If you want an introduction or a guide to the Puritans – their theology, lives and relevance – you would be hard pressed to find a better qualified or more able guide than Jim Packer and he demonstrates that yet again in this collection.  However, take note that this is not a completely new or original book.  Most of the material has already been published elsewhere but it has helpfully been brought together here and supplemented with some additional content.

The bulk of the book comprises of introductions to the lifes, theology, writings and importance of seven Puritan giants – Henry Scougal, Stephen Charnock, John Bunyan, Matthew Henry, John Owen, John Flavel and Thomas Boston.   These sections originally appeared as introductions to individual volumes in Christian Focus’ own ‘Christian Heritage’ series.  In each of these Packer introduced a Puritan “devotional gem” and it is these introductions that have been brought together in this new format.   I have to say that I am not a fan of material being republished in this way, having on occasions been caught out by buying what I thought was a new title by an author only to discover that I had already read it under a different guise.  On balance, I think it works here, partly because of the content – anything which gets contemporary Christians reading the Puritans is to be welcomed -  and partly because these introductions have been sandwiched between two new chunks of material.

Read my full review here