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The Puritans themselves would not have us to hold them in high esteem but would point us to Christ, who comes to us through the means of grace, the chief of which is Scripture.
The Puritans shape our minds according to the Bible. They loved the Bible, lived the Bible, sang the Bible, preached the Bible, read the Bible, memorized the Bible. They were thinking about the Bible every day. They were Bible-shaped theologians and Bible-shaped preachers. They just thought that way—that’s who they were. We need more of that focus on the Word of God today.
If you read the Puritans regularly, their focus on the Scriptures becomes contagious. Though their commentaries on Scripture are not the last word in exegesis, they show how to yield wholehearted allegiance to the Bible’s message. The Puritans themselves would not have us to hold them in high esteem but would point us to Christ, who comes to us through the means of grace, the chief of which is Scripture. By their faithful teaching, they bring the Bible to us more practically; their sincere goal was that they could bring us to the Bible more devotedly, more fully, more holistically.
What better way to pore over the Scriptures than to have these seasoned pastor-theologians standing over our shoulders as we read, and by their writings suggesting to us the best of their insights as we meditate on the meaning of the matchless words of God! If we invite them to be our companions as we study God’s Book, we may veritably come to experience in greater measure the truth of the Scripture that says, “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise” (Prov. 13:20). That is our prayer as you read these pages—not that you would be driven merely to the Puritans but that through the testimony of the Puritans you may be driven further into the Scriptures, and further into communion with the triune God of grace and glory.
Excerpt from
Thriving in Grace: Twelve Ways the Puritans Fuel Spiritual Growth
By Joel R. Beeke and Brian G. Hedges
