Voices from the Past: Puritan Devotional Readings

If you are a little tired of your usual Spurgeon or similar type of daily devotional, you may find this book very helpful. The authors are well known Puritans from hundreds of years ago. Published by Banner of truth. The individual pieces for each day are skilfully edited so that they work well in this format. (I got my own copy as a gift from someone and throughly enjoyed using it daily. I immediately bought this one for someone else so that they could also enjoy the book and got Amazon to deliver it to them. Thoroughly recommended, and certainly a great gift idea.

I picked up the recommendation for this from another book and had not heard of it prior to that. As usual with Banner this is a nicely produced hardback that will last for years - always a good sign in a devotional daily readings book. But that is merely the wrapping, it is the content that counts. That's where 'Voices From the Past' really scores. These are carefully chosen selections from a wide range of Puritans, all of them very gracefully modernised so that one can read and enjoy without puzzling over archaic language. You'll meet Puritans like Matthew Mead, Thomas Case and Ezekiel Hopkins in these pages, as well as the 'regulars' such as Brooks, Manton, Alleine, etc. So you really get two benefits from this book: an enhancement to your daily reading that has been carefully chosen to help you think and sometimes to encourage and challenge, and an introduction to some great Puritan works that you might otherwise never have come across. Unhesitatingly recommended.

No reservations about this, no caveats, no criticisms. It is simply an excellent little book, consisting of well-chosen daily readings from across a range of Puritan writers (Sibbes, Goodwin, Manton, Owen, Flavel, Watson). Rosaria Champagne Butterfield (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-Thoughts-Unlikely-Convert-Expanded-ebook/dp/B00ODF2R90/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1465055504&sr=1-3&keywords=rosaria+champagne+butterfield) says this is one of the most influential books she has read, and I would have to concur. The readings are transformative, and remind us of the theological depth to these oft-derided Christian theologians. Their writings are practical, pithy, entreating, and provide a useful meditation on the correlation between human experience and Scripture. If you were allowed two books on your desert island, this would be the other one.

This is something else! Moved deeply by these truths. Love it. I have volume 1 and 2. One for morning and evening each day.

Excellent daily devotions for a year and antiquated language has been modernised. When I read the second volume I thought it Puritan blessed thought rather than an exegesis of the texts but now I see the editor chose the texts to fit the daily readings. I note Watson and Baxter are deservedly the main contributors - the most quotable and the most prolific of Puritan authors. But as I said on volume 2, it is a pity dates were not given nor references to actual sources.

Puritan writings a source of great blessing - completely spoiled by using a perversion of the Bible and not the AV. Have to look up the AV quote every time for accuracy and authority. Why oh why!!

This book would be much better if banner of truth and the author had not stripped it of the reverential thees and thous that the puritans and the AV bible would have used. They did a great job of ruining what could have been an excellent devotional.

There is a great deal of editorial skill and sensitivity in this volume. The compiler has not just selected apposite passages, but has sometimes condensed them or otherwise reworked them in order to give the essence of several pages. Unlike some other such works, the source of the material is given on each page, so particularly fruity portions may be traced to their root. Here you will find uniformly profitable substance in all the freshness and variety that different authors brought to their work. Well-known men jostle among lesser lights to provide the reader with a daily morsel of good things, stretching the soul in various directions over the course of time. If you seek something to spice up your morning or evening devotional material, then you would be well served by this excellent volume.

All believers desire to deepen their relationship with God. After the Bible, devotional books are popular among believers because it is quick and easy. However, not all devotional books are of equal worth. Some are fluff and others are motivational, but not necessarily Biblically deep. If you want to grow deeper, and become thoroughly Biblical in all aspects of devotional life, strongly consider Puritans. And this book, Voices From The Past meets that void. I was hooked on the Puritans after reading Richard Sibbes' The Bruised Reed and John Owen's The Mortification of Sin. And I longed to find a daily devotional reading that covered the Puritans. One was [[Day by Day with the English Puritans]] and fit the bill well. And now we have Voices From The Past which is also excellent! 1. CHARACTER. The uniqueness and the excellence of the Puritan writings is that they are BOTH doctrinal and experimental. They are doctrinally rich yet also touch the heart and tender to the soul. In short, their writings are pastoral - always engaging the bruised, struggling, and fragile saints, to bind them up in the Lord's love. In this book, you will consistently see that. You will be revived, restored, and drawn to your Savior with more fervency, joy, and confidence. 2. CONTENT. The book covers various topics of Christian life, some of the them are: Affliction, Comfort, Christ (and His love), Blessings, Contentment, Death, Battle with sin, self, and Satan, Faith, Repentance, Prayer, Glory of God, Happiness, Holiness, Humility, Obedience, Promises, Providence, Salvation, Suffering, Temptation, and will of God. All these topics are the concerns of every believer, and now you will hear what the Puritans have said about them and you will find deep wisdom and call to trust in God's love and grace. 3. AUTHORS. The book covers various Puritans (about 23 authors), among them: Richard Baxter, Thomas Brooks, William Cooper, Jonathan Edwards, John Flavel, Thomas Manton, John Owen, Richard Sibbes, and Thomas Watson. These are amazing list of Puritans. 4. PHYSICAL MAKE UP OF THE BOOK. The book is handsomely bound in hardcover. It is Smyth-sewn (stitched and not glued) so it will last a long time. Pages are strong and prints are clear and dark. Dust Jacket is glossy and beautiful. All in all, I love the book!!! Highly recommended!

a great book for devotional purpose.

Must have and such an encouragement.

(4.75 stars) First, a practical point: potential buyers need to be aware that this is only Volume I of Voices from the Past. You are not buying both volumes. As of January 2022, the publisher (Banner of Truth) does offer a package deal at a discounted price for both books. The bottom line is that this is one of the best daily devotionals you can buy. The editor has accomplished a righteous task in mining the deep spiritual catalog of the Puritans to produce this biblically sound and rich theological compendium of God-glorifying meditations and golden nuggets of wisdom. For every day of the calendar year, the reader is treated to one Bible verse and then a 1-2 paragraph pastoral exposition that is both heavenly minded yet also ridiculously practical. Although not explicit, the devotionals are grouped around a theme: for example, faith, mortification of sin, temptation, perseverance under trial, comfort, contentment and how to pray. All of these reflections stir the soul, so remove the spiritual crust from your eyes and cobwebs from your heart and taste and see that the Lord is good. Furthermore, this book gives a synoptic view of who God is: awesome, holy, sovereign, merciful and good. Hence, you will undoubtedly read this book and be challenged to meditate on how big the God of heaven is compared to all your troubles and worries here on earth. And, for those readers who are unfamiliar with the Puritans, this book introduces you to these faithful pastors and preachers (e.g., Jonathan Edwards, John Owen, Richard Sibbes and Thomas Watson) and some of their most famous works (e.g., The Existence & Attributes of God, The Christian in Complete Armor). What oozes from every page is a sense of awe and a reverent “weightiness” of God’s glory; these are attributes often absent in the writings of modernity, whose authors are often flippant and treat the name of God with a cheeky casualness. Finally, this devotional is very well organized: it has a bibliography of all the works referenced, an author index, a topical index and a Scripture index. Clearly, the editorial team wanted to make this devotional as accessible as possible. Truly, this text will yield spiritual dividends for years to come.

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