Quest for Godliness # 1

The next few days I hope to post a few chapter summaries I wrote of J. I. Packer's excellent A Quest for Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life. Here is a summary of the introduction:

The Puritans are giants standing out tall in the history of the Christian Church. They are a beacon of light which in many ways outshines the complacent majority of Christians. Today’s western Christians pale in comparison to these stalwarts of the faith. Yet, it is because of their greatness why they are so desperately needed for today. There are various reasons as to the necessity of their continuing validity but here Packer has chosen to highlight seven.

First, Owen helped bring about a realism of sin. When the misery of sin brings into our minds and hearts a despondency and despair Owen helped bring back a reality of sin. Second, Owen brought home the sovereignty and particularity of Christ’s redeeming love. It made the death of Christ personal. And it made the Christian religion out of absolute necessity to be a God-centered religion. Third, Baxter brought about the necessity of meditation. It is incumbent upon any Christian to apply spiritual truth to their hearts and this is accomplished through the spiritual discipline of meditation.

Fourth, Baxter placed the pastoral office in its proper duty and perspective. The way ministry is performed is shaped and cultivated in light of how the Puritans viewed pastoral ministry. Fifth, the Puritans have taught the transitoriness of life. Life on earth is preparation for eternity in the kingdom of God. An astute cognizance of death and a readiness to face its call begin a journey toward life. When so few of us live as it were on the edge of eternity we fail to live lives motivated by the power of the gospel and the hope of Christ. While in this world we must continue to exhibit an awareness of the fact that it is in death where we truly gain life.

Sixth, the Puritan view of reformation or renewal is central to understand the complete work of God in all its complexity and wholeness. Church life and the Christian life are intimately related for the goal of bringing about reformation and renewal within individual hearts stretching out to the church as a whole. Seventh, the Puritans have taught that all theology is spirituality. As Packer writes, “If our theology does not quicken the conscience and soften the heart, it actually hardens both; if it does not encourage the commitment of faith, it reinforces the detachment of unbelief; if it fails to promote humility, it inevitably feeds pride” (15). Our theology and spirituality are thus intricately linked in a reciprocal relationship.

For Packer it is a mark of joy to escape into a reading of the Puritans. It is sitting at the feet of the leaders and heroes of Christianity past. It is an entering into the communion of the saints which has spanned the centuries. It is fellowship not just with history, but with lives touched and transformed by the Word of the Lord. In particular, though the Puritans are dead, they still strongly speak to us. The question then becomes: will we hear their voice?