Why would today’s Christian want to have a working knowledge of the Puritans? Weren’t they nasty people who only wore black and hated fun? Let the authors below scrape off the mud and let the truth about the Puritans as spiritual giants shine through.

 

SUGGESTED  INTRODUCTORY  READING ON  THE  PURITANS

1. Don Kistler, WHY READ THE PURITANS TODAY ?; Soli Deo Gloria (booklet)–good starter; don’t let the booklet size fool you. It’s gold.

2. Erroll Hulse, WHO ARE THE PURITANS (…and what do they teach) ?; Evangelical Press–great place to get behind the Puritans, to understand the Puritans; answers questions about them and leads you to the good places to start.

3. Leland Ryken, WORLDLY SAINTS (The Puritans As They Really Were); Crossway–The Puritans in context–their beliefs, practices; strengths & weaknesses

4. James Packer, A QUEST FOR GODLINESS (The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life);  Crossway–the leading evangelical and Reformed expert on the Puritans gives us the wisdom of a lifetime in understanding these Christians who he labels as the “Redwoods among the forest of the Christian church”. They over-top all the others!

5. Kelly Kapic and Randall Gleason, eds.; THE DEVOTED LIFE (An Invitation to the Puritan Classics); IVP–modern evangelical and Reformed leaders (Sinclair Ferguson, James Packer, Leland Ryken, Joel Beeke, Ligon Duncan, Mark Noll and many others give us great insights into some of the Puritan giants and a cameo of one of their works (e.g. James Packer on John Bunyan & PILGRIM’S PROGRESS).

6. John Bunyan, THE PILGRIM’S PROGRESS; many publishers; (a trip from the City of Destruction to entrance into the joy of the Lord in Heaven–with all the strange people, common people, strange obstacles and common obstacles we meet in life. A tour de force on the Christian life by a master theologian and wordsmith.)

7. Mark Deckard, HELPFUL TRUTHS IN PAST PLACES; Christian Focus–what if you could you read the BEST of the Puritans as they apply the Scriptures to daily problems and life’s battles? And read it in one book?  That is this book. The subtitle is a bit misleading (Puritan Insights Into Biblical Counseling). It should be retitled “Puritan  Insights Into Daily Discipleship and the Christian Life”. These chapters have universal application. Below is a sampler!

Table of Contents

1.New is Not Necessarily Better–our need of the Puritans & their biblical wisdom

2.Why is This Happening to Me?–John Flavel, THE MYSTERY OF PROVIDENCE

3.Anxious and Dissatisfied–Jeremiah Burroughs, THE RARE JEWEL OF  CHRISTIAN CONTENTMENT

4. What Does Sin Have To Do With My Problem?–John Owen, THE MORTIFICATION OF SIN IN BELIEVERS

5. No One Understands My Problems!–John Bunyan, THE PILGRIM’S PROGRESS

6. I Just Need To Stop Feeling, Correct?–Jonathan Edwards, THE RELIGIOUS AFFECTIONS

7. How Can I Find Joy Again?–William Bridge, A LIFTING UP FOR THE DOWNCAST

8. The Devil Made Me Do It!–Thomas Brooks, PRECIOUS REMEDIES AGAINST SATAN’S DEVICES