"All across the United States, Protestant churches have forgotten their sacramental roots. The Lord's Supper has often been reduced to an empty memorial if it is even celebrated at all, and the contemporary Protestant church suffers greatly from this lapse. In Holy Communion in the Piety of the Reformed Church, Hughes Oliphant Old uncovers the central importance of Holy Communion in the Reformed tradition. Beginning with Calvin and moving into modern times, Old pinpoints and explains the most pivotal developments in Reformed eucharistic theology-- from the true nature of the communion elements to preparatory services and seasons. Along the way, he shows that our doctrine of the Lord's Supper is not merely an intellectual exercise; it has the profound influence on the church's life and operations-- on her piety. This volume is both a scholarly exploration of Reformed tradition and a pastoral call to the contemporary church to rediscover the most potent truths and edifying practices of our Christian forefathers. In our day of debilitating liturgical innovations, Holy Communion proves yet again that God's truth on any subject is timeless and evergreen. Before we can display Christ fully in our day, we must recover a full commitment to biblical worship-- in the Word preached as well as the Word made visible in the Lord's Supper."--Dust jacket.

Melanchthon and Calvin were late medieval people, stemming from a world of order and unity, and at the same time they fully lived in the early modern world, in which everything was changing. In this new world they committedly, enthusiastically, and restlessly sought to introduce some order, in theory as well as practice. The sixteenth-century church was governed by multiple coercive constructions and systems. Did the two Reformers really succeed in disconnecting themselves from them, and to what extent did they connect to, for example, the existing forms of eucharistic piety?The established church had come under serious criticism, and people were massively turning their backs on the less than attractive ecclesiastical practices—something connecting that era to ours. In these highly turbulent and suspenseful 1520s, when it was not yet clear whether the ten-year-old evangelical movement in Germany was still viable, Melanchthon tried to introduce at least some order into the chaos by means of a confession accompanied by a church order. As it turned out, the new doctrine on 'Christian freedom' and 'justification by faith alone' was easily interpreted in a one-sided manner. Through a careful analysis of the sources, Herman A. Speelman examines Melanchthon's church visitations in 1527 and Calvin's five attempts to shape the modernisation of ecclesiastical life. In addition to the gospel, also penance and the preaching of the law received a place in the Protestant liturgy and spirituality.Melanchthon's and Calvin's contributions were not only to have an enormous impact on the theological evolutions in the evangelical movement in Europe, but they also proved to be of eminent importance for the way in which the new doctrine was given meaning in practice. Their instructions continue to be highly influential in large parts of Europe today.

The Foundation of Communion with God introduces readers to the Trinitarian piety of John Owen (1616–1683). Ryan McGraw’s introduction to Owen sketches the major events of this important theologian’s life and shows how his circumstances shaped his thought on the themes of the Trinity and public worship. The second part of the book presents forty-one brief selections from Owen’s writings that trace his thoughts on knowing God as triune, on Scripture and worship, on heavenly-mindedness, and on covenant and the church. Appendixes provide readers with a chronological list of Owen’s writings and a guide to them for those who wish to delve deeper into this great theologian’s thoughts. Table of Contents: Section One: Knowing God as Triune Section Two: Heavenly-Mindedness and Apostasy Section Three: Covenant and Church Series Description Seeking, then, both to honor the past and yet not idolize it, we are issuing these books in the series Profiles in Reformed Spirituality . The design is to introduce the spirituality and piety of the Reformed Profiles in Reformed Spirituality tradition by presenting descriptions of the lives of notable Christians with select passages from their works. This combination of biographical sketches and collected portions from primary sources gives a taste of the subjects’ contributions to our spiritual heritage and some direction as to how the reader can find further edification through their works. It is the hope of the publishers that this series will provide riches for those areas where we are poor and light of day where we are stumbling in the deepening twilight.

Nathan Mitchell has written this book to enrich the Church's understanding of the many theologies and popular customs that have attached themselves to the eucharist over the last two thousand years.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1854 edition. Excerpt: ... 180 SERMON XIII. THE CHRISTIAN SACRIFICE. Romans xii. 1. "/ beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." The Apostle's object is to contrast the living service of Christian piety, with the slaughtered victims which were presented upon Jewish altars. His words remind us how pure should be the gift, and how careful the preparation. For this the ancient Law had made exact provision: "your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year." "It shall be perfect to be accepted, there shall be no blemish therein." And the point was guarded, as we might expect, by the rigorous punctuality of Jewish usage. Their writers enumerate fifty particulars, which might derogate from the perfection of the victim, and, therefore, from the efficacy of the service. But we have a sufficient, though simpler rule, in the Epistle to the Hebrews: "Let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water." The last condition is attainable enough, so far as refers to the mere purification of the body, though no doubt there is an allusion to that mysterious gift, which is bestowed upon the soul through the waters of Baptism. For the body at all events may be washed from such pollutions as defile and deform it. But is it so easy to purify the soul? Is the conscience so readily cleansed from its defilements? Even if men are happy enough not to be burthened by those deadly sins, which cut them off from grace--even if they do not need, therefore, such special forgiveness as the Church is authorized to convey--yet who is there who can affirm his...

During the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, a “spiritual brotherhood” formed among the Puritans, shaped by the reforming activity and training of Cambridge. These pastor-theologians initiated a new emphasis within the established church, stirring up a greater understanding of the Reformation doctrines of grace and preaching for conversion and Christian growth and piety. In this study, Paul Schaefer looks at six thinkers in this group who stand out because each was used as the human vehicle to bring the gospel to the next: William Perkins, Paul Baynes, Richard Sibbes, John Cotton, John Preston, and Thomas Shepard. By examining their teaching on the relation between man’s depraved nature and sovereign grace, as well as the distinct but inseparable relation of justification and sanctification, Schaefer demonstrates how the Puritan movement came to focus most intently on the cultivation of Reformed piety within the church. Table of Contents: 1. Knowing the Times: The Spiritual Brotherhood and Its Puritanism in Its Cultural, Intellectual, and Social Contexts 2. William Perkins: The Good Fight of the Heart Redeemed 3. Paul Baynes: Ministering to the Heart Set Free 4. Richard Sibbes: The Union of the Heart with Christ 5. John Preston: The Triumph of Grace on the Inclinations of the Heart 6. An American Epilogue: Looking at Sola Gratia from Differing Angles—Cotton and Shepard and Massachusetts’s Antinomian Controversy Appendix: Orthodoxies in Massachusetts?