August Is A Very Calvinistic Month

[Rippon]

Most of the following men were not Baptists . But the Lord has used , is using , and shall use non-Baptists to furthur His kingdom .

August 1 -- Andrew Melville was born in 1545

August 1 -- James Henley Thornwell died in 1862

August 4 -- Rolfe P. Barnard was born in 1904

9th -- Adoniram judson was born in 1788

11th -- August Toplady died in 1778

12th -- Rowland Hill was born in 1744

17th -- William Carey was born in 1761

24th -- John Owen died in 1683

26th -- Thomas Bradwardine died in 1349

28th -- Augustine died in 430

31st -- John Bunyan died in 1688

31st -- Gordon H. Clark was born in 1902


Hmm , 6 births and 6 deaths . Usually the deaths exceed the births in a given month regarding noted Christians of the past .

Did I miss some important Calvinists ? Please feel free to share .

 

[Brother Bob]

No I don't know any

 

[Rippon]

How many of the ones I listed are you familiar with ?

 

[Jarthur001]

Most of the following men were not Baptists . But the Lord has used , is using , and shall use non-Baptists to furthur His kingdom .

August 1 -- Andrew Melville was born in 1545

August 1 -- James Henley Thornwell died in 1862

August 4 -- Rolfe P. Barnard was born in 1904

9th -- Adoniram judson was born in 1788

11th -- August Toplady died in 1778

12th -- Rowland Hill was born in 1744

17th -- William Carey was born in 1761

24th -- John Owen died in 1683

26th -- Thomas Bradwardine died in 1349

28th -- Augustine died in 430

31st -- John Bunyan died in 1688

31st -- Gordon H. Clark was born in 1902


Hmm , 6 births and 6 deaths . Usually the deaths exceed the births in a given month regarding noted Christians of the past .

Did I miss some important Calvinists ? Please feel free to share .

OK..now I know why I'm Calvinist.

Jarthur001 born ...Aug 1, 1958
by decree of God the King

 

[J.D.]

Rippon, do you have the time to give us a short, one-line or so bio of each of these men? I'll help with what I know:

Judson - Baptist Missionary to ? (China I think)

Carey - Baptist Missionary, (didn't he start the first missionary society in America?)

Owen - Puritan scholar, genius (I'm currently reading his book "The Death of Death in the Death of Christ")

Augustine - Ancient opponent of Pelagius, taught that salvation is of God

Bunyan - My Hero, Independent church with Baptist doctrine, spent 12 years in jail for refusing to take a license from the government church and for refusing to use the "Common Prayer Book" of the Church of England, author of "Pilgrim's Progress" and many other books.

Clark - Founder of the Protestant Reformed Church, considered the primary supralapsarian scholar as opposed to Bavinck who represents the sublapsarians.

Toplady - Fierce opponent of Wesley's doctrine, hymn writer (Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me), Anglican

 

[Rippon]

Hi J.D.

Judson was a missionary to Burma ( now Myanmar) . As a Congregationalist he studied the issue of baptism enroute to India and became convinced of the scriptural correctness of the Baptist position . He translated the Bible into Burmese . He was influenced by Carey to start the Baptist Missionary Society in America .

William Carey went to India and translated the Bible into Bengali .

John Owen is certainly one of my favorite Christians of the past . I note you are reading : " The Death Of Death In The Death Of Jesus Christ " . It is one of my cherished books back in America . It is as clear as a bell regarding its theme ( though he takes a long time to complete his thoughts ) . It has indeed never been answered by the Arminians ( Biblicists , Semi-Pelagians etc. ) . He was a good friend of John Bunyan . Owen was responsible for getting Pilgrim's Progress published . When asked why he would ever listen to such a tinker deliver a message , Owen said something to the effect that he "would gladly relinguish all his learning to preach like that man ."

Owen was the giant among other giants of the Puritan era . Richard Baxter wrote more ( and I respect him and his book The Reformed Pastor , which had nothing to do with Calvinism ) . There are now Puritan paperbacks available which compacts the writings of old authors which otherwise would be negelected .

Back to Bunyan . I have his " Holy War " , but have not taken the time to read it yet . My copy ( which was my mom's is about 150 years old ) . Lately his baptistic credentials have been questioned for various reasons . But regardless , he was a man of God whom I respect greatly -- so did Spurgeon .

Augustine did indeed debate Pelagius . His works against that man are valuable for us now . For a while Augustine and his followers like Prosper ( spelling ? ) brought the Church some purity of doctrine on the issue of grace and the will of man . But then things began to be watered-down .

It's been said that Augustine was against Augustine . His doctrine of the Church has been adopted by the Catholics and his doctrine of grace has been followed by Calvinists . Indeed , Augustinianism is Calvinism .

I have never been able to wade through the deep waters of his City of God . I have read his Confessions and some smattering of his other works .

Gordon Clark was a strong Calvinist . He was a Supralapsarian -- but not a hyper-Calvinist . I have at least 12 of his books with me in Korea . They are mostly commentaries/devotionals . He was prolific writer . After Machen and before Carl Henry -- he upheld the Calvinistic mantle with distinction . BTW , he mentored Henry . Clark was primarily a philosophical/theologian . I prefer the latter .

Herman Hoksema ( 1886-1965 ) started the Protestant Reformed Church . Hoeksema was an excellent Bible expositer . I have a number of his books and that of his son Homer .

Toplady died at only 38 years of age -- but what a productive life ! At first Augustus ( if I may use his first name ) was a follower of John Wesley . But when A.T. became an ardent Calvinist he parted ways with Wesley . Also , Wesley lied a great deal . He forged A.T.'s name on works that Wesley himself authored much of . That was his way of countering Calvinism .

 

[Jarthur001]

Hi J.D.

Augustine

I have never been able to wade through the deep waters of his City of God . I have read his Confessions and some smattering of his other works .

I read City of God years ago. I picked up a copy at a yard sale. The 1st part was great reading, but it slows down past the middle. I'm not sure I finished it myself. I was going to do a rewrite of City of God, just for my own enjoyment, but I later found out this has been done already.

 

[2BHizown]

Wonderful thread and posts Rippon!

Nothing better than reading of the Dead Theologians Society!

Great information, hope there is more coming! :thumbs:

 

[Rippon]

A three week belated thanks .

Speaking of belated -- I had forgotten to include Increase Mather . He was born in 1639 and died on August 23 rd 1723 . His father was Richard Mather . His son was even more famous -- Cotton Mather 1663-1728 . Yes , he only lived five years longer than Increase . Don't you love the name Increase ? Lots of Puritans in America and the UK had those marvellous names . Anyway , Increase was quite a godly influence in the colonies . He pastored for ages . And while still maintaining his pastorate -- was the acting President of Harvard for years . He was a Congregationalist . He and Cotton were prototypes of Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758 ) in my estimation .

 

[Rippon]

Bump . It's August again !

 

[TCGreek]

Double post.

 

[TCGreek]

Bump . It's August again !

Great work, Rippon!

August 2, 1527, Martin Luther wrote the following to Melanchthon:

"For more than a week I have been thrown back and forth in death and Hell; my whole body feels beaten, my limbs are still trembling. I almost lost Christ completely, driven about on the waves and storms of despair and blasphemy against God. But because of the intercession of the faithful, God began to take mercy on me and tore my soul from the depths of Hell."

I continue to thank God for such a one as Martin Luther.

 

[Rippon]

BTW , Elvis wasn't a Calvinist .

 

[ReformedBaptist]

I knew everyone of em except Andrew Melville