Studies on the Westminster Assembly (4 vols.)

by Youngchun Cho; Chad B. Van Dixhoorn; Whitney G. Gamble; Stephen J. Casselli

Publisher:

Reformation Heritage

, 2016–2018

The Westminster Assembly (1643–1653) met at a watershed moment in British history, at a time that left its mark on the English state, the puritan movement, and the churches of England, Scotland, and Ireland. The Assembly also proved to be a powerful force in the methodization and articulation of Reformed theology. Certainly the writings of the gathering created and popularized doctrinal distinctions and definitions that—to an astonishing degree and with surprising rapidity—entered the consciousness and vocabulary of mainstream Protestantism.

The primary aim of this series is to produce accessible scholarly monographs on the Westminster Assembly, its members, and the ideas that the Assembly promoted. Some years ago, Richard Muller challenged post Reformation historians to focus on identifying “the major figures and the major issues in debate—and then sufficiently [raise] the profile of the figures or issues in order to bring about an alteration of the broader surveys of the era.” This is precisely the remit of these Studies on the Westminster Assembly, and students of post-Reformation history in particular will be treated to a corpus of material on the Westminster Assembly that will enable comparative studies in church practice, creedal formulation, and doctrinal development among Protestants.

This series will also occasionally include editions of classic Assembly studies, works that have enjoyed a shaping influence in Assembly studies, are difficult to obtain at the present time, and pose questions that students of the Assembly need to answer. It is our hope that this series—in both its new and reprinted monographs—will both exemplify and encourage a newly invigorated field of study and create essential reference works for scholars in multiple disciplines.

Key Features

• Reveals the rationale behind the assembly’s writings and reforms
• Examines the rise of English antinomianism in the early decades of the 1600s
• Explores topics including the Trinity, soteriology, and assurance of salvation

Product Details

• Title: Studies on the Westminster Assembly
• Editors: John R. Bower and Chad Van Dixhoorn
• Series: Studies on the Westminster Assembly
• Publisher: Reformation Heritage
• Volumes: 4
• Pages: 928
• Christian Group: Reformed

Anthony Tuckney (1599-1670): Theologian of the Westminster Assembly

• Author: Youngchun Cho
• Editors: John R. Bower and Chad Van Dixhoorn
• Series: Studies on the Westminster Assembly
• Publisher: Reformation Heritage
• Publication Date: 2017
• Pages: 232

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Youngchun Cho investigates the theology of Anthony Tuckney, an overlooked yet highly influential member of the Westminster Assembly. After a brief biography and an evaluation of Tuckney’s use of Scripture and reason, Cho shows how he related union with Christ to the doctrine of the Trinity, soteriology, and assurance of salvation. This book refutes claims that seventeenth-century Reformed theology in general, and the Westminster Standards in particular, pursued logical precision at the expense of the dynamic aspect of union with Christ, demonstrating that union with Christ was a critical element to Tuckney’s theological agenda.

Anthony Tuckney played a crucial role in training Puritan preachers at Cambridge and writing the Westminster Standards, yet few remember him today. Cho’s well-written, ground-breaking theological biography of Tuckney shows how the Puritans employed the sophisticated theological tools of Reformed orthodoxy to promote biblical, Christ-centered faith and piety. A fascinating, informative read!

—Joel R. Beeke, president, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Youngchun Cho (PhD, Westminster Theological Seminary) serves as associate pastor at Jubilee Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia.

Christ and the Law: Antinomianism at the Westminster Assembly

• Author: Whitney G. Gamble
• Editors: John R. Bower and Chad Van Dixhoorn
• Series: Studies on the Westminster Assembly
• Publisher: Reformation Heritage
• Publication Date: 2018
• Pages: 256

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Antinomianism was the primary theological concern addressed by the Westminster Assembly. Yet until now, no monograph has taken up the specific concerns related to antinomianism and the famous assembly. In Christ and the Law, Whitney G. Gamble sketches the rise of English antinomianism in the early decades of the 1600s to the assembly’s first encounter with it in 1643, summarizing the main theological tenets of antinomianism and examining the assembly’s work against it, both politically and theologically. Along the way, Gamble analyzes how the assembly’s published documents addressed theological issues raised by antinomianism on matters of justification, faith, works, and the moral law. By detailing the assembly’s perspective on antinomianism, Gamble’s book helps further our understanding of the formation, nature, and growth of Reformed theology in seventeenth-century England.

Luther compared his antinomian opponents to a drunk who, after falling, got back up on the horse only to fall off on the other side. Whitney Gamble explores the antinomian controversy at the time of the Westminster Assembly with precision as well as narrative skill. This is an essential book for understanding antinomianism then—and now.

—Michael Horton, J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics, Westminster Seminary California

Whitney G. Gamble (PhD University of Edinburgh) is associate professor of biblical and theological studies at Providence Christian College in Pasadena, California. She has written several articles as well as a chapter on the theology of the Westminster Confession of Faith for a forthcoming multivolume History of Scottish Theology (Oxford University Press, 2019). Dr. Gamble is a regular contributor on the White Horse Inn radio show.

Divine Rule Maintained: Anthony Burgess, Covenant Theology, and the Place of the Law in Reformed Scholasticism

• Author: Stephen J. Casselli
• Editors: John R. Bower and Chad Van Dixhoorn
• Series: Studies on the Westminster Assembly
• Publisher: Reformation Heritage
• Publication Date: 2015
• Pages: 200

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

In Divine Rule Maintained, Stephen J. Casselli provides us with a window into the exegetical and theological underpinnings of the Westminster Confession’s chapter on the law by delivering an in-depth analysis of Anthony Burgess’s Vindiciae Legis. After a brief introduction to Burgess and his historical context, Casselli details the logical course of Burgess’s book considering the law as given to Adam, the law given to Moses, and finally the proper relation between law and gospel. Along the way, Casselli opens up such controverted points as natural law, the covenant of works, the continuing obligation to the moral law, and the diverse administrations of one unified covenant of grace. What we see is a pastoral theology developed in a richly complex environment where technical distinctions were warranted given the polemical context; where the broad history of the Western catholic tradition was deeply respected; where a covenantal hermeneutic was consistently applied to Scripture; and where all theological formulations grew out of detailed linguistic exegesis of particular texts of Scripture in the context of the broader ecclesiastical community.

The place of the law remains a crucial but contentious area in Reformed theology, especially in Presbyterian circles, where a key element in the discussion is the teaching of the Westminster Standards on the matter. In this work, Casselli looks at the thought of Anthony Burgess, a member of the Westminster Assembly, and uses this to explore the historical and theological dynamics of the issue in its seventeenth-century context. This is a most valuable and informative book which both increases our knowledge of the seventeenth century and helps us to think more clearly about the relevant issues today.

—Carl R. Trueman, Paul Woolley Professor of Church History, Westminster Theological Seminary and pastor of Cornerstone Presbyterian Church (OPC), Ambler, Pennsylvania

Stephen J. Casselli is senior pastor at Holy Trinity Presbyterian Church in Tampa, Florida.

God’s Ambassadors: The Westminster Assembly and the Reformation of the English Pulpit, 1643-1653

• Author: Chad Van Dixhoorn
• Editors: John R. Bower and Chad Van Dixhoorn
• Series: Studies on the Westminster Assembly
• Publisher: Reformation Heritage
• Publication Date: 2017
• Pages: 240

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

The Westminster Assembly is celebrated for its doctrinal standards and debates on church polity. But how often is the assembly noted for its extraordinary intervention in the pulpit ministry of the Church of England? In God’s Ambassadors, Chad Van Dixhoorn recounts the Puritan quest for a reformation in preachers and preaching and how the Westminster Assembly fit into that movement. He examines the assembly’s reform efforts, tracing debates and exploring key documents about preaching in a way that both highlights disagreements within the assembly’s ranks and showcases their collective plan for the church going forward.

Moreover, Van Dixhoorn reveals the rationale behind the assembly’s writings and reforms, both in terms of biblical exegesis and practical theology. Unlike any other book, God’s Ambassadors draws attention to the lengths to which the Westminster Assembly would go in promoting godly preachers and improved preaching.

Every policy-making discussion acquires frequent speakers grinding their axes. Dr. Van Dixhoorn’s pioneering study takes the lid off the Westminster Assembly and shows how this was true there. It makes a fascinating read!

—J. I. Packer, Board of Governors’ Professor of Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia

Chad Van Dixhoorn is Chancellor’s Professor of Historical Theology and Associate Professor of Church History at Reformed Theological Seminary, Washington D.C.