The English Puritans: Recommended Resources

On Puritanism in general

  • J. I. Packer, A Quest for Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life (Crossway Books, 1990)
  • Leland Ryken, Worldly Saints: The Puritans As They Really Were (Zondervan, 1986)
  • Horton Davies, The Worship of the English Puritans (Soli Deo Gloria, 1997)
  • William Barker, Puritan Profiles (Christian Focus Publications, 1996, 2003)
  • Peter Lewis, The Genius of Puritanism (Carey Publications, 1977, 1979)
  • John Coffey, Persecution and Toleration in Protestant England 1588—1689 (Longman, 2002)
  • Marcus L. Loane, Makers of Puritan History (Baker Book House, 1961, 1980)
  • Patrick Collinson, The Elizabethan Puritan Movement (Oxford, 1990)
  • Puritan Papers [conference presentations surveying many aspects of the Puritan movement and its leadership], edited by D. M. Lloyd-Jones and J. I. Packer, 5 vols. (P&R Publishing, 2001–2005)

On Richard Baxter

  • J. I. Packer, The Redemption and Restoration of Man in the Thought of Richard Baxter (Regent College Publishing and Paternoster Press, 2003) and A Grief Sanctified: Through Sorrow to Eternal Hope, Including Richard Baxter’s Timeles Memoir of His Wife’s Life and Death (Crossway, 2002)
  • J. William Black, Reformation Pastors:Richard Baxter and the Idea of the Reformed Pastor (Paternoster Press, 2004)
  • Paul C. H. Lim, In Pursuit of Purity, Unity, and Liberty: Richard Baxter’s Puritan Ecciesiology in Its Seventeenth-Century Context (Brill Academic Publishers, 2004)

On Other Puritans

  • Michael A. G. Haykin, To Honour God: The Spirituality of Oliver Cromwell (Joshua Press, 1999)
  • Sinclair Ferguson, John Owen on the Christian Life (Banner of Truth, 1987)
  • John Owen: The Man and His Theology, ed. by Sinclair Ferguson et al. (P&R Publishing, 2003)
  • David B. Calhoun, Grace Abounding: The L, Books & Influence of John Bunyan (Christian Focus Publications, 2005)

Puritan classics

The best way into the Puritans’ worldview is through their own words. As a guide on your journey, The Devoted Life: An Invitation to the Puritan Classics, edited by Kelly M. Kapic and Randall C. Gleason (Inter Varsity Press, 2004), provides a helpful and thorough introduction to many key Puritan books and their authors. Here are a few classics to start with:

  • Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor and A Christian Directory
  • John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress and Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners
  • John Owen,On the Mortification of Sin; The Holy Spirit; and The Glory of Christ
  • Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed
  • Jeremiah Burroughs, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment
  • John Flavel, The Mystery of Providence
  • John Milton, Paradise Lost
  • The Westminster Confession and the Shorter and Larger Catechisms

Other resources

Soli Deo Gloria (www.ligonier.org/sdgl) is a publishing house that specializes in Puritan reprints. Banner of Truth (www.banneroftruth.org) also publishes works by and about the Puritans. A wonderful online resource is the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (www.ccel.org), which includes works by Richard Baxter, John Bunyan, John Milton, John Owen, Thomas Shepard, and Thomas Watson. You’ll also find Puritan-related articles, short biographies, and primary sources on “A Puritan’s Mind” (wwwapuritansmind.com).

Finally, Christian History & Biography has several back issues on related topics. Issue 41 focused on the American Puritans, Issue 11 on John Bunyan and The Pilgrim’s Progress, and Issue 48 on Thomas Cranmer and the English Reformation. For information about ordering, see http://store.yahoo.comlcti/chrishis.html.

By the Editors

[Christian History originally published this article in Christian History Issue #89 in 2006]

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