Monday, July 29, 2013

The Puritans on Sin

 The Puritans took sin seriously.   They knew it was worse than Satan: the devil cannot keep us from heaven but sin can.  They wanted people to see it, mourn it and fight it as sinners saved by grace.

If you click on the titles you can link to a great deal on the book from Reformation Heritage Books.

The Sinfulness of Sin by Ralph Venning

Overcoming Sin and Temptation by John Owen (edited by Kapic and Taylor).  This is rich but takes some work.  If you want a simplified (yet excellent) reworking of it see the next book.   One of our daughters read the one below and was deeply convicted.

The Enemy Within by Kris Lundgaard (this is the reworked one.)

Also available is a little book on dealing with sin in our children: 
Dealing with Sin in Our Children by Arthur Hildersham

For those that want to go really study this, the following book (which I have not read) looks superb.  Because it is sermons, we know it was written for a general audience.  
A Treatise of Sin: The Deceitfulness of the Heart Unmasked by Anthony Burgess is probably one of the greatest books ever written on the deceitfulness of the human heart. It was first written in 1654 and published as A Treatise of Sin. The book is a masterpiece on the heart’s deceitfulness in sin, and formality and hypocrisy in religion. Anthony Burgess’ work contains 42 sermons that pierce to the depths of the soul in exposing false religion and the worthless props men lean on to justify themselves before God.  

I do not know if The Mischief of Sin or The Evil of Evils are still in print.  I could not find them at RHB.   Feel free to google for it.

Another invaluable guide to tracking the devices of the devil is called Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices by Thomas Brooks.

Let me assure you that this does not need to be a huge time commitment. Some days I only read a page or a few paragraphs and it helps for me to write out some of the great quotes and some thoughts if I feel moved so to do.
 
Blessings.   May God make us all more grieved for our sin so that we may love the Savior and our neighbor more.

No comments:

Post a Comment