The Works of William Perkins, Volume 4

by J. Stephen Yuille (Editor), William Perkins

Overview

This fourth volume contains two treatises of biblical exposition.

The first treatise is A Godly and Learned Exposition upon the Whole Epistle of Jude. Finding the purpose of Jude's letter in verse 3, Perkins calls for all Christians to persevere in professing the gospel by taking heed of false teachers and deceivers, who seek to infiltrate the church. While many of his points of application reflect a context peculiar to the Elizabethan era, his insights into what it means to "contend for the faith" still prove applicable today.

The second treatise is A Godly and Learned Exposition or Commentary upon the Three First Chapters of Revelation, giving careful consideration of the seven letters to the seven churches of Asia. Perkins highlights the person of Christ and His significance to the church, focuses on what Christ approves and rebukes about the condition of the church, and emphasizes Christ's bounty and humanity's duty. Troubled by the prevalence of those who accept empty profession as conversion and dead formality as godliness, Perkins urges his audience to move beyond mere intellectual assent to heartfelt dedication to Christ.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940162970323
Publisher:	Reformation Heritage Books
Publication date:	01/07/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	836 KB

About the Author

William Perkins (1558–1602) earned a bachelor’s degree in 1581 and a master’s degree in 1584 from Christ’s College in Cambridge. During those student years he joined up with Laurence Chaderton, who became his personal tutor and lifelong friend. Perkins and Chaderton met with Richard Greenham, Richard Rogers, and others in a spiritual brotherhood at Cambridge that espoused Puritan convictions.

From 1584 until his death, Perkins served as lecturer, or preacher, at Great St. Andrew’s Church, Cambridge, a most influential pulpit across the street from Christ’s College. He also served as a teaching fellow at Christ’s College, catechized students at Corpus Christi College on Thursday afternoons, and worked as a spiritual counselor on Sunday afternoons. In these roles Perkins influenced a generation of young students, including Richard Sibbes, John Cotton, John Preston, and William Ames. Thomas Goodwin wrote that when he entered Cambridge, six of his instructors who had sat under Perkins were still passing on his teaching. Ten years after Perkins’s death, Cambridge was still “filled with the discourse of the power of Mr. William Perkins’ ministry,” Goodwin said.

Perkins’s influence as a theologian continued unabated after his death. This was due in large part to the widespread popularity of his writings. His writings were translated into several European languages and greatly influenced British and American Reformed theology, the Dutch Further Reformation, and European Pietism.

Editorial Reviews

On the broad shoulders of William Perkins, epoch-making pioneer, stood the entire school of seventeenth-century Puritan pastors and divines, yet the Puritan reprint industry has steadily bypassed him. Now, however, he begins to reappear, admirably edited, and at last this yawning gap is being filled. Profound thanks to the publisher and heartfelt praise to God have become due.

Endorsement - J. I. Packer

The list of those influenced by the ministry of William Perkins reads like a veritable Who's Who of the Puritan Brotherhood and far beyond. This reprinting of his works, so long unobtainable except by a few, is therefore a publishing event of the first magnitude.

Endorsement - Sinclair B. Ferguson