Your thoughts on Thomas Goodwin ?

[Mayflower]

Iam wondering your thoughts on Thomas Goodwin.
What have you read frm Thomas Goodwin ?
What would you recommend of his works ?

 

[Contra_Mundum]

I like Th.Goodwin a lot. I have his Works. I like the first treatise in vol.4, on the subject of Christ, a great deal.

 

[VirginiaHuguenot]

I too have been greatly blessed by reading Goodwin.

You can review Joel Beeke's reading recommendations here:

Reading Goodwin

Thomas Goodwin was a prolific author and editor. During the 1630s he coedited with John Ball the works of John Preston and Richard Sibbes. He began to publish some of his own sermons in 1636. Prior to his death, he published at least twelve devotional works, most of which were collections of sermons. The fact that they were reissued forty-seven times indicates the high demand and wide circulation of his publications. Most of Goodwin's major theological writings were the fruit of his riper years and were published posthumously. His unusually large corpus of treatises displays a pastoral and scholarly zeal rivalled by few Puritans.

The first collection of Goodwin's works was published in five folio volumes in London from 1681 to 1704 under the editorship of Thankful Owen, Thomas Baron, and Thomas Goodwin, Jr. An abridged version of Goodwin's works, condensed by J. Rabb, was printed in four volumes (London, 1847-50). The presently reprinted twelve-volume authoritative edition was printed by James Nichol (Edinburgh, 186 1-66) as his first choice in what would become known as the well-edited and highly regarded Nichol's Series of Standard Divines; not surprisingly, it is far superior to the original five folio volumes.

Goodwin's treatment of his subjects is massive, sometimes liable to exhaust the half-hearted. The pull of his writings is not always felt immediately. His first editors (1681) explained his occasional prolixity in these terms: "He had a genius to dive into the bottom of points, to ‘study them down,' as he used to express it, not contenting himself with superficial knowledge, without wading into the depths of things." Edmund Calamy put it this way: "It is evident from his writings, he studied not words, but things. His stile is plain and familiar; but very diffuse, homely and tedious." Though Calamy has exaggerated the problem of style, one does need patience to read Goodwin at times; along with depth and prolixity, however, he combines a wonderful sense of warmth, unction, and experience. The reader's patience will be amply rewarded.

How then ought a beginner in Goodwin's Works proceed? Here is a suggested plan:

First, begin by reading some of the shorter, more practical writings of Goodwin, such as these:

(1) Patience and Its Perfect Work, four sermons expounding James 1:1-5, was written after the loss of a large part of Goodwin's personal library by fire (volume 2, pages 429-467 [hereafter 2:429-467]) and is replete with practical instruction for enhancing a spirit of submission.

(2) Certain Select Cases Resolved includes three experimental treatises which unveil Goodwin's large pastoral heart for afflicted Christians, each of them aiming at specific struggles in the believer's soul: (a) A Child of Light Walking in Darkness, a classic treatise of Puritan encouragement for the spiritually depressed based on Isaiah 50:10-11 (3:241-350). Its subtitle summarizes its contents well: A Treatise shewing The Causes by which, The Cases wherein, and the Ends for which, God leaves His Children to Distress of Conscience, Together with Directions How to Walk so as to Come Forth of Such a Condition. (b) The Return of Prayers, based on Psalm 85:8, a uniquely practical work that affords discernment in ascertaining "God's answers to our prayers" (3:353-429). (c) The Trial of a Christian's Growth (3:433-506), based on John 15:1-2, a masterpiece on sanctification which focuses on the graces of mortification and vivification. For a mini-classic on spiritual growth, this gem remains unsurpassed until today.

(3) The Vanity of Thoughts, based on Jeremiah 4:14 (3:509- 528), is a convicting little work, stressing the need for bringing every thought into captive obedience to Christ, and providing remedies on how to foster that obedience.

Second, read for instruction and edification some of Goodwin's great sermons which inevitably bear a strong, Biblical, Christological, and experimental stamp (2:359-425; 4:15 1-224; 5:439-548; 7:473-576; 9:499-514; 12:1-127).

Third, delve into Goodwin's great works which expound major doctrines, including the following:

(1) An Unregenerate Man's Guiltiness Before God in Respect of Sin and Punishment (10:1-567) is a weighty Puritan treatment of human guilt, corruption, and the imputation and punishment of sin. For exposure of the total depravity of the natural man's heart, this treatise is unparalleled in all of Christian literature. It aims to produce a heartfelt sense of dire need for saving faith in Christ rather than the quick-fix approach of contemporary, superficial Christendom.

(2) The Object and Acts of Justifying Faith is a frequently reprinted classic (8:1-593). Part I, on the objects offaith, focuses on God's nature, Christ Himself, and the free grace of God revealed in His absolute promises. Part II deals with the acts of faith - what it means to believe in Christ, to obtain assurance, to find joy in the Holy Ghost, to make use of God's electing love. A concluding section beautifully expounds the "actings of faith in prayer." Part III addresses the properties of faith - its excellency, for it gives all honor to God and Christ; its difficulty, for it reaches beyond the natural abilities of man; its necessity, for we must endeavor to believe in the strength of God. A valuable, practical conclusion provides "directions to guide us in our endeavours to believe."

(3) Christ the Mediator (2 Corinthians 5:18-19), Christ Set Forth (Romans 8:34), and The Heart of Christ in Heaven To wards Sinners on Earth are great works of Christology (5:1-438; 4:1-92; 4:93-150). Christ the Mediator sets forth Jesus especially in His substitutionary work of humiliation, and rightly deserves to be called a classic as well; Christ Set Forth proclaims Him largely albeit briefly in His exaltation; The Heart of Christ expounds the neglected theme of the affectionate tenderness of Christ's glorified human nature shown to His people still on earth. In this latter work Goodwin waxes more mystical than anywhere else in his writings, but as Paul Cook has ably shown, his mysticism is confined within the boundaries of Scripture. Here Goodwin is unapproached "in his combination of intellectual and theological power with evangelical and homiletical comfort."28

(4) Gospel Holiness in Heart and Life (7:129-336) is a convicting and stimulating masterpiece, based on Philippians 1:9-11, expounding the doctrine of sanctification in every sphere of life.

(5) The Knowledge of God the Father, and His Son Jesus Christ (4:347-569), combined with The Work of the Holy Spirit (6:1-522), speak much of a profound experimental acquaintance in the believer's soul of each of the three divine persons in their personhood and saving work. The Work of the Spirit is particularly helpful in the doctrines of regeneration and conversion, and in delicately yet lucidly discerning the work of "the natural conscience" from the Spirit's saving work.

(6) The Glory of the Gospel (4:227-346) Consists of two sermons and a treatise based on Colossians 1:26-27, and ought to be read together with The Blessed State of Glory Which the Saints Possess After Death (7:339-472), based on Revelation 14:13.

(7) A Discourse of Election (9:1-498) is a profound work which delves deeply into questions such as the supralapsarianinfralapsarian debate which wrestles with the moral order of God's decree, but it also deals practically with the fruits of election (e.g., see Book IV on 1 Peter 5:10 and Book V on how God fulfils His covenant of grace in the generations of believers).

(8) In The Creatures and the Condition of Their State by Creation (7:1-128) Goodwin waxes more philosophical here than elsewhere. Fourth, digest prayerfully and slowly Goodwin's profound 900+ page exposition of Ephesians 1:1 to 2:11 (1:1-564; 2:1- 355) - a work of which has been justly concluded, "Not even Luther on the Galatians is such an expositor of Paul's mind and heart as is Goodwin on the Ephesians."

Finally, save for last Goodwin's exposition of Revelation (3:1-226) and his sole polemical work, The Constitution, Right Order, and Government of the Churches of Christ (11:1-546). Independents, of course, would value this latter work highly, while Presbyterians would hold that Goodwin is a safe guide in nearly every area but church government. Happily, Goodwin's work does not degrade Presbyterians; in fact, one of his contemporaries who felt compelled to answer it confessed the author conveyed "a truly great and noble spirit" throughout the work.