Journal: Puritan Reformed Journal
Volume: PRJ 02:1 (Jan 2010)
Article: From the Editors
Author: Anonymous

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PRJ 2:1 (January 2010) p. 1

From the Editors

Christian theology and piety is a Word-centered theology and piety, focused on the revelation of the Scriptures. But that revelation has been progressive and is divisible into two general periods, designated by the terms the Old and New Testaments or the old and new covenants. Critical for understanding these two blocks of revelation is the interpretation of the relationship between the two. In his article David Murray helpfully looks at the vital subject of this relationship and offers guidelines on how this relationship is best interpreted. Maarten Kuivenhoven then helps us think through the significance of one aspect of the old covenant, namely, David’s resolve to build the Temple in 2 Samuel 7. The story of David’s determination in this regard and God’s response displays something that is also central to the new covenant experience, namely God’s covenant faithfulness, His hesed. A key book in the New Testament for understanding this relationship between the covenants is the Epistle to the Hebrews. Gerald Bilkes explores why Hebrews is such a powerful aspect of the New Testament corpus, and in doing so, ably opens up the Christocentric riches of this book.

In the area of historical theology, Ian Clary seeks to answer a question that has been much discussed in the past seventy or so years, namely, “What is Puritanism?” He offers his own helpful definition and concludes that a wide chronological scope is the best that would see Puritanism as broader than an intra-Anglican movement. Three studies of individual Puritans follow—Pieter DeVries on John Bunyan, Michael Brown on Samuel Petto, Donald MacLean on James Durham—keeping up a fine tradition, already established in the first two issues of this journal, of exploring in rich detail our Puritan heritage. The final essay in the section on historical theology returns to the theme of the earlier biblical essays, that is, the relationship between the covenants. In this case, Craig Biehl helpfully discusses the view of Jonathan Edwards on the moral and ceremonial law.

The subject of experiential theology, or Christian piety, is one that is flourishing today, and in this issue we have a number of fine essays in this area. They range over a fairly wide spectrum: from Timothy Gwin’s comparison of Calvin and Erasmus on the theological foundations for the goal of piety to Jennifer Neimeyer’s treatment of the Puritan spiritual discipline of meditation—an area in which the Puritans excelled and have

PRJ 2:1 (January 2010) p. 2

much to teach this generation of Christians—in the thought of Thomas Watson; and from Robert Arnold’s investigation as to whether the term “mystic” is appropriate for the Scottish author Sam...

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