Who are the Puritans?
Church History Book Reviews
A survey of the Puritan Era, and
the teachings of the Puritans in readable form.
Who are the Puritans and What do
They Teach?
by Erroll Hulse
Evangelical Press, Darlington, England: 2000.
220 Pages, Paperback.
The caricatures of
Puritanism still exit today. Most
people believe the Puritans to be somber and boring people who wore drab
clothes and prayed all day. The
caricature does them injustice. They
were some of the most vibrant and joyful people the world has ever
known. But Satan has a way
to throwing a wet rag in a holy flame, or information about those holy
flames. Hulse’s book
removes that wet rag and fans the flame for the beginner who desires to
understand who these people were and what excellent expositors of the
Word of God they had become.
Hulse’s book take son
a popular format, though I really do not like the font they used for
some of the side quotes – it is a bit difficult to read.
Otherwise, the book is laid out quite nicely, and is very
attractive and easy to follow.
Hulse walks us through
2 main sections of the book: section one concerns a brief history of
many of the great puritans. He
describes who they were, where they ministered, how long they lived, and
other basic biographical information.
However, he adds their accomplishments and their importance which
makes the 1-2 page biographies an excellent source for anyone to pull
from. The second part of
the book concerns itself with what the puritans taught –
justification, election, assurance, etc.
It is a brief overview of the main doctrines which distinguish
them as superb Bible scholars and pastors.
There are some personal
interjections through the book, most of which were helpful to the
reader. There was one
section which dealt with a two paragraph description and exhortation to
stay away from Hypercalvinism (which every good Christian should be
exhorted to do.). However,
Hulse’s comments there need some rework and rewriting.
His definitions of Hypercalvinism are erroneous.
He either needed to be more specific there and explain what he
means by his definitions, or simply leave an unnecessary section out of
the book. Other than that
section, I found his comments beneficial.
After reading this book
myself, I handed it off to my wife.
She had not read much history on the Puritans, but enjoyed this
book tremendously. Many of the biographical quips helped her to see their
importance and their dedication to Christ.
Anyone looking for an
introduction to the Puritans and what they teach has found the perfect
book. Teens to adults will
enjoy its simplicity and insight. I
recommend this highly.
Some Quotes:
Postmodernism is
fiercely antinomian.
If we take the lives of
the Puritans of Elizabeth’s reign as being the first generation, the
second generation can be regarded as those who followed in the first
half of the seventeenth century but who did not live up to the time of
the Great Ejection of 1662. The
principle event of this period was the Westminster Assembly (1643-47).
The third generation can be taken as those who lived through the
Ejection and beyond. It was
in the latter period that most of the “writing” Puritans (i.e. those
who works have been previously published) lived.
In the face of the
Philosophical and religious trends of today the Puritans are certainly
relevant.
The strength of the
Puritans is that there is never any doubt about the validity of the
Scriptures.
Whatever I write on the
revival of Puritan literature today will be out of date very soon
because the printing presses are constantly at work with new
translations and newly edited and revised Puritan works.
Readers who desire to read the puritans should write and request
catalogs from the major publishers of Puritan books. |
