This work was first published as “A Golden Chain, or A Description of Theology Containing the Order of the Causes of Salvation and Damnation.” Perkins covers who God is, His works in predestination and reprobation concerning fallen men, and what God requires of all men, including His church. This work is a unique systematic theology of sorts that mines out of the Bible a mountain of theological gold which Perkins forges into an unbreakable “Golden Chain” of salvation. It is focused on the work of Jesus Christ as God’s one and only Son and Redeemer, and God’s eternal redemptive plan found in the Covenant of Grace. This is a classic work not to be missed; and has been updated for the modern reader. This is not a scan or facsimile, and contains an active table of contents for electronic versions.

Grace and Freedom addresses the issue of divine grace in relation to the freedom of the will in Reformed or "Calvinist" theology in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century. It focuses on the work of the English Reformed theologian William Perkins, especially his role as an apologist of the Church of England, defending its theology against the Roman Catholic polemic, and specifically against the charge that Reformed theology denies human free choice. Perkins and his Reformed contemporaries affirm that salvation occurs by grace alone and that God is the ultimate cause of all things, but they also insist on the freedom of the human will and specifically the freedom of choice in a way that does not conform to modern notions of "libertarian freedom" or "compatibilism." In developing this position, Perkins drew on the thought of Reformers such as Peter Martyr Vermigli and Zacharias Ursinus, on the nuanced positions of medieval scholastics, and several contemporary Roman Catholic representatives of the so-called "second scholasticism." His work was a major contribution to early modern Reformed thought both in England and on the continent. His influence in England extended both to the Reformed heritage of the Church of England and to English Puritanism. On the continent, his work contributed to the main lines of Reformed orthodoxy and to the piety of the Dutch Second Reformation.

Written by William Perkins (1558-1602), A Golden Chain is one of the best treatments of the doctrines of election and reprobation ever written. Due to its controversial nature, it is one of the few significant and influential works written by a Puritan which has not been widely republished as a standalone version. In this version of A Golden Chain, transcribed from the 1597 edition of Perkins' work, it has been lightly abridged and modernised with simplified language and new structural diagrams. This release will also include a brief introduction to both Perkins' life and work written by Perkins scholar, Matthew Payne.

The investigation of union with Christ and justification has been dominated by the figure of John Calvin. Calvin's influence, however, has been exaggerated in our own day. Theologians within the Early Modern Reformed tradition contributed to the development of these doctrines and did not view Calvin as the normative theologian of the tradition. John V. Fesko, therefore, goes beyond Calvin and explores union with Christ and justification in the Reformation, Early Orthodox, and High Orthodox periods of the Reformed tradition and covers lesser known but equally important figures such as Juan de Valdes, Peter Martyr Vermigli, Girolamo Zanchi, William Perkins, John Owen, Francis Turretin, and Herman Witsius. The study also covers theologians that either lie outside or transgress the Reformed tradition, such as Martin Luther, Philip Melanchthon, Faustus Socinus, Jacob Arminius, and Richard Baxter. By treating this diverse body of figures the study reveals areas of agreement and diversity on these two doctrines. The author demonstrates that among the diverse formulations, all surveyed Reformed theologians accord justification priority over sanctification within the broader rubric of union with Christ. Fesko shows that Reformed theologians affirm both union with Christ and the golden chain of salvation, ideas that moderns find incompatible. In sum, rather than reading an individual theologian isolated from his context, this study provides a contextual reading of union with Christ and justification in the Early Modern Reformed context.

This excellent resource presents short, meaningful selections from major Reformed theologians of Europe, the British Isles, and America during the classical period, 1519-1799. Arranged thematically according to major doctrines, it identifies significant theological points that illustrate both the distinctiveness and diversity of Reformed thought.

Theologian Harry Lee Poe and chemist Jimmy H. Davis argue that God's interaction with our world is a possibility affirmed equally by the Bible and the contemporary scientific record. Rather than confirming that the cosmos is closed to the actions of the divine, advancing scientific knowledge seems to indicate that the nature of the universe is actually open to the unique type of divine activity portrayed in the Bible.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1872. The publishing house Anatiposi publishes historical books as reprints. Due to their age, these books may have missing pages or inferior quality. Our aim is to preserve these books and make them available to the public so that they do not get lost.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1868.