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Visible Saints: The History of a Puritan Idea
2013 Reprint of 1963 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. While Morgan's literary portfolio shows remarkable diversity, it is studded with works on Puritanism. "Visible Saints" further solidifies his reputation as a leading authority on this subject. An expanded version of his Anson G. Phelps Lectures of 1962 (presented at New York University), this slender volume focuses on the central issue of church membership. Morgan posits and develops a revisionary main thesis: the practice of basing membership upon a declaration of experiencing saving grace, or "conversion," was first put into effect not in England, Holland, or Plymouth, as is commonly related, but in Massachusetts Bay Colony by non-separating Puritans. Characterized by stylistic grace and exegetic finesse, "Visible Saints" is another scholarly milestone in the "Millerian Age" of Puritan historiography.
159 pages, Paperback
First published January 28, 1963
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
March 12, 2013
Very informative book on the separatist wing of the Puritan movement. The separating Puritans were a great example of what happens when men strive after purity of life and doctrine, but at the expense of also striving after unity, catholicity, and most of all, charity. They failed to understand that the visible Church is a mixed multitude, and always will be until Christ comes back again and finally separates the wheat from the chaff.
The fourth chapter on the half-way covenant was worth the price of the whole book, especially if you want to understand why, by and large, most American churches refuse to baptize the children of believers; or why most Presbyterian churches in our day who do baptize the children of believers refuse to give those same kids communion until they experience some kind of conversion experience.
The fourth chapter on the half-way covenant was worth the price of the whole book, especially if you want to understand why, by and large, most American churches refuse to baptize the children of believers; or why most Presbyterian churches in our day who do baptize the children of believers refuse to give those same kids communion until they experience some kind of conversion experience.
March 27, 2021
Dry as toast, but I gleaned some insight into the Puritans, mostly that they needed to consult the Bible and not their man-made rules.
February 21, 2014
An easy read on historical theology, specifically of the 17th Century Puritanism, Seperatists and Congregationalists. Morgan lays out the drive toward the "pure church" mindset and membership based on the experience of saving faith. He chronicles the flow of thought that led in that direction, it's rise to prominence among the New England Congregationalists, and it's momentary demise in the Half Way Covenant.
This is a very instructive dive into historical theology. It explains much of what fuels most of North American Christianity. It also shows the folly of the position taken. I recommend the book.
This is a very instructive dive into historical theology. It explains much of what fuels most of North American Christianity. It also shows the folly of the position taken. I recommend the book.
May 28, 2023
4+, very fascinating.
Made me consider how often the tensions latent in systems of thought are not debated in a few hours, but often take place over decades (or much longer) through historical progression.
In this case, the wickedness of the Anglican church caused the early Puritans to amplify a fundamental premise of Protestant ecclesiology—the church is a gathering of the Redeemed. But if the essence is salvation, then the only the saved have true claim to church membership. But if only the believer has claim to membership, just how do we judge this? and how strict do we want to get? What are the implications when that church also holds that children of believers are included in the church automatically?
The history was so interesting to me because at times the controversies and positions of the Separatists seemed so radical to me as a credobaptist; the morphology of conversion developed by Perkins and Ames and later rejuvenated by Edwards is disturbing to me. Likewise, the "controversy" of how a pure church put forward as a light on a hill might reach the lost. What seems so basic to me—that the visible church makes charitable, but imperfect, judgments on the basis of professed faith and agreeing actions seems nowhere on the radar. Even the idea that a church may be formed through the calling out of believers from the world, and that ecclesia has responsibilities to the world from which it had been called out was introduced like a novel idea through the Savoy congregations.
The tension between holding basic Protestant ecclesiology of the true church existing only of believers and the visible church welcoming members on a different basis disconnected from the spiritual barometer of faith, is not a tension that is worked out uniformly in paedobaptist churches today.
***
Most surprising of all, it turns out it was actually the Puritans who caused Transgenderism.
jk, but iykyk
Made me consider how often the tensions latent in systems of thought are not debated in a few hours, but often take place over decades (or much longer) through historical progression.
In this case, the wickedness of the Anglican church caused the early Puritans to amplify a fundamental premise of Protestant ecclesiology—the church is a gathering of the Redeemed. But if the essence is salvation, then the only the saved have true claim to church membership. But if only the believer has claim to membership, just how do we judge this? and how strict do we want to get? What are the implications when that church also holds that children of believers are included in the church automatically?
The history was so interesting to me because at times the controversies and positions of the Separatists seemed so radical to me as a credobaptist; the morphology of conversion developed by Perkins and Ames and later rejuvenated by Edwards is disturbing to me. Likewise, the "controversy" of how a pure church put forward as a light on a hill might reach the lost. What seems so basic to me—that the visible church makes charitable, but imperfect, judgments on the basis of professed faith and agreeing actions seems nowhere on the radar. Even the idea that a church may be formed through the calling out of believers from the world, and that ecclesia has responsibilities to the world from which it had been called out was introduced like a novel idea through the Savoy congregations.
The tension between holding basic Protestant ecclesiology of the true church existing only of believers and the visible church welcoming members on a different basis disconnected from the spiritual barometer of faith, is not a tension that is worked out uniformly in paedobaptist churches today.
***
Most surprising of all, it turns out it was actually the Puritans who caused Transgenderism.
jk, but iykyk
September 2, 2020
An excellent introduction to the study of Puritan ecclesiology and theology regarding "the visible church," principally in the New England context. In his analysis, Dr. Morgan examines the quest for a pure church and the divisions that led to among the non-Separating and Separating Puritans. Eventually, the founders of Massachusetts Bay colony (who were non-Separatists) found themselves with an opportunity to try out their experiment in the New World, which led to complications as they held to infant baptism and the introduction of the "Half-Way Covenant."
I enjoyed the book in that it gives the background for my Baptist roots and why we were so adament to insist on baptism for believers only. Unfortunately, Morgan only mentions John Smyth (the founder of the Baptists) three times, with the word "Baptist" only appearing once in his narrative. Roger Williams, the "Baptist on the scene" in New England, is noted a mere four times. It seems that it would have been worthwhile for the author to have looked at the Baptist take on this issue which is occuring simultaneously, and since both Smyth and Williams came out of Separatists life.
Even with these reservations, this is a helpful introduction and I award five-stars for this monograph.
I enjoyed the book in that it gives the background for my Baptist roots and why we were so adament to insist on baptism for believers only. Unfortunately, Morgan only mentions John Smyth (the founder of the Baptists) three times, with the word "Baptist" only appearing once in his narrative. Roger Williams, the "Baptist on the scene" in New England, is noted a mere four times. It seems that it would have been worthwhile for the author to have looked at the Baptist take on this issue which is occuring simultaneously, and since both Smyth and Williams came out of Separatists life.
Even with these reservations, this is a helpful introduction and I award five-stars for this monograph.
July 28, 2021
Morgan helped define a generation of historians in the Whig and consensus schools of thought. I still love reading his accounts of Puritan life years later. He is able to grasp the inherent conflict within a church that seeks to be a city upon a hill without adopting the same formal mechanisms as they church they seek to cleanse. The paradox of creating elaborate testimonials in order to guarantee the elect status of their members is not lost on the reader. Morgan’s work is brief but exhaustive in its coverage of 17th century Congregational evolution. I’m reminded of the ideological purity tests of today’s partisan practitioners and Tweet police of the cancel culture. There’s a line he writes about how long can a people hide away from the world without it reaching them that’s still beautifully true today. I would liked to have read some about Praying Towns in conjunction with this text and more on Williams and Hutchinson. Great read from a trues master.
January 14, 2018
Still going at 86, Professor Morgan has just written a best selling biography of Benjamin Franklin. Pekarek provides a chapter by chapter analysis of Visible Saints. Published in the same year as Perry Miller died, the book is dedicated to him. In it Morgan deals with the history of the half way covenant, or the doctrine that church membership could be open to the faithful who had not yet made a public declaration of faith.
August 20, 2023
Short but very worthwhile study of the evolution of the "church of believers" concept within Puritanism. That is, it was not held by Separatists or by early Puritans as he documents, but developed in New England, and then spread to old England. Some of the historiography might need to be updated, but, in general, this is something that all Evangelicals need to know about as this is where one of their key ideas came from.
December 18, 2017
A comprehensive history of the Puritan views of the visible and invisible church and how they decided who to accept into membership, baptism and the Lord's Supper.
July 16, 2019
To be honest, while I generally enjoy history, I found this book rather dry and depressing.
January 14, 2023
An essential exploration of the ecclesiological issues that plagued New England Puritanism.
February 6, 2015
This unassuming little book is tremendous. It really helps to open up the differences between Presbyterians and baptists. The book is not about baptists. It's about Congregationalists, of which baptists are. After reading this book, you will see the differences between WCF 25.2 and LBCF 26.2 very differently. See my outline of the book here http://reformedlibertarian.com/blog/b...
My studies in the history of reformed political theory have led me into some very interesting waters regarding the nature of the church. The Congregationalists, part of the Second Reformation in England, noted that the earlier “Reformation from the gross, idolatrous part of antichristianism was engaged in with some heroic courage and resolution; but the coldness and indifference of Protestants to any farther progress almost ever since is not a little to be lamented.” (Isaac Chauncey, in the Preface to Owen’s The True Nature of a Gospel Church) Writing in defense of these reformers, Scottish Presbyterian Geddes MacGregor, in his book Corpus Christi, notes:
The historical association of the renaissance of learning with the Reformation has often obscured the fact that the Reformers, Calvin not least, were thoroughly schooled in medieval ways of thought. However much they returned to the primitive sources, as the new learning taught them to do, they still thought in medieval categories, in terms of the scholasticism and canon law in which they had been trained. Even in their repudiation of certain medieval notions in the light of their reading of Scripture, their arguments presuppose the background with which they and their contemporaries were familiar, and it is especially impossible to understand the doctrine of the Church in the Reformed tradition without taking that complex medieval background into account.
Congregationalists challenged this medieval view of the church, that is, they rejected the idea that the catholic (universal) church had any visible institution. They argued that
"The church of Christ, according as it is represented unto us, or described by the Holy Spirit of God, in the Old and New Testament, hath but a twofold consideration, — as catholic and mystical, or as visible and organized in particular congregations… There is no other sort of visible church of Christ organized, the subject of the aforesaid institutions spoken of, but a particular church or congregation (either in the Old or New Testament), where all the members thereof do ordinarily meet together in one place to hold communion one with another in some one or more great ordinances of Christ… visible churches being but Christ’s tents and tabernacles, which he sometimes setteth up and sometimes takes down and removes at his pleasure, as he sees best for his glory in the world. (Chauncey)"
This concept was referred to as churches “gathered” out of the world, as opposed to the idea that the church embraced the known world. This was developed through the study of Scripture in direct opposition to the national church of England. If the Congregationalists were right, and the national church model assumed during the reformation was wrong, then this has drastic consequences for political philosophy (which I hope to unpack in subsequent posts).
For now, here is an outline of a tremendous book called Visible Saints: The History of a Puritan Idea to introduce you to the debate (here is an Evernote link to the outline since the blog messed up the formatting). Also, make sure to compare the WCF Ch. 25 “Of the Church” with Savoy Ch. 26 “Of the Church” http://www.proginosko.com/docs/wcf_sd...
The English emigrants to New England were the first Puritans to restrict membership in the church to visible saints, to persons, that is, who had felt the stirrings of grace in their souls, and who could demonstrate this fact to the satisfaction of other saints. The early Separatists had demanded the exclusion from the church of the visibly wicked; the later Separatists, and especially Henry Ainsworth, had implied that the exclusion of the wicked meant the inclusion only of saints; and at the same time the non separating English Puritan divines had been teaching their readers and listeners how to recognize the movements of grace within the soul and thus to determine whether one was a saint or not. It had remained for the New Englanders to combine and carry these ideas to fruition by constructing their churches entirely of persons who had demonstrated their sainthood to one another. (113)
My studies in the history of reformed political theory have led me into some very interesting waters regarding the nature of the church. The Congregationalists, part of the Second Reformation in England, noted that the earlier “Reformation from the gross, idolatrous part of antichristianism was engaged in with some heroic courage and resolution; but the coldness and indifference of Protestants to any farther progress almost ever since is not a little to be lamented.” (Isaac Chauncey, in the Preface to Owen’s The True Nature of a Gospel Church) Writing in defense of these reformers, Scottish Presbyterian Geddes MacGregor, in his book Corpus Christi, notes:
The historical association of the renaissance of learning with the Reformation has often obscured the fact that the Reformers, Calvin not least, were thoroughly schooled in medieval ways of thought. However much they returned to the primitive sources, as the new learning taught them to do, they still thought in medieval categories, in terms of the scholasticism and canon law in which they had been trained. Even in their repudiation of certain medieval notions in the light of their reading of Scripture, their arguments presuppose the background with which they and their contemporaries were familiar, and it is especially impossible to understand the doctrine of the Church in the Reformed tradition without taking that complex medieval background into account.
Congregationalists challenged this medieval view of the church, that is, they rejected the idea that the catholic (universal) church had any visible institution. They argued that
"The church of Christ, according as it is represented unto us, or described by the Holy Spirit of God, in the Old and New Testament, hath but a twofold consideration, — as catholic and mystical, or as visible and organized in particular congregations… There is no other sort of visible church of Christ organized, the subject of the aforesaid institutions spoken of, but a particular church or congregation (either in the Old or New Testament), where all the members thereof do ordinarily meet together in one place to hold communion one with another in some one or more great ordinances of Christ… visible churches being but Christ’s tents and tabernacles, which he sometimes setteth up and sometimes takes down and removes at his pleasure, as he sees best for his glory in the world. (Chauncey)"
This concept was referred to as churches “gathered” out of the world, as opposed to the idea that the church embraced the known world. This was developed through the study of Scripture in direct opposition to the national church of England. If the Congregationalists were right, and the national church model assumed during the reformation was wrong, then this has drastic consequences for political philosophy (which I hope to unpack in subsequent posts).
For now, here is an outline of a tremendous book called Visible Saints: The History of a Puritan Idea to introduce you to the debate (here is an Evernote link to the outline since the blog messed up the formatting). Also, make sure to compare the WCF Ch. 25 “Of the Church” with Savoy Ch. 26 “Of the Church” http://www.proginosko.com/docs/wcf_sd...
The English emigrants to New England were the first Puritans to restrict membership in the church to visible saints, to persons, that is, who had felt the stirrings of grace in their souls, and who could demonstrate this fact to the satisfaction of other saints. The early Separatists had demanded the exclusion from the church of the visibly wicked; the later Separatists, and especially Henry Ainsworth, had implied that the exclusion of the wicked meant the inclusion only of saints; and at the same time the non separating English Puritan divines had been teaching their readers and listeners how to recognize the movements of grace within the soul and thus to determine whether one was a saint or not. It had remained for the New Englanders to combine and carry these ideas to fruition by constructing their churches entirely of persons who had demonstrated their sainthood to one another. (113)
February 10, 2017
Simply stunning. I'd never read Morgan before this graduate class but I'm gonna read everything I can get my hands on now.
May 31, 2014
This book was for a class. Definitely not one I would have read on my own. It is at times confusing and easy to get lost in with its buckets of information, but it was interesting and pretty straight forward with a fast paced run through of the history. Though it does have fancy words and small print, I'd actually call it a pretty simple read.
It was fun to learn more specifics and ordered chronological facts on the beginnings of the reformation. It really pieces the puzzle together for me and it links the random happenstances I learned in history, into a complete story.
It was fun to learn more specifics and ordered chronological facts on the beginnings of the reformation. It really pieces the puzzle together for me and it links the random happenstances I learned in history, into a complete story.
Read
December 27, 2007A basic history of Puritan intellectual history and a classic in the field--it is an interesting book to read, mostly because, as is so often the case with classics in the field, reading it feels old hat, but you also know that it was groundbreaking when it came out.
Read
December 14, 2008A tough read, but eye-opening to understanding Puritan society.
October 20, 2022
Dry but informative.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews