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Covenanter Slaves

Posted at This Day in Presbyterian History : Twenty-eight Presbyterians signed a final covenant on the eve of their departure from Leith, Scotland in early September, 1685. It said in part, “That, now to leave their own native and Covenanted land by an unjust sentence of banishment for owning truth and standing by duty, studying to keep their Covenantal engagements and baptismal vows, whereby they stand obliged to resist and testify against all that is contrary to the Word of God and their Covenants; and that their sentence of banishment ran chiefly because they refused the oath of allegiance which in conscience they could not take, because in so doing they thought utterly declined the Lord Jesus Christ from having any power in His own house, and practically would by taking it, say, ‘He is not King and Head of His Church and over their consciences.’ And, on the contrary, this was to take and put in His room a man whose breadth was in his nostrils; yea, a man who is a sworn enem

Documentary of McLeod's 1802 "Negro Slavery Unjustifiable" by RPTS

YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/H5H9Ly8g6dk See also: American Covenanters and Abolitionism (A Woman Who Fears the Lord...)

Understanding the Covenanters

Amazon Kindle Version By Rev. David T. Myers - Posted at This Day in Presbyterian History: The young man needed a service project in order to become an Eagle Scout. What Nathaniel Pockras of Ohio eventually chose and finished became a great service not only to the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America ministers and members, but also to historic Presbyterians in general. He printed on-line the 788 pages of the Rev. W. Melancthon Glasgow’s History of the Reformed Presbyterian Church , which was long out of print and extremely rare for any current minister or member to own one. The original book was written with the approval of the Reformed Presbyterian Synod of America and by a resolution passed in its Session at Newburg, New York on June 8, 1887. It was copyrighted by the author in 1888. Its subtitle was “with sketches of all her ministers, congregations, missions, institutions, publications. etc, and embellished with over fifty portraits and engravings.” Who said l

Lady Caldwell Arrested

Ladies of the Covenant - Electric Scotland Posted at This Day in Presbyterian History: A Better Possession, and A Lasting One by Rev. David T. Myers Barbara Cunningham had all of the characteristics of a powerful family by her ancestry. But of far more importance than these temporal goods was that her ancestors were all warm supporters of the Protestant Reformation of Scotland. Continuing in that rich biblical tradition, Barbara Cunningham married William Muir of Caldwell in 1657, thus enabling her to be known as Lady Caldwell. Her husband, like her ancestors, was zealous in his adherence to Presbyterianism, and especially to those who had been ejected from their parishes in 1662. Even though it was considered traitorous to do so, he abstained from attending the churches where Anglican priests now were in charge. Cited to appear before the civil authorities to explain his absence, the date was delayed time and again. Of course, this was of the Lord. When Covenanters began to ta

Scottish Covenanters: 'THE PRINCIPLES FOR WHICH THEY CONTENDED'

Posted at Log College Press: Reformed Presbyterian minister David McAllister’s Poets and Poetry of the Covenant is a worthy homage to the heroic faith of the Scottish Covenanters in verse, which we have highlighted on this blog previously, but its prose introduction should not be overlooked. It is a helpful overview of what the Covenanters stood for, and what inspired so many powerful poetic tributes. Let us briefly sketch the leading principles for which the heroes and martyrs of these songs of the Covenant contended: I. The supreme authority of God's Word in all the relations of human life. In the church, as one of their own number said, "they took their pattern, not from Rome, not even from Geneva, but from the blessed Word of God." They held that the state was bound to regulate all its affairs by the same law of ultimate authority. The Bible was to them a national as well as an ecclesiastical law-book. Kings and noblemen and lowlier citizens were all under its

Getting the Kingdom Right

By Jared Olivetti - Posted at Gentle Reformation: Ever since I came into the Reformed Presbyterian church twenty years ago, I've been hearing about this kingdom . Though I grew up in reformed churches, the idea of Jesus being the Mediatorial King over the world for the sake of the Father wasn't a significant part of my thinking. But these covenanters, they had this grip on Jesus-as-King and they refused to let it go. And so I was taught the beauty, power and hope of Jesus' kingship. And with that kingship came lots of talk about the kingdom--which makes sense, since Jesus came proclaiming a kingdom and the apostles kept right on preaching that same kingdom. But my speaking about the kingdom was always (and remains to a degree) a little sloppy. I began at some point to talk about "building" the kingdom, thinking I was doing Jesus a favor by getting on board with His project. The problem is that the Bible never speaks this way. Continue reading...

5 Minutes in Church History: The Greyfriars Kirkyard

"In the museum at Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland, there is one of only a few original copies of the National Covenant. The National Covenant was presented there in the kirkyard. It was discussed and signed in front of the pulpit on February 28, 1638..." Listen here...

William Guthrie on the duty of self-denial

Posted at Reformed Covenanter: Lastly, If ye have gotten Christ ye will be much employed about the work of mortification and self-denial. When Jesus comes unto a soul, He works in that soul much self-loathing and self-abhorrence. The soul that hath gotten Christ will say with the apostle, “Those things that I counted gain, I now count loss for Christ.” This leads me to another point of doctrine, which is this: That the soul that is beloved of God, and for whom Christ hath given Himself, is much engaged in the exercise of self-denial. The apostle says not, “That the Lord loved me, and gave Himself for me, on account of anything that was in me;” but, “Christ loved me, and gave Himself for me, even me, who was a persecutor; for me, who was a blasphemer; for me, who was such and such.” How much, then, was this minister, Paul, engaged in the exercise of self-denial? Again, you may observe that the soul that is loved of God, and for whom Christ hath given Himself, will be much in the exe

7 Reasons to Study the Bible with the Covenanters

Posted at Reformation Scotland: The Second Reformation made a unique contribution to bible study. It produced many simple and practical commentaries on the Bible for everyone. They were brief, plain, practical and above all affordable. They get to the heart of what the Bible means but also to the heart of the reader in a richly devotional way. David Dickson encouraged other ministers to produce this unique series. These expositions are of great value. They were highly commended by C H Spurgeon in his classic survey, Commenting and Commentaries. Some of them explain difficult books like Job, Ecclesiastes and Revelation. Men such as Alexander Nisbet, James Fergusson and George Hutcheson worked hard in this area over many years. They contributed commentaries that together covered large areas of Scripture. In total 44 of the 66 books of the Bible. Four of these commentaries were never published. Dickson followed the example of Robert Rollock who expounded the Scriptures from the pul