Copyright © 2009 James Christopher Holmes All rights reserved. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has permission to reproduce and disseminate this document in any form by any means for purposes chosen by the Seminary, including, without limitation, preservation or instruction. THE ROLE OF METAPHOR IN THE SERMONS OF BENJAMIN KEACH, 1640-1704 A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy by James Christopher Holmes May 2009 UMI Number: 3411529 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI Dissertation Publishing UMI 3411529 Copyright 2010 by ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This edition of the work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. uestA ® ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 APPROVAL SHEET THE ROLE OF METAPHOR IN THE SERMONS OF BENJAMIN KEACH, 1640-1704 James Christopher Holmes Read and Approved by: Date Hj Wj To Beth, patient, ever faithful, ever loving TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PREFACE iv Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION 1 Background 3 Personal Interest 3 Scholarly Contributions to Date 4 Methodology 5 Resources 6 2. KEACH AND PREACHING 9 Introduction 9 England in the Mid-Seventeenth Century 10 Political and Religious Volatility 11 Evolution of Preaching and Sermons 13 Early Life of Benjamin Keach (1640-165 8) 17 Childhood and Civil War (1640-ca. 1653) 18 Conversion and Call to Preach (ca. 1653-1658) 19 Ministry in Buckinghamshire 27 Ministry in London (1668-1704) 29 The Preaching of Benjamin Keach 33 Centrality of Scripture 33 Engaging Exposition 36 iv Chapter Page Summary 38 3. REACH'S SERMONS 41 Introduction 41 Pastoral Sermons 45 Sermon: A Summons to the Grave (1676) 45 Sermon: The Everlasting Covenant (1693) 48 Sermon: A Call to Weeping (1699) 49 Sermon: God Acknowledged (1696) 52 Doctrinal Sermons 53 Sermon Collection: The Marrow of True Justification (1692) 53 Sermon Collection: A Golden Mine Opened (1694) 55 Sermon Collection: Christ Alone the Way to Heaven (1698) 59 Sermon: A Medium Betwixt Two Extremes (1698) 61 Sermon Collection: The Display of Glorious Grace (1698) 63 Sermon Collection: The Jewish Sabbath Abrogated (1700) 64 Parabolic Sermons 66 Sermon Collection: The Counterfeit Christian (1691) 66 Sermon Collection: An Ax Laid to the Root( 1693) 69 Sermon Collection: Exposition of the Parables (1701) 71 Summary 77 4. KEACH'S CONCEPT OF METAPHOR 79 Introduction 79 v Chapter Page Nature of Metaphor 80 Definition of Metaphor 80 Analysis of Metaphor 82 Tropologia: A Key to Open Scripture Metaphors 82 Origin 83 Organization 86 Objective 91 Keach's Concept of Metaphor 93 Meaning 93 Classification 98 Implications for Preaching 101 Summary 103 5. REACH'S INTERPRETATION OF METAPHOR 106 Introduction 106 Authority of Scripture 109 Reformation Tradition 109 Second London Confession Ill Role of the Holy Spirit 113 Nature of Hermeneutics 115 Definition 115 Rules 117 Figurative Language 119 Keach's Interpretation of Metaphor 122 Selecting Texts 122 Figurative Texts 123 Allegorical Texts 125 vi Chapter Page Parabolic Texts 127 Difficult Texts 128 Summary 130 6. REACH'S USE OF METAPHOR 132 Introduction 132 Selection of Biblical Texts 133 Scriptures Keach Selected 134 Genres Keach Preferred 134 Texts Containing Metaphors 135 Keach's Use of Metaphor 136 Locating Reach's Metaphors 137 Classifying Keach's Metaphors 137 Homiletical Illustration 141 Theological Explanation 151 Sermonic Application 160 Summary 169 7. CONCLUSION 172 BIBLIOGRAPHY 178 vii PREFACE This dissertation would never have been completed without the significant contributions of many individuals. Essentially, this work got its start while I was in a hymnology class with Professor Esther Rothenbusch Crookshank and was first introduced to the life and work of Benjamin Keach. I learned much from her, and I am grateful for her instruction. As I began to explore the possibility of writing a dissertation on Keach, Professor Michael Haykin shared with me an abundance of ideas, wisdom, and resources. Pastor Austin Walker of Crawley, England, provided encouragement, suggestions, and materials. Professor Barry Vaughn brought to my attention Keach's use of imagery in his sermons, which prompted this particular research effort. Ron Miller of Owensboro, Kentucky, graciously allowed me to review his personal copies of Keach's published works. During the research process, several libraries provided not only books, microfilm, and other materials, but also helpful, patient staff to aid me in my work. The Boyce Centennial Library of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary was the one resource from which I benefited most. The Edinburgh University Library in Edinburgh, Scotland, The John Hay Special Collections Library of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and The Cleveland Public Library in Cleveland, Ohio, were also generous with their materials and assistance. Professor Robert Vogel has given freely of his wisdom and patience as he has guided me through the process of preparing this dissertation. Professors Tom Nettles and Michael Haykin have provided significant help in the direction of the work, and I am very thankful for their service on my committee of instruction. viii My parents, James Albert and Betty Holmes, have given much love and support to me. The members of the New Salem Baptist Church in Cox's Creek, Kentucky, and the Yellow Creek Baptist Church in Owensboro, Kentucky, have blessed me with their encouragement and prayers. My wife, Beth, has been an unfailing support throughout this demanding and lengthy process. Her many sacrifices have enabled this work to be completed, and I am profoundly humbled by her incredible patience, faithfulness, and love. Lastly, I am thankful to God for the life and work of Benjamin Keach, who stood for the truth and boldly preached His Word. I pray that I will be as fervent in proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ and faithful to the One who has displayed such glorious grace to me. James Christopher Holmes Louisville, Kentucky May 2009 IX CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Benjamin Keach was a seventeenth-century English Particular (Calvinistic) Baptist theologian and pastor. Although he is best known for his introduction of hymnsinging into the public worship of Baptists, Keach accomplished much more in his lifetime. In addition to his pastoral responsibilities, he published several works on a variety of doctrinal issues, including baptism, ecclesiology, and soteriology. Keach produced a sizeable quantity of polemical material against the Quakers and the Roman Catholic Church. He wrote hundreds of hymn texts, published two popular allegories, and released an epic poem. In addition to this already impressive corpus of material, Keach published well over two hundred sermons, the fruit of a lengthy and faithful preaching ministry. The weekly responsibility of preaching the Scriptures was the foundational occupation from which all of Reach's other efforts proceeded. Keach acknowledged that the proclamation of the gospel was God's ordinance for the conversion of sinners.1 His published sermons provide important details for understanding Keach and the Baptist preaching of his day. Indeed, they are the largest group of sermons published by any seventeenth-century English Particular Baptist. Keach's sermons addressed a wide spectrum of issues, as would be expected from a man who occupied the same London pulpit for nearly thirty-five years. Such 11 Cor 1:21. See also Austin Walker, The Excellent Benjamin Keach (Dundas, ON: Joshua Press, 2004), 224. 2James Barry Vaughn, "Public Worship and Practical Theology in the Work of Benjamin Keach (1640-1704)" (Ph.D. diss., University of St. Andrews, 1989), 87. 1 2 subjects included the biblical doctrines of justification and perseverance, the covenant of grace, issues of ecclesiology (especially the nature of baptism and church membership), the exclusivity of the gospel, and Sabbatarian worship. At least three of Reach's published sermons were funeral messages, and another centered on the responsibility of the nation (of England) to worship God. This sermon was subsequently published in the American colonies by Benjamin Franklin in the mid-eighteenth century. Reach's sermons are quite meaty—each one exhaustively explores the biblical text from which it springs and follows a lengthy outline. Typically, his messages indicate that Reach regularly read the works of other pastors and theologians, and that he was well informed about the doctrinal convictions of his contemporaries. While Reach was occasionally incorrect in his interpretation of Scripture, he was relentless about proclaiming the truths of the Bible to any and all who would listen. Although they are more than three hundred years old, Reach's sermons are actually generating attention once more. In particular, the recent interest in reprinting Puritan sermons and other works has stimulated some to revisit Reach's messages. For example, the present theological discussion about the doctrine of justification has prompted one publisher to issue a reprint of Reach's two sermons collectively titled The Marrow of True Justification, with the promise of more of his sermons to come.4 A key figure of speech that is present in Reach's sermons is the metaphor. Throughout his preaching, Reach implemented metaphors to accomplish various tasks, including illustration, explanation, and application. Vaughn has noted that "many of his sermons reveal that images, not propositions, were the basic units of his way of 3Charles Evans, American Bibliography: A Chronological Dictionary of all Books, Pamphlets, and Periodical Publications Printed in the United States ofAmerica from the Genesis of Printing in 1639 down to and Including the Year 1820 (New York: P.