Meet the Puritans

Last time I encouraged you (especially my fellow Anglicans!) to join me in reading the Puritan Paperback, Sermons of the Great Ejection . This title is a collection of nine sermons recalls one of the great turning points in English Christianity—when approximately two thousand ministers were deposed...

The great Scottish theologian and preacher James Durham (1622-1658) published a monumental Commentarie Upon the Book of Revelation in 1658 extending over 1000 pages. John MacLeod stated that Durham’s work “gives what, in past days, was the accepted Protestant view of that book.” (MacLeod, Some...

Statistics can be misleading if they are abstracted from the moment they are calculated. But in that moment, they reveal a glimpse of reality. The well-known church growth leader, George Barna, provides us an opportunity to glimpse the sad reality of the modern evangelical church as well as our...

William Greenhill, Stop Loving the World , ed. Jay T. Collier (Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 2010). 73pp. Worldliness is an increasing problem in Western Christendom. No one wants to admit that they are worldly, but the tragic fact is that Christians have often lost sight of how the...

Isaac Ambrose (1604–1664) Life Isaac Ambrose was the son of Richard Ambrose, vicar of Ormskirk, Lancashire. Entering Brasenose College, Oxford, in 1621, he graduated B.A. in 1624, and was ordained to the ministry. He became vicar of the parish church in Castleton, Derbyshire, in 1627, then served...

We all have some idea of what zeal is, for to a certain degree we are all zealots. The question is not whether we are zealous but what we are zealous for. Zeal runs in our veins for what we love and against what we hate. We so passionately love some things, such as family, careers, and houses, that...

Several years ago a controversy erupted concerning the doctrine of sanctification. One of the key participants emphasized that Christian obedience is “faith-fueled.” This important point, of course, was not in itself controversial and was wholeheartedly affirmed by everyone involved as far as I...

"Can I know God exists?" This is what militant atheism of the Richard Dawkins stripe has stridently sought to convince us the answer is "No!" For a god they deny exists they sure do spend a lot of time talking about him! As we continue through the Westminster Larger Catechism , question and answer...

"Preach it, brother!" We've all heard the exhortation. But what does it mean to preach? And how should one preach? In part 1 of my series on Puritan Preaching we looked at John's Bunyan's, The Pilgrim's Progress . Here I want to draw out the principles on preaching from the Westminster Assemby's (...

Richard Alleine (1611–1681) Life The uncle and father-in-law of Joseph Alleine , Richard Alleine was born in Ditcheat, Somersetshire, where his father was rector of the parish church for more than fifty years. His father served as his tutor, preparing Richard to go to Oxford University at age...