Puritan Books Evaluated (1) – Introduction

I’m going to begin a series on Puritan books and writers that I hope will be edifying for my readers. I believe the Puritans to be the single greatest group of writers on the Christian Life and the Life of Faith. This is not to say I believe they were always right, or that they should be followed religiously on every sentence they wrote. I differ from them in their adherence to Reformed Covenant Theology, be it paedobaptist or credobaptist. I think they sometimes overplayed what it takes to get saved and have assurance of salvation (e.g., Bunyan’s Grace Abounding). On occasion in their works they seem here and there to take with one hand what they want to give with the other (e.g., Obadiah Sedgwick’s The Doubting Believer). In my opinion they “beat you up” a little too much before applying the balm (e.g., Jeremiah Burroughs’s The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment). They often were very verbose (think Richard Baxter’s full text of The Saint’s Everlasting Rest). There are even times when they waste the readers time (like John Arrowsmith’s Plans for Holy War). Finally, as commentators they can be exhausting. Matthew Henry is wonderful for application, but he is also not very inductive and he is prolix. Matthew Poole is far better at getting to the point, but even he leaves you hanging. But they were giants, and modern Christians should have some familiarity with them.

The true genius of Puritan writings (and here I might include the Anglican like Robert Leighton, Edward Reynolds, and Joseph Hall, and the Dutch scholars of the Nadere Reformatie such as Wilhelmus a Brakel), is in their ability to address, diagnose, exhort and comfort believers in their earthly pilgrimage. Moreover, they had a knack of extolling the greatness of God which is unmatched.

What one gets consistently when reading these men is a sense of the glory of God. Although they do not hold back from treating God’s justice and judgment against human sin, they prefer to speak words of encouragement to the injured soul. God is presented as patient, caring, involved, willing to bless. I think of the four generals sent by El Shaddai to the rebellious city of Mansoul in Bunyan’s Holy War and how they try again and again to woo the intransigent occupants to submit to their King, who is merciful and entreats them to come to Him for their eternal good. They will never dilute their message to gain a convert, but they hold out hope of forgiveness and favor to any who listen. Or I think of how John Owen in his Communion with God encourages the saints to employ their prayers and their worship in a trinitarian way, thereby helping us to fill our minds with thoughts on the offices and works of the three Persons that are engaged on our behalf.

This message of comfort and edification is sorely needed in our day. How shallow and empty are the majority of contemporary books on living out one’s faith in comparison to the searchant diagnoses and remedies of the Puritans! One can see this impact in the works such as Dane Ortland’s Gentle and Lowly and Kris Lundgaard’s The Devoted Mind.

The greatness of God’s love and mercy for sinners must be conceived in the context of our sin. The Puritan’s, unlike so many preachers and writers today, do not whitewash (or ignore) sin. They set themselves to discover it and “out” it. Here one thinks of the brilliant exposes of our sin by Owen in his On Indwelling Sin and his The Mortification of Sin. Equally penetrating is Thomas Goodwin’s masterful little work called The Vanity of Thoughts. The truth of our inward corruption drives us into God’s arms.

Of course, some of these authors are easier to read than others. I pity the person whose first foray into the Puritan literature is Owen or Goodwin. I might construct a three-tier list with a selection of easier and harder to read writers that looks like this:

EASIER:

Thomas Watson

Jeremiah Burroughs

George Swinnock

Matthew Henry

Hugh Binning

MODERATELY EASY:

John Flavel

Thomas Brooks

John Bunyan

Richard Sibbes

Richard Baxter

HARDER:

John Owen

Thomas Goodwin

John Howe

Stephen Charnock

John Preston

In this series I want to provide brief evaluations of some of the many works left to us by these men of God. I hope they will be of benefit to you. The reviews will not be in any particular order. On occasion there may be a criticism thrown in as I don’t think it healthy to lionize these men. Hopefully, you will be encouraged to purchase some of these works for yourself. I will start next time with perhaps the most significant volume of Puritan literature; John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress.