To the Deep End of the Pool

After several weeks on how to read good Christian books, we’re ready to jump into the deep end of the pool. And no pool gets any deeper than the Puritan pool.

Who are the Puritans and why should we read them. Rather than answer that question here, let me refer you to an excellent article by Joel Beekes, called “Why You Should Read the Puritans” which is included in a post on The Shepherd’s Scrapbook blog.

From my perspective – the Puritans are the best antidote to the sound byte cleverness of much of what we can get from modern (and post-modern) writing. Yes, it seems like they never met a point that didn’t deserve exhaustive unpacking. Yes, they use lonnnnnng sentences and words that sometimes send you to the theological dictionary. And not all puritan writing is the same. These men like us, are products of their time. They are not writing scripture – they are trying to apply it to the real issues of ordinary people in their world.

But they are bulldog tough on one thing – ‘what would it mean if the saving work of Jesus Christ were truly applied to EVERY area of life.’ There is no tough question they aren’t willing to wrestle with. And it is in this ‘all of life’ approach to Biblical living that they are valuable to us.

So with this in mind, here are some tips on reading the Puritans.

· Don't read in bed unless you have insomnia.

· Read slowly - small chunks over time. Puritan books make great devotionals – but be prepared to be in one for several months

· Don’t get caught up in all the arguments. The Puritan approach was generally to make a statement, then support it and argue away all the objections to it. Rather than getting lost in all the arguments, try to keep tracing the main point all the way through

· You really want to mark puritan books (see last weeks blog for pointers)

· Consider abridgements to begin with. Banner of Truth has created abridgement (condensed versions) of many classic puritan works that are very faithful to the full length text, but focus on the essential content. We have several titles in our Book Shoppe, or you can check out the Westminster Bookstore for a more extensive selection. The abridgements of John Owen’s “Communion With God” and “The Excellencies of Christ”, are particularly good.

· Consider reading Thomas Watson, one of the more readable Puritans. His “The Art of Divine Contentment” is a great one to start with.

· If you want to tackle something like “Overcoming Sin and Temptation” by John Owen, consider the recent edition by Kapic and Taylor. Tim Challies did a chapter by chapter study of the book on his blog.

Why not make it a point to read one puritan book in the coming year. Come on in, the water’s fine.