ABSTRACT: The Puritans were such able theologians and physicians of souls because they were so committed to carefully studying Scripture in deep conversation with the best of church history. Mining the wealth of their forebears meant reading carefully, and always in the light of God’s word, early church fathers, medieval theologians, the Reformers, and their contemporaries. Those who want to follow in the footsteps of Puritan pastor-theologians can sit down in libraries like theirs, reading the works they read in the same prayerful and humble spirit.
For our ongoing series of feature articles for pastors and Christian leaders, we asked Joel R. Beeke (PhD, Westminster Theological Seminary), chancellor and professor of homiletics and systematic theology at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, and Fraser E. Jones (MA, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary), research assistant to the chancellor, to survey the books that shaped the Puritans most.
