“But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.” [Ezekiel 33:6]
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” [Ephesians 6:12]
Presbyterians Week Headlines
[1] The Southern Presbyterians (3) - John L. Girardeau, Minister to the Slaves of South Carolina
[2] Orthodox Presbyterian Church Founding Member John Galbraith Celebrates 102nd Birthday on Tuesday, 10 October 2015
[3] Harmony of the Westminster Confession and Catechisms by Dr. Morton H. Smith Published by Tolle Lege Press
[4] The True Doctrine of the Sabbath by Nicholas Bownd Being Copublished by Naptali Press and Reformed Heritage Books
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[1] The Southern Presbyterians (3) - John L. Girardeau, Minister to the Slaves of South Carolina
[Editor’s Notes: The February 2015 issue of Faith in Focus magazine, published by the Reformed Churches of New Zealand, is subtitled The Southern Presbyterians, and contains three articles about the history of the Presbyterian Church in the southern United States. D.V., Presbyterians Week with the kind permission of Faith in Focus editor Walter Walraven, is republishing the third of these articles in this issue.
Faith in Focus makes available back issues on line after three months, so the link to the February 2015 issue should become available in May of this year.]
By Sally Davey
It is not difficult to appreciate the great strengths of the Southern Presbyterian Church in the early nineteenth century. It comprised of many solid, faithful congregations where the truths of the Bible were honoured and clearly taught; and where, from time to time, sudden bursts of religious awakening added large numbers of people to the churches. These were churches where commitment to sound theology and evangelical zeal were often found combined. That the Southern Presbyterians produced fine preachers, theologians and churchmen who made important contributions to the body of Reformed understanding internationally is not surprising.
And yet – in this day and age, many of us are surprised at one major, glaring inconsistency in their witness. How could committed Christians live with the slavery that was so prevalent in the economy of the South? Surely it flew in the face of Christian compassion and the equality of sinners before God? Christians are called to help the poor and oppressed; but didn’t these Presbyterians involve themselves in oppression instead? What, if anything, did they do for the multitude of African slaves who served them, and who lived in their midst? The life of one of their ministers shows how some of them grappled with this moral dilemma, and attempted to do quite a lot.
Family and Childhood
John Lafayette Girardeau was born in 1825 on James Island, South Carolina.
He was the son of parents of Huguenot background (South Carolina was one of the destinations to which French Huguenot refugees fled after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes.) His grandfather had served in the American Revolutionary War (hence the name Lafayette, after the French general who had assisted the American side). His father was a small-scale plantation owner who grew cotton; so young Girardeau grew up in close contact with slaves. His mother was a compassionate, sensitive lady who was the spiritual centre of the home; and the Girardeau home was one where Christ was spoken of naturally and often. Family devotions were the norm, the Lord’s Day was observed carefully, and the family were actively involved in their local Presbyterian church, including the weekly prayer meeting held in different family homes.
Mrs. Girardeau was especially kind to sick and needy slaves. She would often care for them, and almost certainly passed her compassionate influence on to her son, giving him a deep interest in the black population of the Low Country (coastal region) of South Carolina. Sadly, she died when Girardeau was just a young boy, and his life was completely changed. Within the next two years his father remarried, he lost a close uncle and also his maternal grandmother. It seems his stepmother was not especially kind, and he was sent off to school in Charleston. He had lost a great deal of the security of his childhood. His attendance at Second Presbyterian Church in Charleston was one important anchor where he found kindness and friendship.
When he was fourteen or fifteen he went through some spiritual turmoil, recognised his need of salvation, and trusted in Christ. This set the direction of his life; and around this time he started at College. He loved it: academically able, he treated his studies in the liberal arts and the classical languages as preparation for a lifetime of ministerial service. He graduated in 1844 and spent the summer as tutor to the Hamlin family on their plantation eight miles from Charleston. One of the daughters would later become his wife. In 1845 he began study for the ministry at seminary in Columbia, where he frequently heard the preaching of James Henley Thornwell and Benjamin Palmer at First Presbyterian Church. Thornwell’s theological convictions and personal walk with Christ had a great influence on the young Girardeau. In his seminary years he was confirmed in solid, conservative Old School Presbyterianism and longing to see the kingdom of Christ extended through souls coming to the Saviour. He also busied himself doing what he could to bring the gospel to the poorer and more hardened sinners in Columbia at the time. As a student, Girardeau became known for his spiritual fervour and tender, ardent prayer. He also had the makings of a particularly fine preacher.
Ministry to the Slaves
Girardeau’s heart remained in the Low Country of South Carolina, though, where the black population, far more numerous than further inland, had fewer opportunities to hear the gospel, and where there was a great deal more ignorance and the practice of Voodoo. His first pastoral charge was at the Wilton church in rural Colleton County. He regularly preached to a large congregation of white people in the morning, and to blacks in the afternoon. He also systematically preached to the slaves on the surrounding plantations; often on the porches or inside the homes of their masters. He did not insult the intelligence of the slaves, and used the same order of service for both. He taught them good psalms and hymns, refusing the view that the slaves’ own simple chants were good enough for them. Girardeau clearly believed that the goal was to lift the blacks’ understanding, not leave them at a level of ignorance. Then he was called to a new work Second Presbyterian Church had begun in Anson St. in Charleston for the slaves of the city. A building seating 600 had been built by the slaveholders and opened in 1850. Thornwell had preached on Colossians 4:1 at the opening service. By 1854, when Girardeau took up his ministry there, there were thirty-six members; and by 1860 there were over 600, with a regular Sunday attendance of 1500. This was an extraordinary ministry, obviously blessed by God in its fruitfulness; and it is helpful to consider some of the things that contributed to its success.
First among them is surely Girardeau’s preaching, which contemporaries described as delivered in a clear and gentle voice; but was soul-searching and Christ-centred. It frequently affected congregations in a similar way to Whitefield’s preaching – many were grieved by their sin to the point of tears. The second major factor was the church’s thorough teaching programme, involving catechism instruction and Scripture memorising.
There was plenty of precedent for work among slaves in the South. Girardeau himself had a cousin, C.C. Jones, who was a leading evangelist of the slaves as well as a professor at Columbia Theological Seminary, and who had written a catechism to instruct black people, Religious Instruction of the Negroes in the United States, in 1842.
There was a genuine desire on the part of many Christian Southerners to teach the slaves the gospel. They were happy for their slaves to attend church, and for preachers to visit the slaves on their plantations. As has been pointed out, they provided money for the building of the Anson St. church – better accommodation than the stifling balconies the slaves occupied in regular white churches.
However, this all happened in an atmosphere of paternalism. The whites, even those most interested in the blacks like Girardeau, always viewed them as little brothers incapable of advancing to the spiritual maturity expected of white Christians. This unbiblical view led some (not Girardeau) to deny church leadership to black members. To us, such a view is unworthy of Christians who believe that sinners saved by Christ have equality before God. Yes, these Christians had big blind spots with regard to slavery – yet so do we, on other subjects.
The striking thing is that these Presbyterians persevered in their efforts to teach the slaves thoroughly – at a time when it was actually illegal to teach slaves to read and write. Fear of incendiary revolutionary ideas infiltrating from northern abolitionists had led to a dread of providing slaves access to such material through literacy. Girardeau’s efforts to preach the gospel and teach the catechism in this setting went some way to overcome the many handicaps slaves suffered in growing in their understanding of the Word of God. As C.C. Jones had argued, God, in his providence, had brought massive numbers of African people formerly ignorant of the gospel to the New World. It was the duty of white people, who had known so much spiritual blessing, to teach them the gospel.
Girardeau’s church had a substantial educational programme. Slaves were trained to memorize vast portions of Scripture, catechisms and psalms and hymns. Sabbath Schools (a feature of solid churches since the 1820s) were the main venue for this teaching. By 1857 the congregation had outgrown the Anson St. mission, and it was decided to build a huge new church on Calhoun St. on a piece of land donated for the purpose. It was the biggest church in Charleston, with seating for 2500. By choice of the black members, the name was “Zion” church. There was considerable outreach among the community of black domestic slaves in Charleston, and the church continued to grow rapidly. New members were discipled in “classes”; each class having no more than 50 members, and the leaders were drawn from among the spiritually mature black men. The classes filled a number of functions – Christian fellowship, keeping the members and leaders informed of sickness and need, and furthering the members’ growth in Christian understanding and spiritual graces.
The work flourished. In 1858 there were 245 black communicant members; and by 1860 that had increased to 492. Since Girardeau preached three times every Sunday, attendance must have been far bigger than the total membership. It seems that church membership did not decline during the Civil War, either.
What the War Brought
However, the war did have a devastating effect on the South generally; and on the churches in particular. Tensions between the Northern states and the South in the period leading up to the war led most Protestant denominations, including the Presbyterians, to divide into northern and southern entities. Girardeau kept the members of Zion Church fully informed of developments in the Presbyterian Church, so they understood what was happening when their church split from their northern brethren.
Soon, everyone was affected and nothing would be the same again. In 1862 Girardeau took leave of the church to serve as a chaplain in the Confederate Army; only returning in 1865 after having suffered defeat and imprisonment. Charleston was occupied by Northern forces and many public buildings, including Zion Church, were confiscated. The church trustees had to negotiate with the new authorities to recover the church building from a Northern missionary who had tried to take it over. Some black Christians felt unwilling to be under a white pastor in the new circumstances, though a large number wanted to return to Girardeau, and did so. It was a sad situation: many of the Southern whites were defensive and bitter; and the policy of the Freedman’s Bureau, set up by the Northern government, was to divide the now free black citizens from the Southern white populace. The Bureau strongly encouraged the blacks to leave the white churches and to form their own with the help of the Washington government. Over time, the blacks affiliated more and more with existing black denominations, developing their own leadership and forms of worship. Zion church was ultimately abandoned, and the building demolished.
After the War
In these circumstances Girardeau’s pre-war ministry was finished, and he served until the mid-1870s in a largely white congregation in Charleston. He never lost his lifelong zeal for the spiritual well-being of the blacks, and one of the Sabbath school groups his church operated was for black people. Girardeau’s gentle and godly character, preaching gifts and scholarship were widely recognised by this time, though, and the 1874 General Assembly of the (Southern) Presbyterian Church elected him Moderator. It also elected him Professor of Didactic and Polemic Theology at Columbia Seminary, where he taught for twenty years until his retirement at the age of seventy.
Girardeau’s ministry shone as a beacon of hope in a culture undergoing cataclysmic change. Between the early 1850s, when his preaching ministry began, and the 1880s, when he finally retired from theological teaching, Southern society was revolutionised. White society, while largely Christian, had a huge moral blind spot in condoning slavery; and yet the closeness of master and slave allowed for considerable spiritual influence of the one upon the other for good – which Girardeau did all he could to encourage. He was even prepared, within the constraints of that setting, to devote his entire preaching ministry to the black people. When war and the victory of the Northern army destroyed slavery in the South, it also destroyed the close relations between black and white, resulting in a policy of separation. That
Girardeau could face the ending of his ministry in such circumstances without bitterness of heart speaks highly of his character.
Such turns of events can be hard to bear. What happened to Zion Church bears resemblance to many situations in the history of the church. Wars and revolutions can wreak havoc on churches as people flee the violence, or take sides. We can wonder why God would allow this apparent crushing of his good work. Ultimately, though, we have to entrust what God has begun to his good hands. Sometimes, as in the book of Acts, he simply scatters his people so that they can take the gospel further. Other times, he allows his people to live out their faith in unexpected ways or circumstances. It is certainly true that the Southern Presbyterian churches did not die: they carried on as some of the more faithful churches in the U.S. into the next century; and formed the basis of what is now the largest faithful Presbyterian denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America. And while it is sad that many black people left behind the beginnings of solid reformational teaching that Girardeau and his like had been giving them, there are signs that more than a few black churches are hungering for this very thing today. As for Girardeau himself, he carried on preaching and teaching in the places he was able; trusting in the God he loved for the outcome. And we shall all rejoice together over the results in heaven.
Resources
I am greatly indebted to the following works for my understanding of Girardeau’s life and ministry:
C.N. Wilborn, John L. Girardeau (1825-98), Pastor to Slaves and Theologian of Causes: A Historical Account of the Life and Contributions of an often Neglected Southern Presbyterian Minister and Theologian (PhD dissertation, Westminster Theological Seminary, 2003)
Douglas Kelly, Preachers with Power: Four Stalwarts of the South, Daniel Baker, James Henley Thornwell, Benjamin Morgan Palmer, John Girardeau
(Banner of Truth, Edinburgh, 1992)
+ Faith in Focus, c/o Walter Walraven, 7 Winchester Avenue, Pinehaven, Upper Hutt 5019, New Zealand, 64-4-527-4379, fnf@rcnz.org.nz
+ Reformed Churches of New Zealand, stated-clerk@rcnz.org.nz
[2] Orthodox Presbyterian Church Founding Member John Galbraith Celebrates 102nd Birthday on Tuesday, 10 October 2015
The Orthodox Presbyterian Church’s Today in OPC History for 10 March 2015 published Happy Birthday greetings to OPC founding member the Rev. John P. Galbraith on the occasion of his 102nd birthday:
"We would like to wish the Rev. John P. Galbraith a happy 102nd birthday today. Mr. Galbraith is the sole remaining person of those gathered in Philadelphia on June 11, 1936 to have their names enrolled as founding members of the now Orthodox Presbyterian Church. His parents and his sister were also enrolled on that day.
"A 1935 graduate of Muskingum College, he enrolled at Westminster Seminary where he took classes under and became friends with J. Gresham Machen, even travelling to be present at Machen's trial in Trenton, New Jersey, and Machen's appeal at the General Assembly in Syracuse. When Machen died suddenly on January 1, 1937, the Machen family asked Galbraith to serve as a pallbearer.
"Following his graduation from Westminster, Galbraith pastored OPC congregations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey for eleven years. In 1948, he was appointed General Secretary for both the Home Missions and Foreign Missions Committees. He continued until 1961, when he began to serve full time as General Secretary for Foreign Missions, a post he would hold until his retirement in 1978. In retirement, he remained active serving on various committees for over twenty-five years.
"For those who attended the seventy-fifth anniversary of the OPC at the 2011 General Assembly, a highlight of that week was a stirring address by the then 98-year old Galbraith during the report of the Committee on Christian Education. The eyewitness to the first OPC General Assembly in 1936 began his remarks by reminding commissioners and guests that “whatever we have done to land here seventy-five years later, holding to the same faith, has been by the grace of the Spirit of the living God.”
"Galbraith ended with this challenge:
"I say to you, “Keep standing fast.” That doesn’t need any exegesis. You know
exactly what it means. Stand fast in the faith once delivered to the saints. Stand
fast on the Word of God, and then get going on the things that God has given us
to do. Teach our people well. Teach them to do their job, and to do it well. And
to that I think I can say only my own amen and say also, to God be the glory.
+ The Orthodox Presbyterian Church, 607 North Easton Road, Building E, Box P, Willow Grove, Pennsylvania 19090, 215-830-0900, Fax: 215-830-0350
[3] Harmony of the Westminster Confession and Catechisms by Dr. Morton H. Smith Published by Tolle Lege Press
Christian Reader Bookstore, a division of Tolle Lege Press, is offering Harmony of the Westminster Confession and Catechisms by Dr. Morton H. Smith for US$19.95 plus shipping.
In today's Church, sadly, there seems to be more emphasis on contemporary music and gourmet coffee than a real commitment to doctrine. Finally, in this wonderful handbook, Dr. Morton H. Smith lays out the standard for Protestant doctrine that is both easy to understand and backed by extensive Scriptural references. Furthermore, there are study questions and answers (catechisms) that make this an invaluable study tool for family devotions, Bible Studies, and Sunday Schools.
In this wonderful volume, Dr. Morton H. Smith helpfully lists together the various corresponding parts of the Westminster Confession and Catechisms. This harmony will be of invaluable use for Bible Studies, Sunday Schools, as well as other venues.
The Westminster Standards are unsurpassed among confessional statements in precision and comprehensiveness and few would deny that they deserve close reading and careful study. But it is easy to be overwhelmed by the breadth and depth of the Standards, and a as a result many parts are often neglected. The Confession's statements about Scripture, and the doctrines of God, predestination, providence, and the person and work of Christ, as well as the famous first question of the Shorter Catechism, are, of course, known to many. But few have been introduced to what the Standards have to say about sanctification, faith, ethics, prayer, the sacraments, the church, etc. Even fewer have been introduced to the Larger Catechism which expands on points covered in the Confession and Shorter Catechism, and at times, provides material that can be found nowhere else in the Standards.
The Harmony was designed to remedy this situation. First, the distinct, somewhat self-contained paragraphs of the Confession are used as the anchors of the work and these smaller, digestible pieces are easier to follow and grasp. Second, points made by the Confession are, of course, often reiterated by the Catechisms. This repetition helps with retention and comparison of the documents also forces one to look more closely at each statement. Third, all of the statements of the Catechisms are included in the Harmony. This especially makes the Larger Catechism more accessible. Fourth, the wide margins provide space for personal notes. The Harmony has, therefore, been a useful and popular tool for the study of the Standards for many decades. It is our prayer that it will continue in its usefulness for many more, helping God's people to see the beauty and richness of the faith that has been so carefully summarized in the Standards, and ultimately, driving them back to the Word of God and the worship and service of our great God and Savior. Soli Deo Gloria!
+ Christian Reader Bookstore, 5000-B McNeel Industrial Boulevard, Powder Springs, Georgia 30127, 888-984-3638, Contact Page
[4] The True Doctrine of the Sabbath by Nicholas Bownd Being Copublished by Naptali Press and Reformed Heritage Books
The True Doctrine of the Sabbath by Nicholas Bownd is being copublished by Naphtali Press and Reformation Heritage Books, and is available in a prepublication offer as follows:
USA: $24.95. Buy Now.
Canada: $40.00. Buy Now.
All other International $44. (please note UK customers may save on the postage costs if you wait for our distributors in the UK to obtain copies later in the year). Buy Now.
No book had more influence in confirming a Sabbatarian “heart” to Puritanism than that of Nicholas Bownd (d.1613). The Doctrine of the Sabbath was the first scholarly treatment defending the concept of the Christian Sabbath or Lord’s Day, later embodied in the Westminster Standards. Not reprinted since 1606, this influential work is presented afresh in a new critical edition.
For most of his ministry, Nicholas Bownd (1551?–1613) was the pastor of a country church in rural England. Judging from the sermons he published, his ministry exhibited the practical divinity taught by his stepfather, Richard Greenham, which focused on the means of grace. The crucial ‘mean of the means’ whereby all these means of grace were made available to the people of God was the weekly gatherings on the Christian Sabbath or Lord’s Day. In 1595, Bownd published True Doctrine of the Sabbath, which derived from sermons preached about 1586. This book embroiled him in a singular controversy with a troublesome neighbor, which resulted in the first Sabbatarian controversy in England, and also led to a vindicating expanded edition in 1606. For the last two years of his life he ministered at St. Andrew in Norwich, the highest call a man of his puritan convictions could have attained in those days.
Commendations by Mark Jones, James T. Dennison, Richard B. Gaffin and Joel Beeke.
“It is astonishing that the Puritan Nicholas Bownd’s famous work on the Sabbath, which greatly influenced later Puritanism and the Westminster Assembly, and by extension, Western Christendom for centuries, has not been printed in a critical edition with modern typeface long ago. Not reprinted since 1606, this classic work emphasizes the fourth commandment’s morally binding character, the divine institution of the entire Sabbath as the Lord’s Day set apart to worship God, and the cessation of non-religious activities that distract from worship and acts of mercy. I am so grateful that it is back in print, and pray that it will do much good to restore the value and enhance the joy of the Lord’s Day for many believers around the world.”
—Joel R. Beeke, co-author of Meet the Puritans and A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life, and president of Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan
“After four centuries of rest, Nicholas Bownd’s famous book on the Sabbath has re-Bownded. Attractively printed, this work is a critical edition of the 1595 version and the expanded 1606 edition. Coldwell has painstakingly collated and meticulously annotated the two so as to allow Bownd’s classic Puritan doctrine of the Lord’s Day Sabbath to be published afresh. Lovers of the Scriptures as interpreted by the Westminster Standards will rejoice. May all glory redound to the Eschatological Lord of Sabbath rest, as it did four centuries ago.”
–James T. Dennison, Jr., author of The Market Day of the Soul: The Puritan Doctrine of the Sabbath in England, 1532-1700; and Academic Dean and Professor of Church History and Biblical Theology, Northwest Theological Seminary, Lynnwood, Washington.
“Those with an interest in developments leading up to the formulation of the Sabbath doctrine taught in the Westminster standards will benefit from this careful documentation and analysis of the views of Nicholas Bownd.”
–Richard B. Gaffin, Jr., author of Calvin and the Sabbath; Professor of Biblical and Systematic Theology, Emeritus, Westminster Theological Seminary.
Nicholas Bownd’s work, The True Doctrine of the Sabbath, occupies a hugely significant place among Puritan works on polemical and practical divinity. For its scope, detail, and erudition, this work on the Sabbath is unparalleled in the Puritan tradition—indeed, perhaps even in the Christian tradition. Particularly illuminating are Bownd’s “spiritual exercises,” which clearly had an influence upon the later Puritan attitudes regarding the practical implications of Sabbath-keeping and worship. As an added bonus to the content of this book, the editorial work on this book is first-class, and makes for far more enjoyable and easier reading than a simple re-print.
–Rev. Dr. Mark Jones, Minister at Faith Vancouver Presbyterian Church (PCA).
From the Foreword
With all the Puritan and Presbyterian books expounding upon the fourth commandment which have been published or reprinted in the last four hundred years, it may be reasonably questioned why it is important to bring yet another work on the nature of the Lord’s Day into print again, particularly when few Christians today either believe, understand or appreciate the true doctrine of the Christian Sabbath. The answer is simple enough. Nicholas Bownd’s books were the first scholarly, lengthy treatment articulating the Puritan Sabbatarian position, and he can fairly be said to have set the mold for the standard argument. The basic tenets he defended are enshrined in that last great set of Reformed symbols, the Westminster Standards. So while he certainly did not invent the doctrine, Bownd can in a sense be called the father of the later Puritan works expounding the fourth commandment. Consequently, his work is of significant historical importance and a new edition is at the very least warranted to aid the study of it. And personally, if for no other reason, I believe a good modern edition of this great work is appropriate out of simple gratitude for the author’s labors in the face of the difficulties of the times and the rather singular persecution he faced.
This project to bring Nicholas Bownd’s True Doctrine of the Sabbath to print in a modern version dates back over twenty years. The source was a poor University Microfilms, Inc. (UMI) photocopy of an equally poor microfilmed example of Bownd’s 1606 revised edition. This required considerable proof reading, and the original having all the problems of a late sixteenth century text made for a tedious job of editing. It was easier to keep shifting focus to other less difficult projects. However, as it turned out in the providence of God, the project needed this delay in order for new research to come to light, revealing more than had previously been in print about Nicholas Bownd. In addition, the editor’s “tool kit” required expanding in order to handle such an old text with the attending necessary research, which other projects afforded over the intervening years. Finally, when the push to get this project on a track to completion was undertaken in the last year or so, a final hurdle presented itself. The discovery of the letter Thomas Rogers wrote to Bownd in 1598 cast all in new light, requiring a late course change and a complete revision of the approach to the text of the book.
For the last nineteen years the intent was to bring Bownd’s 1606 edition to print. However, it became clear that Bownd had made at least one revision based upon a criticism Rogers had made in a 1599 sermon against Sabbatarianism. Using phrases from the surviving notes of that sermon, a few quick searches revealed that while never naming him at any point, all of the main criticisms Rogers made were addressed in the revision. In addition, the description of the 1598 letter, which had never been transcribed, indicated it contained references to Bownd’s 1595 edition. So even before obtaining a copy and transcribing the letter, it was clear that the 1606 text had to be carefully collated with the 1595 edition in order to discover changes directly attributable to Rogers’ criticisms. With a revised critical text noting the additions (herein denoted by large {braces} in the text and in the margins), it became clear that many of the 1606 revisions were made in order to address criticisms made in both Rogers’ 1599 sermon and 1598 letter. This discovery led to a considerable investigation of the dispute between Bownd and Rogers (which is known as the first Sabbatarian controversy in English literature), which resulted in a lengthy but hopefully informative introduction to this volume, now finally completed after all these years.
The text, keyed in the margins to the 1606 edition, has been revised, as far as possible without marring the author’s work, to reflect contemporary spelling, punctuation, and usage. Chapter divisions have been added. Words or insertions supplied by the editor are in [square brackets]. While a few less clear antiquated words or spellings are replaced with the modern equivalents after the first usage (e.g. “entreating [in treating]” etc.), generally changes to clearly archaic spellings are done “silently.” Scripture quotations are italicized, as well as Latin words and some emphasis. While the original use of italics for all manner of emphasis created many difficulties (see the Analysis), I have attempted to untangle and trace all of Bownd’s references. An annotated bibliography is provided noting the library collections available to Bownd, as well as author, subject and Scripture indices….
Contents (there is also a lengthy table of chapters and subtopics in addition to bibliography, scripture, author and subject index).
Contents of The True Doctrine of the Sabbath ix
Introduction xix
Results of the Elizabethan Settlement xxii
The Bownds and Richard Greenham xxvii
Richard Greenham xxix
Nicholas Bownd xxxii
The Ministry of Nicholas Bownd xxxiv
The Market Day of the Soul xxxv
The Works of Nicholas Bownd xxxvi
Conformity and Presbyterianism xl
Bownd’s Advocacy/Rejection of Presbyterianism xliv
Thomas Rogers xlvii
The Works of Thomas Rogers xlviii
Thomas Rogers, Proponent of Conformity liii
Thomas Rogers and the Bury Exercise lvii
Thomas Rogers versus Nicholas Bownd lxi
Assessing Rogers’ Claims, Whitgift’s and Popham’s Suppression lxvi
Rogers’ 1598 Letter to Bownd lxix
Time table of events lxxvii
Objections to the Propagandist Theory lxxxi
Nicholas Bownd Proves Rogers’ Letter is Genuine lxxxiv
Conclusion lxxxv
Analysis lxxxix
Prefatory Epistles, 1595–1606
Dedication (1595) 3
To the Reader (1595) 4
Book One (1606): Dedication 6
To the Studious and Diligent Reader 9
Commendation by Alexander Bownd 12
Andrew Willet to the Reader 16
Book Two (1606): Dedication 22
William Jones to the Author 26
Commendation by Walter Allen 32
Book One: The Ancient Institution and Continuance of the Sabbath 35
Book Two: The Sanctification of the Sabbath 285
Bibliography 449
Author Index 466
Scripture Index 470
Subject Index 474
Commendations 482
+ Naphtali Press, Post Office Box 141084, Dallas, Texas 75214, naphtali@naphtali.com
+ Reformation Heritage Books, 2965 Leonard Street Northeast, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49525, 616-977-0599, orders@heritagebooks.org
