A QUEST FOR GODLINESS: THE PURITAN VISION OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE, by J. I. Packer

Published on August 18, 2022 by Eugene Ho

Crossway, 2010 | 368 pages

A Brief Book Summary from Books At a Glance

by Kirsten Birkett

 

Contents

1. Introduction

The Puritans in Profile

2. Why We Need the Puritans
3. Puritanism as a Movement of Revival
4. The Practical Writings of the English Puritans

The Puritans and the Bible

5. John Owen on Communication from God
6. The Puritans as Interpreters of Scripture
7. The Puritan Conscience

The Puritans and the Gospel

8. “Saved by his own precious blood:” An Introduction to John Owen’s The Death of Death in the Death of Christ
9. The Doctrine of Justification in Development and Decline among the Puritans
10. The Puritan view of preaching the gospel

The Puritans and the Holy Spirit

11. The Witness of the Spirit in Puritan Thought
12. The Spirituality of John Owen
13. John Owen on Spiritual Gifts

The Puritan Christian life

14. The Puritans and the Lord’s Day
15. The Puritan Approach to Worship
16. Marriage and Family in Puritan Thought

The Puritans in Ministry

17. Puritan Preaching
18. Puritan Evangelism
19. Jonathan Edwards and Revival
20. Afterword

 

General Summary

A collection of essays on the English Puritans (with one on Jonathan Edwards), describing and analysing their theology and practice.

 

Chapter 1: Introduction

Puritanism was the foremost expression of the “devotional quickening” in the Western world after the Reformation. Personally, Puritans helped the author:

  • (from Owen) be neither myopic nor despairing about sin;
  • see the biblical witness to the sovereignty and particularity of Christ’s love;
  • (from Baxter) see the necessity of regular discursive meditation;
  • understand the minister’s pastoral office;
  • (generally) feel the transitoriness of life;
  • shape churchly identity;
  • be aware that all theology is spirituality.

In style and substance they “fill their books with God.” . . .

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A QUEST FOR GODLINESS: THE PURITAN VISION OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE, by J. I. Packer

Crossway, 2010 | 368 pages

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