Why Read the Puritans?

While not exhaustive, we believe there are 7 primary reasons every Christians should Read the Puritans:

1. The Value of Good Books

  • We believe reading good books is vital to our journey through this life.

    • “Good books are cisterns that hold the waters of life in them to refresh you.” – Thomas Watson

2. Guarding and Stewarding the Mind

  • We believe the majority of what the world offers today through books and online serves the flesh and hinders our sanctification. Christians should be intentional about what they consume.

    • “Let no knowledge satisfy you, but that which lifts you above the world, but that which weans you from the world, but that which makes the world a footstool. Such knowledge, such light, will at last lead you into everlasting light.” – Thomas Brooks

3. The Unique Wisdom of the Puritans

  • The Puritans had an unmatched ability to draw out the riches of Scripture and press them into the heart. In fact, we have found nothing outside the bible that is more edifying to the life of a believer.

    • “By all means read the Puritans, they are worth more than all the modern stuff put together.” – Charles Sprugeon

4. A Church in Need of Clarity

  • We believe many churches are adrift and fighting the same battles the Puritans fought and wrote about. Their writings offer time-tested wisdom for issues we’re still navigating.

    • “To deny ourselves the wealth of the accumulated saints of the centuries is to consciously embrace spiritual anorexia.” – R. Kent Hughes

5. Unparalleled Biblical Application

  • The Puritans didn’t just explain Scripture – they applied it. Their rich exposition targets the affections, leading to heart stirring reformation.

    • “God’s Spirit does not work except on the foundation of the word …therefore [a Christian] must not only read the book, but eat it. He must not only have the knowledge of divine things flowing in his brain, but engraved on his heart and printed in his soul by the spiritual finger of God.”

6. Their Rare Pastoral Heart

  • The Puritans were first and foremost shepherds of souls. They took this charge as seriously as their call for sound preaching. This loving care for the sheep shines in a church filled with many expositors, but few shepherds.

    • “A minister is not to be merely a public preacher, but to be known as a counselor for their souls.” – Richard Baxter

7. They Fix Our Eyes on Christ

  • We believe the Puritans open the Scriptures point us to Christ like no other. In a church where many lose God “amid the wonders of His word,” the end state of the Puritans is always God Himself.

    • “We need to take daily doses of the Father’s love and reflect on the high privilege of being His adopted children … Christ is the stream, but through Him we are led to the Father, who is the fountain of all grace and kindness.” – John Owen

How to Read the Puritans

A note by C.S. Lewis on chronological snobbery

“It’s a good rule after reading a new book never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between. If that is too much for you, you should at least read one old one to three new ones.... Every age has its own outlook. It is especially good at seeing certain truths and especially liable to make certain mistakes. We all therefore need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period.... None of us can fully escape this blindness, but we shall certainly increase it, and weaken our guard against it, if we read only modern books....The only palliative is to keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds and this can only be done by reading old books.” - CS Lewis