You may have heard people vilify or extol the Puritans. J. I. Packer is among those who extol. Indeed, he thinks that this century of pastors was the greatest the church has ever known.

Some of us have found our souls richly fed by these 350-year old pastors. When we have needed spiritual food, we have found ourselves grazing in the Bible-saturated, heart-searching seventeenth century Puritans.

If you have ever wondered just who they were, here is Packer’s description and list:

[The Puritans are] a type of evangelical believer that emerged in the Church of England in the sixteenth century and reached its high peak of development in the seventeenth century in men like Richard Baxter, John Owen, Richard Sibbes, John Flavel, Thomas Brooks, Thomas Manton, Thomas Watson, Robert Traill, William Bridge, Thomas Goodwin, Stephen Charnock, Jeremiah Burroughs, John Bunyan, William Gurnall, and others of similar outlook. (J. I. Packer, Faithfulness and Holiness, 14)

If you would like to graze in this pasture yourself, here are some worthy books where you can start:

• Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor
• Robert Trail, Justification Vindicated
• John Owen, Sin and Temptation
• Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed
• John Flavel, Keeping the Heart
• Thomas Brooks, Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices
• Thomas Manton, By Faith: Sermons on Hebrews 11
• Thomas Watson, All Things for Good
• William Bridge, A Lifting Up for the Downcast
• Thomas Goodwin, The Work of the Holy Spirit
• Stephen Charnock, Christ Crucified
• Jeremiah Burroughs, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment
• John Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress
• William Gurnall, The Christian in Complete Armor