"A Return to Puritanism!" by Shane C. Montgomery

  When I was kid if you knew someone old, maybe a neighbor lady, who never cussed, never drank, always went to bed early in the evening and was always one of the first up in the morning, always polite, and never missed a church worship service, then you would have called this person a "Puritan." Back in the days when I was a snot nosed brat, this was meant to be an insult, but was it?


Now that I am older (43) and hopefully a little wiser, more importantly, now that I am a Christian, this once insulting title seems to be not such a bad idea. Think about it, what did the Puritans stand for? God! What was the center of a Puritans life? God! So what if they shunned all immoral activity, shouldn't we as Christians do the same? So what if they shun the World and stick to the Scriptures as their rule of life, shouldn't we? They say life was simpler then, I think that might be a total misconception, for one, they had none of the comforts we have today, electricity, gas heat, air conditioning, running water, indoor plumbing, comfortable beds, well made, comfortable clothes, easy access to plenty of food. They had none of these things, what they had was Christ, the Scriptures, the Church, and each other.

They get a lot of gruff for burning witches at the stake, I do not know much about all that, they have a reputation of being "no fun", and too "prim and proper", but this was only because they refuse to bend to the will of the World and remain loyal to a Christ Centered life. Nothing wrong with that.... they were well versed in Scripture, they practiced family devotions, morning and night, daily. The Puritans catechized their children daily. They prayed alone and as a family. I have to tell you, they had it right. It is so easy to play arm chair quarterback of sorts, and denounce the evils of the Puritans, but that would be foolish.

I can think of nothing that would benefit America than a return to a Puritan way of life. If more and more Godly fathers would take a leading role with his family, put some of the practices of the Puritans into action in their homes, we will see amazing changes. As the head of the household, the father is covenantly responsible for the spiritual well being of his family, the family God has so blessed him with. Why not do something wild? Why not be obedient to Holy God's Will and raise our children up in the ways of God. Study the Puritans, there are so many great Puritan writers out there, every year great publishers in the U.S and U.K are re-publishing old Puritan books, they are easy to find, www.monergism.com. www.banneroftruth.org are just a few websites that offer tons of great Puritan books and prices way cheaper than you would ever believe. Normally you can buy a 300 page paperback for less than $8. You can't go wrong with such edifying books at such a cheap price. So take advantage of these materials, don't forget to look into your local library as well, you might be surprised at what they have in stock.

My family has made a pact, we are striving to be "Puritans" we are reading the old Puritan writers, books, sermons, essays, whatever we can find, and we are using their methods of family devotions, every night we come together as a family, we start with prayer, move to Scripture reading, we each take turns reading at least one chapter consecutively, we then sign a hymn together, next we go over the Westminster Shorter Catechism, then end in prayer, we have come to love this time of devotions, we are growing closer as a family unit, we are better versed in Scripture, we are more doctrinally sound. The benefits are uncountable. But more than that, God is glorified daily in our home.

This is my challenge to you father, return to the Puritans, be a Puritan, be edified by them, learn from them, grow by them and raise your family in the Puritan way. I bet you will not be let down by spending the extra time, after all, any time spent with family and the Word of God, prayer, singing praise.... come on? You know that is time well spent.

Soli Deo Gloria! Shane