Before continuing with my review of chapter 7, The Puritans, I thought it might be useful to revisit a
portion of my original blog post dated October 14, 2020, where I announced my
intention to write these chapter reviews.
As I prepare to read this
massive book, I think it would be good to reflect on a few things before
starting:
Number one, it must be
incredibly stupid to form an opinion about a man without having read any
portion of his body of work. I know many people have unjustified and
unwarranted thoughts because the basis of their views is a rumor, innuendo, and
gossip. It should be every gospel minister’s posture to avoid, whenever
possible, having a decided opinion about anyone or anything he has not
personally studied. To have an opinion about John Calvin or his doctrinal
position without reading John Calvin is not just stupid and ill-advised; it is
lazy. There is no room in the gospel ministry for intellectual laziness. We
have too much of that already.
Number two, it isn't very
reasonable to evaluate someone who lived long ago by modern-day standards. An
example of this came to me yesterday when I learned that late-night talk show
host Jimmy Fallon performed a black face comedy routine 20 years ago when he
was on the cast of Saturday Night Live. Of course, the cancel culture wants him
fired today for doing something 20 years ago that was at that time acceptable
to everyone in the entertainment industry. However, gospel ministers have long
been guilty of the same kind of cancel culture thinking.
The
subheadings of Chapter 7, The
Puritans, are Origins of Puritanism, The
Anglican Puritans, The Presbyterian Puritans, The
Independent Puritans, The Baptist Puritans, The
Scottish Puritans, Further History, and Conclusion.
Quotations typically indicate the author’s exact words.
“To some,
the Puritans were superstitious and ignorant witch-burners. To others, they
were revolutionary fanatics who overthrew the English monarchy and grabbed all
the power they could get. To still others, the Puritans were unsmiling
legalists who carried their religion too far. Or they were just religious
hypocrites.”
“All
these opinions are wrong. In truth, the Puritans were among the leading
intellectuals and godliest Christians in England from 1570 to 1700. They had
various ecclesiastical views in different on other issues. But they were all
evangelical, Bible believing Calvinists and as such are worthy of our study,
respect, and imitation.”
Origins
of Puritanism. Puritanism arose in
England when 800 Protestant leaders sought refuge from “Bloody Mary” by fleeing
to Europe, especially to Geneva. Others went underground. About 300 were
martyred. The heart of the movement began at the White Horse Inn and in
Cambridge University. These “Cambridge Calvinists” wanted to duplicate what
their Swiss and Scottish brethren had achieved in church and society. One of
the results of their activity that I was previously unaware of was that King
James I commissioned the Authorized Version of the Bible, known as the King
James Version of 1611. “It eventually became more popular than the more
Reformed Geneva Bible.”
The Anglican Puritans. This subheading is quite lengthy, the author mentions several Anglican Puritans I am not familiar with, but I recognize some names. He says William Perkins was the most prominent of his era, whose book The Art of Prophesying is in my library. Another is William Ames, a disciple of Perkins, and the author of the work on the conscience, a topic I think had not been addressed from that day until John MacArthur’s book on the subject a year or two ago. Then, of course, there is Richard Sibbes, whose works are cherished by many. Who has not heard of Archbishop James Ussher, William Twisse, John Trapp, William Gurnall, Matthew Poole, Richard Baxter (pictured), and the poet John Milton? Gurnall, Poole, Baxter, and Milton are very profitable to read, in my opinion. C. H. Spurgeon recommended Richard Baxter’s The Reformed Pastor as the best practical pastoral theology ever written. Many dunces have avoided The Reformed Pastor, thinking it was a manual on Calvinistic theology. It is, instead, one of the best practical pastoral guides ever written.
The
Presbyterian Puritans. The main difference
between the Anglican and the Presbyterian Puritans was their view of church
government. Anglicans embrace the notion that the church should be ruled by
bishops, with Presbyterians persuaded elders should lead the church. Steven Charnock,
Thomas Watson, John Flavel, and Matthew Henry were of this persuasion. These
four men’s writings have been profoundly beneficial to Christians and gospel
ministers down through the centuries. The greatest gospel preacher of the 20th
century, in my opinion, was D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. A trained medical doctor
with a sterling reputation in his field, Lloyd-Jones never received formal
theological training when he left medicine to enter the ministry but benefited
tremendously from reading such Puritans as these. Many of Lloyd-Jones’ sermons
bear the traces of outlines suggested by Matthew Henry, though his sermons were
his own.
The
Independent Puritans. This group of Puritans
was known as Congregationalists in America. In church polity,
Congregationalists were very similar to Baptists, differing on the matter of
baptism. There were several different groups of Congregationalists, but some of
the names are quite recognizable. John Owen was a Congregationalist Puritan.
Thomas Goodwin was a London Congregationalist pastor and president of Magdalen College,
Cambridge University. Goodwin was a premillennialist. The most influential of
the Independent Puritans, however, was not a gospel minister or scholar, but a
statesman and military leader, Oliver Cromwell. A subgroup of the Independents
were the Puritans, Separatists, who fled England and went to North America.
These Puritans were the Pilgrim Fathers.
The Baptist Puritans. Is it possible for someone to be a real Baptist if he arrives at Baptist convictions and begins to exhibit Baptist practices from Protestantism? Though some Baptists trace their plausible lineage into continental Europe in the dark mists of the barely recorded past, other Baptists sprung up from their study of God’s Word. Apart from any recognizable exposure of anyone we would recognize, they embraced Baptist convictions. Such were the Baptists of England, such as John Smyth (1554-1612), and “the Three K’s,” Hanserd Knollys (1599-1691), William Kiffin (1616-1701), and Benjamin Keach (1640-1704). The two great London Baptist confessions of 1644 and 1689 were a result of their influence, with the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689 differing little (on baptism) from the Westminster Confession. The Second London Baptist Confession of 1689 is still popular with contemporary Reformed Baptists. Of course, the most significant Baptist Puritan, and the most read of all the Puritans, was John Bunyan (1628-88) (pictured), the author of such classics as The Pilgrim’s Progress,[1] The Holy War, and Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners. I visited his gravesite in Bunhill fields, London, where he is buried with many other Puritans.
The
Scottish Puritans. In the five paragraphs
under this subheading, the author mentions three men of significance, whose
writings I have read and benefited from reading. Samuel Rutherford (1600-1661) wrote
the pivotal Lex
Rex, declaring that the king
is not law, but that the law is king. William Guthrie (1620-65) penned The Christian’s Great Interest, a classic on the assurance of salvation. Henry Scougal
wrote the classic The Life
of God in the Soul of Man, which greatly influenced
George Whitfield. It is also a favorite of my friend David M. Coe.
Further History. “Puritanism reached its height around 1650. But there was a severe backlash.” Civil war ensued, the forces of Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell (pictured), were victorious. For 15 years, God wonderfully blessed English society, and then Cromwell died. His son was an ineffective leader, and the monarchy was restored. 2000 Puritan pastors lost their pastorates. Puritanism survived but in a weakened form. Anglican Puritanism diminished rapidly. English Presbyterianism veered into Arianism in the 1700s. Historic Reformed theology was mainly in the hands of Independence and Baptists.
Conclusion. Historic
Calvinism was rediscovered in the mid 20th century. Many of their
books have been reprinted. Though unstated by the author, my opinion is that
this resurgence can be explained by two men’s influence. The first influence
that I’ve already hinted at came from D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones in London. He was
not only the greatest preacher of God’s Word in the 20th century,
but he was an unabashed Calvinist who was not shy about his admiration of the
Puritans. Secondly, a man named Bob Ross, an author and Christian bookstore
owner in Pasadena, Texas took on the enormous task of reprinting C. H. Spurgeon’s
sermons. Spurgeon has often been called the last of the Puritans, and so he was
in many respects. He admired the Puritans, read the Puritans, quoted the
Puritans in his books and his sermons, and in many ways, preserved the heritage
of not only Puritanism but also historic Calvinism. Spurgeon was very much the
Calvinist. Thus, with Spurgeon in the 19th century (and Bob Ross’
reprints) and Lloyd Jones in the 20th century, a bridge to a 21st-century
consciousness and awareness of historic Calvinism can be traced.
[1]
Probably the best-selling Christian book ever written in English. Bunyan’s
allegory of Christian conversion was thought to be so true to Scripture that
although Bunyan was a five-point Calvinist, the book was mandatory reading for
all Methodist ministers for more than a century. Sadly, almost no contemporary congregations
have any members who have experienced anything like conversion as pictured in
Bunyan’s book.
