Meet the Puritans: A Guide to Their Lives and Books, 2nd Edition (Beeke, Pederson, Jones)

This New Edition Includes:

• 45 New Biographies for a total of 190 English and American Puritans, seventeenth-century Scottish Presbyterians, and Dutch Further Reformation divines.
• 278 New Summaries of Puritan works, with annotated bibliographies of modern reprints.
• Comprehensive Revision of the entire previous edition.
• 200 New Titles Added to the select bibliography of secondary sources.
• New, Expanded Glossary plus an updated, expanded list of Puritan publishers.

The definitive reference for engaging the Puritan tradition—praised by pastors, scholars, and serious readers alike.

Substantial enough for study, accessible enough for devotional use, Meet the Puritans is that rare kind of reference book that invites you to actually read it.

Whether you’re meeting them for the first time or returning with questions, this is the indispensable guide to the lives and works of the Puritans.

If your impression of the Puritans comes from grim portraits, high collars, and joyless sermons, Meet the Puritans will surprise you in the best way. Behind those caricatures lies a warm, Christ-centered spiritual tradition shaped by people who loved Scripture, treasured grace, and sought to glorify God in every part of life.

The Puritans took life seriously—because they took God seriously. Grace and guilt, love and sacrifice, heaven and hell weren’t abstractions to them; they were urgent realities. Today, when conviction of sin is dismissed as gloom, when earnest faith is pitied, and when diligent obedience is labeled as legalism, we desperately need their witness.

If you hunger for depth, for holiness, for real communion with God, open these pages. Let these lives challenge you and these writings nourish you. Take the time to meet the Puritans—you’ll find in them deep truths, godly examples, and an exalted Christ.

Endorsements

“An invaluable resource. It ought to be on the shelf of every Christian who loves the Puritans and wants to learn from them and about them.”
—Kevin DeYoung

“For the novice layperson who wants a reliable introduction to the Puritans, this is the perfect handbook. And for the seasoned scholar seeking a catalog of the best available Puritan literature, this is also an indispensable tool.”
—Paul Washer

Appreciation for the Previous Edition

“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.”
—Sinclair Ferguson

“A priceless treasure. An encyclopedic wealth...distilled here in a simple, readable, understandable, and wonderfully useful compendium.”
—John MacArthur

“The Puritans of old have become the prophets for our time. This volume is a treasure for the church.”
—R.C. Sproul

“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.”
—John Piper

About the Authors

Joel R. Beeke (PhD, Westminster Theological Seminary) serves as the chancellor and professor of homiletics and systematic theology at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. He is also a minister of the Heritage Reformed Congregation of Grand Rapids, Michigan. He frequently lectures at seminaries and speaks at Reformed conferences around the world. The Lord has blessed him and his wife, Mary, with three children and eleven grandchildren.

Randall J. Pederson (PhD, Leiden University) is the managing editor of the Westminster Theological Journal, an adjunct professor at Kuyper College and Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, a Bible teacher at Zion Christian School, and the author of several works on Puritanism. He and his wife, Sarah, are members of Harvest Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Wyoming, Michigan. They have three children.

Fraser E. Jones (MA, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary) is a research assistant to Joel Beeke at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. Originally from British Columbia, he lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and is a member of Grace Immanuel Reformed Baptist Church.