Meet the Puritans

John Flavel, Triumphing Over Sinful Fear (Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 2011). 124pp. This is easily one of the most important Puritan books that I have read. It is deeply convicting, full of Christ, and loaded with sound pastoral wisdom on a vital, yet neglected topic. Flavel...

In relation to this week's "Meet a Purtian," you can download a 5-part mid-week teaching series I did through William Bates' treatise, The Divinity of the Christian Religion . You can download the audio and .pdf outlines here .

William Bates (1625–1699) Life William Bates was one of the most popular and esteemed preachers among the Nonconformists. A master of the Puritan "plain style" of preaching, his stress on piety earned him the name “silver-tongued.” He graduated from Queen’s College with a B.A. in 1645 and a M.A. in...

Thanks to our friends at Crossway , we have one (1) copy of J.I. Packer's, A Quest for Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life . The deadline for entering is three weeks from today, Friday, March 25. The winner will be announced Monday, March 28. Entry Form

In our continuing series on the Puritan vision for Christian zeal ( part 1 , part 2 ), we now take up how they described its characteristics. False Zeal First, they described authentic zeal over against false zeal. Oliver Bowles (d. 1674) exhorted to be diligent that zeal has the right stamp since...

Understanding the relationship between believers and the promises of salvation is not too difficult. The same cannot be said, however, with respect to the many warnings found throughout the Old Testament and New Testament. Do the curses, threatenings, and warnings apply to Christians or not? If so...

If I asked you the name of Noah’s wife, would you answer, "Joan of Ark?" Sadly, many would today. The level of biblical illiteracy today among the professing Christian church is sad. Recently arch-atheist Richard Dawkins commissioned his foundation to survey those who claimed to be Christian in the...

Imagine your pastor announcing from the pulpit, “I want you to know that I regard myself as a prophet.” Don’t you think this would raise a few eyebrows? In this third of five parts on Puritan preaching ( part 1 , part 2 ), I will discuss l essons on preaching from a book in which William Perkins...

William Ames (1576-1633) Life William Ames was born in 1576 at Ipswich, Suffolk, then a center of the robust Puritanism. Ames’s father was a well-to-do merchant with Puritan sympathies; his mother was related to families that would help to found Plymouth Plantation. Since both parents died when he...

This Monday, February 29, is your final opportunity to download a free .pdf of "The Character of an Old English Puritan" by John Geree. This is a classic text in modernized English, footnotes, and an "Introduction" by Daniel R. Hyde . Free downloadable .pdf ($1 discount applied at checkout)...