This work establishes the significance of the thought of Puritan William Ames (1576-1633) in deepening and systematizing established Reformation teaching on Christian doctrine and life in a way that ensured its subsequent development through the early modern period and beyond. This book argues that William Ames built on existing, but as yet un-developed and un-codified, thought of Reformed and Puritan forerunners to construct an early theological system on the twin pillars of covenant theology and piety. In this exciting new work, van Vliet expounds Ames' covenantal thinking and demonstrates that Ames relocates moral theology from the medieval structures of early, virtue-based, Puritanism, to a Reformed framework anchored in the Decalogue. This is followed by a demonstration of the confluence of Ames' concern for Christian living with similar concerns of seventeenth-century Reformed pastors and thinkers in the Dutch Republic of the early modern period's post-Reformation world (Nadere Reformatie), and his influence on early-American Jonathan Edwards-both directly and through Petrus van Maastricht. In this persuasive argument, van Vliet radically corrects Amesian historiography which has minimized his influence.

This work establishes the significance of the thought of Puritan William Ames (1576-1633) in deepening and systematizing established Reformation teaching on Christian doctrine and life in a way that ensured its subsequent development through the early modern period and beyond.

This classic work of Reformed theology is the third of four volumes now available in English.

Church History, Volume One offers a unique contextual view of how the Christian church spread and grew from its development in the days of Jesus to the years leading up to the Reformation. Looking closely at the integral link between the history of the world and that of the church, Church History paints a portrait of God's people within its setting of times, cultures, and events that both influenced and were influenced by the church. FEATURES: Maps, charts, and illustrations spanning the time from the first through the thirteenth centuries. Overviews of the Roman, Greek, and Jewish worlds and how they developed or declined. Insights into the church's relationship to the Roman Empire, with glimpses into pagan attitudes toward Christians. Explanations of the role of art, architecture, literature, and philosophy—both sacred and secular—in the Church. Details on the major theological controversies of the periods. Each chapter also contains callout passages from Scripture to assist in understanding the narrative of the Church, even to the present day, as part of the greater narrative of the Bible. AUTHOR'S PERSPECTIVE: Scholar and writer Everett Ferguson wrote this history of the church from the perspective that such a history is the story of the greatest movement and community the world has known. It's a human story of a divinely called people who wanted to live by a divine revelation. It's a story of how they succeeded and how they failed or fell short of their calling. From the Apostle Paul to the apologists and martyrs of the second century to Martin Luther, the historical figures detailed are people who have struggled with the meaning of the greatest event in history—the coming of the Son of God—and with their role in that event and in the lives of God's people.

Leading economic historians present a groundbreaking series of country case studies exploring the formation of fiscal states in Eurasia.

The Emergence of Pastoral Authority in the French Reformed Church, c.1555-c.1572 offers an account of the issues and ambiguities connected to the implementation of the authority of the first generation of Geneva-trained French Reformed pastors.