PART EIGHT: Communion with God by John Owen
There are many people who are wary of buying a book by a Puritan author and getting stuck in the mud from a combination of old English and heady theology. An certainly, if I were to be asked to give an example of just such an author, I think I might serve up Thomas Goodwin as my “for instance.”
Thomas Goodwin is held up by those that know as one of the leading Puritans. He was a voluble member of the Westminster Assembly and an equally expressive writer. His expositions are deep and his analyses are searching. But he is not a favorite of mine. I personally find him more difficult to follow than John Owen, who he is often compared with. He was a high Calvinist even among the Calvinists of his day. And I have always felt that his tenacity at times outdid his balance. This is not the conclusion of one who has read Goodwin exhaustively, but of one who has doggedly made his way through two volumes of Goodwin’s unfinished Exposition of Ephesians and some other writings (e.g., The Work of the Holy Ghost in Our Salvation). I do not take to Goodwin as an author of treatises. A fault that lies more in me than in him, I’m sure.
But as an author of smaller practical works I put Goodwin high on any list. And his The Vanity of Thoughts is an excellent example of this. This brief work puts on display one of his most outstanding abilities – as a penetrating and holy exponent of practical spirituality.
The Vanity of Thoughts is what I might describe as a concentrated and relentless exegesis of the human mind apart from its dependence on the Word of God. It is a brilliant expose of self-referential thinking. Indeed, it is a breathtaking study of our cognitive darkness aside from God’s illumination. I say “our” because every Christian will be able to see their own vain thoughts in the mirror that the author holds up. If someone has little or no experience with Puritan experimental theology they will scarcely find a modern writer to compare this little book to. If one does know the Puritans but has not acquainted himself with this work, he will have to own that Goodwin is as searching as Owen in his uncovering of sin, and on an intellectual par with that great man. In fact if I were asked to give a specimen of the best Puritan writing on practical theology I would be happy to recommend this book.
The edition I recommend is in the excellent ‘Puritan Treasures For Today’ series from RHB. This one was edited by Brian Hedges. It runs a mere 77 pages. But no page is wasted. Here are a few quotes:
Our thoughts are the first movers that propose all the evil that is within us. For they make the motion and bring the heart and object together. Thoughts cater to our lusts, holding up the object of desire, until the heart has played the adulterer with it and committed folly. (15).
Others, out of mere curiosity, listen to news from all over the world, all to please their thoughts with the froth of foolish men’s mouths and please themselves with talking, thinking, and hearing about it. I do not condemn all in this… But I do condemn that itch of curiosity within them when it is sought to merely please their imaginations, which delights much in new things, even though they are not personally concerned in them. (34).
Thomas Goodwin is not my favorite Puritan to read. That’s me. There are others who sing his praises, and for good reason (the great Scottish preacher Alexander Whyte comes to mind). Goodwin is certainly one of the big hitters among the 17th Century theologians. I haven’t mentioned it yet but his works are noteworthy for their Christ-centeredness. This book is the kind of thing the modern Church urgently needs, but doesn’t want. If you recognize that the modern Church is is a sad state and that you do not wish to be part of it, read The Vanity of Thoughts.
