Book note: The Godly Man’s Picture, by Thomas Watson (updated)

I’m not quite halfway through The Godly Man’s Picture, but I’m starting to slow down – not that it’s losing my interest, but that it’s the sort of book that challenges you to think – and I haven’t always been stopping to do that often enough, because it’s the sort of book that’s so plainly written, and well-written, that it can lure a person into fast reading, just to see what illustration is lined up next, what questions are yet to be addressed. (Also, Watson keeps referencing Augustine, which rubs it in that I lost momentum on reading The City of God, and haven’t been back to it in a while. I keep thinking I need to go finish Augustine… Not that it’s necessary for reading The Godly Man’s Picture: Watson is kind enough to use quotes in such a way that you don’t need to know the works from which they came.)

Watson was a 17th century Puritan theologian and preacher, and this book is a gem. From the product description at Amazon: “‘The Godly Man’s Picture’ is a superb treatise by the Puritan Thomas Watson on what should mark the character and actions of a person who loves Christ.” That says it pretty well, I think.

The full title is The Godly Man’s Picture, Drawn with a Scripture Pencil, or, Some Characteristic Marks of a Man who is Going to Heaven.

If you only ‘know’ Puritans from what is said of them in secular textbooks, or in secondary sources of any sort, I think you’re in for a pleasant surprise. I know that over the past few years, I’ve discovered that nearly everything I thought I knew about them was wrong.

My thanks to Europeanne for introducing me to this book.

Added: Since I believe in the universal church of believers and the communion of saints, and since I live and work closely with Catholics, and from knowing a bit of history, when I read anti-papist comments in Watson or other Puritan writers, I quite naturally don’t let it dent my good relations with my Catholic brothers and sisters in Christ, or necessarily take it to mean a valid criticism of the contemporary Catholic church. It has occurred to me, though, that if you don’t know me, you might jump to the conclusion that I endorse anti-Catholicism. I don’t. There are undoubtedly serious differences between the Catholic church and other branches of the church on matters of secondary importance, but the agreement on the fundamental Gospel overrides that, I think. In fact, one of the things that strikes me again and again in reading Puritan writings of a few centuries ago, is how very much they resemble Catholic writings, and how much more often they are in agreement with Catholics than many Protestants of today.

For an exercise, you might compare this Catholic Guide for an Examination of Conscience to The Godly Man’s Picture. You might also compare writings of Pope Benedict with Watson. Except on points of exclusively Catholic doctrine, they reinforce one another quite well, I think, with an emphasis on the same things: the call to holiness, the majesty and power of God, the need to have Christ at the center of your life, the need to take sin seriously, the need for repentance, etc.

More book reviews by bloggers are available at The Saturday Review of Books at Semicolon.