The best part of the book is that, like Puritan theology itself, ‘Following God Fully’ is not purely academic, but encourages reflection and action. Coming to the end of the book, I gained a refreshed wonder at the power of God’s Word to bring light and love into whole swaths of society. I am also full of thankfulness for how he fulfills his promise to supply his church with gifts to protect it and bring it to full maturity (Eph 4:11-13). I wonder how our modern churches would be more blessed if pastors, writers (including myself), and gospel workers were gripped by the centrality of Christ in the Bible.

This book is for those who have only heard of the Puritans as a movement or a vague idea, and can’t name a single person from that time. William Perkins… who?

It’s for those who belong to most major Protestant denominations in Australia, as beneficiaries of the Puritans’ reforming work.

It’s for those who want refreshing, encouraging and real-life examples of how a deep knowledge of God’s Word can lead to inflamed devotions for the Lord Jesus, rather than mere games for the intelligentsia and ‘theological ping-pong’ (148).

In Following God Fully, Joel Beeke and Michael Reeves achieve an admirable feat by putting together a short, informative and edifying book that would benefit people on both ends of the Puritan knowledge spectrum.

The ‘Who’ and ‘What’ of Puritanism

The Puritans were pastors and theologians who existed roughly 150 years following the Reformation, between approximately 1550 and 1700 AD. In many ways, they were a group of fervent-hearted gospel workers raised ‘for such a time as this’ (Est 4:14); by the time of their existence, the church was largely biblically illiterate and hungry for God’s Word:

The people of Europe had been without a Bible that they could read in their native tongue for approximately a thousand years. To be able to read God’s own words, and to see in them such good news that God saves sinners… entirely by his own grace, was like glorious sunshine bursting into the dark, grey world of religious guilt and human misery. (4)

The Puritans heralded this good news and were especially well-equipped to nourish the church back to life. They were largely ‘highly learned… well-trained in linguistics, and well-educated in biblical, systematic, and historical theology’ (148).

Beyond knowledge and skills, they were also men whose hearts and consciences were on fire for God, his Word and his church. They saw Christ in every line of the Bible and sought to expound him as clearly as possible. They fed and shepherded their flocks with tenderness and care, nourishing them with—to their delight—lengthy and scripturally rich sermons.

In short, the Puritans were gifts from God to the churches in old England, producing such a ‘movement of… intense, comprehensive pursuit of holiness [that lasted] for 150 years’ (9), not replicated even until now.

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