William Perkins

Life

Perkins was born in 1558 at Marston Jabbett in Warwickshire, England. Elizabeth I came to the throne that same year and reigned until 1603, so his life coincided almost entirely with her reign. In 1577 he entered Christ's College, University of Cambridge, receiving his BA in 1581 and his MA in 1584. As a student he was tutored by the Puritan scholar Laurence Chaderton, and the two remained lifelong friends. He is said to have been absorbed in astrology as a young man before his conversion, and afterward he reportedly began his ministry by preaching to prisoners in the Cambridge jail.

In 1584 he became a fellow of Christ's College. A fellow was a member of the college who preached, lectured, and supervised students. From about the same time he also served as lecturer at Great St Andrew's Church in Cambridge; a lecturer in this sense was a minister appointed to preach. He gave up his fellowship upon his marriage in 1595 but continued preaching at the church until his death in 1602, at about the age of forty-four.

Ministry and Contributions

Perkins was a "nonseparating" Puritan, one who sought reform within the Church of England rather than leaving it. He played a major role in introducing the theology of Continental Reformed thinkers such as Theodore Beza to England and establishing it there. He defined theology as "the science of living blessedly for ever," reflecting his emphasis on both scholarly rigor and practical piety. He left more than forty works, many of which were published after his death.

• A Golden Chain (1590): This work sets out election, reprobation, and the process leading to salvation in a large chart. Reprobation refers to God's decree not to save. The book systematically presents the doctrine of double predestination, according to which God has foreordained some people to salvation and others to damnation.
• The Art of Prophesying: Regarded as the first Protestant manual of homiletics written in English. It applied the logical method of the French scholar Ramus (Pierre de la Ramée) to preaching and emphasized application to life alongside the interpretation of the text, laying the foundation for Puritan preaching.
• Cases of Conscience: In this work Perkins developed casuistry, a form of practical ethics that addresses, one by one, the questions of conscience that believers actually face.
• He also wrote expositions of the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, the Sermon on the Mount, Galatians, and Hebrews 11, as well as a treatise on the doctrine of vocation, among other works.

The next generation of Puritans, including William Ames, who was converted under his preaching, came under his influence. Scholars also trace his influence in the Synod of Dort (1618–1619), the Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), and New England Puritanism.

Influence on the Korean Church

Perkins has been introduced in Korea chiefly through Presbyterian and Reformed publishers and theologians. Works translated into Korean include an exposition of the Apostles' Creed (Reformed Faith Publishing, 2004), The Foundation of Christian Religion, a catechetical textbook for new believers (translated by Kim Hong-man, Jipyung Books), and a volume on William Perkins's doctrine of vocation. He is frequently cited in Christian media columns and theological discussions dealing with Puritan covenant theology, the doctrine of vocation, and application-centered preaching.

Assessment

In Reformed circles Perkins is called "the father of Puritanism" and is regarded as one of the most respected theologians of the Elizabethan church. His doctrine of double predestination, however, was criticized even in his own day by Jacobus Arminius and by Dutch ministers who opposed the doctrine of predestination. Denominations that follow Arminianism or Wesleyan theology continue to reject this understanding of predestination. Some critics have also described the chart in A Golden Chain as cold and speculative. Defenders respond that Perkins urged his readers neither to conclude that they were reprobate nor to doubt their own election, and they argue that his doctrine of predestination served a pastoral purpose. His works were rarely reprinted for a long period, but they have recently drawn renewed attention with the publication of a ten-volume collected edition in English.