I’ve met Joel Beeke once. It was at T4G 2010 when he was behind the Reformation Heritage book table. We’ve corresponded on a few occasions in the years since, but I have no reason to think he’d remember me. Yet, few preachers and scholars have influenced me like Dr. Beeke. His sermons and books have indelibly shaped my views on experiential preaching, Reformed piety, and historical theology.
When I saw that Michael Haykin and Paul Smalley had edited a festschrift for Dr. Beeke entitled, Puritan Piety: Essay in Honors of Joel R. Beeke, I was thrilled. The book just came in the mail and looks to be a feast for the soul.
Description
The puritan movement, its leading figures, and the resulting principles were not only pivotal in Church history, but remain greatly influential today. This work looks at the puritan doctrine of piety. Contributors such as Sinclair Ferguson, Michael Haykin, and Mark Jones explore the theology, history, and application of this doctrine, presenting concise biographies of individual Puritans alongside modern heirs who seek to mimic their example. Puritan Piety is written in honour of Joel R. Beeke, inspired by his writings and the passionate piety with which he has strived to live and rightly influence those around him.
Table of Contents
Preface: On Puritans and Piety—Past and Contemporary (Michael A. G. Haykin)
1. Introduction: The Puritan Piety of Joel Beeke (Paul M. Smalley)
Part 1: Reformed Theology and Puritan Piety
2. What is Theology? A Puritan and Reformed Vision of Living to God, through Christ, by the Spirit (Ryan M. McGraw)
3. Christology and Piety in Puritan Thought (Mark Jones)
4. The Kingdom of God in the Theology of Jonathan Edwards (Paul M. Smalley)
Part 2: Means of Grace and Puritan Piety
5. Calvin the Preacher and the Puritans (Joseph Pipa)
6. The Highway of Holiness: Puritan Moral Reform in the English Revolution (Chad Van Dixhoorn)
7. John Cotton and the Spiritual Value of Psalm-Singing (W. Robert Godfrey)
8. John Owen and the Lord’s Supper (Sinclair B. Ferguson)
9. Principles and Practice for the Household: Thomas Gouge’s Catechesis ‘with Practical Applications’ (Richard A. Muller)
Part 3: Individual Snapshots of Puritan Piety
10. Daniel Dyke and The Mystery of Self-Deceiving (Randall J. Pederson)
11. Milton’s Sonnet on His Blindness and the Puritan Soul (Leland Ryken)
12. A String of Pearls (Psalm 119): The Biblical Piety of Thomas Manton (J. Stephen Yuille)
Part 4: Later Heirs of Puritan Piety
13. J. C. Philpot and Experimental Calvinism (Robert W. Oliver)
14. Eminent Spirituality and Eminent Usefulness: True Spirituality According to Andrew Fuller (Michael A. G. Haykin)