Puritan Evangelism: A Biblical Approach

by Joel R. Beeke

In this book, Joel Beeke investigates how the Puritans proclaimed what God's Word counsels regarding the salvation of sinners. He describes the preaching of the Puritans (thoroughly biblical, unashamedly doctrinal, experimentally practical, holistically evangelistic, and studiously symmetrical), the primary methods of evangelism (plain preaching and catechetical evangelism), and the inward disposition of the Puritan evangelist (dependent on the Holy Spirit and prayerful). Table of
1. Puritan Evangelism Defined
Characteristics of Puritan Preaching
2. Thoroughly Biblical
3. Unashamedly Doctrinal
4. Experimentally Practical
5. Holistically Evangelistic
6. Studiously Symmetrical
The Method of Puritan Evangelism
7. Plain Preaching
8. Catechetical Evangelism
The Inward Disposition of the Puritan Evangelist
9. Dependency on the Holy Spirit
10. Men of Prayer

Genres: Evangelism, Theology, Church History, Christian Living, History

78 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Dr. Joel R. Beeke serves as President and Professor of Systematic Theology, Church History, and Homiletics at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. He has been in the ministry since 1978 and has served as a pastor of his current church, Heritage Reformed Congregation, since 1986. He is also editor of the Banner of Sovereign Grace Truth, editorial director of Reformation Heritage Books, president of Inheritance Publishers, and vice-president of the Dutch Reformed Translation Society. He has written, co-authored, or edited fifty books and contributed over fifteen hundred articles to Reformed books, journals, periodicals, and encyclopedias. His Ph.D. (1988) from Westminster Theological Seminary is in Reformation and Post-Reformation Theology. He is frequently called upon to lecture at Reformed seminaries and to speak at conferences around the world. He and his wife, Mary, have three children: Calvin, Esther, and Lydia.

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

"It is not enough just to read the Puritans... Who among us will live godly in Christ Jesus like the Puritans? Who will go beyond studying their writings, discussing their ideas, recalling their achievements, and berating their failures?"

"We need today more biblical, holy, humble, prayerful, and heavenly ministers. We do not need stalwart polemicists and apologists so much as we need genuinely pious men of God who bring the atmosphere of heaven with them to the pulpit."

[Wilson Porte Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uma boa overview de Beeke sobre as ênfases puritanas sobre o Evangelismo. Destaca aspectos da pregação evangelística, pequenos trechos de sermões, e puritanos que mais se destacaram na evangelização no púlpito de suas igrejas. Uma boa introdução.

[Ryan Hawkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short book isn’t only about evangelism, but also about pastoral ministry and preaching in general (with an emphasis on evangelism). It was a good reminder in many ways, and it was helpful to read how the Puritan’s taught, preached, and ministered. Their emphasis on the Bible, sin, the Holy Spirit’s conviction, devotion to God, holiness, and prayer were all outstanding. We have much to learn. On all of these, I loved his references and quotes from the Puritans, but also from people like Robert Murray McCheyne and J.I. Packer.

The biggest downside of the book is twofold. First, he is so one-sided on them. There isn’t one critique of the Puritans at all. Second, he is too over-critical of modern evangelicalism. Now, I’m on his side mostly—I do think we have much to learn from the Puritans, and in many (most?) ways they were most biblical than us. But I also think he could’ve been a little less harsh toward modern ministers and also a little more balanced on the Puritans.

Overall, though, I’m glad I read it. It’s so short that I’ll definitely pick it u again one afternoon in the future and read it to be reminded on Puritan ministry and what I can learn from their ways and godliness.

[Alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great little read. This is a book I pray will wind up in the hands of many pastors, elders, and anyone who seeks to apply the biblical method of evangelism.

[Matt Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a short little read. Probably more fitting as a journal article than as a book. It’s a short little booklet. Only 78 pages. And most of it is quotes. That being said however, there is much depth. Much detail is given to what constitutes Puritan theological and devotional life. There is the occasional throw away life about how modern evangelism fails in each area but no set examples are given. Perhaps that would have taken away from the theme which is to keep the focus on the Puritans. Either way it is a great read and your highlighter will run dry!

[John Yelverton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A compact yet extremely rich book containing some of the greatest thoughts of the Puritans on evangelism.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

“We need today more biblical, holy, humble, prayerful, and heavenly ministers. We do not need stalwart polemicists and apologists so much as we need genuinely pious men of God who bring the atmosphere of heaven with them to the pulpit.”

I loved this book because I see these ideas in action in the men of my denomination. For the last 4 years I’ve been blessed to sit under pastors who preach experimentally and genuinely model their ministry after the Puritan ideals outlined in this book. I was struck by the fact that evangelism rests primarily on pastors preaching with power, for true faith comes by hearing the Word of God, rather than on laypeople independently coming up with innovative ways to reach the lost (my faulty view of evangelism when I was a new believer).

[Tim Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Focused on the puritan pastor and his ministry from the pulpit and within the parish, non-pastors can still benefit from reading Puritan Evangelism, particularly the shepherd of the home. A few points Beeke hits on:
1. The importance of knowing (loving) scripture intimately: able to connect passages of John with that of Nahum, as example.
2. Pursuit of knowing and applying doctrine.
3. Catechizing the church.
4. Shepherd leading a life that shines as an example to congregants (or households for Fathers). After all, they must be able to apply that which they are calling the church to apply. God is holy, we must be holy, Christ in us frees us to live holy lives. And we should desire such living.
5. Prayer should saturate your life

Approx. Reading Time: 90 minutes

[Peter Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great introduction to the Puritan understanding of evangelism and pastoral ministry! I really loved the wide selection of quotations from the Puritans. The final two chapters were worth the price of the book! The Puritans put a premium on their dependency upon the Spirit and prayer-fueled preaching. Another great emphasis that is seldom discussed is the Puritans use of catechisms in evangelism. Some devoted two days a week to meet with people and catechize them. This task speaks to the great care the Puritans took to evangelize, shepherd and follow-up recent converts to Christ.

Excellent, short treatment on Puritan Evangelism. I recommend it to the busy Pastor and lay person alike.

[Phil Sessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent read to look under the covers at what the Puritans believed, how they were empowered, and the practical ministries of their private and public lives concern in preaching and evangelism. Many godly men that God used which are well known and barely known are quotes to enrich the reader and tug the passions of the heart to know God and make Him known.

[Jason Bray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent.

Definitely has a Lordship-y vibe which will piss off my fellow church-goers, but I've always thought the Lordship folks were unjustly criticized by my fellow evangelicals. I am not personally a Lordship guy, but I think they've got a pretty good argument and I would never fault someone for agreeing with them.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

The saying of a Puritan, "plain preaching is not unlearned preaching" can be adapted for this work to be "plain writing is not unlearned writing." Probably one of my favourite books on pastoral evangelism and discipleship. I've read. Biblical, Practical, and experimental. Beeke is a modern puritan bringing the wisdom of faithful but fallible/imperfect saints to bear on the modern era.

[Stephen Mccollum · Rating 3 out of 5]

More especially a book about Puritan preaching. I think the weakness of the book is the over-reliance on generalisations, e.g. everything modern is bad, everything Puritan is good. There is, of course, a spectrum of views in modern times as well as among Puritan preachers. Some good challenges in the book though and a lot that I agreed with.

[Shane Ryan Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This little book is a super quick read and provides an overview of Puritan thought on the topic of evangelism. If you do not know much about the Puritans, this book could actually serve as a quick intro. I found it to be helpful. My favorite chapter was the last chapter which is about how the Puritan preachers wholeheartedly gave themselves to prayer.

[Carissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joel Beeke is slowly becoming a favorite of mine. This book, although speaks of preaching, helps me to know what I should look for and expect from a Pastor.

I enjoyed that he didn’t just state what the Puritans did, but also compared it to the modern church, showing where we are lacking… not just in Pastors, but in the lives we lead daily.

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A tidy little summary of the way Puritans approached evangelism—not mainly as the work of every individual believer but as the work of patient preachers through their preaching, catechesis, prayer, and dependence on the Spirit.

[Cristian Moscoso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great little book. In only a few pages, it inspires to learn from the way the Puritans evangelized. I highly recommend it not only to people in ministry, but also to every believer.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good little primer on Puritan preaching and piety.

[Carol Blakeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good overview of evangelism, Puritan style. He is spray primarily to pastors in preaching, but the principles he sets out can be used one on one as well.

[Bryan Furlong · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good!!

[Will Bassett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating and very helpful and thought-provoking short read.

[Gradon Schaub · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent little book. The chapter on catechetical evangelism was great.

[Adam McKinney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very short and direct treatment of the Puritan approach to evangelism.

[Daniel H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un hermoso y corto tratado y reflexión sobre la forma en que los ministros puritanos abordaban su devoción a Dios y el amor por las almas.

[Tj Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Puritan Evangelism turned out to be exactly what I expected, a combination of "Golden-age Syndrome" (also known as good-old-days-ism), a general discontentment with the way things are and some biblical, and somewhat neglected, principles. This certainly isn't to say the book has nothing to offer. It does an excellent job of outlining a number of biblical principles for evangelism and preaching which really could use a greater emphasis in the North American church these days. Unfortunately, Dr. Beeke simply assigns all of these principles uncritically, and somewhat unrealistically, to the Puritans.



Simply put he seems to think the Puritans had it all right. Again, that isn't to say they didn't have many things right. But let's give these great believers in total depravity their due and admit that they certainly got some things wrong as well; they were sinners too, after all. In fact, some of these things they got wrong are exactly what this book is missing if Dr. Beeke is trying to take a thorough and beneficial look at how our Puritan forefathers evangelized and preached.



As it is, Dr. Beeke seems to simply have a problem with "evangelism today," an opponent which is hardly defined and never named. He longs to return to a time when evangelism was done right. Unfortunately, this longing gets in the way of the real benefits his work could have offered, with a more realistic examination of the Puritan principles of evangelism and preaching and how they both succeeded and failed.

[Joe Marlin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to really love this book. I am a massive fan of all things related to the puritans. It certainly highlights the main features of puritan pastoral work and theology. However, in the end it was very disappointing for me personally. At least for me who discovered all these great features of the puritans through reading the puritans widely (which I feel is a far better method). The author treats this epoch as one uniform time, a high point in all of church history, seems not only to appreciate but to wholesale adopt every aspect of puritan pastoral theology and methodology for today, there is not even a little bit of acknowledgement of any historical influences beside 'John Calvin'. There in fact is not even one negative thing said about the puritans and their way. , and tons of general statements that give you the impression that all the ministers of whatever and whenever is 'puritanism' were all uniformly more godly than anyone today. Just as today we've had our shipwrecked pastors in the limelight, it was no different back then, even some of the authors quoted in this book. I understand that the purpose of this book was only to point out some features that may not be known to someone just getting interested in this fascinating period of the church. The puritans of all people would be deeply skeptical of this hagiography of their times and pastors and of a general suspicious that the 'always reforming' really stopped with them.

[Timothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short and enjoyable read, but convicting and self-reflective for the reader.
How far our piety falls short of the Puritans (who were just following the Scriptures).
We have much to learn from them in their evangelism.
As Beeke writes, "We need to ask ourselves: Is our preaching, teaching and evangelizing thoroughly scriptural, unashamedly doctrinal, experimentally practical, holistically evangelistic, and beautifully symmetric?"

[C.J. Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed it. Rather readable considering that the Puritans are heavily quoted. Should’ve been titled “Puritan Evangelism and Preaching” though. It is not as singularly devoted to evangelism as I thought it would be.

Update: read it again (another edition), without even realizing I had read pretty much the same thing 6 years ago. I still find it helpful, and I was going to say the same thing I said above: it should be titled Puritan Preaching (to Lost Sinners).

[Hernan1989 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Opinión

Un excelente libro que podría bien caer en la categoría de "predicación" por cuanto se analiza de principio a fin la manera en la que los puritanos proclamaron la verdad del evangelio desde el púlpito, pero nos ofrece mucho más que eso, refresca el alma, alimenta el corazón y nos mueve a desear buscar la humildad y la santidad tal como la buscaron estos grandes hombres de Dios.

[Benjamin Glaser · Rating 5 out of 5]

This work, which as the title suggests, is an introduction and defense of the Puritan doctrine of evangelism. It would also work well as a basic introduction to Puritan theology in general. Joel Beeke's enthusiastic and lucid writing style is on full display and makes it a fun and convicting read. Highly Recommend.