The English Reformation was a lengthy process in which the country shifted back and forth between Catholicism and Protestantism as monarchs came and went. In a span of twenty years, the religion of the land changed four times, but the reign of Elizabeth (1558–1603) brought stability and provided the necessary conditions for English Reformers to solidify the church's position. William Perkins (1558–1602) played a pivotal role in this, and his works became the standard polemic against Rome. In addition to his polemical engagement, Perkins made a significant contribution to the development of Reformed theology on the continent while also shaping the nature of pastoral ministry on both sides of the Atlantic.
Among modern scholarship, discussion of Perkins is often limited to Ramist charts, predestinarian diagrams, and supralapsarian schemata, as if this were all there is to say about the man. But Perkins produced over fifty treatises, and what is often overlooked is that he was above all else an exegete. This is what makes the present volume such a welcome one. Here, Dr. Andrew Ballitch engages in a first-class analysis of Perkins's exegetical method.
Ballitch's study (originally his PhD dissertation) begins with an overview of the history of biblical interpretation, engaging with medieval theologians such as Thomas Aquinas and Nicholas of Lyra; Reformers such as Huldrych Zwingli, Martin Bucer, and Wolfgang Musculus; and contemporaries of Perkins such as Neils Hemmingson, Andreas Hyperius, and William Whitaker. His overview is a helpful introduction to the main issues, movements, and developments in biblical interpretation. It also serves to demonstrate that Perkins did not develop his exegetical approach in a vacuum but stood in a tradition that entailed certain pre-critical presuppositions, the most significant of which is the coherent and consistent message of scripture.
Ballitch then turns his attention to Perkins's actual approach to biblical interpretation as articulated in The Art of Prophesying. The accepted method within medieval theology (the quadriga) espoused four “equal” senses of scripture—the literal, allegorical, anagogical, and tropological. Perkins was adamant that the quadriga renders scripture meaningless, and he insisted that each part of scripture has but one full and entire sense and that we arrive at it through the use of three principal tools. The first is context. While Perkins gave attention to the scope of each biblical text (e.g., authorial intent, historical setting, etc.), he was chiefly concerned with its canonical context. He was convinced that the unity and harmony of scripture implies that no text is intended to stand on its own. Scripture, therefore, is to be interpreted in light of scripture. The second tool is collation. This involves comparing similar and dissimilar passages of scripture. It also involves giving careful attention to how scripture uses scripture, especially citations and allusions. Central to Perkins's approach was his federal theology, which ensured a unified approach to scripture because he viewed the Old and New Testaments as one in substance. The third tool is the analogy of faith. Perkins believed it was important to determine the central themes of scripture, which then provide a point of reference by which to interpret scripture. These themes are primarily expressed in the Decalogue, the Lord's Prayer, and the Apostle's Creed. Perkins did not turn to these doctrines to determine the meaning of a biblical text but to rule out aberrant interpretations. He believed they established boundaries within which accurate interpretation takes place.
In the remainder of this volume, Ballitch demonstrates and evaluates how Perkins employed these three tools (context, collation, and the analogy of faith) in his (1) sermons and commentaries, (2) practical works, (3) theological works, and (4) polemical works. This classification of Perkins's literary corpus into four “genres” is important as it demonstrates his exegetical consistency. Whether preaching a sermon, offering pastoral counsel, engaging in controversy, or writing a theological treatise, his works were grounded in biblical exposition. Ballitch's observation is a necessary corrective to the common misrepresentation of Reformed orthodoxy as scholastic, rationalistic, cold, dead, and (oddly enough) unbiblical.
In sum, Ballitch's research is clear and concise, providing a valuable contribution to the study of Perkins, the Elizabethan church, and (perhaps most importantly) pre-modern and pre-critical biblical exegesis. Just as the arts and sciences have fundamental axioms, so, too, does theology. For Perkins, the most fundamental axiom of all is that the canonical scripture is God's Word. Throughout his writings, therefore, he champions what he describes as scripture's “infallible certainty.” This premise is determinative in his approach to biblical interpretation, and it informs his conviction that meaning is located in the text, not behind it.
