08 October 2010

The Puritans and the Bible

J. I. Packer:
Puritanism was, above all else, a Bible movement.

To the Puritan the Bible was in truth the most precious possession that this world affords. His deepest conviction was that reverence for God means reverence for Scripture, and serving God means obeying Scripture. To his mind, therefore, no greater insult could be offered to the Creator than to neglect his written word; and, conversely, there could be no truer act of homage to him than to prize it and pore over it, and then to live out and give out its teaching. Intense veneration for Scripture, as the living word of the living God, and a devoted concern to know and do all that it prescribes, was Puritan’s hallmark.
--‘The Puritans as Interpreters of Scripture,’ in A Quest for Godliness (Crossway 2010; repr.), 98; cf. 113, 122

No truer act of homage. To prize it and pore over it. Intense veneration.

'And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock . . .' --Matthew 7:24

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful. :-)

Martha