The Christian's Reasonable Service

Wilhelmus à Brakel, translated by Bartel Elshout and edited by Joel R. Beeke — from the four PDF volumes of the Reformation Heritage Books edition (1992–95) that Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary and Monergism distribute free of charge.

De Redelijke Godsdienst (Rotterdam, 1700) is the great systematic and practical divinity of the Dutch Second Reformation (Nadere Reformatie), the Dutch counterpart of English Puritanism: the whole body of Reformed doctrine set out in 103 chapters and, at the end of every one, turned to the conscience — “expounded, defended against opposing parties, and their practice advocated,” as the title page puts it. It went through twenty editions in its author’s own country and became the household book of the Dutch Reformed for two centuries. Elshout’s is the first and only English translation. The original closes with an exposition of Revelation, which the translation leaves out; the appendix on the administration of the covenant of grace in the Old and New Testaments, which precedes it, is included.

Unlike everything else in this library the text is a modern translation still in copyright (© Reformation Heritage Books, 1992). It is here because the publisher’s own seminary hosts the complete volumes for free download; if that permission is ever withdrawn, this is the work to take down.

What was done to the PDFs, and nothing more: the page numbers, running heads and the two page-number indexes at the end of volume four were dropped; the chapter titles, the italic and centred sub-headings, the footnotes, the set-off quotations and the few poems were turned into their Markdown equivalents; the Greek and Hebrew, which the PDFs carry in the 1990s SPIonic and SPTiberian fonts, were decoded into Unicode. The editors’ “[Picture omitted: …]” notes stand where they stood. Slips in the PDFs’ own text — a doubled word, a mistyped Greek accent, a footnote set in the wrong size — are reproduced as they are.

Up: Wilhelmus à Brakel

Contents (115)

Volume One: God, Man, and Christ

Front matter

Theology: The Doctrine of God

Anthropology: The Doctrine of Man

Christology: The Doctrine of Christ

Volume Two: The Church and Salvation

Volume Two

Preface to Volume Two

Ecclesiology: The Doctrine of the Church

Soteriology: The Doctrine of Salvation

Chapter 30. The External and Internal Call
Chapter 31. Regeneration
Chapter 32. Concerning Faith
Chapter 33. Distinguishing Marks of Saving Faith
Chapter 34. Justification
[[CRS 041 Chapter 35. The Adoption of Children [Eph 1.5]|Chapter 35. The Adoption of Children [Eph 1:5]]]
Chapter 36. Spiritual Peace
Chapter 37. Spiritual Joy
Chapter 38. The Sealing of the Believer by the Holy Spirit and by Means of the Sacraments
Chapter 39. Holy Baptism
Chapter 40. The Lord’s Supper
Chapter 41. The Practice of the Lord’s Supper Consisting in Preparation, Celebration, and Reflection
Chapter 42. The Life of Faith in Reference to the Promises
Chapter 43. A Warning Exhortation Against Pietists, Quietists, and All Who in a Similar Manner Have Deviated to a Natural and Spiritless Religion Under the Guise of Spirituality

Volume Three: The Law, Christian Graces, and the Lord’s Prayer

Soteriology: The Doctrine of Salvation

Volume Four: Ethics and Eschatology

Soteriology: The Doctrine of Salvation

Eschatology: The Doctrine of the Last Things

Appendix: The Administration of the Covenant of Grace in the Old and New Testaments

“And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect.”—Gen 4:3-5

“The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”—Heb 9:8-12

“Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.”—Rev 1:3

Explorer

The Christian's Reasonable Service

Contents (115)

Volume One: God, Man, and Christ

Volume Two: The Church and Salvation

Volume Three: The Law, Christian Graces, and the Lord’s Prayer

Volume Four: Ethics and Eschatology