Reidhead and Edwards

[sotzo]

Just finished listening to Reidhead's famous sermon "Ten Sheckels and a Shirt". The core of Reidhead's message is that God's glory is why we should come to him in faith...he specifically mentions fear of hell as a reason we should not come to him in faith since doing so is really about what we want to get out of a relationship with God.

How does this square with puritan preaching such as Edwards' "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" or even passages like Matt 5:29 where Jesus specifically mentions that hell is a reason not to sin?

I agree God regenerates us by making us aware of our sin, allowing us to see the beauty of Christ and his saving work..not primarily due to a fear of hell but because of who Christ is....but was Reidhead perhaps swinging the pendulum too far in the direction of an apologetic against humanism in taking the fear of hell completely off the table?

 

[CalvinandHodges]

Hi:

I think that there is a difference between a slavish fear, and a godly fear. Do you fear God because you simply want to save your own skin, or, do you fear God out of love and reverence for His judgment?

Why would you pluck out your own eye? (Metaphorically speaking) Is it because you do not wish to offend God, and thus be cast into hell? Or, is it because you want to save your own skin. Do you repent because there is a whip over your head threatening eternal damnation? Or, do you repent because you love and revere the one you love?

As Reidhead would say, "One is born in heaven - the glorification of God. The other is born in hell - the deification of man."

The problem that I see with Reidhead's excellent sermon is his view that repentance saves a person. This is linked with his Arminian views that one must first repent and believe before he can be saved. Ignoring Reidhead's Arminianism, and listening to his sermon from the stance of the 1st Question of the Larger Catechism, is a sober reminder to us today.

Edwards' sermon was preached for a different time. In his culture everyone was considered a Christian. Everyone went to church. Everyone was baptized. Everyone took communion (with the exception of children). In the Half-Way Covenant even the town drunkards were allowed communion in the church.

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God was a splash of cold water in the face to those people during his time. The intended results was more than Edwards imagined.

Blessings,

Rob

 

[larryjf]

It doesn't seem to fit that we would come to God in faith to give Him glory since before we have faith we don't seek His glory.