COMMITTEE ON CHRISTIAN EDUCATION FEATURE

John Arrowsmith (1602–1659), a leading Presbyterian at the Westminster Assembly, has not received over the years the recognition of such Scottish divines as George Gillespie, Thomas Henderson, or Samuel Rutherford. Part of this is due to the fact that his post-assembly Latin masterpiece, Tactica Sacra, remained untranslated in English. OP ministers Chad Van Dixhoorn and David Noe have provided a wonderful service to the Reformed community in resurrecting Arrowsmith by presenting his treatise for the first time in English, Plans for Holy War.

Van Dixhoorn’s splendid biographical sketch, “John Arrowsmith: A Theological Life,” places Arrowsmith’s contributions at the Westminster Assembly in context. According to Van Dixhoorn, among “the assembly of divines, where there were serious theological divisions, Arrowsmith became a contributor of outsized importance.” Acknowledged as a master Latinist and scholar, he preached two sermons before the assembly that were universally praised. Robert Baillie described Arrowsmith at the assembly as a “learned divine, on whom the Assemblie putt the writing against the Antinomians” and other errors.

David Noe’s translation of Tactica Sacra is an accomplishment of the highest order. Beautiful is not a word that often accompanies theological translation work, but that is the first thought that came to my mind. Noe’s loving care of Arrowsmith’s text is accompanied by pedagogical assistance throughout with English equivalents from Arrowsmith’s abundant use of Greek and Hebrew, in addition to the Latin.

But what stands out most of all in Plans for Holy War is Arrowsmith himself, and that because of his relentless passion to exalt Jesus Christ. Starting with Genesis 3:15, Arrowsmith asks, “How did Christ crush the serpent’s head for us?” Arrowsmith also asks, “How does the seed of the woman in us trample the serpent’s head? For there is in us as well a ‘snake.’” Regarding the two questions, Arrowsmith explains, “If you want to state it precise, How did He and how does He abolish death and sin.” In regard to the first question, Arrowsmith declares that “Christ trampled the serpent’s head for us by dying in our place, to satisfy divine justice for the sins of all His own.” In regard to the second question, “Christ tramples his head by abolishing death, whose sting is sin, then sin itself, the wages of which are death, in the manner and at the time that pleased Him.” What is so pleasurable in watching Arrowsmith fill out the answers is that he confronts the question from every angle for pages. Admittedly, if one is rusty in reading the Puritans as I was, the level of detail is exhaustive, but the theological reward for staying the course is immense.

In the middle portion of the book, Arrowsmith moves to redemption accomplished and applied, with a particular emphasis on the benefits earned by Christ and given to the church through a detailed look at Ephesians 6. Along the way, he includes detailed discussions about church and the magistrate, and the necessity of standing over against Roman Catholicism on the one hand and the Remonstrants on the other hand. The book ends with “A Modest [Outline] of the Heavenly Triumph,” which drives the reader to the final triumph found in Christ. 

Arrowsmith’s knowledge of the writings of his theological guides—Augustine, Luther, Calvin and others—is a treasure matched only by his knowledge of the theological adversaries that he disagrees with but respects, such as Bellarmine. Arrowsmith’s skill is to insert the proper point from the proper theologian to address the doctrinal issue being considered. 

Plans for Holy War: How the Spiritual Soldier Fights, Conquers, and Triumphs by John Arrowsmith, trans. by David Noe, ed. by Chad Van Dixhoorn. Reformation Heritage, 2024. Hardback, 560 pages, $38.00.