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The Early Church Fathers on Eschatology (especially the millennial question)

Simon Wartanian | 2,283 views | 207 words | 0:01:03 hours | 02 January 2022 14:56

This work is based on Dr. Charles E. Hill’s fine work entitled Regnum Caelorum: Patterns of Millennial Thought in Early Christianity. In it, he surveys eschatological thought in the first three centuries of the church. One focus of the study is the interesting observation of something common in all premillennialists (except one, Methodius of Olympus [c. 270-311]) that did not believe in the immediate entry of believers into heaven. Rather, believers and unbelievers were held in some subterranean place until the Resurrection and the millennium. On the other hand, those who believed in an intermediate state in heaven, gave no indications of chiliasm (belief in an earthly millennium), but rather, some of them even give explicit evidence of non-chiliasm (i.e., amillennialism). What I’ve done here, is search for the fuller statements of the authors from the early church which are freely available in the Schaff sets on CCEL, and included citations of Dr. Hill from the book itself.

I thought of sharing it on the internet for anyone interested in these issues. In reading these statements, you will find both the good and the bad of the exegesis of the ancient fathers.

(For those not able to see the IFrame, here is the link.)

Limited Atonement, Definite Redemption - Scripture List & Case

Simon Wartanian | 7,451 views | 6,400 words | 0:32:47 hours | 23 March 2014 20:51

Calvinism Election Predestination Mercy Sovereignty Verse List God Is In Control Unconditional Election Sovereign Grace

... from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Rom 5:9-10 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

Rom 6:5-11 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a Resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

2Cor 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Salvation is not universal, not everyone will be saved

1Ch 17:20-21 There is none like you, O LORD, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 21 And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making for yourself a name for great and awesome things, in driving out nations before your people whom you redeemed from Egypt?

Isa 53:10-11 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

Mt 1:21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.

Mt 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

Jn 6:37-40 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

Jn 10:3-4 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

Jn 10:11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

Acts 20:28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

Eph 5:25-27 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in sple...

Irresistible Grace, Effectual Calling - Scripture List

Simon Wartanian | 11,141 views | 2,545 words | 0:13:07 hours | 23 March 2014 22:21

Calvinism Election Predestination Mercy Sovereignty Verse List God Is In Control Irresistible Grace Effectual Calling

...washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Jas 1:18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

1Pet 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

1Jn 5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.

The work of God the Holy Spirit

Rom 8:14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Eph 1:13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Eph 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

1Cor 2:9-12 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— 10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.

1Cor 3:16 Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?

1Cor 6:9-11 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

1Cor 12:3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.

1Cor 12:8-11 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

2Cor 3:5-6 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kill...

Preservation of the Saints - Scripture List

Simon Wartanian | 18,599 views | 3,263 words | 0:16:33 hours | 23 March 2014 22:28

Calvinism Election Predestination Mercy Sovereignty Verse List God Is In Control Preservation Of The Saints

...ears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Phil 1:6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

2Tim 4:18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

1Pet 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

None of Christ’s sheep will be lost—ever!

Jn 6:39-40 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

Jn 10:27-29 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

Rom 8:35-39 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Eph 1:13-14 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Eph 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Heb 7:25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

Heb 10:14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

God causes His sheep to persevere in the faith

Jn 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

1Cor 6:11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

1Cor 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Phil 2:12-13 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but...

A Short Review of Sam Waldron's Modern Exposition of 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith

Simon Wartanian | 6,144 views | 606 words | 0:03:08 hours | 23 February 2015 19:14

Review Book Review Sam Waldron Modern Exposition Of 1689 Baptist Confession Of Faith 1689 Reformed Baptist

... so I feel home in it and I'm not ashamed to identify myself as a Reformed Baptist.

What I loved about Dr Waldron's work is his way of explaining the Confession and going through the biblical evidence (as I have been reading Grudem, I would have loved it if Dr Waldron would cite portions of the passages that he was using as proof, rather most of the time, only references were given).

When I started studying the Confession I didn't realizes that a confession is actually a Systematic Theology! :)

Dr Waldron explained things very well, I especially liked his extensive treatment of chapters 29 (Of Baptism), 31 (of the state of man after death and of the Resurrection of the dead) and 32 (Of the last judgment). There he interacted with the other side and provided some answers. With the explanations he went also through more detail.

During my study of the 1689 I left some comments about my thoughts on each paragraph that can be viewed here: https://www.thecalvinist.net/post/1689-Second-Baptist-Confession-Of-Faith-With-Commentary-And-Highlighting/922

Also I have opened a new section wherein I try to go in detail to explain why I agree with the formulation of doctrines in the 1689. The section is found here: https://www.thecalvinist.net/1689

Few minor problems with the book

One thing that was frustrating me, was the load of typos there. It's not that I'm a grammar nazi, but the quality of the work is so great that the multitude of the typos, wrong headings above pages (pages 103, 381), no spacing between words, wrong numeration really were the only downside, which could have been prevented. Hopefully, they will update it in the future, otherwise we'll just have to wait for James Renihan's exposition of the 1689 that is in progress!

Footnotes

^ Here is a picture of my baptism back when my hair was long.

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1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 16: Of Good Works - Commentary

Simon Wartanian | 13,453 views | 8,785 words | 0:46:07 hours | 05 March 2015 18:58

The 1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Confession Commentary Reformed Baptist Good Works Fruits Of Salvation

...g. This is written against the Roman Catholic concept of works of supererogation. These are works performed by the saints beyond what God required of them and they form the treasury of merit from which other believers may benefit. The Confession rejects this concept and declares that even the best works performed by those most far in their sanctification fall short of God’s standard and their duty.

Even the best of believers will testify that they fall short of God’s glory and doing His will perfectly. Paul the apostle said:

Phil. 3:12 Not that I have already obtained this [the Resurrection of the dead, v. 11] or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

The apostle Paul knows that he still falls short and is not perfect. The apostle John is no different. He says that “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). There is no doubt that they were obedience to the Lord from the heart, but we also know that they were not perfect, i.e., they did not obey the Lord 100% at all times and those are some of the holiest men who walked the earth, how much more we? All our good works are mixed with sin and thus never truly good, but even the best Christian’s good works are not above, but below God’s demanded standard. This is what the word supererogate means, “To do more than is required, ordered, or expected.” All our good works are tainted with sin and thus are far from perfect, but God by grace and through the blood of Christ, God receives them as good works and rewards us based on His grace.

§5 We cannot by our best works merit pardon of sin or eternal life

We cannot by our best works merit pardon of sin or eternal life at the hand of God, by reason of the great disproportion that is between them and the glory to come, 1 and the infinite distance that is between us and God, whom by them we can neither profit nor satisfy for the debt of our former sins; but when we have done all we can, we have done but our duty, and are unprofitable servants; 2 and because as they are good they proceed from his Spirit, 3 and as they are wrought by us they are defiled and mixed with so much weakness and imperfection, that they cannot endure the severity of God’s punishment. 4
1. Rom. 8:18
2. Job 22:3; 35:7; Luke 17:10; Rom. 4:3; 11:3
3. Gal. 5:22-23
4. 1 Kings 8:46; 2 Chron. 6:36; Ps. 130:3; 143:2; Prov. 20:9; Eccles. 7:20; Isa 64:4; Rom. 3:9, 23; 7:14f.; Gal. 5:17; 1 John 1:6-10

Pardon of sin does not come by our best works (e.g., Gal. 2:16; see chapter 11:3). This is due to the great disproportion that is between them and the glory to come. Our best works are ‘filthy rags’ and we will be in eternity we will truly see how much even our best works fell short of God’s glory and standard. The second reason is because of the infinite distance that is between us and God. Here is the classic Creator/creature distinction. We are unable to profit or gain forgiveness, nor satisfy for the debt of our former sins. Even if we do all we can or even all that God commands, we will merely be doing our duty (Luke 17:10). God has not promised to grant us forgiveness if we do our best or if we obey His commands. After we do all that we are commanded, we are still unprofitable servants, i.e., we do not deserve God’s rewards. The goodness of our works proceed from His Spirit and whatever weakness and imperfection are there in our works, they come from us. Our wor...

1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 21: Of Christian Liberty and Liberty of Conscience - Commentary

Simon Wartanian | 13,962 views | 6,372 words | 0:32:47 hours | 06 March 2015 19:19

The 1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Confession Commentary Confession Study Reformed Baptist Chapter 21 Christian Freedom Liberty Liberty Of Conscience Antinomianism

...s Law (1John 3:4 KJV). Christ, our High Priest, “put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Heb. 9:26) and thereby made also an end to the condemnation and punishment of sin for His people. Romans 8:1 declares that there is “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”. Why? Because of His sacrificial work on their behalf. He has satisfied the wrath of God on their behalf and has been punished according to the demand of the law in place of His elect (Rom. 3:25-26; Gal. 3:10-13).

According to Romans 8:32-34, the reason that no condemnation is possible for the children of God is because of:

the death of Christ on their behalf;
the Resurrection of Christ on their behalf; and
the intercession of Christ on their behalf.

These threefold reasons do not depend upon them and are not things done by them. Rather, they are things done for them by Christ. See here for more on Romans 8:34.

2. The condemning wrath of God

Complete atonement You have made
And by Your death have fully paid
The debt Your people owed
No wrath remains for us to face
We’re sheltered by Your saving grace
And sprinkled with Your blood

— Sovereign Grace Music - Now Why This Fear, verse 2.

This is closely connected to the first point above. We are free from the guilt of sin and likewise from the condemnation which comes because of sin. Christians will never know the wrath of God. They have been, prior to regeneration, under the wrath of God (John 3:36), but after regeneration, we will have no taste of His wrath. We may be under His discipline, but His discipline is not equivalent to His holy and righteous wrath. We are delivered both from the present wrath of God and the eschatological wrath of God in Hell. The apostle Paul writes:

1 Thess. 1:10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

Christians are here described as those who (1) wait for the Son from heaven (Titus 2:13) and likewise those who are delivered from the wrath to come. The phrase “wrath to come” was first used by John the Baptist (Matt. 3:7; Luke 3:7) and referred to the eschatological judgment of God. God’s judgment is coming and it is righteous! But Christians, through Jesus, will escape from God’s judgment. This does not mean that Christians will not be judged, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ” (2 Cor. 5:10), but that we will never be condemned by Christ. We may gain or lose rewards, but we will never be rejected and condemned by Him!

How is it that we may escape from the wrath to come? Because Christ bore the full wrath of God, which was due to our sins, upon Himself. He was punished in our place and in this way we escape from the terrifying wrath of God, which will be released upon all those who have not obeyed the Gospel of our Christ. For all those who are not found in Christ, they are at the present time already under the wrath of God (John 3:36), but once they repent and believe, they will no longer be “children of wrath” (Eph. 2:3), but will be called “sons of the Most High” (Rom. 9:26).

3. The rigor and curse of the law

We no longer obey the Law to gain righteousness by it, nor are we condemned and cursed because we do not perfectly obey it. The Mosaic Covenant demanded perfect obedience, but no mere man can render that. Therefore, any least transgression of the law brought the curse of the law (Gal. 3:10). But Christ, for His people, took the curse of the law upon Himself (Gal. ...

1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 24: Of the Civil Magistrate - Commentary

Simon Wartanian | 11,897 views | 5,667 words | 0:29:28 hours | 06 March 2015 19:38

The 1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Confession Commentary Reformed Baptist Chapter 24 Civil Magistrates Civil Government Romans 13

... the Word of God, it is to be disobeyed. As John Knox noted long ago, “Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God.” Disobedience to any government when it contradicts God’s Word is obedience to God. Therefore, when the government commands us to take false (or unnecessary) oaths or to do things which the Lord has forbidden, disobedience to them is actually obedience to God. Just because God institutes all governments, whether good or evil, does not, in fact, mean that He approves of what they do. If Peter and John obeyed the command of the Sanhedrin, they would have been disobedient to God and the call that the Lord Christ gave them to proclaim His Resurrection. Both good and evil governments are ordained by God. In fact, as observed by Calvin, “When God wants to judge a nation, He gives them wicked rulers.” Do we need to cite proof-texts for this idea? Is not the history of Israel from the book of Judges and onward a clear demonstration of this truth?

Albert Barnes notes the following on the occasion of this passage:

(3) many of the early Christians were composed of Jewish converts. Yet the Jews had long been under Roman oppression, and had borne the foreign yoke with great uneasiness. The whole pagan magistracy they regarded as founded in a system of idolatry; as opposed to God and his kingdom; and as abomination in his sight. With these feelings they had become Christians; and it was natural that their former sentiments should exert an influence on them after their conversion. How far they should submit, if at all, to heathen magistrates, was a question of deep interest; and there was danger that the “Jewish” converts might prove to be disorderly and rebellious citizens of the empire.

(4) nor was the case much different with the “Gentile” converts. They would naturally look with abhorrence on the system of idolatry which they had just forsaken. They would regard all as opposed to God. They would denounce the “religion” of the pagans as abomination; and as that religion was interwoven with the civil institutions, there was danger also that they might denounce the government altogether, and be regarded as opposed to the laws of the land,

And he also added, ‘It is quite probable, however, that the main danger was, that the early Christians would err in “refusing” submission, even when it was proper, rather than in undue conformity to idolatrous rites and ceremonies.’^[3] Thus the Roman Christians were displaying an attitude of anarchy and not submitting at all to authorities. Therefore, the apostle writes this chapter to command them to obey and honor authority. Barnes also observes in what way these governments are ordained:

This word “ordained” denotes the “ordering” or “arrangement” which subsists in a “military” company, or army. God sets them “in order,” assigns them their location, changes and directs them as he pleases. This does not mean that he “originates” or causes the evil dispositions of rulers, but that he “directs” and “controls” their appointment. By this, we are not to infer:

That he approves their conduct; nor,

That what they do is always right; nor,

That it is our duty “always” to submit to them.^[3]

Likewise, John Gill’s observations are good and helpful:

The order of magistracy is of God; it is of his ordination and appointment, and of his ordering, disposing, and fixing in its proper bounds and limits. The several forms of government are of human will and pleasure; but government itself is...

Hebrews 6:4-6, Apostasy and Calvinism

Simon Wartanian | 16,113 views | 11,271 words | 0:59:55 hours | 15 May 2016 15:27

Hebrews 6 Apostasy Perseverance Of The Saints Reformed Theology Calvinism Falling Away From Grace

..., therefore, the Gospel was not truly received by them. They merely accepted its truth, but did not conform and transform their lives according to that truth. They had the Scriptures even before Christ’s coming in what we know the Old Testament, yet since Christ’s coming we have a greater revelation of God in the last days, namely, a revelation through His Son (Heb 1:1-2) which is far superior to the previous ways of revelation by God. This “Word of God” would include, I believe obviously, fulfilled prophecies concerning Jesus much like how the Apostles began on the day of Pentecost by seeing the fulfillment of the coming of the Spirit, Christ’s crucifixion and Resurrection. They had seen such passages applied to the Lord Jesus Christ, but with this clear knowledge in mind after a while, they abandoned the church and the Christian religion and went back to Judaism without that knowledge in mind.

Therefore, this clause describes those who among other things sit under the faithful preaching of the Word of God, see its transforming effects on people, even experience some transforming effect in their lives, see the prophecies concerning the Messiah fulfilled in Jesus and yet with this knowledge in mind, turn their back on Him.

5. Those who tasted the powers of the age to come

I believe that the word “tasted” at the beginning of v. 5 about the word of God, also applies to the powers of the age to come. This would mean that they had some experience with the powers of the age to come. But what is meant by the age to come?

The KJV uses the word “world” instead of “age” (ESV, HCSB, ISV, NET, NKJV) as the majority of English translations do, but I believe that the idea is captured in the KJV that this speaks of the renewed world. I believe that the “coming age” or “the age to come” refers to the eternal state. The eternal state where there will be no sin, no sickness, and no pain. About the sin against the Holy Spirit, the Lord Jesus says that the person committing that sin “will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come” (Matt 12:32) by which He means that the person will never be forgiven, either in this life or in the next. In Ephesians 1:21 Paul writes about the sovereignty of Christ that He is “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.” In Mark 10:30 the age to come is connected with eternal life (c.f. Luke 18:30).

Based on that I believe that this verse means that these apostates experienced some things from the new world, like healing and miracles. When God heals He displays His graciousness and care and He gives a foretaste about the eternal state where all sin and sickness will be removed. These apostates had some experience with the powerful working of the Spirit in the church as Hebrews 2:4 says, “while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.” These things are the effects of the Spirit’s work in the world and the effect of Christ’s Kingdom. God has given us a taste of this even now. In a sense, the age to come has partially arrived, though not fully, just like God’s Kingdom which is among us (e.g. Luke 18:21), yet we still pray “Thy kingdom come!” (Matt 6:10)

These apostates had some taste and experience of the Holy Spirit’s work, yet it was not evidence that they were truly regenerate believers. They merely tasted the ...

A Short Review of Beckwith's & Stott's This Is The Day

Simon Wartanian | 3,691 views | 614 words | 0:03:08 hours | 08 January 2017 23:25

Sunday The Lord's Day Christian Sabbath Fourth Commandment Church History Historical Theology Book Review Roger Beckwith Wilfrid Stott

...ptures as well as the first four centuries from Christian history.

The biblical case is short and to the point. I love the fact there is always reference back to what he has said or established on earlier pages. Roger Beckwith goes on to demonstrate that the Sabbath was a creation ordinance and as such it is not connected with the Fall. Then he goes on to survey the passages speaking about the Sabbath. Very interesting was chapter 4 where he showed continuities between the Jewish Sabbath and the Lord's Day (the Christian Sabbath). He makes the case that the Lord's Day is the day of the Lord Christ, the day on which He rose and which we keep to celebrate His Resurrection. The first part was very well written and argued, although I would have liked it to be longer and more extensive, but oh well!

The second part has 9 chapters devoted to a historical study about the Sabbath and the Lord's Day. It is very interesting to many how many early references there are to the Christian observance of the Lord's Day as the day of worship. The New Testament has a handful of passages speaking about the Lord's Day (first day of the week), but apparently, in the mind of the early Christians, these passages were a firm foundation to show them that Sunday was the day of worship, the kyriake hemera! Dr. Stott makes a good survey of various pre-400 AD writings in these chapters. There are things which the Fathers believed that I don't agree with, neither do Beckwith nor Stott. But they are honest to lay out their views honestly and clearly. For example, although the observance of the Lord's Day is directly connected to the Fourth Commandment in the mind of the Christian Sabbatarian, the early Fathers, according to Stott, do not make a direct connection with it. As Christian Sabbatarians we believe that the Sabbath was instituted in the Garden and given to Adam to keep, but the Fathers did not agree or say that Adam had to keep a Sabbath, but some of them connected it with the existence of sin (i.e. trouble, sin in our lives and the need for rest). Stott lays these views out honestly and makes some observations on them. It is still amazing to me how much Christians wrote and said about the Lord's Day, although there were but a handful of passages on it in the New Testament. It goes to show that what is insignificant in our modern eyes, was more than enough for the early church. It was enough that the Lord Christ rose on the Lord's Day, for the Lord's Day to be considered the day of rest and worship--a holy day.

His chapter on Eusebius of Caesarea (8) is very interesting. He tries to demonstrate that Eusebius tried to systematize and summarize the doctrines about the Lord's Day and the Sabbath which the Fathers taught. He was the systemizer of the Christian Sunday. He speaks of the Lord transferring the feast of the Sabbath to the first day and so on. Clearly connecting the Lord's Day with the Sabbath.

Overall, a very good and well argued book. I will certainly go back to it and check some stuff again!

Seeing that this book was published in 1978 it would be hard to come by, but fear not! An online (scanned) version is available here.

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