A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life
A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life offers a groundbreaking treatment of the Puritans’ teaching on most major Reformed doctrines, particularly those doctrines in which the Puritans made significant contributions. Since the late 1950s, nearly 150 Puritan authors and 700 Puritan titles have been reprinted and catalogued by Joel Beeke and Randall Pederson in their 2006 collection of mini-biographies and book reviews, titled, Meet the Puritans. However, no work until now has gathered together the threads of their teaching into a unified tapestry of systematic theology.
A Puritan Theology, byJoel Beeke and Mark Jones, attempts to do that. The book addresses Puritan teachings on all six loci of theology, covering fifty areas of doctrine. The book explores Puritan teachings on biblical interpretation, God, predestination, providence, angels, sin, the covenants, the gospel, Christ, preparation for conversion, regeneration, coming to Christ, justification, adoption, church government, the Sabbath, preaching, baptism, heaven, hell, and many other topics. It ends with eight chapters that explore Puritan “theology in practice.” Some chapters highlight the work of a specific theologian such as William Perkins, William Ames, John Owen, Stephen Charnock, or Thomas Goodwin on a specific topic. Other chapters survey various authors on a particular subject. The goal of A Puritan Theology is to increase knowledge in the mind and godliness in the soul. It was written for theologians, historians, pastors, and educated laymen who seek to learn more about Puritan theology.
Table of Contents:
Prolegomena
1. The Puritans on Natural and Supernatural Theology
2. Puritan Hermeneutics and Exegesis
3. The Learned Doctor William Ames and The Marrow of Theology
Theology Proper
4. Stephen Charnock on the Attributes of God
5. The Puritans on the Trinity
6. John Owen on Communion with the Triune God
7. William Perkins on Predestination
8. Thomas Goodwin and Johannes Maccovius on Justification from Eternity
9. Thomas Goodwin’s Christological Supralapsarianism
10. The Puritans on Providence
11. The Puritans on Angels
12. The Puritans on Demons
Anthropology and Covenant Theology
13. The Puritans on the Sinfulness of Sin
14. The Puritans on the Covenant of Works
15. The Puritans on the Covenant of Redemption
16. The Puritans on the Covenant of Grace
17. The Puritans on the Old and New Covenants: A Gracious Moses?
18. The Minority Report: John Owen on Sinai
19. The Puritans on Covenant Conditions
Christology
20. The Puritans on Law and Gospel
21. Puritan Christology
22. The Puritans on Christ’s Offices and States
23. The Blood of Christ in Puritan Piety
24. Anthony Burgess on Christ’s Intercession for Us
25. Thomas Goodwin on Christ’s Beautiful Heart
26. The Puritans on Understanding and Using God’s Promises
Soteriology
27. Puritan Preparatory Grace
28. The Puritans on Regeneration
29. The Puritans on Union with Christ, Justification, and Regeneration
30. John Owen on Justification by Faith Alone
31. The Puritans on Coming to Christ
32. The Puritans on Living in Christ
33. The Puritans on Adoption
34. The Third Use of the Law
35. Richard Sibbes on Entertaining the Holy Spirit
36. William Perkins and His Greatest Case of Conscience
37. The Puritans on Perseverance of the Saints
Ecclesiology
38. The Puritans on the Government of the Church
39. The Puritans on the Offices of the Church
40. John Owen on the Christian Sabbath and Worship
41. Puritan Preaching (1)
42. Puritan Preaching (2)
43. John Bunyan’s Preaching to the Heart
44. The Puritans and Paedobaptism
45. The Puritans on the Lord’s Supper
46. Puritan Prayers for World Missions
Eschatology
47. “The City on a Hill”: The American Puritans’ Optimistic View of the End Times
48. Thomas Manton on the Judgment According to Works
49. How History Informs the Historicist: Thomas Goodwin’s Reading of Revelation
50. Christopher Love on the Glories of Heaven and Terrors of Hell
Theology in Practice
51. Puritan Theology Shaped by a Pilgrim Mentality
52. The Puritans on Walking Godly in the Home
53. Matthew Henry on a Practical Method of Daily Prayer
54. The Puritan Practice of Meditation
55. The Puritans on Conscience
56. Puritan Casuistry
57. Puritan Sacrificial Zeal
58. Practical Lessons from Puritan Theology Today
Afterword
59. A Final Word
Authors
Joel R. Beeke is President and Professor of Systematic Theology and Homiletics at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is a leading expert on Puritanism, a popular conference speaker, and the author of numerous books.
Mark Jones is the minister of Faith Presbyterian Church, a congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is also Research Associate in the Faculty of Theology at University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa.
