The Puritan Pastor
The emphasis upon the spiritual nature of the church moved the role of the clergy from priest to preacher, from mediator of the sacraments ,to doctor of the soul. The sermon became the central part of the worship service and the highlight in the week of the Christian life.
ARTICLES
Dr. B
11/2/20263 min read
[From lecture: "The Puritans: Life and Doctrine"]
With the Puritans we see a move away from liturgy to preaching. The Reformation brought with it a return to Scripture Alone as the rule of faith and life for the Christian. The Regulative Principle facilitated the rejection of liturgy, lengthy Scripture readings, and the shallow homilies of the Catholic Church. The emphasis upon the spiritual nature of the church - not on the organization alone but on the living organism - moved the role of the clergy from priest to preacher, from mediator of the sacraments, to pastor of the soul. The sermon became the central part of the worship service and the highlight in the week of the Christian life.
At that time, the Scripture was widely available in vernacular. The Protestants believe in the Biblical concept of a priest-hood of believers who have the Holy Spirit to guide them in reading and interpreting Scripture for themselves. This does not mean that the Puritan Christians became individualistic or rejected the assembling for worship. They recognized that God put under-shepherds in their lives and elders to lead them as a flock.
Pastoral Theology
These pastor- theologians did not see themselves nor did they act as abstract academics separated from the church. Rather they saw themselves as doctors of the soul, applying the science of theology and doctrine to produce a mature, healthy Christian ready for the challenges of this world and prepared to enter into the next world.
With Puritans like Richard Baxter, we begin to see also a development of “pastoral theology” or
“practical theology.” Baxter was the pastor in the church at Kiddderminster for 50 years. He wrote the book the Reformed Pastor. By reformed, he does not mean Calvinistic but rather renewed or revived in the heart to serve God fully. The book was written after a meeting that was held in 1655 to call the pastors to publicly repent for the spiritual neglect in the churches of England. Baxter could not attend the meeting so he wrote this book as a means of instruction. The focus text for the book is Acts 20:28, “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.” The book is divided into two parts: the pastor and the flock. He begins by confronting the pastor with his own spiritual state.
“It is possible also that many a man has warned others not to come to that place of torment
which they have hastened to themselves. Is it possible also that many a preacher is now in hell
who has called upon his hearers a hundred times to use their utmost care and diligence to escape its dark destiny? Believe it brethren, that God never saved any man for being a preacher!”
Ministry
The pastors of this time were very active. We see Puritans with jail ministries, youth outreaches, visiting the sick, performing discipleship, and admonishing those who had fallen out of fellowship or were not attending the church regularly. The Puritan pastor, according to Baxter, was with his people. He was in their homes because it was there that the pastor can measure their spiritual temperature. He can know what kind of Christians they are, if indeed they are truly Christians, by observing how they interact with each other. It was not uncommon for a Puritan pastor to have several meetings throughout the week for the spiritual good of his church people and the community.
The Puritan pastor believed in “cumulative recognition” – what we would call repetition – as a means of driving the point home. Some of the Puritans said that preaching and teaching was a way to “screw” the Word of God into the hearts and minds of the people. These weekly meetings, apart from regular worship, were another way they could repeat and reiterate their messages. J.I. Packer points out that if you read the revised or abridged versions of the Puritans you miss out on the repetitive nature of their teachings.
The Puritan Pastor as a Counselor
The Puritans used the term casuistry to describe the work of the soul doctor. They saw the pulpit as a place for spiritual counseling. But they also applied this counseling to the normal weekly visits and private meetings with believers and those seeking salvation. They said not only must preaching and counseling be direct but it must also be specific.
Casuistry (or counseling) consisted of three parts.
1) Listening
2) Encouraging the person to share
3) Giving them practical advice and application from the Scriptures.
In addition to preaching and personal meetings with members of their flock, many Puritan pastors wrote books and pamphlets as a means of counseling people. Some of their greatest works were in the area of casuistry.