How to Write a Spiritual Diary

[VirginiaHuguenot]

John Beadle (d. 1667) is famous for writing A Journall or Diary of a Thankfull Christian, which is a guide to how one may write a spiritual diary or record of the providences of God / self-examinations (a practice commended by the precept and example of many Puritans such as Richard Rogers, Richard Baxter, Matthew Poole, Increase Mather, Wilhelmus a'Brakel, Edmund Staunton, Oliver Heywood and others). It may be read online in part here:

A Critical Edition of John Beadle's ... - Google Book Search

 

[VirginiaHuguenot]

Description:

Beadle's book is essentially a how-to manual about how to write a spiritual diary; moreover, it is the only one of its kind written in seventeenth-century England. Modern scholars often mention its influence and importance in understanding the "journaling" impulse among the Puritans of the 16th and 17th centuries. This is the first modern systematic examination or critical edition of the work.

 

[Ivan]

Thank you, Andrew, for the reference. I have a question: is that a modern book on how to write a spiritual journey?

 

[VirginiaHuguenot]

Thank you, Andrew, for the reference. I have a question: is that a modern book on how to write a spiritual journey?

You're very welcome, Ivan. The book I referenced is a 1996 critical (ie., annotated, edited) edition of Beadle's work on how to write a spiritual diary originally published in 1656.