Meet the Puritans

In my last article I referenced the evangelical understanding of the Scriptural phrase “do this and live” among some puritans. Such an understanding implies that good works are more than the fruit of salvation . We don’t engage in good works merely because we live or are saved, we are to do them in...

We live in a time in which our humanity is misunderstood, at best, and under attack, at worse. Our consumer society is rooted in the philosophy that greed is good, that “it’s not personal, it’s business,” and that he who dies with the most toys wins. The proliferation of pornography, sexuality, and...

This past year we got news that our eight-year-old daughter had a spinal tumor. She was having back pain and the specialist ordered an MRI just to make sure that everything was OK. It wasn’t. I walked with the doctor into the hallway. “Based on your experience,” I asked, “Do you think this is...

Herein lies that which all the beauty of the world fades before, and becomes as a thing of nought,—which brings all the outward pomp of ceremonious worship into contempt;—I mean the glory and excellence that lies in the spiritual communion of the soul with God, by the grace of the Holy Ghost, in...

Several years ago Danny Hyde was interviewed on his background, his introduction to the Puritans, and how to read them (especially John Owen). This was posted on the old MTP site and we repost it here for your edification.

“So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured.” (Hebrews 13.12-13) The past thirteen years have chronicled a series of triggers that have compelled gospel ministers and...

Obadiah Sedgwick (1599/1600-1658) was one of the most respected and influential of the English Presbyterians of the seventeenth century. He was a leading member of the Westminster Assembly and took a prominent part in its debates. Barbara Donagan comments that Sedgwick was “an original and...

We’ve all seen them, right? Angels, that is. You know, those chubby little children with wings; those cute Precious Moments statuettes; those little guys on your shoulders—one reminding you of good and the other tempting you to what is bad. From the downright silly to sentimental to seriously wrong...

Is it possible to undervalue Christ’s sufferings by overemphasizing the cross? One of my favorite seventeenth century Dutch “Puritans” is Herman Witsius (1636-1708). In his Economy of the Covenants Between God and Man , I came across a profound section on the extent to which Christ’s sufferings...

Continuing through the neglected Puritan Thomas Manton's (1620–1677) Christ's Temptation and Transfiguration Practically Explained and Improved in Several Sermons (Works, 1:258–336), we come to sermon 5 , which deals Matthew 4:8-9 (click here for sermon 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ). One of the first questions...