Preaching

Alright, you could rightly say that Cotton Mather (1663-1728) does not meet the strict historical definition of a “Puritan” preacher (see Mark Jones' post here ). Still, as a Massachusetts Bay Colony boy, son of Increase Mather, and grandson of John Cotton and Richard Mather, he stands firmly in...

We are at the third (see part 1 and part 2 ) of our 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 two thousand ministers were deposed from the established Church in what...

In our first and second posts on James Durham’s essay, "Concerning Ministerial Qualifications," we saw that the prerequisites “for the complete qualifying of a Minster” were “Gifts, Learning, and Grace.” And we spent some time looking at Durham’s understanding of ministerial gifts. This short...

Petrus van Mastricht, The Best Method of Preaching . Trans. Todd Rester (Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 2013). 82pp. Jonathan Edwards once stated that Peter van Mastricht’s Theoretico-Practica Theologia was the best book that he had read apart from the Bible (1). Mastricht was not...

As the star pupil of William Perkins at Christ’s College Cambridge, William Ames (1576–1633), followed his mentor’s preaching pattern of explaining, teaching, and applying the text. It may seem strange that in his systematic-theological Marrow of Theology , Ames devoteed a whole chapter to...

We began last time looking at James Durham’s essay, "Concerning Ministerial Qualifications." The post ended with the thought that “it is not great talents God blesses so much as great likeness to Jesus.” Nevertheless gifts are necessary, and Durham in his essay outlined three things that are...

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...

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...

"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 (...

From time to time I am asked why as an Anglican I include reading the Puritans as a discipline in my daily office of prayer (Anglican clergy take an oath to pray through Morning and Evening Prayer from the Book of Common Prayer ). Many are scared off from reading the Puritans thinking they are too...