Paper Presentation by Michael A.

Milton
2010 Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society
Revision: 11/16/10

Justification by Faith in 17th Century English Puritanism

Michael A. Milton, Ph.D., Chancellor/CEO,
James M. Baird Jr. Professor of Pastoral Theology
Reformed Theological Seminary

This paper seeks to provide case samples of the doctrine of justification by faith in seventeenth
century English Puritanism. Specifically, the paper hopes to arrive at an answer to the question,
Was there a consensus for the doctrine of justification by faith amidst the broad and diverse
groups of that period in that place? It is hoped that an answer to that question, arising from
foundational confessional statements hammered out by real life pastors wrestling with expository
declarations on principle texts as well as the relatively recent emergence from Rome and Roman
influence lingering in some Protestant communities, might, somehow, contribute to current
discussions on the subject. This paper will put forth a brief context of Seventeenth Century
Puritanism and how justification by faith arose with great uniformity amidst great diversity in the
case studies of the Westminster Assembly, a most conservative body, the Welsh Puritan Vavasor
Powell, an evangelist often considered to be on the radical fringe of English Puritanism, as well
as the nemesis of the Puritan movement, William Laud.
A delimitation: when we refer to the doctrine of justification by faith alone we appeal to the
historic Protestant confessions1 of faith which seek to delineate the doctrine that God revealed in
Holy Scripture; as in Genesis 15.6 concerning Abrahams faith:

And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

St. Paul spoke of in Romans 3.20-26:

For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since
through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has
been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear
witness to itthe righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who
believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory
of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in
Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received
by faith. This was to show Gods righteousness, because in his divine forbearance
he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present
time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in
Jesus (Romans 3.20-26 ESV).

We assume the statement of A.A. Hodge that justification is a purely judicial act of God as
judge, whereby he pardons all the sins of a believer, and accounts, accepts, and treats him as a
person righteous in the ye of the divine law [and that] this justifying act proceeds upon the
imputation or crediting to the believer by God of the righteous of this great Representative and
M.A. Rev. Peter Hall, The Harmony of Protestant Confessions Exhibiting the Faith of the Churches of Christ,
Reformed after the Pure and Holy Doctrine of the Gospel, Throughout Europe (Translated from the Latin)
(Edinburgh; Dublin: John F. Shaw, 1842).
1

Surety, Jesus Christ [and that] the essential and sole condition upon which this righteous of
Christ is imputed to the believer is, that he exercise faith in or on Christ as his righteousness [and
that] this faith is a gift of GodIn Scripture, justification is always set forth as the opposite of
condemnation. The opposite of to sanctify is to pollute, but the opposite of to justify is to
condemn. Rom. 8.30-34; John 3.18.2

In considering the doctrine of justification by faith we appeal to The Harmony of the Protestant
Confessions3 on justification, that while some language nuances exist, the doctrine is essentially
agreeable with, for instance, articles 12,13, and 14 of the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion of the
Church of England:

XI. Of the Justification of Man. We are accounted righteous before God, only
for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by Faith, and not for our own
works or deservings. Wherefore, that we are justified by Faith only, is a most
wholesome Doctrine, and very full of comfort, as more largely is expressed in the
Homily of Justification.

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XII. Of Good Works. Albeit that Good Works, which are the fruits of Faith, and
follow after Justification, cannot put away our sins, and endure the severity of
God's judgment; yet are they pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ, and do
spring out necessarily of a true and lively Faith insomuch that by them a lively
Faith may be as evidently known as a tree discerned by the fruit.

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XIII. Of Works before Justification. Works done before the grace of Christ, and
the Inspiration of his Spirit, are not pleasant to God, forasmuch as they spring not
of faith in Jesus Christ; neither do they make men meet to receive grace, or (as
the School-authors say) deserve grace of congruity: yea rather, for that they are
not done as God hath willed and commanded them to be done, we doubt not but
they have the nature of sin.4

I. A Brief Historiographical Sketch and context for considering jus;ca;on in

Seventeenth Century Puritanism
Seventeenth century English Puritanism represents a high mark in the history of the Church with
preachers and divines who rank among the greatest in the history of the Church. While this is so
and despite some sentimental or nostalgic sentiments from some quarters of the faithand in
particular my own Reformed faithSeventeenth Century English Puritanism was not the golden
2 Archibald Alexander

Hodge, The Confession of Faith; a Handbook of Christian Doctrine Expounding the

Westminster Confession (London,: Banner of Truth Trust stamped: distributed by Bible Truth Depot, Swengel,
1958).
3

See Rev. Peter Hall.

See Thirty Nine Articles of The Book of Common Prayer, 1928 edition, at http://www.anglicansonline.org/basics/
thirty-nine_articles.html, (accessed November 16, 2010).
4

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age of Protestantism, if indeed there ever was one. One may say that all periods of history are
filled with greatness (perhaps more than many periods, admittedly) and with mediocrity and with
shame. One is reminded of Dickenss famous lines and there could not be a better application
than Seventeenth Century Puritanism:
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it
was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of
incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the
spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had
nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all doing direct
the other way."5

It was, as Sir Christopher Hill put it, the world turned upside down.6 This was so not only in its
religion, but in its political arena where the King was murdered by Cromwellian extremists, The
Lord Protector himself, despite those glaring extremes and not always with a unified Puritan
backing, and in ways he would not have intended, brought about a purer constitutional
monarchy, albeit with far too much blood in its purification, that deserves his statue in front of
the House of Commons today. While great in securing civil liberties from a despotic king,
Cromwell also violated civil liberties as he oversaw the execution of the great Welsh preacher,
Christopher Love, whom he found a traitor for plotting to bring Charles II back to England. Love
was one of the most sought after Presbyterian preachers in London and his implication in the
treasonous plot has been disproven by history and his death remains another black mark on the
otherwise freedom-fighter Cromwell. Just as a side note, Christopher Loves own story is one of
the tenderest stories of the period. Cromwell was also opposed by Vavasor Powell (more on his
later in the paper), the controversial Puritan figure from Radnorshire Forest, a Parliamentarian
chaplain, Congregationalist pastor of Holy Trinity Church in Dartford, Kent, who was sent out
by the Westminster Assembly to plant churches in Wales. He was a fiery minister who not only
seemed to delight in kicking out Establishment clergy from their livings, but also enjoyed
dabbling in politics and in millenarian ideas. Never the less, he was a favorite preacher of
Parliament. It was Powell who filled the pulpit of the late, venerable Dr. William Gouge of Black
Friars, the eldest member of the Westminster Assembly, when he passed away. On the day that
Oliver Cromwell was named Lord Protector, Vavasor Powell would ask that congregation at
Black Friars whether they would have Jesus Christ to rule over them or Oliver Cromwell. That
homiletic tactic landed Powell in jail, the first of many imprisonments at Fleet Street for his
apparent seditious preaching. All of this is mentioned to say this: What started as Laudian
(referring to the Haman-like clerical figure, William Laud the Archbishop of Canterbury, in the
royal drama of Charles I) Arminianism versus Calvinistic Puritanism, King verses Parliament,
ended up being Puritan turning against Puritan. While Seventeenth Century Puritanism
bequeathed us all extraordinary biographies to model our lives by, the highest of theological

! Charles Dickens, "Tale of Two Cities," ( 2003-2005 LiteraturePage.com and Michael Moncur. All rights
5

reserved. , Originally published 1859). http://www.literaturepage.com/read/taleoftwocities-1.html (accessed

November 13, 2010).
6

Christopher Hill, The World Turned Upside Down ([S.l.]: Penguin, 1975).

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statements and confessions, and volumes of sermons and pastoral counseling materials, it was, if
golden, burnished by these events I mention and many others. We must remember that this was
the age of the overturning of the Church of England, an unnecessary act of regicide by men
seeking freedom in the name of God, and the establishment of a republican government for the
glory of God. The English Civil War formed a dramatic backdrop not only for Puritan in fighting,
but the rise of sectarianism and cults. There were Levelers and Quakers, and Ranters and
Diggers. A cynical Anglican critic might be tempted, with some justification, to assert that this
period was the height of Non Conformitys worst tendencies. It could be argued that the doctrine
of justification by faith alone in Christ alone according to the Scriptures alone would be, like
most every other doctrine, up for grabs, given the upside world of Seventeenth Century religious
England, Wales and Scotland.

II. Jus;ca;on in the Divergent Membership of the Westminster Assembly (1643-1649)

Howeverand we are bound by history itself to insert this critical howeverin the midst of
this crisis and chaos of Seventeenth Century England, Wales and Scotland, we must admit that
though it may not have been a golden age, it was, in spite of that worst kind of war, where
brother fights against brother, and where the rule of law and the desire for rights lead to regicide,
and where political intrigue, religious confusion and institutional decay all conspire to bring
about national paralysis, it was the age of great men showing extraordinary humility and
boldness, great compromises of opinion concerning doctrine, church government and worship
practices, without compromising of the Word of God. It was the age when the Parliament called
together, against his majestys own orders, ten Lords, twenty Commoners, and one hundred and
twenty one divines (and twenty one additional divines to replace those who were fearful of the
king or who died before work began, to labor from July 1, 1643 until three weeks after the
kings decapitation,7 that is the 22nd of February 1649. During that time the Westminster
Assembly had met one thousand one hundred and sixty-three sessions in order to answer the
questions, What does the Bible teach about doctrine? What does the Bible teach about church
government and what does the Bible teach about worship? As Hetherington remarked,

Open, candid, brother-like consultation may do much, when Christian men

fairly and honestly wish to arrive at as close a degree of uniformity, in doctrine,
worship, and government, as can be attained, with due respect to liberty and
integrity of conscience.8

They did, indeed, do much. Despite their party spirita division of Presbyterians, Episcopalians,
Erastians, and Independentsthe influential and often stubborn Dissenting Brethren (which
included the famous preachers, Jeremiah Burroughs and Dr. Thomas Goodwin)9 this diverse
group produced tremendous treasures for the Church for years to come down to our own age.

W. M. Hetherington, History of the Westminster Assembly, 1 vols. (Edmonton, AB Canada: Still Water Revival
Books, 1993; reprint, 1993 reprint of the third edition, 1856).
7

Ibid.

Ibid.

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The product of their deliberations, inevitable jealousies and rivalries10 mixed with great prayer
and deep devotion, was the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Larger and Shorter Catechisms
and the Directory for Public Worship, all built upon a study of and appreciation of the Thirty
Nine Articles of Religion,11 a familiarity with other Reformed confessions, and each statement
grounded in Scripture and cited with Scripture by Parliamentary requirement, a notion not
anticipated by the Assembly, given Parliaments prior history of not liking Scripture quoted in
state documents, but which made the Confessional documents a much more perfect work12 as
Hetherington said.

The first case of understanding justification by faith is, then, with this particular group. No large
degree of copy is actually needed to defend their unanimity concerning their view of the doctrine
of justification because despite their parties, the admitted problems of rivalries and jealousies, of
questionable political decisions and the constant attacks from cultic groups of their day, did not
quench the zeal for this doctrine. As it was the core of Luthers faith, of Calvins faith, and as it is

10

Ibid.

11

Ibid.

12

Ibid.

The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) (see http://www.reformed.org/documents/index.html?

mainframe=http://www.reformed.org/documents/westminster_conf_of_faith.html [accessed November 16, 2010]:
CHAPTER XI.
Of Justification.
I. Those whom God effectually calleth, he also freely justifieth: not by infusing righteousness into them, but by
pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous; not for any thing wrought in them,
or done by them, but for Christ's sake alone; not by imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any other
evangelical obedience to them, as their righteousness; but by imputing the obedience and satisfaction of Christ unto
them, they receiving and resting on him and his righteousness by faith; which faith they have not of themselves, it is
the gift of God.
II. Faith, thus receiving and resting on Christ and his righteousness, is the alone instrument of justification; yet is it
not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but
worketh by love.
III. Christ, by his obedience and death, did fully discharge the debt of all those that are thus justified, and did make a
proper, real, and full satisfaction of his Father's justice in their behalf. Yet inasmuch as he was given by the Father
for them, and his obedience and satisfaction accepted in their stead, and both freely, not for any thing in them, their
justification is only of free grace, that both the exact justice and rich grace of God might be glorified in the
justification of sinners.
IV. God did, from all eternity, decree to justify the elect; and Christ did, in the fullness of time, die for their sins and
rise again for their justification; nevertheless they are not justified until the Holy Spirit doth, in due time, actually
apply Christ unto them.
V. God doth continue to forgive the sins of those that are justified; and although they can never fall from the state of
justification, yet they may by their sins fall under God's Fatherly displeasure, and not have the light of his
countenance restored unto them, until they humble themselves, confess their sins, beg pardon, and renew their faith
and repentance.
VI. The justification of believers under the Old Testament was, in all these respect, one and the same with the
justification of believers under the New Testament.
13

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the very hallmark of historic Protestantism, so it is clearly given in the Confession of Faith13 and

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in the Catechisms.14 15

Perhaps it may be more convincing to see how the doctrine was used by the parties of the
Assembly in their own ministriesAnglican, Erastian, Presbyterian, and Independent.
The Anglican minister, Anthony Burgess (Anglican in the Assembly, though he later became a
non conformist, ejected in the Uniformity Act of 1662, but then retired back into a parish life
with his friend, Samuel Langley, until his death in 1664), one of the most seriously
underestimated of the divines, in the opinion of Joel Beeke,16 wrote a very popular book, The
True Doctrine of Justification in which he wrote in meticulous Puritan fashion, but with the flair
of an experiential preacher as well:

"First, it is of great consequence to have this Doctrine kept pure[it is] the soul
and pillar of Christianity. Justification is that which differentiates the Orthodox
from Pagans Papist, Socinains and ArminiansIt is very necessary to keep this
pure, because of the manifold truths that must fall if this fall; if you erre in this,
thewhole truth about Originall sine, Free-will, and Obligation of the Law will
likewise perishIt is of great influence into practicethis is the water that their
souls pant after, this is the bread that their fairing stomachs would gladly feed
on"17

The Westminster Shorter Catechism with Proof Texts (see http://www.reformed.org/documents/index.html?

mainframe=http://www.reformed.org/documents/WSC_frames.html [accessed November 16, 2010]):
Q. 33. What is justification? A. Justification is an act of Gods free grace,[91] wherein he pardoneth all our sins,
[92] and accepteth us as righteous in His sight,[93] only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us,[94] and
received by faith alone.[95]
14

The Westminster Larger Catechism (see http://www.reformed.org/documents/index.html?mainframe=http://

www.reformed.org/documents/larger1.html [accessed November 16, 2010]:
Question 70: What is justification?
Answer: Justification is an act of God's free grace unto sinners, in which he pardons all their sins, accepts and
accounts their persons righteous in his sight; not for any thing wrought in them, or done by them, but only for the
perfect obedience and full satisfaction of Christ, by God imputed to them, and received by faith alone.
Question 71: How is justification an act of God's free grace?
Answer: Although Christ, by his obedience and death, did make a proper, real, and full satisfaction to God's justice
in the behalf of them that are justified; yet inasmuch as God accepts the satisfaction from a surety, which he might
have demanded of them, and did provide this surety, his own only Son, imputing his righteousness to them, and
requiring nothing of them for their justification but faith, which also is his gift, their justification is to them of free
grace.
Question 72: What is justifying faith?
Answer: Justifying faith is a saving grace, wrought in the heart of a sinner by the Spirit and Word of God, whereby
he, being convinced of his sin and misery, and of the disability in himself and all other creatures to recover him out
of his lost condition, not only assents to the truth of the promise of the gospel, but receives and rests upon Christ and
his righteousness, therein held forth, for pardon of sin, and for the accepting and accounting of his person righteous
in the sight of God for salvation.
Question 73: How does faith justify a sinner in the sight of God?
Answer: Faith justifies a sinner in the sight of God, not because of those other graces which do always accompany
it, or of good works that are the fruits of it, nor as if the grace of faith, or any act thereof, were imputed to him for
his justification; but only as it is an instrument by which he receives and applies Christ and his righteousness.
15

Randall J. Joel R. Beeke and Pederson, Meet the Puritans (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books,
2006).
16

17 Anthony

Burgess, The True Doctrine of Justification, 2nd. ed. (London: Thomas Underhil, 1651).

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William Gurnall, no member of the Assembly, but an Anglican Puritan of Lavenham, who
proved agreeable to the Confession of Faith and to the Act of Uniformity as well (neither trusted
by Conformist nor Non Conformist but loved by his parish at Lavenham where he served all of
the days of his ministry and where one may find his resting place in the church yard there today),
was the famous author of the famous The Christian in Complete Armour.18 There can be no
doubting about his views on the doctrine of justification by faith:

As God did single Christ out from all others, to be the only Mediator betwixt
him and man, and his righteousness to be the meritorious cause of our
justification, so he hath singled faith out from all the other graces, to be the
instrument or means for appropriating this righteousness of Christ to
ourselves.19

Turning to Erastian members of the Assembly, or those who saw that the power of the Church
originated from the civil magistrate,20 one can look to the eminent Hebrew scholar and pastor,
John Lightfoot, known in his preaching and his preeminently scholarly work in ancient
languages. But Lightfoot was known for his strong Presbyterian convictions and the doctrine of
justification by faith alone in Christ alone being the cornerstone of those convictions.

When one turns to the Independents one can choose from any of the five (there were actually
more than five)21 to validate the strong position on justification by faith. Thomas Goodwin is one
example. Influenced in his boyhood by the preaching of Richard Sibbes at Trinity Church,
Cambridge, and the college chaplaincy of John Preston at Christs College, Cambridge, Goodwin
was steeped in Puritan theology. His early years of training and Gods call on his life not only
propelled him to the presidency of a college Magdalene College, Oxford, but prepared him for a
life of preaching and teaching. No divine was closer to Oliver Cromwell than Dr. Thomas
Goodwin and he was present at the Lord Protectors deathbed. Evidences of his orthodox views
on justification are not only on display in his 12 volume Works, or his The Unregenerate Mans
Guiltiness Before God in Respect of Sin and Punishment, or his over 900 page commentary on
Ephesians, but especially on his significant contribution to the great Congregational confession,
the Savoy Declaration of Faith (1658). In Chapter Eleven, Of Justification, one sees the full
bloom of his faith:

Those whom God effectually calleth, he also freely justifieth; not by infusing
righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and
accepting their persons as righteous; not for anything wrought in them, or done
by them, but for Christ's sake alone; nor by imputing faith itself, the act of
believing, or any other evangelical obedience to them, as their righteousness; but
18
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William Gurnall and J. C. Ryle, The Christian in Complete Armour, Puritan Classics (Evansville, Ind: Sovereign
Grace Book Club, 1958).
19

William Gurnall, The Christian in Complete Armour, vol. III (London: L.B. Seeley, 169, Fleet Street, 1821).

From the theological positions of one, Erastus, a physician at Heidelberg, who wrote on the subject of Church
government see William Maxwell Hetherington, History of the Westminster Assembly of Divines, Reprint edition
of the the third edition, 1856. ed. (Edmonton, AB Canada: Still Water Revival Books, 1993).
20

See Michael A. Milton, The Application of the Theology of the Westminster Assembly in the Ministry of the
Welsh Puritan, Vavasor Powell (1617-1670) (Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Wales, 1998).
21

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by imputing Christ's active obedience to the whole law, and passive obedience in
his death for their whole and sole righteousness, they receiving and resting on
him and his righteousness by faith; which faith they have not of themselves, it is
the gift of God.22

With Erastian, Independent and Anglican evidences being put forward to display the uniform
positions on justification by faith it hardly seems necessary to add the Presbyterians to the list.
Instead, one feels quite safe in positing the resolution that English Puritans at the Westminster
Assembly, represented by the more extreme members, as in Erastians, or the least numerical
members, as in the Independents and the Anglicans, each held identical views of justification by
faith.

III. Jus;ca;on in the Theology of the Radical Welsh Puritan, Vavasor Powell
(1617-1670)
The great Welsh Puritan, Vavasor Powell,23 was born in Knuckles, Radnorshire, Wales.

He was deeply influenced by the evangelistic preaching of the great Walter

Cradock and the writings of Richard Sibbes and William Perkins and showed all
of the signs of a genuine conversion. In the same year of his conversion, he was
apparently called to preach and began a fruitful itinerant ministry in his home
country. In 1640, he was arrested for his Puritan preaching in Breconshire and
upon the outbreak of the civil war, Powell went to London. Powell preached in
London and served as Puritan vicar at Dartford Parish Church until he was called
by his countrymen to return to Wales to carry on an evangelistic ministry there.
The Westminster Assembly sent him to Wales. Upon Powells return to Wales, he
carried on an extensive preaching ministry that took him to nearly every parish in
Wales. He became known as the metropolitan of itinerants for his great
energetic ministry in that country. Powell was a noted preacher of the day and
preached before the Lord Mayor of London on 10 December 1649 and before
Parliament on 28 February 1650. He was also a defender of Calvinism and held a
disputations with Arminians of his day, such as the 31 December 1649 debate
with John Goodwin on the matter of Universalism.24

22

The Savoy Declaration of Faith and Order, 1658, (London,: Evangelical Press, 1971).

23
!

The primary critical work done on Vavasor Powell has come from the scholarly writings of R. Tudur Jones, D.
Phil., Oxford and professor at Bangor Theological College, Wales. His book, The Life, Work and Thought of Vavasor
Powell, as well as several monographs: The Healing Herb and the Rose of Love: The Piety of Two Welsh Puritans
in Reformation, Conformity and Dissent, The Sufferings of Vavasor in Welsh Baptist Studies, and Vavasor Powell
(a popular work which appeared in the 50th anniversary of the Vavasor Powell Memorial Chapel at Knuckles, but
whose contribution is more scholarly than tribal) have, in this writers opinion, placed him without peer at the
helm of Vavasorian scholarship. In addition, The Welsh Saints, 1640-1660 by G.F. Nuttall stands as the other great
resource for studies on Powell. Vavasor Powell appears in numerous other ecclesiastical and general histories of
which the following shall be considered: Derek Hirsts Authority and Conflict; Sir Christopher Hills contributions:
Gods Englishman, The Century of Revolution, 1603-1714 and The World Turned Upside Down. These works which
provide only glimpses into the life and work of Powell the minister, are, never the less, helpful in placing Powell
within the larger flow of 17th century ecclesiastical history. In several Welsh general histories, Vavasor Powell is
again seen within the greater interests of history and, thus, his overall ministry may be more suitably evaluated. Of
the many good general histories, John Davies A History of Wales (University of Wale Press) [should] be
examined.Milton, 26.
24

Milton.

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Yet Powell is often viewed with skepticism and some even doubt his place within Puritanism.
For Christopher Hill, Vavasor Powell is a revolutionary who contributes, if not
unwittingly, to the upheaval in 17th century society.25

Richard Baxter did in his day write vehement treatises about him after Powells death. Powells
friends wrote back A Winding Sheet for Mr. Baxters Dead to combat the charges which the
otherwise irenic pastor of Kidderminster put forth. Others have been more charitable to Powell,
but all see him as being on the radical wing of the Puritan movement. Even so, the eminent John
Owen wrote the preface to the commentary that Powell penned (and which subsequent editions
were in use in the United States in the 19th century).
Despite the controversies over this Welsh preacher, Powell held to justification that was no
different from the Westminster Assembly, which sent him out to Wales to propagate the Gospel.
Indeed, in his book, Christ and Moses Excellency, Powell shows that the Law could not do what
Christ did on the cross. Justification could not be accomplished through the works of the law but
only through Jesus Christ and His merits and His death on the cross.26 He would strengthen his

25

Ibid.

See Vavasor Powell, Christ and Moses' Excellency (London: R.I. for Hannah Allen, at the Crown in Popes-HeadAlley, 1650).
26

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positions on justification by faith alone in other works as well,27 which sold well during this
lifetime but more importantly demonstrated that even the radical wing of the Puritan party held
the same view of justification as the other various tributaries in the great English Puritan river.

IV. Jus;ca;on in the Theology of Archbishop William Laud

This might be a surprise or even a non sequitur. Yet the force of the argument that justification in
Seventeenth Century English h could not be more strenuously argued than by bringing forth the
persecutor of the Puritans in that day: William Laud.
Archbishop William Laud (1573-1645), in the opinion of Patrick Collinson was
the greatest calamity ever visited upon the Church of England.28 That statement
not withstanding, Laud was obviously a very gifted cleric who rose through the

God the Father Glorified: and the worke of mens Redemption, and Salvation finished by Iesus Christ
on Earth Opened in a SERMON Before the Right Honorable the Lord Major, and the Right Worshipful
the Sheriffes, Aldermen, and Recorder, of the Citie of London, the second day of the tenth Moneth
(called December) 1649. By Vavasor Powell, a willing (though weake) Labourer in Christs Vineyard
in Wales...London, Printed by Charles Sumpter, for Hannah Allen, at the Crowne in PopesHead
Alley, 1649; Saving Faith Set forth in Three Dialogues, or Conferences:
27
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1. Between Publican.
2. Christ Pharisee.
3. and a Doubting Beleever.
Whereunto is added TWO SERMONS One of them Preached before the Parliament the other Before the
Lord Mayor of the City of London. By Vavasor Powell, Minister of the Gospell. London, Printed by Robert
Ibbitson for Livewell Chapman, at the Crown in Popeshead Alley. 1651; CHRIST EXALTED above all
Creatures by GOD His Father, OR A Sermon Preached before the Right Honourable, the Parliament of the
Commonwealth of ENGLAND. (At their solemne Fast, observed the last day of the last Month called
February 1649.) By Vavasor POWELL. Esa. 2. 11. 17. And the Lord alone shal be exalted in that day He hath
on his vesture, and on his thigh, a name written, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, Rev. 19. 16. LONDON,
Prinred [sic] by Robert Ibbitson for Livewell Chapman at the Crown in Popeshead Alley. 1651; Divine
Love: or The willingness of Jesus Christ To Save SINNERS; Discovered in three Divine Dialogues Between
I. Christ and a Publican. ii. Christ and a Pharisee. ii. Christ and a Doubting Christian. With several other
brief Tracts. By V.P. London, Printed for N. Crouch at the George over against the StocksMarket. 1677.
This is bound along with
The Threefold State of a CHRISTIAN Discovered
By Nature
By Grace
And in Glory
With the Character of a Christian. A miscellany of Divine Contemplations, Observations, and Directions to a holy
Life and Conversation. By V.P. Thy Threefold State here Thou mayst see, what thou hast been, ast, And shall be.
Printed for N.C. 1677.

28

Patrick Collinson, The Religion of Protestants (Oxford, 1982), p.. 90.

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ecclesiastical ranks to the very pinnacle of power in his day. He went from St.
Johns College, Oxford to ordination (1601) to the presidency of St. Johns
(1611), then bishop of St. Davids, Wales (1621) to bishop of London (1628) then
chancellor of Oxford University (1629), to become the archbishop of Canterbury
(1633). What is ambition and success to some is to others ugly ambition. Though
a possible caricature of a wicked and mad Arminian has been balanced by the
helpful work of Kevin Sharpe in his August, 1983 History Today article,29 never
the less, Laud remained a controversial figure until his death on the scaffold.
What was his legacy? It may have been that Puritan ascendancy during his life
owed as much to Laud as it did to its own promotion. As William Hunt has
written

The credit for transforming social Puritanism into a revolutionary force belongs
very largely to William Laud.30

Yetand yetfor all of this, William Laud held firmly to the Thirty Nine Articles or Religion to
his beheading on January 10, 1645 when he repudiated poperyand presumably justification by
any other means than the merits of Christs blood sacrifice and faith being the instrument to take
hold of that offer of graceand declared his adherence to Protestant theology. He left a
considerable amount of diary material, which was not consulted in this study. It would be
interesting to see if his adherence to Protestantism did indeed include a thorough-going view of
justification that was actually the same as those he sought to impose liturgical reform upon and
who ultimately executed him for it.

Conclusions
Seventeenth Century English Puritanism was not uniform in many ways, but is was in its
understanding and preaching of the classical confessional statements of justification by faith.
Even Laudian confessions seem to point to his inclusion in this faith, though that is not
thoroughly tested. It is for certain, though, that any estimation of justification in the ensuring
years would have to be measured against this time and place in Protestant history. Any modern
deviation from the classical confessional views of justification by faith, any forays into pre
Reformational views of justification and their consequent liturgical practices would have to go
through this period, a period when all sides held that salvation was only accomplished by the
merits of Jesus receive by faith:
For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by
faith.

!
The endnote in Sharpes Chapter Four contribution to Reformation to Revolution (p.. 77) provide a further reading
list for Sharpes view of Laud. The references list: Archbishop Laud and the University of Oxford in History and
Imagination, ed. H. Lloyd-Jones et al. (London, 1981), and references in The Personal Rule of Charles I (New
Haven, 1983).

29


30

Hunt, p.. 253.

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