Everyone knows the Puritans were rich with biblical insights. Here Richard Rushing gives us a one-page devotional sampling for each day of the year from these giants of theological and practical devotion:
Joseph Alleine
Richard Baxter
Thomas Boston
Thomas Brooks
John Bunyan
Thomas Case
Stephen Charnock
David Clarkson
William Cooper
Jonathan Edwards
John Flavel
John Gibbon
William Gurnall
Ezekiel Hopkins
Thomas Lye
Thomas Manton
Matthew Mead
John Owen
Samuel Rutherford
Richard Sibbes
George Swinnock
Samuel Ward
Thomas Watson
Richard Rushing, editor, tells us about his work in his Preface:
PREFACE
Over the past fifty years there has been a great resurgence of interest in the writings of the Puritans. The reading of their works has brought great benefit to the people of God in many lands. I am greatly indebted to those faithful ministers of the gospel who continue to speak through their writings even though they themselves have long since entered into their heavenly reward. The Puritans really knew how to teach and apply God’s Word in the Spirit’s power!
I have gained great personal help from several recurring themes found in their writings. How thrilling it has been for me to read the Puritans on the glory and attributes of God, divine prOvidence, fellowship with God, holiness of life and the mortification of indwelling sin, heavenly mindedness, prayer, evangelistic zeal, and trust in times of affliction. At every turn these truths are eloquently taught, faithfully applied, and kindly offered as the subject of sweet spiritual meditation. It is my prayer that this book of daily readings, which I have extracted from some of my favourite Puritan authors, will stimulate you to explore further the writings of these spiritual giants.
The devotional readings which follow in these pages are sometimes almost exact word for word copies of the original. In many places the old language has been retained when to modernize it would have blunted the sharp cutting edge of the original. At other times I have paraphrased the original with up-to-date phrases which I trust accurately convey the sense of the author and retain something of his ‘fire’. While some of the devotions appear almost as written, others have been condensed, so that several pages form a single devotional reading. In so doing I have always sought to be faithful to the intent of the author and have provided references to the original source material. The devotions may on occasions seem a little abrupt in their flow of thought; this is due to the abridgment of multiple pages into a convenient extract of approximately 350 words. The Scripture verse at the head of each page was selected according to the theme of the reading and not necessarily by the Puritan author. The Scripture version used is the English Standard Version (ESV).
May these daily devotional readings open a door for many to the vast stores of treasure to be found in the writings of the Puritans. I am deeply thankful to the Lord for the influence the Puritans have had upon my own spiritual life. I also feel a great debt of gratitude to the founders of the Banner of Truth Trust, for their vision and determination to make these old but precious volumes available to new generations of Christian readers.
A really great idea.
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Voices From The Past: Puritan Devotional Readings