Introduction to Henry Scougal and "The Life of God in the Soul of Man"

Chances are you've never heard of Henry Scougal. But he may have been one of the most influential Christian writers of the past 400 years when you consider that George Whitfield and the Wesley brothers credited the book we are about to explore as having revealed to them the nature of true religion.

In his short life (1650-1678, just 28 when he died of tuberculosis) Scougal accomplished much of lasting worth. He was born into a family of Scottish pastors and was destined for the church. A brilliant and hard-working student, he entered college at age 15 and was named a professor of philosophy at just 19. Ordained to the ministry in 1672 he took a pastorate in which he served briefly with distinction before being recalled to the university at Aberdeen as a professor of divinity. There he served out the remainder of his days.

His best-known work, The Life of God in the Soul of Man, was originally a (long) letter to a friend. Another friend was so taken with it that he persuaded Scougal to allow it to be published, which Scougal did only reluctantly, insisting that it be an anonymous work. Its reception undoubtedly surprised him. The book has gone through many editions subsequently; John Wesley made an abridgement that was printed seven times in 66 years. It is composed of three principal sections: The nature of true religion; the excellency and advantage of religion; and the practical elements of religion.

It is my prayer that readers will find the forthcoming journey leads them to new appreciation for the Christ whom Scougal served so well.

Tomorrow: We begin to listen to Henry Scougal.

David Dickson, 1583-1662

David Dickson was another of the great Scots. Educated at Glasgow, he accepted a pastoral position in Irvine for over twenty years and was very active in the affairs of the Scottish church during the turbulent times leading up to the English Civil War. He held academic appointments at Glasgow and Edinburgh. In his final illness, he observed, "I have taken all my good deeds, and all my bad deeds, and cast them through each other in a heap before the Lord, and fled from both, and betaken myself to the Lord Jesus Christ, and in him I have sweet peace."

There are few better summaries of the Puritan approach to Christianity.

This short series of Puritan biographical vignettes has come to its conclusion. It had been my intention to start blogging through one of the standard histories of the Christian church, a project I began in analog form some years ago. However, this effort will be delayed while I try to secure permission from the publisher. In its place, I'd like to blog through Henry Scougal's The Life of God in the Soul of Man, a Puritan devotional work that has been tremendously influential in the lives of some of the great Christians of the past, including one of my personal heroes, George Whitfield. God willing, that project will commence tomorrow.

John Lightfoot, 1602-1675

John Lightfoot was another Cambridge-educated man. He had a reputation for oratory. His early career was chiefly scholarly and pastoral in several assignments. As a delegate to the Assembly he kept a journal; this has become a valuable historical record for the first year or so of the Assembly's meetings in which he participated with great vigor and influence, often taking a position distinctly in the minority (he was Erastian in perspective). In his later career he wrote numerous commentaries on the Bible and became something of a Hebrew scholar.

Tomorrow: David Dickson, and a look at future directions.

Samuel Rutherford, 1600-1661

Samuel Rutherford was another Scotsman, perhaps the most important Scottish Calvinist of the era. His early career was pastoral in rural Scotland where he gained a reputation as a great preacher despite a lack of good speaking skills. Scotland sent him to the Assembly, where he exerted a tremendous influence, especially on the Shorter Catechism. His best-known work was called Lex Rex, or The Law, the King, an argument for limited government that criticized contemporary notions of the divine right of kings. This work later had a monumental impact on the formation of American government.

Tomorrow: John Lightfoot.

Robert Baillie, 1599-1662

Robert Baillie was one of the few (but very influential) Scottish Presbyterian representatives to the Assembly. In his early career he was caught up in the general Scottish resistance to the forcible establishment of High Anglicanism by Charles I and Archbishop Laud. He traveled with the Scottish army as a regimental preacher. When the time came he took up his responsibilities in the Assembly and subsequently became something of a diplomat. After the Stuart Restoration he could have had a bishopric, but was steadfast in his resistance to this form of church government, observing that, "I do not find in the New Testament that Christ has any lords in his house."

Tomorrow: Samuel Rutherford.

Thomas Goodwin, 1600-1680

Thomas Goodwin hailed from Norfolk, a bastion of Puritan resistance to persecution by the English crown. From early life he was spiritually sensitive and intellectually bright. At the age of twelve, he went up to Cambridge where he quickly encountered solid Puritans in the form of his tutors. Following a profound conversion experience at age 20 he ceased his dalliance with rhetorical style and Arminianism and became an earnest and dedicated preacher of biblical truth. His resistance to William Laud's attempts to stamp out Puritanism in the Church of England led to exile in the Netherlands, from which he was recalled by Parliament in 1641 and quickly rose to prominence in the Assembly, which he addressed nearly 360 times in the space of 17 months. After leaving his work at Westminster he became president of Magdalen College in Oxford and did much good there. His final years were spent as an Independent Church preacher in London.

Tomorrow: Robert Baillie.

William Twisse, 1575-1646

(Parenthetically, I note there were over 150 representatives in the Westminster Assembly, so the short series that follows can highlight just a very select handful of some of the more influential figures.)

William Twisse was unusual in that he was an Oxford man rather than part of the Cambridge group mentioned earlier this week. A very bright and learned man, he caught the attention of King James I, who appointed him chaplain to the Princess Elizabeth and sent him to Germany with her. After a short stay there, he was recalled to England to take up pastoral duties as the vicar of Newbury where he was able to further his scholarship. Despite his relationship with the royal family, he refused to obey James' edict that the Book of Sports be read in all churches (this was part of James' campaign against Sabbath observance). His standing and regard among the English Puritans can be seen in his appointment to be Prolocutor (presiding officer) of the Assembly in 1643, although the office did not suit his retiring personality and it taxed his health. After fainting in the pulpit in March 1645 his health went into a long decline and he died in July of the following year. His last words were, "Now, at length, I shall have leisure to follow my studies to all eternity."

Tomorrow: Thomas Goodwin.