I have been meaning to tell readers of this blog about a great program going on over at my friend Timmy Brister’s blog, Provocations & Pantings. Timmy is an MDiv student at Southern Seminary with a great passion for church health, evangelism, and the glorification of God. He’s a good friend and an encouragement to me. His program is called the Puritan Reading Challenge. Basically, Timmy has come up with the idea of reading one paperback by one Puritan each month of this year. He’s invited people to join with him in reading the paperback and in discussing the work together. He’s got the whole thing worked out so that those who participate in the Challenge receive a massive discount from a couple of booksellers. He’s also got interviews with men like Mark Dever on the Puritans. I highly encourage you to check the Challenge out over at Timmy’s blog.
I’m excited about this program because it is designed to acquaint people with the Puritans, authors of a treasure trove of literature that is largely undiscovered in many Christian circles today. The Puritans have a wide variety of reputations, with some saying that they’re detached prudes, others saying that they’re legalist doctrinaires, but in the end, they were godly people who lived with a big view of their Lord and who sought to honor Him on a daily basis. They were not perfect, but they did have a healthy view of God, man, and the Christian life, and for this reason I would encourage most anyone to pick up a Puritan paperback and read it. The books in Timmy’s series aren’t that long, and they’re full of rich doctrinal meditation and searching practical application.
I’ll close with the blurb from the Challenge project blog, answering why one should study the Puritans:
If you’re interested, leave a comment for Timmy at his blog and he’ll get back to you with more info.
