Why read the Puritans today?

Hearing the word "Puritans", many people picture stern figures in black clothes. Open their books and you find something else: writers who care deeply for their readers. They write about faith, guilt, comfort, prayer and ordinary life. This is a short introduction for anyone who is curious but does not yet know where to start.

Who were they?

The Puritans were English (and later also Scottish and American) Protestants of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. They wanted the Bible to shape church and daily life more fully. They were not a closed group with one voice. They were preachers, authors and pastors who sometimes complemented and sometimes contradicted one another.

Well-known names include John Owen, Richard Baxter, Thomas Watson and John Bunyan, whose The Pilgrim's Progress is still widely read. Their work was also known in the Netherlands: parts of it were translated, and authors of the Dutch Further Reformation (Nadere Reformatie) read them.

What can you find in them?

• Biblical weight. They quote and explain Scripture constantly. A page of theirs is often a small Bible study.
• Attention to the heart. They ask not only what you believe but how it lands in your life: in sin, doubt, gratitude and suffering.
• Pastoral language. Much of their work comes from sermons. You hear a shepherd who knows his flock.
• Calm. They take their time with a single thought. That takes getting used to, and for many readers it is a relief.

What is hard?

To be honest: the language is old, the sentences are long, and sometimes the view of the world differs from ours. They wrote for their own time, and not everything fits your situation directly. So read them as you would an old friend of the church: with respect, and with the Bible beside you.

Where to begin?

Start small. Pick a short work or a single chapter, and read for a quarter of an hour at a time. If you want more structure, choose a reading plan or first read the article How to read an old book. In BookWallet you read in the app and online, wherever you like.