Stephen Yuille

"Few men have been as influential in their lifetime as William Perkins, and few men of such fame have been so widely forgotten with the passing of time as Perkins" (109).

I have dubbed 2017 as "The Year of the Puritan" in my reading plan. Only in the last two years have I discovered the rich writings of these faithful pastors of yesteryear. Some of my favorite authors feature more Puritan references than the Pope has hats. So, I determined that it was time for me to dive into the Puritans for myself. I have not been disappointed!

But William Perkins in the "Bitesize Biographies from EP Books may be the rare exception to my Puritan obsession. Sadly, it was less biography, and more a survey of Perkins' beliefs. I couldn't wait to dive into this book when I ordered it. Many of the Puritans I have read in the last two years have talked of "beloved Mr. Perkins." One might even say that William Perkins is the Puritan among puritans, even though he technically predates the Puritan era in England's history by several decades and lacked the separatist ecclesiology that marked later Puritans. It was his writings and thinking that sparked the theological imagination of the likes of Richard Sibbes, Richard Baxter, and Jeremiah Burroughs.

Joel Beeke and Stephen Yuille offer a good overview of Perkins' thought. They help the reader understand his importance in shaping later theologians and his impact on his contemporaries through his preaching and teaching. I only wish they said more of the man's life. I suppose that a brief work of this nature can only do so much. I do look forward to other works in this series. A series like this is needed lest the modern church forget the shoulders we stand upon. We need heroes of the faith. When we persist in ignorance of the past we yield treasures too rich and costly. We lose people like William Perkins. And that is sad indeed.… (altro)