Recommendations?

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FivePointSpurgeonist

Puritan Board Freshman
I'm after two recommendations...

1. What are some Puritan biographies you recommend? I have not read any yet and would like to start now. Maybe some shorter reads to begin with.

2. Who are some less known Puritans that you have found to be a real blessing and would recommend people to look more into?

Thanks!
 
There are not many volume length biographies. Reid's Memoirs of the Westminster Divines has chapters (some longer some shorter chapters) on most of them (I don't recall if all of them). It is in print I think but the 1811 edition is online. Brook's Lives of the Puritans in 3 volumes has shorter and longer biographies of must be at least couple hundred puritans. 1813, reprinted by SDG. At archives. An older compilation by Edmund Calamy's son, Edmund Calamy is Nonconformists memorial, of those ministers ejected in 1662 for nonconformity.
 
I'll plug the PB's own Don Kistler's work on Christopher Love, but I'm not sure where to find it these days (RHB used to carry it, but I don't see it in a search on their site). Amazon lists some used copies from third-party sellers.
The book is reviewed here.
 
Meet the Puritans is essentially a collection of biographical sketches of many of the principle puritan figures. Most selections can be read in just 10 minutes. It's a good place to start and a helpful reverence work.
 
Works by "Puritans" should come with the following health-warning ... :lol:

We allow that persons so untrained to thinking would speedily fall asleep if made to read a puritan treatise, with its deep thoughts and its logical distinctions.

James McCosh, ‘Introduction’ to The Complete Works of Stephen Charnock, B.D. (5 vols, Edinburgh: James Nichol, 1864), 1: p. xxxi.
 
I love Boston the more I read him; especially on the covenants. Any highlights from his memoirs?

I am not very far yet but he had a rough go early on - mom died in his youth and then some tough relationships.

He does have an odd writing style and I’ve had to slow down when I read him compared to other Puritans.

I am always intrigued by how God shapes men to write the incredible works that they do. Looking forward to getting deeper into it (I’ve read about his wife’s mental issues a bit in other short bios).

The Memoirs are fairly cheap on Kindle.
 
I am not very far yet but he had a rough go early on - mom died in his youth and then some tough relationships.

He does have an odd writing style and I’ve had to slow down when I read him compared to other Puritans.

I am always intrigued by how God shapes men to write the incredible works that they do. Looking forward to getting deeper into it (I’ve read about his wife’s mental issues a bit in other short bios).

The Memoirs are fairly cheap on Kindle.
Thanks for the insight about his mother. Please keep us posted as you're able.
 
Andrew what's-his-name's (see how helpful I am?) biography of John Owen is supposed to be pretty good, and it was fairly recently reprinted. I think Peter Toon has written a couple of volumes on Owen, one of which is a biography, I think.
 
1. What are some Puritan biographies you recommend? I have not read any yet and would like to start now. Maybe some shorter reads to begin with.

I can't point you to the definitive author of a biography of John Foxe (1516 - 1587) who wrote Acts and Monuments, commonly known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs, first published in 1563, which puts him in the early times we think of as Puritan. His work was one of the greatest influences in church history. So obsessed was he and so holy the subject that his work took a severe toll on his health. Some say its value is up there with that of Calvin and Bunyan. Check out Wikipedia for a large list of biographies.

His life and work will tear your heart out.
 
Meet the Puritans is essentially a collection of biographical sketches of many of the principle puritan figures. Most selections can be read in just 10 minutes. It's a good place to start and a helpful reverence work.

I recently bought this and I'm loving it. That's exactly what made me want to read some more detailed accounts of the lives of some puritans!

A Life of Gospel Peace: A Biography of Jeremiah Burroughs is an excellent biography of a beloved Puritan and not too long.

Although it is quite long, I was tremendously blessed by Iain Murrays 2 vol biography of the modern Puritan Martyn Lloyd-Jones. This biography was life changing for me. Here is my review https://www.puritanboard.com/threads/martyn-lloyd-jones-2-vol-biography-by-iain-murray.101318/

Thanks! I've started reading some Burroughs and its some amazing stuff.
Also definitely keen to check out MLJ biography.
 
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