Johan Mortensen
Puritan Board Freshman
(This is my first post - other than introducing my self)
I am currently writing my MA-thesis on providential occurances ("prodigies") in Denmark during the 30 Year's war and how they were used to teach piety to the people.
Also the Puritans made much of prodigies and many pamphlets were issued declaring some exraordinary or supernatural work of God. It could be "monstrous births", natural calamities, plagues. They viewed such things as the hand of God calling us to repentance.
(For further reading on the Puritans from a historian's perspective cf. A. Walsham's "Providence in Early Modern England"; for a broader, more seminal treatment K. Thomas' "Religion and the decline of magic"; for a reformed look at westminster cessationism see Milne's "The Westminster Confession of Faith and the cessation of Special revelation")
Well, how should we view such things? What do you think? A further question, how should such things be "interpreted"? The early modern protestants would give quite particular interpretations to each occurance e.g. a monstrous birth should lead us to ponder our monstrous sinful nature and how God abhors our sins even as we are revolted at the sight of a misshapen baby.
Some starters: I believe...
1. We should be unashamedly supernaturalistic! We should affirm God's interventions and his providential governance.
2. I am a cessationist... BUT we should believe that God's revelation through nature and providence is a very "active", living, ongoing sort of revelation.
3. Revelation 9:20-21 is spoken of such things. And therefore we should also warn people e.g. in light of the corona virus, that life is short and judgment is coming and that the LORD is speaking through such natural disasters.
I am currently writing my MA-thesis on providential occurances ("prodigies") in Denmark during the 30 Year's war and how they were used to teach piety to the people.
Also the Puritans made much of prodigies and many pamphlets were issued declaring some exraordinary or supernatural work of God. It could be "monstrous births", natural calamities, plagues. They viewed such things as the hand of God calling us to repentance.
(For further reading on the Puritans from a historian's perspective cf. A. Walsham's "Providence in Early Modern England"; for a broader, more seminal treatment K. Thomas' "Religion and the decline of magic"; for a reformed look at westminster cessationism see Milne's "The Westminster Confession of Faith and the cessation of Special revelation")
Well, how should we view such things? What do you think? A further question, how should such things be "interpreted"? The early modern protestants would give quite particular interpretations to each occurance e.g. a monstrous birth should lead us to ponder our monstrous sinful nature and how God abhors our sins even as we are revolted at the sight of a misshapen baby.
Some starters: I believe...
1. We should be unashamedly supernaturalistic! We should affirm God's interventions and his providential governance.
2. I am a cessationist... BUT we should believe that God's revelation through nature and providence is a very "active", living, ongoing sort of revelation.
3. Revelation 9:20-21 is spoken of such things. And therefore we should also warn people e.g. in light of the corona virus, that life is short and judgment is coming and that the LORD is speaking through such natural disasters.
And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.