The Sabbath as a means of the means of grace

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The pastoral theology taught by the prototypical Elizabethan Richard Greenham (d. 1594) in his parish seminary (theology also maintained by Nicholas Bownd his stepson, d.1613) revolved around the means of grace.[1] The primary means which are mentioned throughout Greenham’s Works (1599) are preaching, the administration of the sacraments and prayer, to which are added in his catechism, discipline and affliction (which bring together “exercises for coping with adversity: self-examination, prayer, fasting, repentance, reading of the Word, and meditation on the future life”).[2] Another means for Greenham is meditation, which Bownd champions at length and to which he added conferencing (Christians conferring with one another to discuss the faith).[3] And the main thing—the “great means of the means”—whereby all these means of grace are made available to the people of God is the weekly gatherings on the Christian Sabbath or Lord’s Day.[4] Considering the focus of both Greenham and Bownd on this practical divinity, it is not surprising both wrote works on the fourth commandment; Bownd’s the most famous in English literature (Naphtali Press edition forthcoming, next year?).
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[1] John H. Primus, Richard Greenham, 127, 129.
[2] Ibid., 147.
[3] Ibid., 147–149. Bownd, True Doctrine of the Sabbath (1595; 1606 2nd enlarged ed.) 383–418, critical text (Naphtali Press, forthcoming) 370–396.
[4] Richard Greenham, 150–177.

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