I have been actively reading books for nine years. Before that time, I had never read a book (I didn’t even take the time to read the cliff notes in class). When God called me to ministry, I soon realized that if I was going to teach and have something to say, I needed to be a student of God’s Word and also learn from godly men and good books. Unfortunately, for the first three years of reading, I had very little direction or good advice concerning what to read, and the majority of books read during that time have been tubbed or stored away in some attic never to be revisited again.
In 2000, I first met the Puritans through reading Richard Baxter’s The Reformed Pastor. Since that time, I can say without equivocation that the Puritans have influenced me spiritually, pastorally, and theologically more than any other people in history. In the makeup of my canon of theologians, Puritans comprise a majority of my regular reading and deservedly so. Having said that, I was overcome with excitement when I found what I consider to be the best single source for Puritan biographical sketches and resources–a book called Meet the Puritans. Edited by Joel R. Beeke and Randall J. Pederson, this book is a masterpiece and a treasure trove for those who long to live God-saturated lives like these men.
If there is one book worth getting this new year, consider Meet the Puritans. Once you discover the lives, writings, and ministries of these men, I am confident you will be inspired, encouraged, and convicted to walk worthy of the calling to which you have been called. The Shepherd’s Scrapbook recently called it the 2006 Book of the Year. You might just agree. 🙂 If only somebody had told me about these guys nine years ago, I would not have wasted so much money and time read books by contemporary authors that won’t last another year much less a generation! The Puritans are still around, four hundred years later, and their writings will continue to influence and change lives.
:: Here’s the detailed info:
Title: Meet the Puritans with a Guide to Modern Reprints
Editors: Joel R. Beeke & Randall J. Pederson
Publisher: Reformation Heritage Books
Publishing Date: 2006
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 935
ISBN: 1-60178-000-1
Retail Price: $35.00 (on sale for around $25.00)
:: What Others Are Saying:
“Joel Beeke and Randall Pederson have produced a tremendous gift to and resource for all who want an entryway into the study of the Puritans. They not only provide accurate biographical and theological introduction to every Puritan whose works have been reprinted in the last fifty years, but also combine with their helpful summaries an insightful analysis. If this were not enough, they’ve added major appendices that include the so-called ‘Scottish Puritans’ (that is, the great Scottish theologians who were contemporaries of and like-minded brethren in doctrine and piety with the English Puritans) as well as the Dutch Further Reformation divines. Meet the Puritans, With a Guide to Modern Reprints is a must have. I know of nothing like it. If you are looking for a reliable window into the life, theology, piety and ministry of the Puritans—this is it.”
— DR. LIGON DUNCAN, Senior Minister, First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Mississippi, and President, Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals
“Meet the Puritans is a cornucopia of good things: a remarkable portrait gallery, a wonderful library of biographies, a reader’s guide to great Christian literature, a record of an international movement of the Spirit, a personal tutorial in Puritan history and theology — and much more. The student of Puritanism will often reach for it, and yet the bedtime reader will be enthralled by it. It will persuade you that giants for Christ did once exist. Here are their stories. They will make you want to grow tall spiritually, too.”
— DR. SINCLAIR B. FERGUSON, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Columbia, South Carolina
“Joel Beeke and Randall Pederson have given us a priceless treasure in this introduction to the Puritans and Puritan literature. I have often wished for just such a resource. An encyclopedic wealth of biographical and bibliographical information has been distilled here in a simple, readable, understandable, and wonderfully useful compendium. For the novice lay person who wants a reliable introduction to the Puritans, this is the perfect handbook. And for the seasoned scholar seeking a catalogue of the best available Puritan literature, this is also an indispensable tool. My prayer is that it will help spark a new wave of interest in the Puritans, a new appreciation for their theology, and especially a revival of their passion for careful biblical exposition.”
— DR. JOHN MACARTHUR
“Finally, the resource we’ve always needed! Meet the Puritans is one of those books that raises the question: Why has this not been done before now? We are in Joel Beeke and Randall Pederson’s debt for giving us the best introductory book on the Puritans ever made available. Meet the Puritans is nothing less than a who’s-who of the Puritan tradition.”
— DR. R. ALBERT MOHLER, JR., President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky
“The Puritans — English, Scottish, American, and Dutch — are being read again! In an era of superficial discipleship and erratic, impotent, ailing, and dying churches, this is indeed a hopeful sign. And this wide-ranging handbook of backup information about the writers themselves, their special strengths, and modern reprints of their books, is another hopeful sign. Meet the Puritans is a fascinating compendium, scholarly yet popular and accessible, that Puritan-lovers will value very highly—and justly so.”
— DR. JAMES I. PACKER, author of Knowing God and A Quest for Godliness
“As furnaces burn with ancient coal and not with the leaves that fall from today’s trees, so my heart is kindled with the fiery substance I find in the old Scripture-steeped sermons of Puritan pastors. A warm thanks to the authors of Meet the Puritans for all the labor to make them known.”
— DR. JOHN PIPER, Pastor, Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota
“The recent revival in interest in and commitment to the truths of Reformed theology is due in large measure to the rediscovery of Puritan literature. The Puritans of old have become the prophets for our time. This volume is a treasure for the church.”
— DR. R. C. SPROUL, President of Ligonier Ministries
[Others within the ten pages of endorsements include Tom Ascol, Nichael Haykin, Erroll Hulse, Wayne Mack, Donald McKim, Robert Martin, Robert Oliver, Leland Ryken, Carl Trueman, and Donald Whitney.]
:: Bookstores:
Solid Ground Bookstore – $22.95
Reformation Heritage Bookstore – $25.00
Monergism Books – $24.99
Grace and Truth Bookstore – $29.00
Cumberland Valley Bible Bookstore – $24.99
Amazon.com – $24.00
My dear wife surprised me with a copy of MEET THE PURITANS for Christmas…I too love this book, and Timmy, I was blessed to have discovered the English Puritans when the web 1st hit and began avid reading of the Puritans 10 years ago…however in my case I had wasted more years than you on lesser fare—about 25 years. How I thank our precious God for this explosion of knowledge and the acceleration of the distribution of Puritan Literature.
By the way, one favorite discovery of mine last year was the FULL VIEW search using “Google Book Search.” I suggest that you insert the more obscure authors in MEET THE PURITANS into the Advance Search section of “Google Book Search.” Searching for “John Howe” turned up an interesting, difficult treatise ON DELIGHTING IN GOD. And a search for “The Unsearchable Riches of Christ” yielded a book containing hard-to-find Devotional Writings of John Bunyan. Again, I praise God that in His Sovereign timing, he is accelerating access to all of these rich resources whereby we can richly “grow in the Grace and Knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
22.95 at Solid Ground
http://www.solid-ground-books.com/books_ReformationHeritageBooks.asp
Thanks Tony! I must have missed the price when I clicked on the link. Indeed, it is the lowest price! 😉
Ed said: “How I thank our precious God for this explosion of knowledge and the acceleration of the distribution of Puritan Literature.”
Amen brother! And let me add how I thank God for great blogs that highlight such Puritan literature. If any of you haven’t checked Ed’s blog, be sure to visit it sometime as you will see that Ed reads and writes about some great Puritan writings. I for one appreciate the unique offering you bring to the blogosphere Ed!
Dear anyone,
Please tell me the weight and dimensions of this massive book?
Thanks