Category: The Puritans

The Puritans have become recently introduced to a whole host of people through the publishing of much of their literature which was originally written in the 16^th and 17^th centuries. In large measure it was Pastor Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899 – 1981) who helped to create a demand for books by the Puritans. One way he did so was through an annual Puritan Conference which created a demand for Puritan literature. Puritan reprints began to be republished by the publishing company Banner of Truth Trust in the 1950’s.

As one author on the Puritans comments, “A new generation of Christians began to relish the written legacy of the Puritans in their quest for guidance and understanding. Demand began to grow for new editions of ‘the good old puritanical writings’.”

Dr. Joel Beeke, who along with Randall Pederson co-authored the book Meet the Puritans, gives nine reasons how one may profit from reading the writings of the Puritans. Those reasons are as follows.

First, Puritan writings help shape life by Scripture.  Second, Puritan writings show how to integrate biblical doctrine into daily life. Third, Puritan writings show how to exalt Christ and see His beauty.

Fourth, Puritan writings reveal the Trinitarian character of theology. Dr. Beeke writes, “The Puritans were driven by a deep sense of the infinite glory of a Triune God. When they answered the first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism that man’s chief end was to glorify God, they meant the Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They took John Calvin’s glorious understanding of the unity of the Trinity in the Godhead, and showed how that worked itself out in electing, redeeming, and sanctifying love and grace in the lives of believers. John Owen wrote an entire book on the Christian believer’s communion with God as Father, Jesus as Savior, and the Holy Spirit as Comforter. The Puritans teach us how to remain God-centered while being vitally concerned about Christian experience, so that we don’t fall into the trap of glorifying experience for its own sake.” Read John Owen’s Communion with God and Jonathan Edwards on the Trinity.”

Fifth, Puritan writings show you how to handle trials. As Dr. Beeke continues, “Puritanism grew out of a great struggle between the truth of God’s Word and its enemies. Reformed Christianity was under attack in Great Britain, much like Reformed Christianity is under attack today. The Puritans were good soldiers in the conflict, enduring great hardships and suffering much. Their lives and their writings stand ready to arm us for our battles, and to encourage us in our suffering. The Puritans teach us how we need affliction to humble us (Deut. 8:2), to teach us what sin is (Zeph. 1:12), and how that brings us to God (Hos. 5:15). “

As Robert Leighton wrote, “Affliction is the diamond dust that heaven polishes its jewels with.” The Puritans show us how God’s rod of affliction is His means to write Christ’s image more fully upon us, so that we may be partakers of His righteousness and holiness (Heb. 12:10–11).” Read Thomas Boston’s The Crook in the Lot and The Sovereignty and Wisdom of God Displayed in the Afflictions of Men.

Sixth, Puritan writings explain true spirituality. Dr. Beeke comments that, “The Puritans stress the spirituality of the law, spiritual warfare against indwelling sin, the childlike fear of God, the wonder of grace, the art of meditation, the dreadfulness of hell, and the glories of heaven.” If you want to live deep as a Christian, read Oliver Heywood’s Heart Treasure.

Read the Puritans devotionally, and then pray to be like them. Ask questions such as: Am I, like the Puritans, thirsting to glorify the Triune God? Am I motivated by biblical truth and biblical fire? Do I share their view of the vital necessity of conversion and of being clothed with the righteousness of Christ? Do I follow them as far as they followed Christ?”

Good questions to consider. Next time, we will continue to examine reasons for reading the literature by the Puritans.

Soli deo Gloria!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Puritans have become recently introduced to a whole host of people through the publishing of much of their literature which was originally written in the 16^th and 17^th centuries. In large measure it was Pastor Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899 – 1981) who helped to create a demand for books by the Puritans. One way he did so was through an annual Puritan Conference which created a demand for Puritan literature. Puritan reprints began to be republished by the publishing company Banner of Truth Trust in the 1950’s.

As one author on the Puritans comments, “A new generation of Christians began to relish the written legacy of the Puritans in their quest for guidance and understanding. Demand began to grow for new editions of ‘the good old puritanical writings’.”

Dr. Joel Beeke, who along with Randall Pederson co-authored the book Meet the Puritans, gives nine reasons how one may profit from reading the writings of the Puritans. Those reasons are as follows.

One, Puritan writings help shape life by Scripture. The Puritans loved, lived, and breathed Holy Scripture. They relished the power of the Spirit that accompanied the Word. Their books are all Word-centered; more than 90 percent of their writings are repackaged sermons that are rich with scriptural exposition. The Puritan writers truly believed in the sufficiency of Scripture for life and godliness.

Two, Puritan writings show how to integrate biblical doctrine into daily life. The Puritan writings do this in three ways: To begin with, they address your mind. In keeping with the Reformed tradition, the Puritans refused to set mind and heart against each other, but viewed the mind as the palace of faith. The Puritans understood that a mindless Christianity fosters a spineless Christianity. An anti-intellectual gospel quickly becomes an empty, formless gospel that never gets beyond “felt needs,” which is something that is happening in many churches today.

Additionally, Puritan writings confront your conscience. The Puritans are masters at convicting us about the heinous nature of our sin against an infinite God. They excel at exposing specific sins, then asking questions to press home conviction of those sins. As one Puritan wrote, “We must go with the stick of divine truth and beat every bush behind which a sinner hides, until like Adam who hid, he stands before God in his nakedness.”

Also, the Puritan writers engage your heart. They excel in feeding the mind with solid biblical substance and they move the heart with affectionate warmth. They write out of love for God’s Word, love for the glory of God, and love for the soul of readers. Read Vincent Alsop’s, Practical Godliness.

Third, Puritan writings show how to exalt Christ and see His beauty. The Puritans loved Christ and exalted in His beauty. Puritan Samuel Rutherford wrote: “Put the beauty of ten thousand worlds of paradises, like the Garden of Eden in one; put all trees, all flowers, all smells, all colors, all tastes, all joys, all loveliness, and all sweetness in one. O what a fair and excellent thing would that be? And yet it would be less to that fair and dearest well-beloved Christ than one drop of rain to the whole seas, rivers, lakes, and foundations of ten thousand earths.”

If you would desire to know Christ better and love Him more completely, engage yourself in Puritan literature. Read Robert Asty’s, Rejoicing in the Lord Jesus.

Next time, we will continue to examine reasons for reading the literature by the Puritans.

Soli deo Gloria!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“The recent revival of interest in and commitment to the truths of Reformed theology is due in large measure to the rediscovery of Puritan literature. The Puritans of old have become the prophets for our time.”                                                                                            R.C. Sproul

Throughout the ministry and writings by the Puritans, five major concerns dominate their thinking. Each of the five were thoroughly considered in the vast volume of their work.

First, the Puritans were concerned with searching the Scriptures, organizing their findings and apply what they had learned in every area of life.

Second, the Puritans possessed a commitment to Trinitarian theology. They loved the electing grace of God, the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ, and the applying work by the Holy Spirit. Their experiential Christianity was not an experience for the sake of experience. Rather, they examined how the experience of living for Christ stemmed from God’s work in them resulting in Him receiving the glory.

Third, the Puritans were committed to the local church. They believed worship should be biblically orientated, preaching should focus on the meaning of the biblical text and the fostering of Christian fellowship should never be taken for granted. These disciplines, they believed, ensured the well-being of the local church.

Fourth, the Puritans were not separatists from politics, but were engaged and involved in English government. They looked to Scripture for insight on the duties, rights, responsibilities and the authority of the king, Parliament and the citizens.

Fifth, the Puritans preached an individual, personal, and God centered conversion of the sinner. They agreed with Jesus when He said in John 3:3, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of heaven.” Therefore, they preached the biblical gospel, called the sinner to repentance and faith, rested in the Holy Spirit’s monergistic regenerating work in conversion, and to disciple the new believer in Christ in order for the new convert to grow in their faith. The Puritans agreed with James 2:17 that faith without works is dead and one’s faith in Christ should impact one’s home, work, church and culture.

Dr. J.I. Packer summarizes the Puritans this way: “Puritanism was an evangelical holiness movement seeking to implement its vision of spiritual renewal, national and personal, in the church, the state, and the home; in education, evangelism, and economics; in individual discipleship and devotion, and in pastoral care and competence.”

Take time today to evaluate how well you are committed to the previously mentioned five major concerns of the Puritans. May your concern for personal piety and biblical truth mirror theirs.

Soli deo Gloria!

 

“The Puritans [were] burning and shining lights. When cast out by the black Bartholomew Act, and driven from their respective charges to preach in barns and fields, in the highways and hedges, they in a special manner wrote and preached as men having authority. Though dead, by their writings they yet speak: a peculiar unction attends them to this very hour.”                                                                                                                 George Whitfield (1714-1770)

After yesterday’s introduction to the subject of the Puritans, you may be asking yourself this question: Why the Puritans? What possibly could we glean from a group of pastors, parishioners and churches who existed for a brief period of time 300-400 years ago? In England no less!

Dr. Joel Beeke explains, “Just who were the Puritan writers? They were not only the two thousand ministers who were ejected from the Church of England by the Act of Uniformity in 1662, but also those ministers in England and North America, from the sixteenth century through the early eighteenth century, who worked to reform and purify the church and to lead people toward godly living consistent with the Reformed doctrines of grace.”

Do the Puritans have anything to offer the church today from what they experienced, learned and wrote in their own day and time? I believe they do. I submit the Puritans, their personal history along with their valuable and voluminous writings, can contribute much to the health and stability of today’s evangelical church and the biblical gospel. When many churches, and pastors, are content to engage today in frothy Bible study and man-centered entertainment as a substitute for God-centered worship, the Puritans are a breath of fresh air in their singular devotion to the glory of God.

Let me remind you that the word “Puritan’ originated in the 1560’s as a bit of pejorative hurled at people who wanted further reformation in the Church of England. While some social historians think the term should be abandoned due to various ways it was used at that time, there are others who continue to defend the terms “Puritan” and “Puritanism.” The word “Puritan” originated from the Greek word katharos meaning pure.

Don’t misunderstand me. The Puritans were not perfect. They were men and women much like ourselves. They were susceptible to the same temptations we face. They struggled with the same issues we encounter. If this be the case, what then sets them apart for this special study?

First, the Puritans possessed and sought to foster a consistent and dynamic fellowship with God that shaped not only their thinking, but also their emotions and their wills. In short, their souls. Their grounding was in the God of the Bible: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The church today must return to such a “focus”, which in large measure it has forsaken for popularity and acceptance by the culture.

Second, the Puritans possessed a passion for God’s Word. They not only sought to know as much as they could from God’s Word, but they also wrote about their acquired knowledge of biblical theology in many books and published sermons. Theirs was a passion for biblical truth. As one author comments, “The distinctive character of Puritanism was its quest for a life reformed by the Word of God.” The church today must return to such a foundation”, which in large measure it has forsaken for popularity and acceptance by the culture.

Third, because of their common spiritual quest for God’s Word and unity in the Christian faith and gospel, the Puritans established a network of relationships among believers and ministers. The Puritans sought to apply God’s Word in every area of life. The church today must return to such a “fervor”, which in large measure it has forsaken for popularity and acceptance by the culture.

On author notes that, “Puritanism grew out of three needs: (1) the need for biblical preaching and the teaching of sound Reformed doctrine; (2) the need for biblical, personal piety that stressed the work of the Holy Spirit in the faith and life of the believer; and (3) the need to restore biblical simplicity in liturgy, vestments, and church government, so that a well-ordered church life would promote the worship of the Triune God as prescribed in His Word.”

It is obvious that the vision for life and ministry which consumed the Puritans in the 16^th and 17 the centuries should be seriously considered by the evangelical church today in the 21^st century.

Soli deo Gloria!

 

Occasionally, we will devote significant time and space to a category of posts entitled Profiles of Courage. A profile is a sketch or a summary of an individual’s life or a brief episode in a person’s life. Courage refers to doing what is right, even when facing opposition. It is synonymous with bravery, nerve, valor, or guts.

With this in mind, we will take a brief look at particular individuals in Scripture and church history who profile, or illustrate, a courage and conviction to stand for biblical truth. One such category of individuals are known as The Puritans.

There is a lot of confusion, as there often is when the subject is the evangelical church of Jesus Christ, regarding the Puritans. The pejorative designation “puritanical” is often used in describing people, or people groups, who are judgmental of others, legalistic and who seek to restrict an individual’s freedom. This term stems from a misconception of the Puritans. Additionally, most people attribute the Puritans to be people who only wore black and white, whose men and women respectively had weird hats and bonnets, and who burned witches at the stack in Salem, Massachusetts. Perhaps people may recall they, the Puritans, had something remotely to do with the Mayflower and the first Thanksgiving.

What many do not realize is the depth and breadth of biblical teaching and writings, many still in print, from the Puritans containing the vast volumes of sound and solid theological teaching.. What I hope to do in this series is to at least inform you who the Puritans were and how the Puritans still contribute to the overall health of biblical theology in the church today. I will also inform you of some wonderful books and web sites which provide introductions to this people group and their teachings.

A study of the Puritans involves not only who they were, but when they lived, what they accomplished and what they taught. As one author has commented, “History is not a popular subject. We cannot assume that those who are British are automatically well-educated in English History. It is rare for those outside Britain to know English history. How can we introduce overseas Christians to the best theological inheritance ever?

The Puritans were English Reformed Protestants in the 16^th  and 17^th  centuries who sought to “purify” the Church of England from its “Catholic” practices, maintaining that the Church of England was only partially reformed. They were an extended body of believers who ultimately were a result of the Protestant Reformation begun by Martin Luther and continued by John Calvin.

The Puritans, and Puritanism was founded as an activist movement within the Church of England. The founders, clergy exiled under Mary I, returned to England shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558.

As author Peter Toon explains, “In America today “separation of church and state” is basic to both political and theological thinking. In contrast, in the sixteenth century in England the union of church and state was taken for granted as governed and guided by divine providence. In fact, the one definite thing that can be said about the English Reformation is that it was first of all an act of state. Central to it all was the assertion of royal supremacy, of king or queen, in ecclesiastical affairs. And the claim of royal supremacy was made explicitly not only by Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Elizabeth I, but also implicitly by the Catholic Mary when she decided to reconcile the English church with the Roman papacy in 1553.

As with any movement, theological or political, there were seeds sown which germinated only after a significant period of time. The flowering of the Puritans only occurred after years of growth of reformed protestant churches in England, and with the subsequent persecution of those same churches and pastors by those opposed to such church growth.

It has been said, with some degree of accuracy I might add, that the church is its strongest when it has faced its fiercest opposition. Such could be said of the founding and flourishing of the Puritans.

Soli deo Gloria!