~ Excerpt taken from : "Worldly Saints - The Puritans as They Really Were" by Leland Ryken
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Ephesians 2:8-9
Thursday, July 23, 2015
The Practical Impulse in Puritanism
Part of the genius of Puritanism was it's urge to be practical. For the Puritans, the mark of true Christianity was that it made a difference in how people actually live. According to Eleazer Mather ,"Christians must speak by lives as well as words; you must live religion, as well as talk religion". John Owen claimed that "Our happiness consists not in the knowing the things of the gospel, but in the doing of them. The soul of religion is the practical part," wrote John Bunyan. This practical impulse permeated Puritan thinking in many areas. In preaching sermons, for example, William Ames insisted that it was not enough to state the truth; the preacher must also show "the use, goodness, or end" of Christian doctrines. In urging Christians too many meditate on how they can serve God and society, cotton Mather stipulated, consider it till you have resolved on something. Write down your resolutions. The Puritans wanted things to be useful.
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