Stephen Charnock's "The Existence and Attributes of God"

Credit Mr. Radcliffe with one thing: He motivated me finally to act on longstanding plans to blog my way through this remarkable Puritan work of theology, largely because the first two discourses of this work deal directly with atheism. To the best of my knowledge, Charnock's work has never been answered, but that is likely because few atheists are aware of it. Perhaps my efforts here may change that (I doubt it).

Who was Stephen Charnock? He was a 17th-century English Puritan divine, meaning a theologian and pastor. Born in 1628, he lived through one of the most tumultuous periods in England's history--its Civil War, temporary experiment with republican government, the restoration of the Stuart monarchy, and the arduous religious conflict that accompanied all that. He had a relationship to the Cromwells in that he served in Ireland as the chaplain to Henry Cromwell, son of the Lord Protector. Not surprisingly, then, the restoration of the monarchy and the religious reaction against Puritanism brought a reversal of fortune for Charnock. He was a victim of the outworkings of the infamous Act of Uniformity passed by a reactionary Parliament after Charles II came to the throne; many worthy men of God lost their livelihoods because they could not in good conscience acquiesce to the anti-Puritan measure. Charnock died at the relatively young age of 52 and did not live to see the religious freedom for Nonconformists gained in the Glorious Revolution that deposed the despotic James II. But he left behind a treasure-trove of theological and spiritual writings, mostly published posthumously; the work we are about to consider is perhaps his magnum opus. Charnock is frequently numbered among the better-known Puritan and Independent greats such as John Owen and Richard Baxter.

The forthcoming journey will be long but eminently worthwhile and, I trust, beneficial to anyone else who wishes to join me. Tomorrow's post will lay out some working rules for our future efforts.