Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Puritan Spirituality and American Evangelicalism

And here's the third and final point of J. I. Packer's three particular points of contrast between Puritan spirituality and American evangelicalism:
It seems undeniable that the Puritans' passion for spiritual integrity and moral honesty before God, their fear of hypocrisy in themselves as well as in others, and the humble self-distrust that led them constantly to check whether they had not lapsed into religious play-acting before men with hearts that had gone cold towards God, has no counterpart in the modern-day evangelical ethos. They were characteristically cautious, serious, realistic, steady, patient, persistent in well-doing and avid for holiness of heart; we, by contrast, too often show ourselves to be characteristically brash, euphoric, frivolous, superficial, naive, hollow and shallow (A Quest for Godliness, Packer, 217).
Well, this finishes Packer's three points of contrast between the Puritans and American evangelicals. But you can be sure that there will be more of Packer and the Puritans at this site before too long.

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