Contents
Publisher’s Introduction vii
1959
Revival: An Historical and Theological Survey I
1960
Knowledge — False and True 24
1961
Summing-Up: Knowing and Doing 46
1962
Puritan Perplexities — Some Lessons From 1640—1662 54
1963
John Owen on Schism 73
1964
John Calvin and George Whitefield 101
1965
Ecclesiola in Ecclesia’ 129
1966
Henry Jacob and the First Congregational Church 149
1967
Sandemanianism’ 170
1968
William Williams and Welsh Calvinistic Methodism 191
1969
Can We Learn From History? 215

1971
Puritanism and Its Origins 237
1972
John Knox — The Founder of Puritanism 260
1973
Howell Harris and Revival 282

1974
Living the Christian Life — New Developments in the
18th and 19th-Century Teaching 303
1975
‘The Christian and the State in Revolutionary Times’:
The French Revolution and After 326
1976
Jonathan Edwards and the Crucial Importance of Revival 348
1977
Preaching 372
1978
John Bunyan: Church Union 390
Index 413

The Christian faith and the life of the Church are both rooted in the events of history. It is not surprising, therefore, that such an outstanding Christian leader as D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones believed that a knowledge of history is vital to the well-being of the Church. He recognized that faith in an incarnate, crucified, risen Lord makes it impossible to share the pessimism of a Voltaire, that ‘history is nothing more than a tableau of crimes and misfortunes’ or the cynicism of a Hegel that ‘people... never have learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it’.
What is, however, remarkable is the knowledge of history which this volume demonstrates, as it brings together, for the first time, the addresses given by Dr Lloyd-Jones at the Puritan Studies and Westminster Conferences between 1959 and 1978. He draws lessons not only from men such as Calvin and Knox, Bunyan and Owen, Edwards and Whitefield, but also from such relatively obscure figures as Henry Jacob, John Glas and Robert Sandeman.
The Puritans: Their Origins and Successors is undoubtedly a ‘good read’ and will be widely enjoyed and appreciated. But its ultimate value does not lie in the engaging nature of its style, nor, certainly, in any romanticised view of the past (against which Dr Lloyd-Jones frequently warned). Rather, as J.I. Packer observed, these studies are of practical value because the Puritans are approached with three important questions in mind: What did they teach and do? Was their teaching biblical? and, What can we learn from them for our life and witness today?
No one knew better than Dr Lloyd-Jones how to draw lessons from history. That is why these pages not only refute the philosopher Hegel’s maxim, but more importantly, speak with relevance and insight to the church in the late twentieth century.