Mike Abendroth and Steven Lawson found their way to George Whitefield’s rock in Brookfield, MA. According to my research, Whitefield preached here at Foster Hill on Oct. 16, 1740 to between 400-500 souls. If this date is correct, this is within a few days from the time Whitefield would first meet (face-to-face) Jonathan Edwards (see Dallimore’s biography, 1:537). Interesting.
HT: IrishCalvinist
“The great Princeton theologian Benjamin Breckenridge Warfield, writing more than a century ago, perceptively noted, ‘The world should realize with increased clearness that Evangelicalis
m stands or falls with Calvinism.’ At first glance, this stunning statement may appear to be an exaggeration, even hyperbole. But the more it is weighed, the more one discerns that evangelicalism – that part of the body of Christ that rightly adheres to the inerrancy of Scripture, the total depravity of man, and the sovereignty of God in all aspects of life – always needs the doctrines of sovereign grace to anchor it to the high ground. For without the theological teachings of Reformed truth concerning God’s sovereignty in man’s salvation, the church is weakened and made vulnerable, soon to begin an inevitable decline into baser beliefs, whether she realizes it or not.
Whenever the church becomes increasingly man-centered, she begins the downhill slide, often without recovery, and always to her detriment. Once yielding the high ground of Calvinism, a self-absorbed church puts its full weight onto the slippery slope of Arminianism, resulting in a loss of its foundational stability. Tragically, however, the descent rarely stops there. Historically, man-centered doctrine has served only as a catalyst for an even greater fall.
Rappelling down the slippery slopes of Arminianism, one is soon to find the church sinking deeper and deeper into a murky quagmire of heretical ideas. Such a descent inevitably gives way to liberalism, the utter rejection of the absolute authority of Scripture. From liberalism – given enough time – the church always plunges yet lower into ecumenism, that deadly philosophy that embraces all religions as having some part of the truth. Continuing this downward spiral, the church plummets into universalism, the damning belief that all men eventually will be saved. Yet worse, universalism gives way to agnosticism, a degenerate view that one cannot even know whether there is a God. Finally, the church falls into the deepest abyss – the hellish flames of atheism, the belief that there is no God.”
– Steven J. Lawson, A Long Line of Godly Men, Vol. 1, Foundations of Grace 1400 BC – AD 100 (Reformation Trust/Ligonier: 2006) p. 22.
Title: A Long Line of Godly Men; vol. 1, Foundations of Grace 1400 BC – AD 100
Author: Steven J. Lawson
Boards: hardcover
Pages: 577
Volumes: first of projected 5 volumes
Dust jacket: yes
Binding: Smyth sewn
Paper: normal
Topical index: no (publisher should consider this in future volumes)
Scriptural index: yes
Text: perfect type
Publisher: Reformation Trust, Ligonier Ministries
Year: 2006
Price USD: $28.00
ISBNs: 1567690777
New book alert:
Steven J. Lawson, A Long Line of Godly Men (vol. 1)
We have been talking lately of the doctrines of grace (Calvinism). I am excited to announce a new book by Steven Lawson covering the history of these doctrines. Here is a good quote from volume one that sets the stage for the rest of the series…
“Over the centuries, seasons of reformation and revival in the church have come when the sovereign grace of God has been openly proclaimed and clearly taught. When a high view of God has been infused into the hearts and minds of God’s people, the church has sat on the elevated plateaus of transcendent truth. This lofty ground is Calvinism—the high ground for the church. The lofty truths of divine sovereignty provide the greatest and grandest view of God. The doctrines of grace serve to elevate the entire life of the church.”
Steven J. Lawson, A Long Line of Godly Men; Volume one: Foundations of Grace (Reformation Trust, Ligonier Ministries; 2006) p. 22.
Lawson has written some helpful books, but this five-volume set will surely become his defining work. Lawson has set out to trace the doctrines of grace, and their impact, from Genesis to John Piper. The first volume (nearly 600 pages long) covers the biblical timeline from Genesis to Revelation. Volume one is complete and now available from Ligonier Ministries .
Interview with Lawson here.
Here is a breakdown of the series:
Volume 1 (Foundations of Grace) covers 1400 BC thru 100 AD, tracing the doctrines of grace throughout Scripture. This volume becomes the foundation for what comes in the future.
Volume 2 (Pillars of Grace) will cover the 2nd thru 16th centuries (Irenaeus, Jerome, Augustine, Luther, Zwingli and Calvin).
Volume 3 (Forces of Grace) will cover the 16th and 17th centuries (Knox and the Puritans).
Volume 4 (Progress of Grace) will cover the 17th thru 19th centuries (Edwards, Warfield, Hodge, Princeton Seminary, and Shedd).
Volume 5 (Triumph of Grace) will cover the 19th century thru present times (Spurgeon, Ryle, M’Cheyne, Kuyper, Pink, Lloyd-Jones, Piper and MacArthur).
Tony Reinke 