The Spiritual Brotherhood: Cambridge Puritans and the Nature of Christian Piety

by Paul R. Schaefer Jr.

"During the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, a "spiritual brotherhood" formed among the Puritans, shaped by the reforming activity and training of Cambridge. These pastor-theologians initiated a new emphasis within the established church, stirring up a greater understanding of the Reformation doctrines of grace and preaching for conversion and Christian growth and piety. In this study, Paul Schaefer looks at six thinkers in this group who stand out because each was used as the human vehicle to bring the gospel to the next: William Perkins, Paul Baynes, Richard Sibbes, John Cotton, John Preston, and Thomas Shepard. By examining their teaching on the relation between man's depraved nature and sovereign grace, as well as the distinct but inseparable relation of justification and sanctification, Schaefer demonstrates how the Puritan movement came to focus most intently on the cultivation of Reformed piety within the church. Table of Contents:

Introduction

1. Knowing the T

Genres: Church History

400 pages, Paperback

First published August 22, 2011

Reviews

[Wes Bredenhof · Rating 3 out of 5]

A reworked version of the author's dissertation -- so rather academic in tone and approach. This book is primarily another (successful) exercise in refuting Kendall's "Calvin vs. the Calvinists" idea, but it's also a reminder that contemporary debates about grace and antinomianism have had forebears.