Rivera Christ Is Yours

The Assurance of Salvation in the Puritan Theology of William Gouge
1. Auflage 2019
ISBN: 978-1-68359-248-8
Verlag: Lexham Press
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 280 Seiten

Reihe: Studies in Historical and Systematic Theology

Maintaining hope in Christ for the weary soul. In the face of trials and tribulations, persevering in the faith can be a difficult task. For Puritan pastor--theologian William Gouge, this question was of critical importance for those he shepherded. His theology of assurance during the difficult seasons in life provided direction and help to weary souls. In Christ Is Yours, Eric Rivera explores Gouge's theology, revealing a man who cared deeply about the truths of Scripture and the spiritual lives of his community. His theology was focused on the promises of God found in Scripture while staying grounded in the realities of life. This message of perseverance and hope is just as necessary for Christ-followers today as it was then. Written for academics and pastors alike, Rivera brings this important theology to a modern audience.

Eric Rivera (PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is Lead Pastor of The Brook in Chicago. He and his wife, Erikah, are also conference speakers with FamilyLife's 'Weekend to Remember' getaways.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Rivera, Eric

Leseproben

2 The Foundation for Gouge’s Practical Divinity GOUGE’S PASTORAL CALL AND PRACTICAL DIVINITY While traveling to Richard Greenham’s house seminary in Dry Dayton, one of practical divinity’s trailblazers, Richard Rogers, writes in his diary, “I gave my selfe oft to medit[ation]” and that “much confer[ence] was betwixt me and mr. Cu[lverwell].”1 He refers to fellow Puritan and neighbor Ezekiel Culverwell (1554–1631), son of Nicholas Culverwell and brother to Samuel, both of whom were Puritan preachers. Rogers and Culverwell were close friends who shared likeminded pastoral concerns and a passion for learning. On August 30, 1587, Rogers writes, “I was occupied in privat study for my Sabbaths exercize … and the Monday after mr. C[ulverwell] and I studied privatly togither.”2 On November 17 of the same year, Rogers calls his time with Culverwell “sweet.”3 Culverwell knew firsthand and admired the ways in which life and doctrine intersected in Rogers’ life. What makes their friendship important in our discussion is that Ezekiel Culverwell was William Gouge’s uncle, twenty-two years his senior. Gouge spent three years under his uncle’s teaching while he went to school at Felsted in Essex during the same period that Rogers refers to his friendship with Culverwell in his diary.4 Gouge expressed how his time learning from Culverwell successfully made him “much built up in his holy faith.”5 With an uncle like Culverwell who was close friends with Richard Rogers and was familiar with Greenham’s teaching, it is no surprise that Gouge’s ministry at Blackfriars mirrored the practical and theological concerns of the aforementioned Puritans. Gouge had a great esteem for the pastoral ministry because to be a pastor was to be called by God to be a preacher of the Word of God, and through the Word given opportunity to care for the souls of the people in his church. When reflecting upon his own calling, he writes, “Among the many great blessings which the Lord hath beene pleased to bestow on me, his poore seruant, vnworthy of the least, I account this to be an high Fauour, that he hath put me in his Seruice, and appointed me to be one of the Ministers of his Word.”6 For Gouge, because the Bible is the Word of God, it is therefore authoritative in its instruction for life and doctrine. Thus, he is hard-pressed to find any other calling to be of greater importance than the pastoral one, and is humbled that God had appointed him to it. He writes, Basely is this calling accounted of by the greater, and vulgar sort of people: but my conscience beareth me witnesse that I receiue such contentment therein, and hold my selfe so honoured thereby, as I preferre it to all other callings, and am prouoked thereby to giue some euidence of my thankefull acceptance thereof: which better I know not how to doe, then by imploying and improuing to my poore power, the Talent which my Master hath committed to my charge. I am not ignorant how insufficient I am thereunto.7 From this statement, it is evident that Gouge believed in a particular pastoral calling whereby God assigns the pastoral task to particular individuals. Gouge believed he was a recipient of this call and chose to accept it along with the responsibilities that accompany the call. Feeling unworthy to receive this divine assignment, Gouge set his mind to labor in such a way that improved his pastoral abilities and thereby strived to be a good steward of the gifts that God has given him. So sure of his calling and commitment to fulfill it, he adds, “I am the seruant of Christ, and of his Church; so long as my life, health, strength, liberty, or any ability is by the good prouidence of God preserued vnto me, my desire is to spend it in the seruice of Christ, and of his Church.”8 Over his fifty-five years of ministry at St. Anne’s parish in Blackfriars, London, Gouge undertook this pastoral task through preaching as well as publishing. As it pertains to preaching as part of his ministerial call, Gouge writes, I account Preaching the most principall part of my function: for this is Christs charge, Goe preach the Gospell; and this is that Ordinance wherein and whereby God doth ordinarily, and most especially manifest his owne power, and bestow his blessing. This is it therefore which hitherto I haue most attended vpon, and intend so to continue as long as God shall affoord mee ability and liberty.9 What Gouge states here is true in his extant works: that preaching was his principal task and that the gospel should be the central message of that preaching. As for preaching being his primary task, most of Gouge’s printed works are expanded from his sermons, which sounded forth from that Blackfriars pulpit multiple times a week. As for the gospel, his works demonstrate how the gospel message is indeed the most prominent theme of his pastoral ministry. The reason for this, says Gouge, is that through the preached gospel message God manifests his power in unique ways. If preaching the gospel message is of such importance and power, then why would Gouge choose to allocate many of his pastoral hours to publishing books? He says that he has done so in order “to seek the edification of Gods Church” beyond those in St. Anne’s parish. Gouge wrote, “hoping that many whom I neuer knew, nor saw, may reape some benefit by my paines.” Furthermore, publishing allows the content of his pastoral ministry to have a longer lasting influence because, “that which is Printed lieth by a man, and may againe and againe be read, and throughly pondered, till a man come to conceiue the very depth of that he readeth.”10 But Gouge’s concerns were not mere instruction to increase learning as an end in itself, but were practical in nature. Through printing and publishing, he said to his parishioners, “I intend your good, whose proper and peculiar Minister I am, and for whose soules I watch, as hee that must giue an account.” Similarly in 1622, when addressing his Blackfriars parishioners, Gouge calls himself, “The Watch man of your soules,” expressing the rather burdensome task of caring for their spiritual well-being.11 Gouge believed that God had entrusted not only the minds of his people to him, but also their very souls. Knowing he will one day give an account for his shepherding work before God, Gouge preached and published seeking to instruct the church on both right doctrine and right living. He desired that those who heard his sermons and read his works would conform their lives to the teaching of the Bible and become more devoted followers of Jesus. Here is the heart of Gouge’s practical divinity: The ministry of the Word of God was inseparably linked with shepherding the people of God. His extant writings provide the historian access to the nature of his pastoral teaching along with his biblical-theological framework that informed his practical divinity. The remainder of this chapter will examine Gouge’s approach to interpreting and expounding the Bible as well as his understanding of the gospel and divine providence. These three motifs—the Bible, the gospel, and God’s providence—factor heavily in his pastoral teaching and practical divinity. As Gouge instructs and consoles the burdened and distressed Christian, he provides guidance from the Bible pointing Christians to the Word of God where the character of God and the gospel are revealed. Thus, it is apparent in Gouge’s practical divinity that the Bible is the primary source of his instruction. Second, he consoles Christians with the gospel message reminding them that it is what saves sinners and brings consolation in dark times. Third, he teaches the theology of divine providence, namely, God’s sovereign hand overarching the dealings of humanity on earth, interconnected with the practical implications of that doctrine. In this way, the Bible, the gospel, and divine providence prove to be the foundation of his practical divinity. GOUGE, THE BIBLE, AND HIS EXEGETICAL METHOD As stated above, the preaching of the Word was central to Gouge’s understanding of his pastoral call. Nearly all of his extant writings were biblical expositions, excluding his catechetical writings. Still, his catechisms, through their question and answer format, shed light on why he was convinced of the centrality of the Bible in his ministry. Consider the following: Q. What meanes hath God sanctified to breed and increase these graces [of repentance] in us? A. 1. The ministry of the Word. 2. The administration of his sacraments. Q. How is the ministry of the Word made profitable? A. By giving diligent heed thereto, and by mixing faith with hearing. Q. When is faith mixed with hearing? A. When the Word as a truth is believed, and withal applied as a truth which concerneth ourselves in particular.12 Gouge is committed to the Scriptures because the ministry of the Word is a means of grace through which God brings about genuine repentance in the Christian. When the Christian gives diligent attention and faithful obedience to the Scriptures, he demonstrates fruit of genuine faith. It is a small wonder why Gouge castigates the pope for withholding the Bible from the laity...