Book Description
The Westminster Assembly is celebrated for its doctrinal standards and debates on church polity. But how often is the assembly noted for its extraordinary intervention in the pulpit ministry of the Church of England? In God’s Ambassadors, Chad Van Dixhoorn recounts the Puritan quest for a reformation in preachers and preaching and how the Westminster Assembly fit into that movement. He examines the assembly’s reform efforts, tracing debates and exploring key documents about preaching in a way that both highlights disagreements within the assembly’s ranks and showcases their collective plan for the church going forward.
Moreover, Van Dixhoorn reveals the rationale behind the assembly’s writings and reforms, both in terms of biblical exegesis and practical theology. Unlike any other book, God’s Ambassadors draws attention to the lengths to which the Westminster Assembly would go in promoting godly preachers and improved preaching.
About the Author
Dr. Chad Van Dixhoorn (PhD, Cambridge University) is professor of church history and director of the Craig Center for the study of the Westminster Standards at Westminster Theological Seminary. He also serves as an honorary research fellow at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.
Van Dixhoorn has held a number of additional teaching positions and has also served as associate pastor at Cambridge Presbyterian Church (UK) and also at Grace Presbyterian Church (Vienna, VA) for nine years.
Dr. Van Dixhoorn’s academic interests include the historical documents of the Westminster Assembly, English Puritanism, and Presbyterian history. He has been widely recognized for his publication of a five-volume work on the Westminster Assembly, The Minutes and Papers of the Westminster Assembly, 1643–1652, and has published numerous articles on a variety of theological topics. He is currently working on a major monograph on the Westminster Assembly, as well as a complete edition of John Lightfoot’s journals. Both volumes are to be published by Oxford University Press.
Hardcover
240 Pages
Publication Date: June 2017
Reformation Heritage Books
Mid-Cities Presbyterian Church Library 