William Perkins & the Making of Protestant England
William Perkins (1558-1602) was a Cambridge scholar and a widely respected theologian in the reign Queen Elizabeth I. He is sometimes written off as a “puritan",” but in fact, in the words of W. B. Patterson, “Perkins was not a Puritan or even a moderate Puritan, terms that suggest opposition to the established Church. He was mainstream English Protestant, notably for his systematic theology, his stress on ‘practical divinity’, his rationale for the importance of preaching, and his social and moral concerns.” He was a mainstream Anglican in the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition who helped settle the Church of England into that theological family. He famously wrote books on predestination and the art of prophesying (preaching), and he became the most widely read English religious writer of his day, even more so than his contemporaries John Jewel and Richard Hooker. He passionately believed that Scripture can be best understood and preached from a reference of law & gospel: the law (the Bible’s commandments and imperatives) show us God’s standard for living and our failure to live up to it, and it then leads to our need for a righteousness beyond our own self-righteousness. The gospel is the word of Scripture about God’s solution for human sinfulness: Jesus who lived the life we failed to live in our good efforts, and who died the death that we deserve because of our sin. The passage below is John Perkins own words and is from website blog of the Rev. John Fonville (Paramount Anglican Church, Jacksonville, FL).
The two testaments are the covenant of works and the covenant of grace, one promising life eternal to him that does all the things contained in the law, [and] the other to him that turns and believes in Christ. And it must be observed that Paul says, 'They are two,' [a reference to Galatians 4:24] that is, two in substance or kind. And they are two sundry ways.
[First] The law, or covenant of works, propounds the bare justice of God without mercy. The covenant of grace, or the gospel, reveals both the justice and mercy of God, or the justice of God giving place to His mercy.
Secondly, the law requires of us inward and perfect righteousness, both for nature and action. The gospel propounds unto us an imputed justice resident in the person of the mediator.
Thirdly, the law promises life upon condition of works. The gospel pormises remission of sins and life everlasting upon condition that we rest ourselves on Christ by faith.
Fourthly, the law was written in tables of stone; the gospel, in the fleshly tables of our hearts (Jeremiah 31:31; 2 Cor 3:3).
Fifthly, the law was in nature by creation. The gospel is above nature and was revealed after the fall.
Sixthly, the law has Moses for a mediator (Deut. 5:27), but Christ is the mediator of the New Testament (Heb. 8:6).
Lastly, the law was dedicated by the blood of beasts (Ex. 24:5); and the New Testament, by the blood of Christ (Heb. 9:12).
For those interested in learning more about William Perkins, we recommend William Perkins and the Making of Protestant England by W. B. Patterson. And for those wanting more information about the law & gospel distinction in the Bible and preaching, we recommend God’s Two Words: Law and Gospel in the Lutheran and Reformed Traditions Ed. Jonathan Linebaugh, and Law and Gospel: A Theology for Sinners (and Saints) by McDavid, Richardson and Zahl.