Endorsements by John Owen

Like J.I. Packer in our day, a book endorsement from John Owen was much sought-after in the 17th century. The list of works he endorsed in writing is a pleasure to read as it includes some of the best literature of his day, or any day.

Peter Toon, ed., The Correspondence of John Owen (1616-1683), Appendix II: Books which contains 'Prefaces', 'Epistles to the Reader' or 'Commendations' by Dr John Owen, pp. 178-179:

1. Henry Whitfield, Strengthe out of Weakness (1652)
2. Thomas Taylor, A Collection of the Works of T. Taylor (1653)
3. William Twisse, The Riches of God's Love (1653)
4. William Eyre, Vindiciae Justificationis Gratuitae (1654)
5. George Kendall, Sancti Sanctiti (1656)
6. Lewis Du Moulin, Paraenesis ad Aedificatores imperii in imperio (1656)
7. Philolaeclerus (pseud.), The Private Christian's Non Ultra (1656)
8. ____, Banners of Grace and Love (1657)
9. John Cotton, A Defence of Mr. John Cotton (1658)
10. William Guild, The Throne of David (1659)
11. Patrick Gillespie (?), Ark of the Testament Opened (1661)
12. James Durham, Clavis Cantici (1669)
13. Theophilus Gale, The True Idea of Jansenisme (1669)
14. Henry Lukin, An Introduction to the Holy Scripture (1669)
15. Mrs. Alleine, The Life and Death of...Joseph Alleine (1672)
16. Jean Daille, Sermons on the Epistle...to the Colossians (1672)
17. Joseph Caryl, The Nature and Principles of Love (1673)
18. ____, Scottish Metrical Version of Psalms (1673)
19. Edward Polhill, The Divine Will Considered in the eternal decrees (1673)
20. Vavasor Powell, A New and Useful Concordance (1673)
21. Thomas Gouge, The Surest and Safest Way of Thriving (1674)
22. Henry Scudder, The Christian's Daily Walk (1674)
23. Samuel Petto, The Difference between the Old and New Covenant (1674)
24. James Durham, The Law Unsealed (1676)
25. Patrick Gillespie, The Ark of the Covenant Opened (1677)
26. Samuel Corbyn, An Awakening Call (in later editions entitled The Necessity, Seriousness and Sweetnesss of Practical Religion (1677) (2nd ed)
27. Elisha Coles, A Practical Discourse of Gods Sovereignty (1678)
28. Stephen Lobb, The Glory of Free Grace (1680)
29. Bartholomew Ashwood, The Best Treasure (1681)
30. Samuel Clark, The Holy Bible with Annotations (1690)

Note: John Owen also was the first signer of 'An Epistle to the Reader' of Thomas Vincent's The Shorter Catechism Explained from Scripture (1674). And, helping to write The Savoy Declaration, "[h]e was probably the primary author of its lengthy preface" (Joel R. Beeke and Randall J. Pederson, Meet the Puritans, p. 459).

The God of All Grace

Thomas Taylor (1576-1632), English Puritan, wrote a commentary on Titus (described by Joel Beeke and Randall Pederson, Meet the Puritans, p. 579, as "the most famous and safest guide on Titus"), in which he speaks of the types of grace bestowed by God upon man, p. 280 (1612, 1980):

By "grace" in scripture are sometimes meant the gifts of grace, that is, any good gift which proceeds from the favour and love of God towards man, whether privative (in withholding evils deserved, or good things which we would abuse) or positive. These gifts of grace may be general and common, given to the elect and reprobate alike, as the gift of tongues, learning, prophecy, miracles, etc.; or they may be more spiritual, given only to the saved and used to distinguish them from others. Among the latter we may mention the first and eternal grace of election, and the second grace by which those who are elected and given to the Son, are in due time (by effectual vocation, justification, and sanctification) led to glory and salvation. All these are of His grace, and Peter calls Him "the God of all grace."

Scholars' Book Talk

Scholars' Book Talk is back online. After a hiatus, the academic book review website moderated by Randall Pederson that specializes in sixteenth and seventeenth century studies, is back in business. Keep an eye on this site as academic studies are reviewed, many of which will be contribute to our knowledge of subjects relevant to the Puritans.

MHCC: Daily Meditation Readings With Matthew Henry

For those who may be interested in reading Matthew Henry daily in bite-sized pieces, I know of three compilations of daily meditative readings extracted from his Commentary, which may serve as a useful way of reading along in a different format and still participating in the Matthew Henry Commentary Challenge. I own each of these works and have found them to be profitable, so I have noted my briefs reviews of each below to help the reader who may wish to employ one or more of these books for meditation and study.

• Fredna W. Bennett, ed., Moments of Meditation from Matthew Henry: 366 Daily Devotions Gleaned From the Greatest Devotional Commentary of All Time (Zondervan, 1962). I have posted the preface previously here. The daily meditations are loose, modernized abridgments from Henry, which follow the Western ecclesiastical calendar, speaking explicitly and favorably of Christmas on and about December 25, for example, a holiday that Matthew Henry himself did not observe. The Scripture readings come from the KJV, which Henry also utilized, and a Scripture index is included at the back.
  

• Martin Manser, ed., A Closer Walk With God: Daily Readings from Matthew Henry (Daybreak Books, Zondervan, 1987). This is a good compilation of Commentary extracts with a fine preface. The language is modernized, although the Scripture references are derived from the KJV. It does follow the Western ecclesiastical calendar, not with explicit references to Christmas as in Bennett's book, but with a clear effort to incorporate Advent readings in late December. Manser writes: "This compilation of readings has been edited with a view to not only providing a daily source of encouragement and instruction, but also opening up the rich treasury of Matthew Henry's devotional comments to a wider audience. Indeed, some readers might find their appetites whetted and be encouraged to turn to the abridged one-volume version or even the original six-volume edition of the Commentary. This book of daily readings has been compiled with the hope that Matthew Henry's pastoral and practical notes will lead readers to a deeper understanding of the scriptures and so to a closer walk with the living God."

• Toni Sortor, Grant Me Wisdom: Daily Devotional Insights from Matthew Henry: 365 Readings (Barbour Publishing, 2004). This is a faithful, lightly-edited, pocket-size paperback compilation of readings from Henry's Commentary that employs the NKJV for Scripture references and a Scripture index at the back. The introduction says: "Many modern Christians have heard Matthew Henry's name. Some know he wrote a commentary on the Bible. But considerably fewer have actually read his work. Matthew Henry's writings are certainly worth reading, though, and this book, Grant Me Wisdom -- Daily Devotional Insights from Matthew Henry, makes them readily accessible to the modern Christian. Carefully drawn from Henry's massive Commentary on the Whole Bible, this devotional book takes his most practical thoughts and puts them into a one-a-day format for a year's worth of inspiring reading."
  

• Randall J. Pederson, ed., Matthew Henry: Daily Readings (Christian Heritage Publications, 2009). This is a very good, faithful, modernized compilation of extracts from Henry's Commentary, which does not follow the ecclesiastical calendar, but, it should be noted, does employ the ESV for its Scripture readings. It is small, inexpensive, beautifully leather-bound and includes a ribbon bookmark. Pederson writes in the introduction: "It is hoped that this new devotional will serve as a worthy successor in a long string of godly and uplifting material. Drawn from the most popular commentary of all time, these brief and succinct excerpts were chosen to pierce the heart with pointed truths, to instruct, console, motivate towards holiness, and to encourage pilgrims in their long journey home, all the while remembering the busy and chaotic lives people now live. Its small size will be well-suited for travel, suitable for reading on a plane or train; the entries can be read in only a few minutes, perhaps between flights or just prior to bed. Further, it can be used to introduce readers to the Puritans and the profit in reading them. It might also be useful as a companion to Henry's A Method for Prayer."

Meet the Puritans

Back in 2006, Reformation Heritage Books published an invaluable introduction to the Puritans by Joel Beeke and Randall Pederson called Meet the Puritans. I read it daily for a long time, and still refer to it often; it has proven a wonderful resource for me and countless others who appreciate those godly men and women of old.

Yesterday, a new site entered the blogosphere with the same name, Meet the Puritans, with a similar aim. It is a collaborative effort by Danny Hyde, Mark Jones and Rowland Ward.

The purpose of this website is to promote the seventeenth century English Puritans. We intend to do this by means of original research, theological and devotional commentary upon the writings of the Puritans, reviews of books about the Puritans, recommendations of books about the Puritans, and by providing Recommended Reading of helpful materials in your study of the Puritans.

There is a special emphasis on their favorite Puritans -- John Owen, Thomas Goodwin and Thomas Manton -- but this looks to be another great resource for the study of Puritanism in general. Stay tuned and keep reading if you want to "meet the Puritans."

Samuel Rutherford Scandal

A testimony to the grace of God, not unlike the experience of David in Psalm 51, in the life of Samuel Rutherford, that remarkable Scottish Covenanter.

Dictionary of National Biography, Vol. 17, p. 496 (1909 ed.):

He entered the university of Edinburgh in 1617, graduated in 1621, and in 1623 was appointed regent of humanity, having been recommended by the professors for 'his eminent abilities of mind and virtuous disposition.' The records of the two council of Edinburgh under 3 Feb. 1626 contain the following: 'Forasmuch as it being declared by the principal of the college that Mr. Samuel Rutherford, regent of humanity, has fallen in fornication with Eupham Hamilton, and has committed a great scandal in the college and...has since demitted his charge therein, therefore elects and nominates...commissioners...with power...to insist for depriving of the said Mr. Samuel, and being deprived for filling of the said place with a sufficient person.' Rutherford married the said Eupham, and his whole subsequent life was a reparation for the wrong he had done. According to his own statement, he had 'suffered the sun to be high in heaven' before he became seriously religious.

Joel R. Beeke & Randall J. Pederson, Meet the Puritans, p. 721, adds:

In 1623, Rutherford was chosen to serve as Professor of Humanity at Edinburgh, with responsibilities as a Latin tutor. Two years later, he was forced to resign after behaving inappropriately with a young woman named Euphame Hamilton, whom he subsequently married. God apparently used this incident to initiate or further his conversion. In a letter to Robert Stuart (1637), Rutherford wrote, “Ye have gotten a great advantage in the way of heaven, that ye have started to the gate in the morning. Like a fool, as I was, I suffered my sun to be high in the heaven, and near afternoon, before I ever took the gate by the end.”

A Day in the Life of Oliver Heywood While Imprisoned for the Faith

Oliver Heywood, English Puritan (1630-1702), was a remarkable man by any measure. Through his diaries we know that he "preached 3,027 sermons, kept 1,256 fasts, observed 314 thanksgiving days, and traveled 31,345 miles during the course of his [50-year] ministry" (Joel R. Beeke & Randall J. Pederson, Meet the Puritans, p. 343). I will come back to the fact that he, like other Puritans, kept a diary, and what significance Puritans placed on this exercise, but for now I want to highlight an extract from his diary written in 1685 which describes a typical day spent while he served time in prison for nonconformity (his wife was jailed with him part of the time):

(1) After our rising, we kneeled down; I went to prayer with my wife; (2) she in her closet, I in my chamber, went to secret prayer alone; (3) then I read a chapter in the Greek Testament, while I took a pipe; (4) then read a chapter in the Old Testament with Poole's Annotations; (5) then writ a little, here [diary], or elsewhere; (6) at ten o'clock I read a chapter in Proverbs; went to prayer with my wife, as family prayer; (7) then writ in some book or treatise I composed, till dinner; (8) after dinner, Mr. Whitaker and I read our turns for an hour in Fox's Acts and Monuments, last edition; (9) then went to my chamber; if my wife was absent I spent an hour in secret prayer; God helped usually; (10) after supper we read in Book of Martyrs; study, go to prayer; we read in Baxter's Paraphrase on the New Testament.