Customer Reviews

A Treatise on Regeneration (Puritan Writings)

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The book cover has a quote from Jonathan Edward's: The book is much better than any other book in the world, excepting the Bible, in my opinion. This Treatise was also used emphatically by Edwards in his dissertation on "The Freedom of the Will."

With that said, I was expecting an almost unintelligible treatise on the subject at hand. For one, Edwards recommended it, and brain just functions differently than most. Second, Van Mastricht is a dutch puritan and their explanation of subjects can sometimes be very cumbersome, even though very enlightening.

This book was just the opposite of what I was expecting. It was very understandable, even though I will have to read it again to get the full meaning, and very enjoyable.

Van Mastricht leans heavily, and I mean heavily, on Scripture to show his conclusions on the subject of regeneration. There are three parts to this book consisting of: "The Doctrinal Part" "The Argumentative Part" and "The Practical Part." One of my favorite parts in the entire book was Van Mastricht's "list" of assurance of regeneration. Most Puritans are known for their "tests" of salvation and regeneration, but Van Mastricht gives a great list showing assurance.

Although, I do not agree on every point made by Van Mastricht when speaking of paedo baptism, it is never the less very well done. I would highly recommend this book if you are studying regeneration. One could use this merely as a reference book if needed and would glean enough from that alone to warrant the purchase.