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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.… (more)
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I have dubbed 2017 as "The Year of the Puritan" in my reading plan. Only in the last two years have I discovered the rich
But William Perkins in the "Bitesize Biographies from EP Books may be the rare exception to my Puritan obsession. Sadly, it was less biography, and more a survey of Perkins' beliefs. I couldn't wait to dive into this book when I ordered it. Many of the Puritans I have read in the last two years have talked of "beloved Mr. Perkins." One might even say that William Perkins is the Puritan among puritans, even though he technically predates the Puritan era in England's history by several decades and lacked the separatist ecclesiology that marked later Puritans. It was his writings and thinking that sparked the theological imagination of the likes of Richard Sibbes, Richard Baxter, and Jeremiah Burroughs.
Joel Beeke and Stephen Yuille offer a good overview of Perkins' thought. They help the reader understand his importance in shaping later theologians and his impact on his contemporaries through his preaching and teaching. I only wish they said more of the man's life. I suppose that a brief work of this nature can only do so much. I do look forward to other works in this series. A series like this is needed lest the modern church forget the shoulders we stand upon. We need heroes of the faith. When we persist in ignorance of the past we yield treasures too rich and costly. We lose people like William Perkins. And that is sad indeed.