Meet the Puritans

A s the Thirty-nine Articles turn from the examination of our guilt, Article 11 comforts those humbled by Articles 9 and 10. These speak of the "fault and corruption of the nature of every man, wherefore we have no power to do good works pleasant and acceptable to God." Here is the good news of God...

T he family worship (see parts #1 , #2 ) that Oliver Heywood envisioned contained three basic elements: reading scripture, singing Psalms, and prayer. To this we might add reading from works of great theologians or famous sermons, but only as a means for explaining Scripture. They would not be the...

I n my previous post , I provided a sketch of Patrick Gillespie’s arguments for the distinction between the Covenant of Redemption and the Covenant of Grace. Yet some have objected to this distinction by appealing to Westminster Larger Catechism 31, which states, “The Covenant of Grace is made with...

As you may know, our friends at Reformation Heritage Books are currently typesetting, editing, and re-publishing the The Works of William Perkins . Thanks to them, we have one (1) hardcover set and one (1) ebook set of the first 4 volumes to give away. If you are in the U.S. , enter here for the...

I n The Family Altar , the Puritan writer Oliver Heywood makes the case for family or household worship. We have already discussed Heywood’s belief that family worship is essential for the proper functioning not only of the family, but also the Church and wider society. We must now consider exactly...

I n this penultimate installment of the series on a puritan doctrine of union and communion with Christ, I want to consider the comfort “this glorious union with Christ” brings to dying saints and to “their surviving mourners” (Case). Thomas Jacomb says that we have no reason to be afraid of death...

A rticle 10 is the second part of the Thirty-Nine Article’s explanation of our guilt. Article 9 describes our actual condition before God regarding our total depravity. It also makes it clear that while sin persists in the believer, God's work in Christ does not condemn the believer. Article 10...

Stephen J. Casselli, Divine Rule Maintained: Anthony Burgess, Covenant Theology, and the Place of the Law in Reformed Scholasticism (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2016). 188pages. [ Book / ebook ] T he function God’s law in Scripture has always raised difficult theological questions...

M ankind needs saving from God by God. As demonstrated in my previous posts on Patrick Gillespie ( #1 , #2 , #3 , #4 ), the broken Covenant of Works paved the way for the salvation of God’s elect in the Covenant of Grace. Yet in the sequel to his Ark of the Testament , Gillespie argued in The Ark...

W e conclude our series on Puritan preachers (see #1 , #2 , #3 ) with John Preston (1587–1628), whose preaching can be described as preaching great gospel themes. He was more topical and organized by theological categories and questions than the verse-by-verse biblical expositions of John Calvin...