Worldly Saints (Paperback)

~ (Author), Dr. Leland Ryken (Author) "Puritanism is the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy..." (more)
Key Phrases: everlasting rest, Richard Baxter, William Perkins, New England (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A very persuasive...most interesting book...stuffed with quotations from Puritan sources, almost to the point of making it a mini-anthology." — Publishers Weekly

(Publishers Weekly )

"With 'Worldly Saints,' Christians of all persuasions have a tool that provides ready access to the vast treasures of Puritan thought." — Christianity Today

(Christianity Today )

"Ryken writes with a vigor and enthusiasm that makes delightful reading -- never a dull moment." — Fides et Historia

(Fides et Historia )

"'Worldly Saints' provides a valuable picture of Puritan life and values. It should be useful for the general readers as well as for students of history and literature." — Christianity & Literature

(Christianity & Literature )

Product Description

Dr. Ryken's presentation of the Puritan view and style of life is perceptive and accurate. He allows the Puritans to speak for themselves on topics ranging from "Church and Worship" to "Money" and "Marriage and Sex."

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (October 24, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310325013
• ISBN-13: 978-0310325017
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #360,115 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Honest and Forthright History, February 9, 1999

By A Customer

I was most pleased to find this book. Though I am a believer in the Puritans being the pinnacle of christianity I knew that they couldn't be perfect. Mr. Ryken has written a most readable and enjoyable history of the Puritans. He does not shy away from clear problems that they had.

What caught my interest most was his demonstration through his scholarship that society under the Puritan "Ideal" had problems, but was infinitely better off than most other areas in western Europe. John Calvin and his followers in Switzerland were clearly extreme in their use of scriptural discipline. The American Puritans were fanatics of control and discipline. The English Puritans were more well rounded in how they were to effect their society.

With all that said, Mr. Ryken has shown that the Puritans were not only good people, but may have been the true moral fiber of their different cultures. There seems to be an underlying truth that where the Puritans had the most influence, the people were the most safe and taken care of by the clergy.

Were there mistakes in the Puritan movement? Yes, and again I say YES. A mistakeless society or movement is the figment of a deranged imagination or science fiction. The Puritans were human. They did wrong. When they were shown the wrong, from a biblical perspective, they repented and made the change.

Modern revisionist historians have made much of the Puritan intolerence's for many things. If these historians would just read Mr. Ryken's book they would see, if they are honest, that the Puritans were very honorable and did stick to what they truly believed to be true.

I liked this book because it made me admire the Puritans afresh. I now believe that when someone insults me by alluding to my "Puritan" ethics that I am being complemented much more than I deserve. I would hope to live up to such a statement.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Good Introduction to the Puritans, July 11, 2001

By	"speusippus" (Meadville, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This book gives the reader an excellent introduction to ideals of the Puritan movement. It is packed full of quotations since the point of the book is to let the Puritans speak for themselves on selected topics.

This book is an introduction to Puritan thought as a whole, so it does not touch on specific situations. It is very broad and deals with both English and American Puritanism. Though this book is excellent, it should be known by all of you potential buyers that it deals with historical Puritan thought and not with the hard history of facts and events.

Another bonus of this book is that it presents the Puritans in clear light. Dr. Ryken celebrates the Puritan culture but at the same time recognizes that they had clear faults. He includes a whole chapter on things we can learn from the negative examples within Puritanism.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting approach, September 5, 2006

By	Jeffrey A. Thompson (Iowa City, IA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The author uses the writings of the Puritan authors to help clear away our misconceptions of the Puritans. This works very well. However, it does very little to put the Puritans in their historical context. The Puritans started Havard and they were big on education. This was very interesting. They had very healthy enthusiasm for sex within marriage. However, Ryken points out in his chapter on the problems within Puritanism, the Puritans were so afraid of sin they were worried about commiting adultery with one's wife. Thus, they created a lot of guilt for sex within marriage. The thought/philosophy/theology of the thinkers of a movement is always far more attractive than the practice in every day life. We should look at the Puritan authors themselves for the ideals of Puritanism. Ryken does that well. It is easy to read and he quotes from a variety of writers.

The problem is that he removes the movement from its historical context. He lauds the Puritans for starting Havard, but what about the witch trials? Another problem is repetition, he quotes so much that sometimes the quotes repeat the very same idea over and over. It makes the reading tedious at times.

On the whole I enjoyed the book and I learned a lot about the Puritans, which is exactly what I wanted from the book.