# a Brakel's "Chrstian's Reasonable Service"



## sotzo (Oct 10, 2007)

Should one start at volume 1 and read through from there in order?

If you couldn't afford all 4 at once, which volume would you recommend to get first?


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## CalvinandHodges (Oct 10, 2007)

Greetings:

Wilhelmus wrote the volumes to be read consecutively. It was a tradition among the Dutch to read through all 4 volumes during family devotions over the long winters there.

-CH


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## BuddyOfDavidClarkson (Oct 10, 2007)

I'm reading through all 4 volumes in my morning devotions. I did indeed start with volume 1. It truly is a treasure to read.

The first 2 volumes are dogmatics and the last 2 volumes are ethics. Great stuff!



sotzo said:


> Should one start at volume 1 and read through from there in order?
> 
> If you couldn't afford all 4 at once, which volume would you recommend to get first?


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Oct 10, 2007)

CalvinandHodges said:


> Greetings:
> 
> Wilhelmus wrote the volumes to be read consecutively. It was a tradition among the Dutch to read through all 4 volumes during family devotions over the long winters there.
> 
> -CH



 Bartel Elshout, _The Pastoral and Practical Theology of Wilhelmus a Brakel_:



> This is particularly to be attributed to à Brakel's _magnum opus_, _De Redelijke Godsdienst_ (_The Christian's Reasonable Service_). Since its publication, the veneration for this work among those of orthodox Reformed persuasion has been such that in former generations (as recent as the pre-World War II generation) it was customary to read _De Redelijke Godsdienst_ sequentially during long winter evenings.ii This long standing practice is a significant reason why this eminent divine, one of the acclaimed fathers of the Dutch Reformed tradition,iii continues to be held in such high esteem until the present. Already during his forty-nine-year ministry in the Netherlands (1662-1711), during which several editions of _De Redelijke Godsdienst_ were printed, esteem for him was such that he was affectionately referred to as "Father Brakel," a name by which he is still known today in the Netherlands.
> 
> ii "Wilhelmus à Brakel en de Redelijke Godsdienst," _Daniel 3_ (1991):7.
> iii J. van Genderen, "Wilhelmus à Brakel," in _De Nadere Reformatie: Beschrijving van haar voornaamste vertegenwoordigers_, p. 167.


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## SEAGOON (Oct 11, 2007)

Hi Joel,



sotzo said:


> Should one start at volume 1 and read through from there in order?
> 
> If you couldn't afford all 4 at once, which volume would you recommend to get first?



You can read them individually if you want, I started with Volume 3, and then read 2, 1, and finally 4. It depends what you are looking for. If you are looking for a straightforward systematic theology, read volume 1. If you want a discussion of ethics and the Christian life read volume 3 and then 4. 

Personally I would recommend starting with 2, which concentrates on the church and salvation, it makes a wonderful antidote to the silliness of FV theology. For instance, here is A'Brakel from vol.2 on the Imputation of Christ's Active Obedience:



> Is the active and actual obedience of Christ, that is, His subjection under the law and the perfect accomplishment thereof, imputed to the elect unto justification and salvation? We answer in the affirmative. The active obedience of Christ in subjecting Himself under, and fulfilling, the law is not only a necessary requisite for Him who would be Mediator (all of which is true for Christ), but this active righteousness of Christ is a part of His satisfaction for His own. As He delivered them from all guilt and punishment by His passion, by His active obedience, fulfilling the law on their behalf, He has also merited a right unto eternal life for them. These two aspects coalesce in Christ and neither may nor can be separated from each other. Christ has merited salvation atoningly and has made atonement meritoriously. Likewise the elect, in being delivered from guilt and punishment, receive a right to eternal life, and in receiving that right are delivered from guilt and punishment. Nevertheless these two aspects of His humiliation— the atonement for guilt and punishment, and the meriting of eternal life— are not identical, but essentially differ from each other. The active and passive obedience of Christ are equally beneficial to the elect.
> 
> This is first of all evident from the necessity that the Surety had to subject Himself to the law on behalf of sinners to perfectly fulfil the law on their behalf. This has been demonstrated previously. Since this was required of the Surety, Christ has performed it in order to perfectly execute His Suretyship.
> 
> ...


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## toddpedlar (Oct 11, 2007)

Hey Andy -

Thanks for the GREAT a Brakel-ism. Isn't that from Vol. 1? (p. 610 in my 4-vol set from RHB)

Todd


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## SEAGOON (Oct 12, 2007)

Hi Todd,



toddpedlar said:


> Hey Andy -
> 
> Thanks for the GREAT a Brakel-ism. Isn't that from Vol. 1? (p. 610 in my 4-vol set from RHB)
> 
> Todd



Hey Todd, quite right, its from chapter 22 of vol. 1. I wanted a quote that touched explicitly on the Imputation of Christ's active obedience in unambiguous terms (and hey, look at that, even the Dutch believed it was a _necessity_) because it is the current _"we don't believe and don't have to believe"_ issue in the FV (they seem to have a flavor of the month in terms of key Reformed doctrines they will be denying while still maintaining the are Reformed, and that's the current equivalent of two scoops of Rocky Road). 

Sorry for messing that up, thanks for the correction.

PS: We ever going to get that chess game going? 

- Andy


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## MW (Oct 12, 2007)

The section titled "God's Objective in Calling Men" is a much needed remedy to some fairly wishy-washy thinking in reformed circles today.


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## Reformed Covenanter (Oct 13, 2007)

I heard that the volumes "lost something" in translation. Is this true?


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## greenbaggins (Oct 13, 2007)

I've read most of volume 1 and a goodish bit of volume 2. It is quite difficult to imagine that they've lost something. Of course, to a certain extent, every translation loses something. But if this one did, then I can only imagine how good the original is. The theology in the translation is top-notch.


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