Aristotle's Physics (Books I-IV)

What follows is a brief summary of Aristotle's Physics, which I'm writing primarily for the benefit of my own memory and comprehension, but at the same time, I hope that this will be a help to anyone else who is plodding through Greek Philosophy in an attempt to come to a deeper understanding of the philosophical underpinnings of Christian thought.  Most of us who have gone through Seminary here in North America have done so without the benefit of a good old fashioned classical education, and as a result, the 'cart' of theology has been put before the 'horse' of philosophy.  The deeper I go into Historical Theology in my effort to understand the polemics of the Reformation (in the case of my research, the polemics surrounding the Eucharist), the more convinced I become that we cannot fully understand the Reformers or the theology of the Reformation if we do not take the time to understand their fundamental philosophical presuppositions.   Over the past year I've read most of Plato's major dialogues and bits and pieces of the Neo-Platonists, and now I'm digging deeper into Aristotle and (soon!) Aquinas. 

Book I

In Book I of the Physics, Aristotle deals primarily with the elements of a natural body.  In dealing first of all, with the age old philosophical problem of "the one and the many,"  he flatly denies that 'substance' can properly be the predicate of anything else. Various pre-Socratic philosophers who postulated that all things can be reduced to one single 'substance' have thereby missed the mark (ie. Thales -->all is water).  Instead, Aristotle argues that there must be at least two primary elements or first principles, since everything in nature that comes to be by a natural process either derives from, or tends toward, its contrary (ie. hot <---> cold).  These two contrary principles, however, do not constitute the substance of anything, and so Aristotle adds a third element which is the substratum upon which the contraries operate.  We are left therefore with three primary elements, or first principles, in nature:  1) form;  2) privation of form;  3) matter

Book II

The study of physics or 'nature' must deal with both form and matter according to Aristotle and not merely with matter.   A physicist who neglects form in his study of nature is not unlike a doctor who has a knowledge of "bile and phlegm"but is totally unconcerned with what actually constitutes health and sickness.  The physicist is therefore obligated to deal with all three primary elements of nature. 

What follows in this book is one of Aristotle's most important contributions to later scholastic theology, namely his famous four-fold causality.  A discussion on causality is included here, because "we cannot know anything about nature until we grasp the 'why' of it."  Here are the four causes as outlined by Aristotle: 1) Material Cause:  "that out of which a thing comes to be and which persists";  2) Formal Cause:  "the form or the archetype";  3) Efficient Cause:  "the primary source of the change or coming to rest";  4) Final cause: "that for the sake of which a thing is done."   Having outlined these four causes, he entertains the possibility of "chance" being a fifth cause.  His conclusion on this point is that spontaneity (that which pertains to inanimate objects) and chance (that which pertains to moral creatures) are posterior to both intelligence and nature, meaning that "however true it may be that the heavens are due to spontaneity, it will still be true that intelligence and nature will be prior causes off this all and of many things in it besides."

Implicit in Aristotle's conception of causality (specifically his 'final' cause) is the idea of teleology so despised today by radical Darwinian naturalists.  For Aristotle, nature has a purpose or telos, and everything that we find in nature tends toward its ultimate goal which is the full realization or actualization of its form.  Another way to put it is that there is a movement in nature from potentiality to actuality.  

Book III

This book begins with a discussion of motion, which Aristotle defines as "the fulfillment of what exists potentially, in so far as it exists potentially."  He lays the foundation here for later generations of Christian Theists by postulating  the possibility of something which can initiate movement which is itself unmoved - the so-called 'Unmoved Mover' which is arguably Aristotle's god... (or God??)

Since physics deals with spatial magnitudes and motion and time, each of which must be either finite or infinite, Aristotle includes here a lengthy discussion about "infinity".  He points out the difficulty of grappling with the infinite:  If we suppose that it exists we are led into many absurdities and contradictions (as we all learned in high school math!).  On the other hand, if we deny its existence we are forced to deal with a different set of difficulties and absurdities.  Aristotle's solution is that infinity exists potentially, but not actually. 

Book IV

Book IV begins with a discussion on 'Place' since we "all suppose that things which exist are somewhere".  This discussion, although somewhat tedious on the surface, has direct relevance to my MA thesis.  During the sixteenth century, Reformers engaged in an incredibly heated argument about the location of Christ's glorified and ascended body.  Was it in heaven as Zwingli, Vermigli and Calvin contended or was it omnipresent "in, with and under" the sacramental elements as Luther and his disciples argued through their doctrine of Ubiquity and 'consubstantiation'??  The Eucharistic debates of the 16th century between Reformed Protestants and Lutherans are really debates about Christology - but taken one step further, they are most fundamentally debates about the place of Christ's risen and ascended body.

According to Aristotle, "place is something distinct from bodies, and every sensible body is in place."  A philosophical problem immediately arises, however:  "if everything that exists has a place, place too will have a place, and so on ad infinitum" - and therefore we find ourselves stuck in an infinite regress!   Aristotle's conclusion in this discussion is that "the innermost motionless boundary of what contains is place."  He goes on in the course of the argument to deny the existence of a 'void' - defined as that a 'place' that exists separate from a body."

Book IV ends with an interesting discussion on Time.  According to Aristotle, there is an intimate relationship between time and movement, such that "time is neither movement nor independent of movement."  The relationship between time and motion has to do with 'succession', since both time and motion can be understood as examples of perpetual succession.  Not only do we measure movement by time, but we measure time by movement because they are mutually defining. 

Why You Should Read the Puritans!

I came across this excellent preface in a book I am reading for my MA thesis that captures the main reasons why I invest so much of my free time in studying the history and theology of the English Puritans.  As an Evangelical Baptist in the Reformed tradition, reading Puritan theology is a bit like having a chat with my grandfather or learning from the wisdom of one of the older members of my congregation.  Generally speaking, my studies in Church History over the past ten years or so since I first began to read biographies of my heroes of faith, have helped me to grow in my walk with the Lord and understanding of the Christian faith in ways that I find difficult to express - so I'll let Ligon Duncan help me out and hope that you catch the bug too!:

"Perhaps never before as much as now, the evangelical church needs to learn from the Puritans.  We live in a time of tremendous change and upheaval in Christendom.  Things once taken for granted as true and right and good, are being questioned - in both theory and practice - and there are disturbing signs that the spiritual health of the Western church is in a serious state.  In such a time as this we need 'light from old times' to guide us into the future.  The Puritans offer us that kind of light and we have, apparently, forgotten their wisdom.  What are some of the practical benefits of studying the Puritans?

First, the Puritan movement bequeathed to us a tradition of pastoral theology unsurpassed in the history of Christianity in the English-speaking world.  We need to hear them because a significant proportion of the church of our day has decided that its ministry should be carried out pragmatically rather than theologically.  'What works' is more important to some today than 'What is Biblical'.  The Puritans were not tempted by such modern folly and in their history, lives and writings they offer to us a pattern of minsitry that was both theologically informed and pastorally effective.  If we truly want to minister Biblically and effectively in the twenty-first century, then was are wise to sit at the feet of the Puritans.

Second, Puritan theology (simply defined as Biblical, evangelical, and Reformed theology) has served for more than three centuries as the basic doctrinal framework for evangelicalism.  It has been influential throughout the Protestant world in the English speaking churches and especially in the Baptist, Congregational, Independent, Anglican and Presbyterian traditions.  However, in the turmoil of post-modernity, the old doctrinal distinctives of evangelicalism are breaking down.  We hear of Protestants returning to Rome or converting to Eastern Orthodoxy.  We shudder when acclaimed evangelical scholars suggest that we need to rethink and redefine the doctrine of 'justification by faith alone'.  We are numbered by the widespread lack of knowledge of Protestant first principles in the various evangelical churches.  In this light, knowledge and appreciation of the times and teachings of the Puritans can serve to inoculate us against the false teachings and faddish Christianity of our own age.  And perhaps the glory and biblical fidelity of their teaching can reclaim a hold on our hearts, saving us from slavery to the spirit of the times or from an irrational reactionary search for spirituality in mysticism or ritualism. 

Third, the modern church seems allergic to theology and doctrine.  And yet truth is essential for healthy Christian experience and service.  The Apostle Paul himself argued throughout his letters that the saving knowledge of God is essential to Christian living.  This entails knowing God personally and learning about Him through His word.  Because of this, all Christians are called to be theologians - the question is whether we are going to be good ones or bad ones!  - and that is where the study of the Puritans comes in.  The mastering of the theology of the Puritans will provide the Christian with a wholesome and comprehensive grasp of biblical truth.  That truth, in turn, is crucial for Christian living becasue what we believe affects how we live.  Bad theology leads to bad practice.  As Stephen Charnock said so long ago: 'It is impossible to honour God as we ought, unless we know His as He is.'  The study of the Puritan's work will give us a surer knowledge of God as He has revealed Himself in the Scripture.  For these reasons, and more, we need to become reacquainted with the lives and times and teachings of the Puritans."

To this, all I can add is a hearty 'Amen'!  If you'd like to join me in rediscovering our heritage as Evangelicals through our Puritan grandparents here is a good place to start:

1) Joel Beeke, Meet the Puritans:  Click Here

2) John Brown, The English Puritans:  Click Here

3) Leland Ryken, Worldly Saints:  Click Here

3) Banner of Truth Reprints/ Abridgments - go to http://www.amazon.ca/ and type in 'Puritan Paperbacks'

Karl Barth on the Miracle and Mystery of Christmas

Here's an excellent short essay by Karl Barth on the significance of the incarnation of our Lord which we celebrate at Christmas.  This article is part of a longer book called Dogmatics in Outline which is a brief exposition of the Apostle's Creed. If you've never read Barth before, this is a great introduction since this essay is less than 10 pages long and captures his high Christology and tremendous capability as a theologian and historian.  Love him or hate him - I will always have a soft spot for Barth!

Click Here:  The Miracle and Mystery of Christmas

St. Augustine's Confessions - Mystical Vision at Ostia (Book IX)

Book IX of the Confessions reveals a side of Augustine that makes many Reformed Protestants like myself feel somewhat uncomfortable.  If anything, this book will help correct any misconceptions that we might have that Augustine is simply a carbon copy of John Calvin living at the turn of the fifth-century.  We must not forget that Augustine was a Roman Catholic Bishop and theologian, and in many ways both Protestantism and Roman Catholicism are indebted to St. Augustine's theological legacy in different ways.  Protestants tend to gravitate toward his soteriology which emphasized human depravity and our desperate need for divine grace.  Roman Catholics, by contrast tend to gravitate toward Augustine's ecclesiology and piety.  There are three aspects to this particular chapter that will raise some Protestant eyebrows (although certain brands of Charismatics might be pleasantly surprised).  First, Augustine reveals his very definite impulse toward monasticism (he was in fact the founder of a monastic order).  Second, he reveals his Neo-Platonic mysticism which remained an integral part of his experience as a Christian.  Third, Augustine reveals his approval of the cult of the martyrs (veneration of relics) which became a major aspect of medieval Roman Catholic piety.

Following his conversion in Milan narrated in Book VIII, Augustine quit his job as a professor of Rhetoric and retired with a group of friends to a country estate in Cassiciacum, where they remained from July 386 AD to his baptism the following Easter.  During this time, Augustine wrote a number of philosophical works which were based on dialogues he had with his friends.  Here we see the beginning of Augustine's attraction to the monastic life which was only interrupted by his call to become a Presbyter (much to his own dismay!) 

We glean some additional insight in this chapter into Augustine's personal life as he shares about Adeodatus, "my natural son begotten in sin." (IX.vi)  Adeodatus, who was born to Augustine out of wedlock by his concubine of fifteen years, was apparently an extremely intelligent boy:  "He was about fifteen years old, and his intelligence surpassed that of many serious and well-educated men...His intelligence left me awestruck." (IX.vi)  The apple didn't fall far from the tree!  Unfortunately Adeodatus did not survive adolescence, but died as a baptized believer.  The narration about Adeodatus here is very interesting - Augustine speaks of him almost as though he were a peer rather than his son.  Perhaps this is due to the fact that they were baptized together by Bishop Ambrose in Milan.

Shortly after his baptism, Augustine recounts a story in which Ambrose receives a divine vision telling him where two martyrs were buried.  The bodies were located, and transported to Ambrose's basillica where a number of miracles occurred when people came in contact with the bier in which the bones were being stored.  According to Augustine's testimony, a blind man was healed and several demon possesed people were exorcised.  Augustine's strong belief in the power of relics becomes even more apparent in the last book of the City of God, where he tells a number of miracles which supposedly occurred in Hippo at the shrine of St. Stephen. 

Much of the rest of this Book is taken up with events leading up to the death of Augustine's mother Monica which includes a powerful tribute in which Augustine praises his mother's virtue as the Christian wife of a non-believer who won both her pagan husband and her wayward son to Christ through persistent prayer and witness.  Shortly before her death, Augustine and Monica shared a mystical experience at Ostia which is recounted in detail in this book using language that is distictly influenced by the Enneads of Plotinus:  "Our minds were lifted up by an ardent affection towards eternal being itself.  Step by step we climbed beyond all corporeal objects and the heaven itself, where sun, moon, and stars shed light on the earth.  We ascended even further by internal reflection and dialogue and wonder at your works, and we entered into our own minds.  We moved up beyond them so as to attain to the region of inexhaustible abundance where you feed Israel eternally with truth for food." (IX.x)  What Augustine is describing here is direct, unmediated  communication with God.  Neo-Platonists held that such extatic union with ultimate Being could be attained by certain enlightened philosophers who were able to transcend the physical bodies and the constraints of the material world which was held to be evil.  Augustine himself claimed to have had one such experience as a Neo-Platonist prior to his conversion to Chrsitianity, which he describes in Book VII.  Prior to his conversion, Augustine held that his mystical experience with absolute Being left him morally unchanged in spite of its power.  He compared this earlier mystical experience to Moses looking to the promised land from a distance without actually getting to enter in:  "It is one thing from a wooded summit to catch a glimpse of the homeland of peace and not to find the way to it, but vainly to attempt the journey along an impracticable route surrounded by the ambushes and assaults of fugitive deserters with their chief." (VII.xxi)  By contrast, the mystical experience he shared with his mother at Ostia was powerful enough to free Monica from the remaining constraints she had to the corporeal world.  No longer was she concerned about where she would be buried or with whom.  Soon after this experience, Monica died and Augustine mourned her death.

Puritan Pastoral Theology 101 (Part 2)

Perhaps little has done more to hinder the credibility of Christianity in the West over the past few decades than the scandalous behavior of church leaders, pastors and priests who have betrayed the public trust and brought shame upon the Lord Jesus Christ.  Although the massive Roman Catholic sex scandal and subsequent cover-up by church officials has captured most of the media attention in recent years, many examples of sexual sin and financial indescretion have come to light in Evangelical circles to our own shame.  Public scandal and media attention, however, is only the tip of the iceberg.  I remember reading an article in Leadership Journal several years ago that gave truly shocking statistics on how many active pastors are addicted to pornography or have crossed a sexual or emotional boundary of some kind in their ministry with one of their parishoners.  Pastors are clearly not exempt from sexual sin and financial scandal, but the consequences of sin in the life of the pastor can be absolutely devestating on a number of levels.

It is to this very important subject, that Richard Baxter devotes his attention in the next section of the Reformed Pastor:  "Take heed to yourselves, for you have a depraved nature, and sinful inclinations, as well as others.  If innocent Adam had need of heed, and lost himself and us for want of it, how much more need have such as we!  Sin dwelleth in us, when we have preached ever so much against it; and one degree prepareth the heart for another, and one sin inclineth the mind to more."  (73)  Baxter warns us that Satan takes particular pleasure in attacking the officers in God's army so that he might scatter the entire battalion:  "Take heed to yourselves, because the tempter will more ply you with his temptations than other men...He beareth the greatest malice to those that are engaged to do him the greatest mischief.  As he hateth Christ more than any of us, because he is the General of the field, teh Captain of our salvation, and doth more than all the world besides against his kingdom; so doth he hate the leaders that are under him, more than the common soldiers:  he knows what a rout he may make among them, if the leaders fall before their eyes...Take heed, therefore, brethren, for the enemy hath a special eye upon you."  (74)

Sin that causes leaders to fall into disgraceful scandals is particuarly dangerous for pastors for a number of reasons which Baxter highlights.  First, the pastor is a role model for the flock and is under close observation for better or for worse: "The eclipses of the sun by day are seldom without witnesses.  As you take yourselves for the lights of the churches, you may expect that men's eyes will be upon you.  If other men may sin without observation, so cannot you.  And you should thankfully consider how great a mercy this is, that you have so many eyes to watch over you, and so many ready to tell you of your faults; and thus have greater helps than others, at least for restraining you from sin." (75-76) 

Second, a pastor who knows God's Word does not sin in ignorance and thus heaps judgment upon his own head:  "You are more likely than others to sin against knowledge becasue you have more than they; at least you sin against more light light, or means of knowledge." (76) 

Third, hypocrisy in a pastor brings public disgrace on Christ in a greater measure than sin among the laity:  "O what a heinous thing is it in us, to study how to disgrace sin to the utmost, and make it as odious in the eyes of our people as we can, and when we have done, to live in it, and secretly cherish that which we publically disgrace!  What vile hypocrisy is it to make it our daily work to cry it down, and yet to keep to it;  to call it publically all naught, and privately to make it our bed-fellow and companion; to bind heavy burdens on others and not to touch them ourselves with a finger!" (76-77)

Fourth, public disgrace among Christian pastors brings disgrace on all Christians generally and attacks the credibility of the Church's witness for Christ in the world:  "Would it not wound you to the heart to hear the name and truth of God reproached for your sakes;  to see men point to you, and say, 'There goes a covetous priest, a secret tippler, a scandalous man; these are they that preach for strictness, while they themselves can live as loose as others; they condemn us by their sermons, and condemn themselves by their lives; nothwithstanding all their talk, they are as bad as we.'  O brethren, could your hearts endure to hear men cast the dung of your iniquities in the face of the holy God, and in the face of the gospel, and of all that desire to fear the Lord?  Would it not bread your hearts to think tthat all the godly Christians about you should suffer reproach for your misdoings?" (79)

Baxter points out the wickedness and deception that lurks within the human heart - even in the heart of many pastors who preach every sunday but are not truly born again by the Spirit of God:  "I know indeed, that a wicked man may be more willing of the reformation of others than of his own, and hence may show a kind of earnestness in dissuading them from their evil ways; becasue he can preach against sin at an easier rate than he can forsake it, and another man's reformation may consist with his own enjoyment of his lusts." (83)

These are very heavy words to read, but words that all of us in public, gospel ministry must take very seriously.  To whom much is given much will be required! 

Will There Be Free Will in Heaven??

I just finished the last five pages of the City of God (Hurray!!!)  and came across Augustine's answer to a philosophical question that has always puzzled and intrigued me.  If there will be no sin in heaven, and no possibility of sinning and rebelling against God as Lucifer and the demons did, and as the first humans did in Eden, how could there possibly be free will in the New Jerusalem?  Here's how Augustine navigates this issue:

"Also [in the City of God] they will then no longer be able to take delight in sin.  This does not mean, however, that they will have no free will.  On the contrary, it will be all the more free, because set free from delight in sinning to take a constant delight in not sinning.  For when man was created righteous, the first freedom of will that he was given consisted in an ability not to sin [posse non peccare] but also in an ability to sin [posse peccare]. But this last freedom of will will be greater, in that it will consist in not being able to sin [non posse peccare].  This, however, will not be a natural possibility, but a gift from God.  For it is one thing to be God, and another to be a partaker of God:  God is by nature unable too sin; but he who partakes of God's nature receives the impossibility of sinning only as a gift from God.   Moreover, in the divine gift of free will there was to be observed a gradation such that man should first receive a free will by which he was able not to sin, and finally a free will by which he was not able to sin:  the former being given to man in a state of probation, and the latter to him in a state of reward.  But because human nature sinned when it had the power to sin, it is redeemed by a more abundant gift of grace so that it may be led to that state of freedom in which it cannot sin."  (XXII. 30)

Augustine's answer here about human freedom in the Eschaton solves another tricky issue related to Adam's Fall in the Garden.  If God has foreordained the future such that Adam's decent into sin is an integral part of His eternal decree, how is God not the author of sin??  In a real sense this is the big, uncomfortable question that makes most Calvinists squirm when pressed to give an answer.  Augustine's answer here is that Adam in the Garden had the ability not to sin [posse non peccare] which entails full freedom of the will, but for some reason unknown to us, God in his sovereignty chose to withhold his grace from Adam. (a passive, rather than an active response on God's part)  According to Augustine's logic, the restored order in the Eschaton will be even better than the Garden of Eden, because at that time God will extend grace to all of the elect so that they will not be able to sin [non posse peccare].  Augustine therefore shifts the issue from any blasphemous notion we may have of a defect in the human will placed there by God, to the giving/ withholding of a divine "gift" of grace which guarantees that the will chooses what is Good.  Since God is under no obligation to give grace to even a single person (grace by definition is 'unmerited favour'), withholding this gift from Adam even prior to the first sin does not implicate God in that first terrible act of rebellion.  Adam used his own free will to rebel against God, and God, acting in accordance with His eternal decree, did not prevent Adam from sinning even though He could have done so.  Quite an ingenious solution to a very difficult theological problem!

Puritan Pastoral Theology 101 (Part I)

As I prepare to make a transition this April from Student Ministry in a parachurch setting to Pastoral Ministry in a local church setting, I picked up a copy of Richard Baxter's classic work on Pastoral Theology entitled The Reformed Pastor which I've had good intentions to read since I first got hooked on the English Puritans in Seminary.

Richard Baxter was one of the foremost Puritan pastors of the seventeenth-century who was a friend and associate of Thomas Manton - the subject of my MA research at McGill.  Both Manton and Baxter belonged to the non-separatist Presbyterian party within the Church of England and were forcibly ejected from their pastorates as a result of the 1662 Act of Uniformity for their refusal to conform to the Book of Common Prayer shortly after the Stuart monarchy was restored under Charles II.  As a pastor, Baxter was second to none and wrote The Reformed Pastor to train and equip young men preparing for the ministry.   By 'Reformed', Baxter is not referring to the Calvinistic Doctrines of Grace, but to the need for pastors to be renewed or 'reformed' in their pastoral practice.  As I work through this book in the coming weeks, I will share some of Baxter's pastoral wisdom.  Citations are from the Banner of Truth paperback edition.

The Pastor's Duty to Oversee His Own Spiritual Health

Before a pastor can properly tend God's flock, he must take care of his own spiritual wellbeing:  "We have the same sins to mortify, and the same graces to be quickedned and strengthened, as our people have:  we have greater works to do that they have, and greater difficulties to overcome, and therefore we have need to be warned and awakened, if not to be instructed, as well as they." (51)

The first duty of the reformed pastor, therefore, is to "see that the work of saving grace be thoroughly wrought in your own souls." (53)  Baxter warns that God does not save clergy because of their vocation or gifts and urges pastors not to be complacent in making their own calling and election sure before they climb into the pulpit to urge others to renounce sin and to embrace Jesus Christ as Lord:  "God never saved any man for being a preacher, nor because he was an able preacher; but because he was a justified, sanctified man, and consequently faithful in his Master's work....  It is a fearful thing to be an unsanctified professor, but much more to be an unsanctified preacher.  Doth it not make you tremble when you open the Bible, lest you shouls there read the sentence of your own condemnation?  When you pen your sermons, little do you think that you are drawing up indictments against your own souls!  When you are arguing against sin, that you are aggravating your own!  When you proclaim to your hearers the unsearchable riches of Christ and his grace, that you are publishing your own iniquity in rejecting them, and your unhappiness in being destitute of them!  What can you do in persuading men to Christ, in drawing them from the world, in urging them to a life of faith and holiness, but conscience, if it were awake, would tell you, that you speak all this to your own confusion?  If you speak of hell, you speak of your own inhereitance:  if you describe the joys of heaven, you describe your own misery, seeing you have no right to 'the inheritance of the saints in light.'  What can you say, for the most part, but that it will be against your own souls?  O miserable life!  that a man should study and preach against himself, and spend his days in a course of self-condemning!  A graceless, inexperienced preacher is one of the most unhappy creatures upon earth:  and yet he is ordinarily very insensible of his unhappiness; for he hath so many counters that seem like the gold of saving grace, and so many splendid sotnes that resemble Christian jewels, that he is seldom troubled with the thoughs of his poverty." (54) 

Not only must a pastor ensure that a saving work has been wrought in his own heart before proclaiming the gospel to others, he must also make sure that his faith remains fresh and vibrant, and that his heart remains warm with the gospel of grace:  "Content not yourselves with being in a state of grace, but be also careful that your graces are kept in vigorous and lively exercise, and that you preach to yourselves teh sermons which you study, before you preach them to others...I confess I must speak it by lamentable experience, that I publishe to my flock the distempers of my own soul.  When I let my heart grow cold, my preaching is cold; and when it is confused, my preaching is confused; and so I can oft observe also in the best of my hearers, that when I have grown cold in preaching, they have grown cold too." (61)  The only way to keep the fire stoked, says Baxter, is for the pastor to make his prayer life the first priority in his ministry:  "Above all, be much in secret prayer and mediation.  Thence you must fetch the heavenly fire that must kindle your sacrifices:  remember, you cannot decline and neglect your duty, to your own hurt alone; many will be losers by it as well as you.  For your people's sakes, therefore, look to your hearts." (62)

The reformed pastor must always lead the flock by example:  "Order your families well, if you would have them do so by theirs.  Be not proud and lordly, if you would have them to be lowly.  There are no virtues wherein your example will do more, at least to abate men's prejudice, than humility and meekness and self-denial." (65)

The godly pastor must excel in works of charity and benevolence and demonstrate frugality and generosity in the way he lives and stewards his financial resources:  "Go to the poor, and see what they want, and show your compassion at once to their soul and body.  Buy them a catechism, and other small books that are likely to do them good, and make them promise to read tehm with care and attention.  Stretch your purse to teh utmost, and do all the good you can.  Think not of being rich;  seek not great things for yourselves or your posterity." (66)

Pastors must strive daily to root out or to 'mortify' (a good Puritan word!) sin and avoid ministering in a state of hypocrisy:  "If sin be evil, why do you live in it?  if it be not, why do you dissuade men from it?  If it be dangerous, how dare you venture on it?  if it be not, why do you tell men so?  If God's threatenings be true, why do you not fear them?  if they be false, why do you needlessly trouble men with them, and put them into such frights without a cause?"  (68)

Finally, pastors must take steps to prepare themselves with the necessary skills for the work of the ministry which normally includes the pursuit of formal theological education as God provides the time, resources and opportunity.  If formal theological education is not a viable option, the pastor should, like Charles Spurgeon, pursue his own course of independent study by immersing himself in theology and the study of the biblical languages.  The Puritans placed an extemely high value on the education of their clergy as evidenced by the fact that most of the Ivy League schools in New England were founded by Congregationalist and Presbyterian Puritans for the training of the next generation of ministers (ie. Harvard, Yale, Princeton etc.).  This Puritan concern for theological education persists in the Reformed tradition today as all Presbyterian pastors are required to complete an MDiv before they can complete the process of ordination.  Here is what Baxter has to say about the importance of education:  "O brethren!  do you not shrink and tremble under the sense of all this work?  Will a common measure of holy skill and ability, of prudence and other qualifications, serve for such such a task as this?  I know necessity may cause the Church to tolerate the weak; but woe to us if we tolerate and indulge our own weakness!  Do not reason and conscience tell you, that if you dare venture on so high a work as this, you should spare no pains to be qualified for the performance of it?  It is not now and then an idle snatch or taste of studies that will serve to make an able and sound divine [puritan word for pastor/theologian]  I know that laziness hath learned to allege the vanity of all our studies, and how entirely the Spirit must qualify us for, and assist us in our work; as if God commanded us the use of means, and then warranted us to neglet them...O, therefore, brethren, lose no time!  Study, and pray and confer, and practise; for in these four ways your abilities must be increased." (71)