Within the [Westminster] assembly [Presbyterians] met stiff resistance.
These ‘dissenting brethren’ included Thomas Goodwin, Jeremiah Burroughs and
other leading Puritans. They argued that the only proper member of a local
church were professing Christians, and not, as the Presbyterians claimed,
professing Christians along with their children. But they were not alone. The
traditional status of children in the church was being increasingly questioned
during the 1640s. In the English town of Yaxley, a troop of Parliamentary
soldiers baptized a horse in protest against the baptism of infants. The final
version of the confession they produced reflected the unease of the
conservatives and the crumbling influence of the Scots. Irish Puritans,
Gribben, pg 85,86
This book by Gribbens is, in my estimation, the easiest intro to English History in the 16th century. He does a good job of showing how much strife and weirdness was happening. It also sheds some light on why there's still so much hatred in Ireland.
I now view some of the Puritans in a different light when it comes prophecy. J.Owen (the dead) cleary felt and firmly believed that the English, led by Cromwell, were fulfulling Rev 17-19 by destroying the Irish. Cromwell and his crew were nothing short of butchers.
Lastly, I think this lil' bit-o-context helps support some of our friends who rightfully critique the WCF because of it's underlying emphasis on the visible vs. invisible church.
3 comments:
That book sounds really interesting.
Any vampires in it?
I'll have to dig up the quote, but I thought I'd heard in the past that Owen (the dead) was uncomfortable with how Cromwell was waging war in Ireland.
No vampires or snakes sad to say; but more than likely a Callahan or two.
"How is it that Jesus Christ is in Ireland only as a lion staining all his garments with the blood of his enemies, and none to hold him out as a Lamb sprinkled wi6th his own blood to his firends?" J.Owen (the dead)
This quote looks compassionate and innocent at first, but he overtly calls the Irish Christ's 'enemies'. Really what it boils down to is that Cromwell had an uncontrollable army who were bent on destruction, which was naively unknown by Owen. He was busy writing a book when the massacre at Drogheda happened.
Cromwell's army, and Cromwell himself, had a larger mission in mind than just destroying the Catholic Irish. They wanted to destroy all Catholicism. Not just in England, but Europe also. They were quite an irrational bunch.
I forgot to mention that this book is only available at C&C Reformed Presbyterian Church (RPCNA) Library located in Owego, NY. The Library is in the same room as the nursery; which is due west of the sanctuary. To my knowledge it is the only published copy known to exist (in the lower 48).
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