Meet the Puritans—With a Guide to Modern Reprints, by Joel R. Beeke and Randall J. Pederson Reformation Heritage, 2006. Hardback, 898 pp., $35

Reviewed by Pastor David G. Whitla

The remarkable resurgence of Puritans authors from relative publishing obscurity is amply demonstrated by the publication of Beeke and Pederson’s superb Meet the Puritans. A book with this title might have been conceivably published 50 years ago, but the subtitle—With a Guide to Modern Reprints—would have made it a slender volume indeed! It is surely a happy sign of the times that an almost 900 page volume of this kind should at last be made available to the layman.

A brief introduction provides a historical overview of the 17th Century Puritan movement, their doctrinal emphases, and tips on how to benefit from reading their works. Then we get into the bulk of the work: almost 150 mini-biographies of English, American, Scottish, and Dutch Puritans. For each, the reader will find book reviews of quite literally all of their works that have been reprinted—an exhaustive and valuable reference for book hunters! The work is very readable, thoroughly illustrated and user friendly. For example, a thorough bibliography of secondary sources and a concluding glossary of theological terms and historical events by Ray Lanning will help beginners get the most out of the book.

Most readers will likely use it as a reference tool: a kind of “Puritan Dictionary of Biography,” as opposed to a cover-to-cover read. It should certainly find a place on the shelf of your church library, perhaps shortly to be followed by the Puritan texts it promotes!

The welcome resurgence of interest in the Puritans does not guarantee a resurgence of Puritanism in our churches, which will not occur until we know better the Puritans’ God. It is hoped that this guide will prove an invaluable help to that end.

Trading and Thriving in Godliness: The Piety of George Swinnock, by J. Stephen Yuille, Reformation Heritage, 2008. Paperback, 213 pp. $10.

If you’ve ever wanted to sample the writings of the Puritans but were daunted by the size and wordiness of their works, this little volume is an excellent place to begin. Trading and Thriving in Godliness is another of the recent Profiles in Reformed Spirituality series from Reformation Heritage Books. Each one is a pocket-sized reader, offering an assortment of shorter selections from the works of important (and some more obscure) historic Reformed writers on the subject of personal godliness.

The name of George Swinnock probably won’t ring a bell even for readers who are more familiar with our 17th Century predecessors, for little is known about the man except what we find in his writing, which comprise five large volumes still in print. Stephen Yuille has rendered us a great service by bringing Swinnock out of obscurity and making the cream of his works available in an extremely accessible devotional paperback.

The book is divided into seven sections, each containing several 2- to 3-page readings on the following: The Foundation of Godliness points us to God Himself as revealed in His attributes; The Door to Godliness contains Swinnock’s profound insights on the crucial doctrine of regeneration; The Value of Godliness winsomely shows the practical benefits of living a godly life, while The Pursuit of Godliness calls us to examine ourselves to ensure we are indeed characterized by godliness. The Nature of Godliness is probably the most practical section, containing choice snippets from Swinnock’s master work, The Christian Man’s Calling. A searching study on Christian vocation, it asks, “How can I glorify God as a Christian parent, worker, spouse, child, at work, at play, in prosperity, in adversity, at death?” The Means to Godliness offers practical advice for putting these guidelines into action, and The Motives to Godliness demonstrates the happiness of a godly life above a worldly one.

The reader will find Swinnock one of the easier Puritans to read, always profound, always showing how doctrine is practical in life. More importantly, he will prove a reliable guide to living to please God. Trading and Thriving in Godliness is highly recommended for readers late teens and up, making a fine companion for about seven weeks of personal devotions. [If Yuille’s primer whets your appetite for more, Swinnock’s remarkable work The Fading of the Flesh and the Flourishing of Faith is also now available from the publisher as a paperback or an ebook.]

Afterwards I Knew: Stories from the First and Second World Wars, by Christine Farenhorst, Christian Focus Publications, 2010. 200 pp. The Merciful Eye: Stories from the Middle Ages, by Christine Farenhorst, Christian Focus Publications, 2010. 181 pp.

Reviewed by Joseph Comanda

Christine Farenhorst has been writing stories for years. She writes with a vision of God working in the lives of His people. In these latest volumes, she has put together two collections of her short stories. One, Afterwards I Knew, contains stories from World War I and II. The other, The Merciful Eye, contains stories from the Middle Ages. While the books deal with different historical periods, there is a common thread that runs through all the stories. They all take place in transitional moments in history and in the lives of their characters. In story after story, someone is tested, touched by the hand of God, and finds his or her way out of difficulty.

A number of the stories in Afterwards I Knew are accounts of Jews in hiding and on the run, and of those who befriended and protected them at the risk of their own lives. They may even seem somewhat familiar to us, but they still surprise and move us. In “The Child,” a Jewish child born to a mother named Maria and a father named Josef shows up mysteriously on Christmas Eve in a farming village in Holland. In “The Gift,” the life of a young man is saved from German soldiers by the daughter of a Jewish family he has befriended unwittingly.

There are less familiar stories, like the one of an old German who had served on the Russian front in his youth. He tells us of his encounter with an old Russian woman in the forest who takes him in, an enemy soldier, and points the way to the Lord.

In “Feed My Sheep,” a Dutch pastor loses control of his orderly life and is forced against his will into answering God’s call on his life. Of him Farenhorst writes:

We all wait. Some…know they are waiting and others do not. But always, whether perceived or unperceived, the moment for which we are waiting comes along. It may come as a sharp rap upon the knuckles; it may come in a small, still voice; or it may come in a seemingly impossible situation. But it always comes—and it always results in a confession of the mouth, in an expression of faith, in a moment of truth—with eternal consequences. The same could be written of many of the characters we encounter in these stories; and, in a less dramatic way, it is true of us as well.

The Merciful Eye takes us to less familiar, and thus more intriguing, territory. In the title story, a young woman and her husband learn about losing their lives and finding them in 16th Century France. Not knowing quite what is happening to them, they stumble upon the truth of the gospel in the emerging Reformation church. In another story, a group in Germany on a pilgrimage back from Rome has a brush with Johann Tetzel, the seller of indulgences, and runs into a student of Martin Luther. These and other stories in this book have a somewhat different feel. They are less about encountering challenges and more about discovering light amid the darkness.

I commend these books to you. You will be encouraged by these stories of God’s work in the lives of ordinary people in difficult times.

Samuel Rutherford: an introduction to his theology. Matthew Vogan, ed., Scottish Reformation Society, 2012.
Reformation is a lot like backing out of a one-car garage; there are hazards to avoid on either side. To the right is nostalgia, which prefers ancient error to new reform. To the left is novelty, which prefers fashionable error to ancient reform. That’s where historical theology comes in. By comparing today’s consensus with past trends, we can identify generational biases that hinder our interpretation of Scripture.

With this in mind, the Scottish Reformation Society recently published an assortment of scholarly essays and extracts, entitled Samuel Rutherford: an introduction to his theology. Known for his devotional warmth and theological precision, Rutherford (1600-1661) greatly influenced the Westminster Assembly and should influence us today. This volume explores his impact on such relevant topics as preaching, covenant theology, church government, civil ethics, and the relationship between justification and sanctification. If you enjoyed digesting J. G. Vos’ more accessible works on The Scottish Covenanters and the Westminster Larger Catechism, this book is an edifying next step.

 Sherman Isbell’s chapter on “Samuel Rutherford and the Preached Covenant” is worth the price of the book. Carefully applying Rutherford’s visible/invisible and internal/external distinctions to both church and covenant, Isbell critiques hyper-Calvinism for (among other things) refusing to evangelize members of the visible church. In a day when few regard the local congregation as a mixed multitude in need of a “preached covenant,” this chapter is a must-read.

What the Covenanters sealed in blood, Rutherford first penned in ink. Chapters 10-12 ably unpack his political theology, carefully distinguishing it from that of later Covenanters while noting obvious similarities. Both affirmed the distinct, inseparable relationship between church and state under Christ, the state’s duty to outwardly enforce all ten commandments, the right of private self-defense against tyranny, and the perpetual obligation of the Solemn League and Covenant. Call it nostalgia, but I believe Rutherford’s theology deserves a Berean reconsideration in Reformed circles. After all, if reformation truly resembles backing out of a one-car garage, then we may need to go backwards a bit before it’s safe to move forward.

McKay, David. Samuel Rutherford on Civil Government in Matthew Vogan (ed.) Samuel Rutherford: an introduction to his theology, Scottish Reformation Society, 2012, pp. 253-264.

McKay notes that, unlike later Covenanters, Rutherford did not view civil rulers as deputies of Christ as Mediator. However, we must add that Rutherford did subscribe to Westminster Larger Catechism Q. 54, which ascribes universal power (i.e. authority) to Christ “as God-man.” He also wrote that “the magistrate may serve Christ as Christ, and promote and advance the kingdom of Jesus Christ as Mediator,” albeit indirectly and unofficially (The Divine Right of Presbyteries, London, 1646, p. 600).