Faith and Love: William Perkins's Wholesome Doctrine of the Gospel

The Wholesome Doctrine of the Gospel familiarizes readers with one of England’s most influential theologians, William Perkins. In the opening biographical sketch, Andrew S. Ballitch and J. Stephen Yuille give an overview of Pekins’s life, theology, and piety. Then, in thirty-two excerpts, readers learn about the relationship between faith and love from Perkins himself as he explains the foundational “grounds of doctrine to be believed” and “grounds of doctrine to be practiced.” Rather than treating theology as a subject for mere academic debate, Perkins calls for true Christian devotion that moves beyond intellectual assent to heartfelt dedication to Christ.

Table of Contents:
The Piety of William Perkins (1558–1602)
Faith: Grounds of Doctrine to Be Believed
1. The Certainty of Scripture
2. The Sufficiency of Scripture
3. God’s Holiness
4. God’s Excellency
5. God Triune
6. God’s Sovereignty
7. God’s Mercy
8. The Supremacy of Christ
9. The Creation of Man
10. The Fall of Man
11. Law and Gospel
12. The Incarnation
13. Christ the Mediator
14. Faith
15. Justification
16. Regeneration
17. Christian Liberty
18. The Power of the Keys
19. The Church
20. The Resurrection
21. The Judgment
Love: Grounds of Doctrine to Be Practiced
22. Repentance
23. Self-Denial
24. Choosing God
25. Fleeing Idolatry
26. Worshiping God
27. Sanctifying God
28. Loving Our Neighbor
29. Honoring Our Parents
30. Cultivating Virtue
31. Pursuing Our Calling
32. Holding Faith
Series Description

Seeking, then, both to honor the past and yet not idolize it, we are issuing these books in the series Profiles in Reformed Spirituality . The design is to introduce the spirituality and piety of the Reformed Profiles in Reformed Spirituality tradition by presenting descriptions of the lives of notable Christians with select passages from their works. This combination of biographical sketches and collected portions from primary sources gives a taste of the subjects’ contributions to our spiritual heritage and some direction as to how the reader can find further edification through their works. It is the hope of the publishers that this series will provide riches for those areas where we are poor and light of day where we are stumbling in the deepening twilight.