I just came across this paragraph by John MacPherson in the Presbyterian and Reformed Review (Volume 8, 1898) on Google Books: "... besides prominent leaders and founders of schools like Perkins and Davenant, there were other men whose names and writings, though perhaps not very widely known to-day, were by the divines held in high repute and made use of freely in their work. The one of this class perhaps most deserving of prominent mention is John Ball (1585-1640), whose Catechisms contributed materially to the construction of the Westminster Catechisms, and whose Treatise of Faith was recognized as an exceedingly able and complete discussion of that great doctrine. In the elaboration of an important part of the Confession the divines were greatly aided by and show large dependence upon Ball's Treatise of the Covenant of Grace. This singularly able treatise was issued as a posthumous work under the editorship of Simeon Ashe, a member of the Westminster Assembly, while other five members of that House signed the introductory and recommendatory notice. It appeared in 1645, shortly before the committee on the covenants gave in their report, but it had no doubt been read in manuscript by many of them before that. We have here a full system of the covenants before the rise in Holland of the Federal school, and a view of the covenants which differs materially from that of Cocceius and other Federalists. The Westminster Confession practically reproduces the doctrine of the covenants as expressed by Ball." As a postscript, we purchased a copy of the"Treatise of Faith" (2nd edition, 1632) as published in a print-on-demand paperback by Bibliolife. The quality of the reproduction from Early English Books Online's scanned images is quite adequate, and Bibliolife are to be commended for giving access in a simple book form to material previously only available to people at universities as online or microfilm editions.
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AuthorPeter & Rachel Reynolds sell second-hand Christian books from their home in the Scottish Highlands - browse and buy at peterreynoldsbooks.com Archives
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