Westminster Conference Papers 2019 Now in print

Last year's papers have now been published

1. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF WILLIAM PERKINS/JOSEPH PIPA 
2. THE PRINCIPLES OF PURITAN WORSHIP/JEREMY WALKER
3. THE PRACTICE OF PURITAN WORSHIP/ROBERT STRIVENS
4. THE EMERGENCE OF INDEPENDENCY/MATTHEW BINGHAM
5. THOMAS MANTON - NEGLECTED PURITAN/DOUGLAS MCCALLUM 
6. THE PILGRIM FATHERS/PAUL SMITH

William Perkins Videos

The videos from the Perkins conference are now available on Youtube.
See here.
One seems to be missing at the moment.

They are well worth listening to.

William Perkins Conference Final Paper

Our final paper was from Greg Salazar, currently studying for his PhD in Cambridge. He had four main points and spoke on

1.The Puritan defence of the sole authority of Scripture as against Roman Catholicism

Here he touched on the centrality of the Bible, the Catholic assault on the sole authority of Scripture and the Puritan response.

2. The Puritan defence of the centrality of preaching against conformists

Here he touched on attempts to supplant the centrality of preaching by emphasising the sacraments and reading Scripture and prayers

3. The Puritan defence of  the pursuit of holiness against antinomianism

Here he spoke of the Puritan pursuit of holiness and the influence of Emmanuel College, prophesyings, lectureships, etc. He also spoke of the assault on this position by Tobias Crisp, John Saltmarsh and others and the counter response from Samuel Rutherford.
He made four final applications
1, Be zealous for the authority of God's Word and on guard against supplemenetal authorities
2. Be convinced of the centrality of preaching and the folly of alternative forms of grace
3. Look for God's smiling face in frowning providences
4. Pursue disciplined holiness in community and be on guard against antinomian tendencies
(Sorry not to have posted this final report earlier) 

William Perkins Conference Penultimate Paper

It was nice to meet J Stephen Yuille today and to hear him give the penultimate paper on Perkins as a Contender for the faith. Observing that although he is called the father of Puritanism Perkins is a Reformer rather than a Puritan, He was an apologist both for the truth and for the Church of England. He gave us 15 reasons why we should read Perkins and these points were something similar to what follows

1. His unwavering commitment to the truth of Scripture in contrast to ancient and modern scepticism

2. His exegetical method which puts the lie to other accepted but flawed methods of interpretation

3. His conviction that the principal work of the Holy Spirit is to illumine what is in Scripture rather than to mystically bring about some immediate knowledge of God within

4. His emphasis on preaching as the thing that we should emphasise - an excellent corrective again to some of the ideas that are prevalent in our present time

5. His plain style of preaching which provides a glimpse into the Reformed conviction that Scripture both informs and transforms and delivers us from ceaseless homiletical innovation

6. His experiential preaching which addresses the matter of Scripture and so provides a paradigm for preachers who want to bring the mind into contact with the real meaning of Scripture. (He was careful to distinguish law and gospel throughout Scripture and to preach both).

7. His detailed description of the doctrine of predestination and his preaching of the gospel which is a corrective to those who say they admire him but fail to show the same balance. (Unlike some of his successors he never lost sight of the free offer)

8. His delight in Christ as an all sufficient Saviour which is a great tonic for those who say that Christ is the answer but do not believe it and offer all sorts of alternatives.

9. His portrayal of Christ our righteousness which provides relief to the sinner aware of his sin and of his need of a Savour.

10. His handling of the doctrine of justification and sanctification which brings light to the current and recurring debates over the relationship between the two.

11. His realism as to the difficulties of the Christian life which is a refreshing cordial to those trapped in the false teaching of a two tier Christianity.

12. His theological acumen provides a great theological, exegetical and philosophical example to us of how to handle doctrine in a balanced way.

13. His repudiation of the Spirit/matter dualistic view which is the answer to the temptation to follow a disembodied pietism.

14. His view of theology as the science of living blessedly forever which is a great antidote to enlightenment ideas that make theology a mere academic exercise. (Perkins quotes Psalm 144:15 again and again)

15. His defence of the wholesome doctrine of love speaks to a church that still struggles to harmonise faith and love, etc.

William Perkins

The enterprising American Joel Beeke is currently publishing the complete works of William Perkins in 10 volumes (we've reached volume 4 so far). Meanwhile the Library at PRTS has been christened the William Perkins Library (a prize exhibit is apparently a set of Perkins writings owned by Spurgeon then A W Pink who made extensive notes in them). As part of this drive he has brought 55 mainly Americans and Canadians to Britain for a short tour that includes this conference in the historic Round Church in Cambridge to which there has been a general invite (free of charge!).

As it turns out I have a niece who lives in Histon near Cambridge (her husband is a PhD student) so I was able to come and stay with them last night and they have just treated me to a meal out. So not only am I getting to see them but I am also enjoying what so far has been an excellent conference.

On Friday night Sinclair Ferguson spoke on Perkins as a Plain preacher making four points - his influence (including a fascinating anecdote from South Korea in the nineties); his understanding of preaching; his emphasis on the plain style and his grids (as described in the Banner paperback edited by SF The Art of prophesying).
Joel Beeke opened this morning on Perkins the largest case of conscience,which is assurance. Dr Beeke is an authority on this subject and he helpfully told us about what Perkins had written and why.. Like Dr Ferguson he began with some biographical background material stressing Perkins' powerful influence. He then explained his doctrine of assurance, itemising his several writings on this subject and finishing with a summary of Perkins little book A case of conscience, the greatest that ever was: How a man may know whether he be the child of God or no (6 folio pages). You can access this here.
In the second part of the morning my esteemed father-in-law Geoff Thomas spoke on the pursuit of godliness in the ministry of Perkins. He highlighted 1. How Perkins pursued godliness (Through conversion, stud, following providential leadings [for example among prisoners] and by becoming a minister) 2. How preaching encourages godliness 3. Three essential marks of godliness (the faith that saves [knowledge, assent, trust – with which there must be a right beginning, credible fruit and a life of trusting the Lord] the repentance that saves and a new saving obedience, which includes an outward and inward obedience and a seeking to promote better affections).
So good stuff. Numbers have been good too with the 55 swollen to perhaps twice the size.

Dr Strivens on William Perkins at the Library

Monday seems a long time ago now but back then we had a lunch time lecture from Robert Strivens on the Puritan William Perkins. We had a good turn out and Robert helpfully took us through Perkins' relatively short life and introduced his works to us. Joel Beeke's RHB imprint has just published the first of a projected 10 volumes of Perkins' works. I've sent for my copy from ICM. This looks like a worthwhile project. 

William Perkins at the Evangelical Library

A warm welcome to our next lunch time lecture at 1 pm next Monday (March 9) when Dr Robert Strivens of the LTS will speak on  “William Perkins and how to live happily forever”. This promises to be a very good opportunity. Do come and join us. Details on location here.

Perkins Golden Chain

See here

Perkins Lecture

Over 40 of us gathered last night at the Evangelical Library in Chiltern Street to hear Dr Jonathan Moore give an excellent lecture on "Predestination and Evangelism in the Life and Thought of William Perkins". After briefly acquainting us with what little is known of Perkins' life (he was born 450 years ago and died at only 44 in 1602) and at various points impressing upon us the stature of the man Dr Moore proceeded first to set out Perkins' very high supralapsarian Calvinism (as set out chiefly in his Golden Chain) and then to flesh out his undoubtedly evangelistic spirit exemplified in an opening section where he is seen pleading with a man about to be hanged and leading him to Christ. Emphasising how the two strands were held together not by seeing it as a paradox but with a high view both of God's sovereignty and of the visible church, Dr Moore demonstrated something that has often been seen in the history of the church - that a very high view of God's sovereignty and a biblical emphasis on election, far from destroying evangelistic fervour actually excites it. A decent question time followed with various questions arising from the central thesis and other matters. It was good to put the Evangelical Library in the shop window once again and to benefit from the work of a scholar. Dr Moore was able to pitch things at just the tight level for such a public gathering. His message was enlivened by the use of two or three visuals, including Perkins' famous Golden chain diagram, which I will include in another post. Meanwhile if you would like to chase up Perkins begin here and here. Also see here. Dr Moore is the author of the book on Puritan John Preston "English Hypothetical Universalism". See here.

Evangelical Library Annual Lecture

Reminder that at 6 pm June 2nd 2008 the Annual Evangelical Library Lecture will be given by Dr Jonathan D Moore on "Predestination and Evangelism in the Life and Thought of William Perkins". Do come and join us if you can.