Southern Baptists, 1689ers, the TGC/T4G-ish pastors have misled entire churches about Puritan theology for decades. New England Puritans were the chief architects of US white supremacist theology through Edwards. Does this explain the 2020 "blindspots?" amazon.com/dp/0199377820/…
In fact, Southern racists first learned racist theology from New England pastors and seminaries. There's no racist Dabney with out racist New England Puritans.
When you're mis-educated about the history of Christian traditions, and their doctrinal flaws, you're much more likely to repeat their "blind spots." Uncritical presentations of history, contrary to what's modeled in the Old Testament, sets churches up for moral failure.
Uncritical presentations in the long-run aren't helpful. People need to know the truth so that they don't repeat the "blind spots." This is why the OT is so important. You clearly see that saints were deeply flawed. That's missing in books like this amazon.com/American-Purit…
Pointing to the outliers as the normative standard of anti-racism & abolition is historically dishonest & deceptive. It's better to admit ignorance, that you got the history wrong, and the need to get back and rethink the Puritans. That's a better pastoral model.
Again, what Puritan fans need to sort out is this: if the American practice of Calvinism (and your understanding of the gospel) is so right, why has it *always* been wrong about black people? Exceptions prove the rule. No black person has the burden of resolving this for you.
Slavery and racial oppression in Puritanism is no less a "blind spot" than modern slavery would be today. Their "blind spots" were wrong back then. The "Men of their times" argument is never made when the Bible reflects on Israel's history. Selah.
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