater

power than they

are

content they

shall use, for use it they will.

office.

John Cotton'wrote that rulers

3. The

Total epTavity

o

Man

Further,

all laws

must take into

ought to be "men so well acquainted Man was not

only

created

after

the account

this

reality of man's nature.

with matters of Religion, as to discern

image

of God and accountable to Him If man is basically sinful, the poliCies

theFundamentalPrinciples[ofgodly but he was also a sinful creature, you adopt (political, social, and

rule]." Oohn Cotton, The Bloudy t o ~ y unable in and ofhimself to do economic)will be drasticallydifferent

Tenent,Washed,andMade ' . from thoseyou would adopt

White in the Bloud of the if man was basically good.

Lambe") Aman who was W h ~ n a

eociety

rejecte the

doctrine

This explains the failure of

ignorant

of

the SCriptural oftottifl depravity,

wlckednee6

and ourinodemsocialprograms,

directives for godly rule or The basic problem with these

who was indifferent to corrupt;ion multiply. The

denial

o eln

poliCies

is not heir cost or

these directives,

was

unfit

on y

leade

to

it6

proHfer;Jtion.

only

ineffiCiency,

but

that they

for public office (good

are

'basedonahereticalview

looks and

winsome

when e eee,6;n In all iteterriule of man. They are all grand

rhetoric only became ueIJnee6 and

wickedne66 are

we exercises in seeking

pretequisitesforsucce.ssful Sanctification from the

politicians in this century). moved t 6eek

the

only real remedy wrong source. Thus, for

Frtrther, the form

of

civil

for t the blood

o

Jeeu6 Chrlet. .

example: Urban renewal is

government was not to be . motivatedby the theory that

patterned after anything "

man s

basic problem is his

but the SCriptures alone (we should the

will

ofGod. Infact,manisarebel environment, not his heart.

If

these

especially shun, according to the against God's purposes, Apan from young crinrinalshad not grown up in

Puritans, the e x a m p l e ~ of Greece or God'sgrace,manwillneversubmitto theslums,theywouldbegood,moral

Rome). For maI)-y Puritans, Greece God's word or love His creator orhis citizens. Without adequate housing

and Rome were most inappropriate fellow man. This reality ~ u e n e d we are told, children will almost

models. "Governor Winthrop, for not only their preaching and their inevitably be drawn into a life of

example, criticized an election day UI;tderstandIng of the nature of

speaker Simply because that minister salvation, but also their view of the

hadgrounded'hispropositionsmrtch necessary structure of society.

The

upon the old Roman and Grecian implicationsofthisdoctrineforsociety

governments, which sure is an error,

are

manifold:

for 'if religion and the word of God

makesmenwiserthan theirneighbors, Man's depravity makes civil

[theri] . . . these times have the government necessary. Sinners, left

advantage of all that

have

gone before

to

themselves will not respect the

us in experience and observation.''' rights of others. Society is impOSSible

(Breen, op. cit., p. '39) Though there Without some form of civil

would be those later

who

government to enforce

laws

for the

romanticized the "glories of Greece protection of all.

and Rome; the

Puritan

fathers were Civil government must however,

not among them. be strictly limited in its authority.

The idea that the state should be Sinful man cannot be trUsted with

6 TIlE COUNSEL of Chalcedon April, 1994

crime.

The

welfare system is based upon

the assumption that poverty is the

source of evil. If all were given a

"minimum standard of living they

would not be tempted to steal, kill,

and destroy. The '

inherent

"unfairness' of the distribution of

capital provokes men

to

evil deeds.

We cannot expect anenlightened and

civilized citizenry

without

a

government-coercedredistribution of

wealth.

The

modern prison system

s

even

founded upon , this heresy. The


4/4

penitentiary

was

originally intended

to be a place where a man, isolated

from

his

evil companions, might be

brought

to

repentance (or penitence)

over his meanness. Get him

away

from his bad companions and evil

environment and he will

come

to his

senses.

Sadly, but

nOt surprisingly,

prisons have succeeded only in

becoming universities for crime (the

only

difference

being that in prison,

as

opposed to most universities, you

do

actually learnsomething). Novice

criminals learn from

the

experts and

come out far more

savvy

than they

were when they went in.

No

restitution is made to the victim.

Instead, he is further penalized by

being forced

to

pay for his assailant's

upkeep in prison.

Because the

Puritans believed God

they did not have to conjure up all

manner of fanclful solutions to the

real problems caused by sin. They

believed

God's

Word and therefore

not

only

understood

the

nature of

their problems but the only real

solutions

as well.

Because unbelievers

refuse

to

accept the scripture's

teaching, they end up fighting

all

manner of phantasms.

Seeking

to

beat up your enemy's shadow may

show a great deal of

zeal

but it is not

likely

to do

much harm to your

opponent. Though you can get pretty

worked up in such an exercise,

the

only one you

are

likely to injure is

yourself.

Such

is the

sad spectacle

we see

today.

The damage

caused by our

MERIC

he

First

35

Years

solutions is often far worse than the

problems

they

are intended to resolve.

It

is

ever

so

in the culture of unbelief.

All

our efforts selve only to increase

our difficulties. In the name ofsolving

the endless array of crises around us,

we are only succeeding in killing

ourselves.

Whenasocietyrejects the doctrine

of total depravity, wickedness and

conuption mllltiply. The denial of

sinleads only to its proliferation. Only

when we face the reality of sin is there

hope of seeing sin diminish. For only

when we see sin in all its terrible

ugliness and Wickedness are we

moved

to

seek the only real remedy

for

it --

the

blood of Jesus Chlist.

The Puritan Vision to be

continued next issue

For over lOOyears Americans have been subjected to

historical

misin

formation. We have been given lies

for

truth

and myths

for facts.

Modern, unbelieving

historians have

hidden

the

truth of our nation's

history

from

us. Anrerica TlreFirst350 Years

not only corrects

the

lies,

but also points out

things

overlooked

by

modern historians. It

interprets

American history

from

a Ouistian

perspective

so

that

you

hearnot only whathappened,by why ithappened-andwhatitmeans

to us today.

32

lectures on 16-90 minute

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200 page note

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16

page study gnide, lecture outlines, index bibliography.

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Counsel

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Chalcedon

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April, 1994

IRE

COUNSEL

of

ChaIcedon

7

1994 issue 3 - the puritan vision, the six great truths that formed the puritan vision - counsel of...

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