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Hunter Bailey Phd Thesis 08.Pdf (1.357Mb) VIA MEDIA ALIA: RECONSIDERING THE CONTROVERSIAL DOCTRINE OF UNIVERSAL REDEMPTION IN THE THEOLOGY OF JAMES FRASER OF BREA (1639-1699) A thesis submitted to New College, the School of Divinity of the University of Edinburgh in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2008 By Hunter M. Bailey M.Th. (2003) University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK M.Div. (2002) Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, MS, USA B.A. (1998) University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA I hereby declare that this thesis has been composed by myself and is the result of my own independent research. It has not, in any form, been submitted or accepted for any other degree or professional qualification, as specified in the regulations of the University of Edinburgh. All quotations in this thesis have been distinguished by quotation marks, and all sources of outside information have received proper acknowledgment. _________________________________ Hunter M. Bailey 16 June 2008 TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents....................................................................................................... i Acknowledgements.................................................................................................... v Abstract..................................................................................................................... vii Abbreviations............................................................................................................ ix Section A Chapter 1: An Introduction........................................................................... 1 1.1: Introduction........................................................................................................ 1 1.2: Controversy Concerning the Doctrine of Redemption...................................... 3 1.3: Methodology...................................................................................................... 8 Chapter 2: The Context of the Controversy 2.1: The Context of Fraser’s Doctrine of Redemption............................................. 12 2.1.1: Fraser’s Struggle for Personal Assurance........................................... 12 2.1.2: Fraser’s Historical and Theological Context...................................... 14 2.1.3: Fraser’s Formal Context..................................................................... 17 2.1.4: Fraser’s Polemical Context................................................................. 19 2.2: The Disruptive Impact of Fraser’s Doctrine of Redemption in the Scottish Kirk in the 18th century..................................................................................................... 21 2.3: Interpreting Fraser’s Doctrine of Redemption................................................... 27 2.3.1: Fraser the Arminian: The Influence of a Polemical Context on Interpretation................................................................................................. 27 2.3.2: Fraser the Amyraldian: The Recognition of a Via Media................... 29 2.3.3: Fraser the Orthodox: The Validation of a Particularist Paradigm...... 34 2.3.4: Fraser the Anti-Westminsterian: A Re-evaluation of Fraser’s Doctrine of Redemption within the Modern Debate.................................................... 36 1.6: Conclusion......................................................................................................... 40 Chapter 3: Developments in the Doctrine of Redemption during the Reformation Period........................................................................................... 41 3.1: Introduction........................................................................................................ 41 3.2: Martin Luther (1483-1546)................................................................................ 45 3.3: John Calvin (1509-1564)................................................................................... 49 3.4: Jacobus Arminius (1560-1609).......................................................................... 56 i Chapter 4: Developments in the Doctrine of Redemption during the Post-Reformation Period................................................................................. 61 4.1: John Davenant (1572-1641)............................................................................... 61 4.2: John Preston (1587-1628).................................................................................. 68 4.3: Moise Amyraut (1596-1664)............................................................................. 72 4.4: Richard Baxter (1615-1691).............................................................................. 77 4.5: John Owen (1616-1683).................................................................................... 83 4.6: Westminster Confession of Faith (1649)........................................................... 89 4.7: Conclusion......................................................................................................... 96 Section B Chapter 5: Fraser’s Quest for Assurance................................................ 100 5.1: Introduction....................................................................................................... 100 5.2: Fraser’s Personal Journey to Discover Greater Assurance............................... 101 5.3: An Appeal to Calvin’s Doctrine of Assurance................................................. 107 5.3.1: Sola Christos...................................................................................... 107 5.3.2: The Gospel Reveals the Grounds for Our Confidence...................... 110 5.4: An Appeal to the Post-Reformation Particularists’ Doctrine of Assurance..... 112 5.4.1: Federal Theology............................................................................... 112 5.4.2: Assurance in the Direct Act of Faith................................................. 113 5.5: Baxter’s Doctrine of Assurance........................................................................ 117 5.6: Fraser’s Synthesis............................................................................................. 121 5.6.1: God’s Covenant in Christ.................................................................. 123 5.6.2: The Nature of Faith and Assurance................................................... 124 5.6.3: Universal Redemption....................................................................... 128 5.7: The Weaknesses of Fraser’s Concept of Assurance......................................... 130 5.8: Conclusion........................................................................................................ 132 Chapter 6: God’s Purpose for Christ’s Redemption........................... 134 6.1: Introduction....................................................................................................... 134 6.2: God’s Will......................................................................................................... 136 6.2.1: The Volitive Acts of God................................................................... 137 6.2.2: Voluntas Beneplaciti.......................................................................... 139 6.2.3: Voluntas Signi.................................................................................... 140 ii 6.2.4: The Will of Complacency.................................................................. 142 6.2.5: The Virtual Will of God..................................................................... 143 6.3: The Nature of God’s Decrees........................................................................... 146 6.4: The Order of God’s Decrees............................................................................. 152 6.5: Fraser and the Particularists.............................................................................. 159 6.6: Conclusion........................................................................................................ 161 Chapter 7: Fraser’s Federal Theology...................................................... 163 7.1: Introduction....................................................................................................... 163 7.2: An Absolute Covenant of Grace vs. a Conditional Covenant of Grace........... 165 7.2.1: Fraser’s Argument for an Absolute Covenant................................... 165 7.2.2: Fraser’s Two-Fold Covenant............................................................. 169 7.2.3: Davenant’s Two-Fold Covenant........................................................ 171 7.2.4: Fraser’s Universal Particularism........................................................ 174 7.3: The External and the Internal Covenant of Grace............................................ 176 7.4: Understanding the Nature of Condition in the Absolute Covenant of Grace... 181 7.5: Conclusion........................................................................................................ 186 Chapter 8: Justifying Faith........................................................................... 188 8.1: Introduction....................................................................................................... 188 8:2: Concerns over the Doctrine of Justification..................................................... 189 8.3: Baxter’s Response of the Antinomian Doctrine of Justification...................... 192 8.4: Baxter’s Neonomianism................................................................................... 193 8:5: Christ
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