# Puritan Paperbacks



## ReformedWarrior (Feb 26, 2015)

Wanting to purchase more Puritan Paperbacks and adding to my series. I already own The Mortification of Sin, Josiah's Reformation and The Godly Man's Picture. Any suggestions on what my next purchase should be?


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## Pilgrim72 (Feb 27, 2015)

I highly suggest "Spiritual-Mindedness" by John Owen and "Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment" by Jeremiah Burroughs.


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## Username3000 (Feb 27, 2015)

The Glory of Christ by John Owen.


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## Stephen L Smith (Feb 27, 2015)

Charles, many of these are very good so it is hard to choose. I would put John Owen as a major priority - especially Spiritual Mindedness and the 2 works on the Holy Spirit


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## Matthew1344 (Feb 27, 2015)

Owen all day


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## aadebayo (Feb 27, 2015)

John Bunyan's All love Excelling will be a very good buy. The Art of prophesying by William Perkins is very good too. I have also recently finished reading the reformed pastor by Richard Baxter, which I will recommend to every Pastor. A very brilliant book based on Acts 20:28


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## ReformedWarrior (Feb 27, 2015)

Thank you for your input brothers!


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## py3ak (Feb 27, 2015)

William Guthrie's _The Christian's Great Interest_ is an invaluable work.


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## Jack K (Feb 27, 2015)

E.R. CROSS said:


> The Glory of Christ by John Owen.



This. Plus Thomas Watson, _The Doctrine of Repentance_.


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## Brian R. (Feb 27, 2015)

I truly believe you could hold the Puritan Paperbacks list in front of you, close your eyes, pick randomly, and do quite well! I'd highly recommend Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices, by Thomas Brooks. That was outstanding.


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## DeniseM (Feb 27, 2015)

I'm currently reading _The Love of Christ_ by Richard Sibbes and really enjoying it. It is a collection of sermons he preached from the Song of Solomon.


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## Edward (Feb 27, 2015)

If you want to browse, come over to Dallas and check out the selection in our church bookstore. Books are usually sold at a discount from list price.


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## reaganmarsh (Feb 27, 2015)

Brian R. said:


> I truly believe you could hold the Puritan Paperbacks list in front of you, close your eyes, pick randomly, and do quite well!



Amen. I've seen someone describe the entire series this way: each volume is the best of the best on its particular subject. I have never failed to profit in my soul from any of them.


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## Marrow Man (Feb 27, 2015)

Owen's _Apostasy from the Gospel_, _Temptation: Resisted and Repulsed_, and _Indwelling Sin in Believers_ are all very good.

Watson's _The Great Gain of Godliness_ is also good.

I'm kind of surprised no one has recommended Flavel's _The Mystery of Providence_ yet.


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## R Harris (Feb 27, 2015)

"A lifting up for the downcast" by William Bridges is also outstanding, which is essentially a topical exposition of Psalm 42. I regard it as must reading for any Christian dealing with discouragement or depression. 

As mentioned above, there are none of the Puritan Paperbacks I can think of where you could go wrong.


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## ReformedWarrior (Feb 28, 2015)

Edward said:


> If you want to browse, come over to Dallas and check out the selection in our church bookstore. Books are usually sold at a discount from list price.



Thank you for the invitation!


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## timmopussycat (Feb 28, 2015)

John Bunyan: Prayer.


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## Reformed Covenanter (Mar 2, 2015)

BTW, the "John Owen" volumes in the Puritan Paperback series are not really the writings of John Owen, but abridgments of Owen's books. They are still very good reading, but you are not really reading John Owen. When I was 19/20, I read all the Puritan Paperbacks that were then in print; that was a good place to begin reading early Reformed literature. In my humble opinion, Thomas Vincent's exposition of the Shorter Catechism is the pick of the bunch.


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## JeddyB1689 (Mar 2, 2015)

DON'T DO OWEN PAPERBACKS!!!!! They are abridged. Get the hardback Banner volumes of Owen. They are complete and unabridged.


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## Jack K (Mar 3, 2015)

JeddyB1689 said:


> DON'T DO OWEN PAPERBACKS!!!!! They are abridged. Get the hardback Banner volumes of Owen. They are complete and unabridged.



For some of us, abridged Owen is a blessing. I can usually wade through Owen at a pace of only a few pages at a time. Good pages, usually, but slow going. Having someone pick out the highlights for me in advance can be nice.

I'm happy for you that the unabridged volumes work for you, but some of us with smaller brains appreciate the "light" versions too, at times. I'm thankful for those who publish them.


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## bookslover (Mar 3, 2015)

JeddyB1689 said:


> DON'T DO OWEN PAPERBACKS!!!!! They are abridged. Get the hardback Banner volumes of Owen. They are complete and unabridged.



Actually, another good way to read Owen is by purchasing the series of large paperbacks published by Christian Heritage. There are currently 5 volumes: _Assurance: Overcoming the Difficulty of Knowing Forgiveness_ (which is his exposition of Psalm 130), _The Glory of Christ: His Office and Grace_ (which consists of his last book, _Meditations on the Glory of Christ_), _The Holy Spirit: His Gifts and Power_, consisting of several of his works on the Holy Spirit, _Communion With God: Fellowship with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit_, and _The Priesthood of Christ: Its Necessity and Nature_, which originally appeared as an excursus to his monumental Hebrews commentary.

Each of these works is complete and unabridged, although several steps have been taken to make them more readable for today:

1. Subheadings, sometimes extending to four levels and largely based on the original numeric structure, have been inserted. The contents pages include primary and secondary subheadings to aid navigation.

2. Sentences enumerating more than 5 or 6 items, lists of more than 1 sentence, selected notes, and some "short digressions," are broken off from the main text and displayed. 

3. The style and placement of biblical references have been made consistent with modern practice and Roman numerals have been changed to Arabic.

I don't know if any more volumes are planned, but these are excellent - and, as I said, complete and unabridged Owen.


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## aadebayo (Mar 3, 2015)

Reformed Covenanter said:


> BTW, the "John Owen" volumes in the Puritan Paperback series are not really the writings of John Owen, but abridgments of Owen's books. They are still very good reading, but you are not really reading John Owen. When I was 19/20, I read all the Puritan Paperbacks that were then in print; that was a good place to begin reading early Reformed literature. In my humble opinion, Thomas Vincent's exposition of the Shorter Catechism is the pick of the bunch.



I have Owen's full volume and most of his paper backs. I believe that the abridge versions are very helpful


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## Pilgrim72 (Mar 3, 2015)

JeddyB1689 said:


> DON'T DO OWEN PAPERBACKS!!!!!



Actually, the abridged and unabridged are both wonderful reads. I say, read both. Owen is definitely worth reading over and over.


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