Why Read the Puritans Today? -- By: Don Kistler

Journal: Reformation and Revival
Volume: RAR 05:2 (Spring 1996)
Article: Why Read the Puritans Today?
Author: Don Kistler


Why Read the Puritans Today?

Don Kistler

There are a couple of reasons, I believe, for the resurgence of interest in the Puritans and their writings. One is that people are getting tired of religion offering things it can’t deliver. All kinds of promises are being made, but people investigate religion out of self-interest, and when these things don’t come true, they are disappointed. I think they are also tired of shallow, superficial religion. Most people don’t worship God, because the God most people hear about really isn’t worth worshipping. He is not the “High and Lofty One,” He is not the “Lord God omnipotent who reigneth forever and ever.” He is just “my friend,” and familiarity surely breeds contempt!

The Puritans were men who were passionately obsessed with the knowledge of God. I have listed ten reasons why we should read the Puritans today, and every one is directly derived from the Puritan view of God and Scripture.

1) They will elevate your concept of God

to a degree you probably never thought possible, and show you a God who is truly worthy of your worship and adoration. Jeremiah Burroughs, in his classic book Gospel Worship, said, “The reason why we worship God in a slight way is because we do not see God in His glory.” Modern man hears about a God who isn’t worth worshiping. Why should he worship a God who wants to do good, but can’t pull it off because man just won’t cooperate? Who then is sovereign? Man is!

Read the Puritans and you will find yourself, in a spiritual sense, somewhat lonely. You will become excited about what you are reading and what you are feeling in your heart, and then you will notice that there aren’t a lot of other people who know what you are talking about, and that can be lonely! When you experience Isaiah’s vision of God (Isa. 6), and you realize that the reality of God is infinitely beyond anything your mind can comprehend, you

will realize that the average man doesn’t think much about God at all, much less at the deep level you are thinking.

One of the reasons we think so poorly is because we read so little. Reading helps us think. We live in a photographic culture now instead of a typographic culture. Everything is pictures, videos, movies. The work is all done for us, so we don’t have to wrestle with concepts. Someone else interprets the matter for us in pictures. Four hundred years ago, words were frozen on a page and forced readers to deal with the thoughts expressed.

2) Puritans had a “love affair” with Christ, and they wrote much about the beauty of Christ.

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