III. Puritan Nathaniel Homes Stresses Resurrection

Returning now to England, we find that increasing emphasis appeared at this time on the literal resurrection of the righteous dead, to occur at the second advent of Christ—a teaching that always accompanies a clear Conditionalist emphasis. An example can be seen in the 1641 treatise by DR. NATHANIEL HOMES, or Holmes (1599-1678), scholarly Puritan divine. He was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, and at Exeter, where he received the successive degrees of B.A., M.A., B.D., and D.D. He was highly skilled in Hebrew. And as a Calvinist he first served as rector of St. Mary Staining, thereafter ministering to several Independent congregations.CFF2 181.2

Homes was an ardent premillennialist, his most noted work being The Resurrection Revealed: or the Dawning of the Day-Star (1641). This unique treatise stresses the millennium as still future, thus opposing the Augustinian position. He avers that it is to be introduced by the literal resurrection of the sleeping saints and the change, or translation, of the living saints at the Second Advent—which transcendent event, he held, will also bring about the destruction of the world by fire, together with Antichrist, the archenemy of truth. In this work, Oliver Cromwell’s chaplain, Peter Sterry, wrote the significant and descriptive introduction concerning this rising “Morning Star“:CFF2 181.3

“Like a peece of rich coine, it hath been long buried in the earth, but of late dayes digged up againe; it begins to grow bright with handling, and to passe current with great numbers of Saints, and learned men of great Authority. As the same Star at several seasons is the Evening-star, setting immediately after the Sunne, and the Morning-star shining immediately before it; So was this Truth the Evening-star to the first coming of Christ, and giving of the Spirit, setting together with the glory of that Day, in a night of Ani-Christianisme: Now it appears againe in our Times, as a Morning star, to that blessed Day of the second effusion of the Spirit, and the second appearance of our Saviour in the glory of the Father.”CFF2 181.4

1. SIGNIFICANCE OF PETER STERRY’S ENDORSEMENT

The significance of Sterry’s introduction is caught only by noting the character and caliber of the man himself. PETER STERRY (1613-1672), eminent Independent divine, was educated at Puritan Emmanuel College, Cambridge University. This was at a time when the forces in the university were seeking to reinterpret Christianity in the light of Platonic philosophy. Sterry was a profound thinker, with strong religious convictions. He was trained in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Italian. He might have remained as a teacher at Cambridge, but left because he was out of harmony with its religious emphasis.CFF2 182.1

Sterry was the personal friend and chaplain of Oliver Cromwell, and a strong supporter of the Protectorate. He was likewise a congenial friend of Conditionalist John Milton, joining him in championing toleration and assisting him when the latter was going blind. He was also a friend of the despised Quakers. Sterry was marked for high office and was appointed preacher to the Council of State. He was noted for his poetic eloquence, and frequently preached before each of the Houses of Parliament. He was also responsible for certifying the fitness of ministers. He pleaded against depending upon forms, ordinances, and peculiar ways of worship.CFF2 182.2

He was also one of the clergymen chosen by the House of Lords for the Westminster Assembly ^{1515) The Westminster Assembly, originally appointed by Parliament in 1643, with the purpose of reforming the English church, comprised 151 members, laymen and ecclesiastics. These included Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Independents, and Erastrians. They attempted to revise the Thirty-Nine Articles. But instead, the Westminster Confession, the Directory of Public Worship, and the two Westminster Catechisms resulted.} to reorganize the Church of England on a Puritan basis. But after the execution of Charles I, the Westminster Assembly held its last meeting. Any predominance of the Presbyterian cause in England was thus lost.CFF2 182.3

Sterry’s support of Dr. Homes’s Resurrection treatise and its basic implications indicates the permeation of the structural principles of Conditionalism and its corollaries into high places at this time. This again attests that during this period certain clerics of prominence held various aspects of this unpopular view of man and his destiny without being ostracized and without forfeiting their clerical posts. In previous times cruel persecution was visited upon its proponents. Thus the pendulum swung back and forth between toleration and ostracism.CFF2 182.4