Taylor's bubble analogy is intended to create a mental image of the brevity and fragility of life. Writing a dissertation on a historical figure is a recurring reminder of the bubble effect of life. There are men and women on the farms in Lee County, South Carolina, where I was raised and came to faith, who exude a unique kind of contentment-filled piety that can only be found in rural obscurity.
I don't understand what it took for this seminary to return to the theological moorings envisioned by its founders. Stephen Yuille, whose supervision of my research project has been God's favor to my life and pursuit of my final degree. Watts encouraged me to look beyond this world for a source of purpose and purpose.
From one bubble to another - and until my "turns" on the water of life end with an eternity of holiness and happiness - thank you. Thanks to the pious doctor and to all those who have come before and after him.
INTRODUCTION
Packer, A Quest for Godliness: The Puritan View of the Christian Life (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1990). Stackhouse, The Language of the Psalms in Worship: American Revisions of Watts' Psalter (Landam, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1997); Donald Davie, The Eighteenth-Century Hymn in England (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993); and J. Holiness and happiness are primarily spiritual things (i.e. unseen aspects of the Christian life) and therefore rooted in the soul.
This chapter examines Watts's understanding of this reality while placing him in the context of the Trinitarian debates of the eighteenth century. For more on the extraordinary testimony of the Spirit in Watts' theology, see Watts, Works Isaac Watts. Watts focuses on the work of the Holy Spirit in a Christian's life, as opposed to the corporate body of Christ.
Watts argues that the obligation of the moral law is eternal because of the nature of God and the sinfulness of man.
Sin arises from struggles with illness or disease. Watts notes,
He played a key role in the development of deistic thought regarding the doctrine of the atonement. Then the hymn moves to the role of mediator for the work of reconciliation. According to Watts, this perfect love is based on love for the triune God.
Baxter argues that God's love through Christ is the "most singular honor and adornment" of the heavenly state. The quest begins with the doctrine of God's trinity.2 It is the most dynamic component of the Christian faith. A third important work is his treatment of biblical language in relation to prayer to the Spirit.
23 Watts' work, Dissertations Relating to the Christian Doctrine of the Trinity (1725), was appended to The Arian Invited to the Orthodox Faith (1724). 53 Watt, Works, 6:425; Watts, Dissertations Relating to the Christian Doctrine of the Trinity, The Second Part, 7. 54 Watts, Works, 6:427; Watts, Essays Concerning the Christian Doctrine of the Trinity, The Second Part, 13.
Watts' real scheme of the union of the two natures, in the person of Christ." Taylor, The Scripture Doctrine of the Trinity Vindicated, 80. Watts also wrestles with the contractual relationship between the Father and the Son before the foundation of the world .
Here Watts surveys the various appearances of God in the Old Testament, arguing that he appeared visibly as a “created angel” to Adam and Eve,
I grant that the sacred doctrine of divinity united with human nature in Christ must be sustained by all righteous expositions of Scripture. For example, Calvin interprets the text in terms of the degree of intensity of Christ's glory. Goodwin argues that Paul is primarily speaking of the human nature of Christ.115 He admits that the expression "image of the invisible God" has two meanings with regard to Christ: (1) he is the.
These two strengths point to the evangelical impulse behind Watts's approach to the doctrine of the Trinity. 146 Watts, Works, 6:421; Watts, Treatises Concerning the Christian Doctrine of the Trinity, Part Two, xvi. 147 Watts, Works, 6:422; Watts, Dissertations Concerning the Christian Doctrine of the Trinity, Part Two, xviii.
It is by the Spirit of God, or the Spirit of the Father, that he devils &c. 148 Watts, Working, 6:422; Watts, Dissertations Concerning the Christian Doctrine of the Trinity, Part Two, xviii. 149 Watts, Working, 6:419; Watts, Dissertations Concerning the Christian Doctrine of the Trinity, Part Two, x.
155 Watts, Working, 6:422; Watts, Dissertations Concerning the Christian Doctrine of the Trinity, Part Two, xix. 168 Watts, Working, 6:422; Watts, Dissertations Concerning the Christian Doctrine of the Trinity, Vol. 2, xix–xx. On this theological foundation, Watts concludes that spiritual life is, in practice, God's preparation of the soul for heaven.
Yea, without a doubt, and I count all things, save loss, to the perfection of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.” The focus of the Spirit's ministry is to speak of Christ the Son” Letham, The Holy Trinity, 499. Because of this special work of the Father, we make returns of “faith, love, and duty” (stanza five).
131 Importantly, Watts is careful to worship Christ because of his communion with the Father and the Spirit as "eternal God." The unity and equality of the Godhead are clearly articulated elsewhere in Watts' hymns on the Trinity. Haykin, “The Undivided Three: The Doctrine of the Trinity in Church History,” Reformation & Revival 10, no.
CONCLUSION
First, Watts' doctrine of the depravity of man is the foundation for the experience of holiness and happiness, because sin is ultimately the main obstacle to both. Second, Watts's doctrine of the beauty of Christ is the foundation for the experience of holiness and happiness, because Christ is the only means for man's. Third, Watts' doctrine of the excellence of heaven is fundamental to the experience of holiness and happiness because it shapes his perspective on the present life.
Upon entering heaven, the believer's soul becomes perfect (holy) and, therefore, is enabled to enjoy God (blissful) in its full capacity. Fourth, Watts' doctrine of the triunity of God is fundamental to the experience of holiness and happiness because it means that God alone is the source of all happiness. Closely related to this is how Watts understood the person and work of the Holy Spirit.
10 The distinction between the Holy Spirit's work and person is important to note here. Edwards uses the testimony of the Holy Spirit in his presentation of the first of twelve signs of true repentance. This "holy seal" is really the mark of the Spirit on a believer's heart.
For an excellent discussion of the witness of the Holy Spirit and growth in holiness, see John Owen, The Works of John Owen, vol. Watts quotes Owen in several places in his discourse on the witness of the Holy Spirit. Specifically, Owen's logic runs parallel to Watt's in that the testimony of the Holy Spirit is directly linked to love of God and vital religion.
Returning to Watts' definition of spiritual life as "eternal life begun." holiness and happiness), it remains only to draw some important implications for the church. A fundamental implication of this dissertation is that it challenges some of the common misconceptions of Watts. Third, Watts's vision of the spiritual life is a timely message for a world (and, at times, a church) that is consumed with the material and the material.
