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THE COMPLETE EXEGETICAL & DOCTRINAL WORKS OF WILLIAM PERKINS
William Perkins
The Works of William Perkins fills a major gap in Reformed and Puritan theology. Though Perkins is best known today for his writings on predestination, he also wrote prolifically on many subjects. His works filled over two thousand large pages of small print in three folio volumes and were reprinted several times in the decades after his death. However, his complete works have not been in print since the mid-seventeenth century. This modern typeset edition of the Works includes four volumes of Perkins's expositions of Scripture, three volumes of his doctrinal and polemical treatises, and three volumes of his practical writings.
THE EXEGETICAL WORKS OF WILLIAM PERKINS (in Four Volumes)
VOLUME ONE: contains three of Perkins's treatises.
The First is 'A Digest or Harmony of the Books of the Old and New Testament', which offers a synopsis of the Bible that relates sacred history to the chronology of the world. Dating God's creation of the universe in 3967 BC, Perkins develops his overview of redemptive history that culminates in the final judgment.
The Second treatise is 'The Combat between Christ and the Devil Displayed.' Expounding Matthew 4:1-11, Perkins shows how Christ's temptation in the wilderness (1) set Jesus up to serve as the second Adam, overcoming Satan's temptation in a way the first Adam did not; (2) reveals how the devil assaults the church so that we might be better prepared to resist his temptations; and (3) equipped Christ to be a sympathetic high priest to those who are tempted.
The Third and most significant treatise is 'A Godly and Learned Exposition upon Christ's Sermon in the Mount'. "Hereof I have chosen to entreat," says Perkins, "because it is a most divine and learned sermon, and may not unfitly be called the 'Key to the whole Bible'; for here Christ opens the sum of the Old and New Testaments." The fact that Perkins saw the Sermon on the Mount as unlocking the meaning of Scripture in its entirety suggests that his understanding of what Christ declares in Matthew 5-7 was pivotal to the development of his theology and piety.
VOLUME TWO: Expositional Commentary on Galatians
This second volume contains Perkins's Commentary on Galatians. Perkins preached on Galatians each Lord's Day for over three years. Ralph Cudworth obtained Perkins's handwritten notes and edited them for publication. Because Perkins did not complete the commentary, Cudworth supplemented the manuscript with his own comments on chapter 6.
This commentary of Perkins and Cudworth on Galatians first appeared in print in 1604, two years after Perkins's death. Perkins's other writings had already begun to be gathered and published. When the three-volume edition of his collected works first appeared, Galatians occupied over 320 large folio pages in the second volume (1609). It continued to appear as a part of several editions of the Works through their final 1635 reprint. Evidently, interest in the commentary warranted its publication again as a separate volume in 1617.
Following the model taught in his treatise The Art of Prophesying, Perkins's pattern in commenting on Galatians is to explain the text, deduce a few points of doctrine from it, answer objections raised against the doctrine, and then give practical uses of what the passage teaches.
VOLUME THREE: A Cloud of Faithful Witnesses, Leading to the Heavenly Canaan (on Hebrews 11)
Over 460 pages of brilliant exposition on one glorious chapter of Holy Scripture. Perkins rivals the brilliant Thomas Manton in these messages on the most famous chapter in Hebrews. THIS BOOK BECAME AVAILABLE IN FEBRUARY 2017.
VOLUME FOUR: A Godly and Learned Exposition of Jude & Revelation 1 - 3
Perkins covers every verse and every word of The Epistle of Jude in 267 pages of brilliant and passionate exposition based upon sound exegesis. He then spend nearly 400 pages examining every inspired word of the first three chapters of Revelation. THIS BOOK HAS JUST BECOME AVAILABLE IN LATE MAY 2017.
VOLUME FIVE: A Body of Divinity, Consisting of His Exposition of the Apostle's Creed, the Lord's Prayer and The Foundation of Christian Religion Gathered into Six Principles
VOLUME SIX: Includes, THE GOLDEN CHAIN (includes the famous Perkins Chart), THE MANNER AND ORDER OF PREDESTINATION, TREATISE ON GOD'S FREE GRACE & MAN'S FREE WILL, FRUITFUL DIALOGUE CONCERNING THE E ND OF THE WORLD, AGAINST ALEXANDER DICKSON, ON MEMORY
THIS COMPLETES THE EXEGETICAL WORKS OF WILLIAM PERKINS
The remaining volumes will be -
THE DOCTRINAL & POLEMICAL WORKS (in 3 volumes)
VOLUME SIX: Includes, THE GOLDEN CHAIN (includes the famous Perkins Chart), THE MANNER AND ORDER OF PREDESTINATION, TREATISE ON GOD'S FREE GRACE & MAN'S FREE WILL, FRUITFUL DIALOGUE CONCERNING THE E ND OF THE WORLD, AGAINST ALEXANDER DICKSON, ON MEMORY
THE PRACTICAL WORKS (in 3 volumes)
VOLUME SEVEN: This seventh volume includes three treatises that strike a helpful balance of emphases on theology, history, and practice.
A Reformed Catholic exists as a systematic, theological presentation of Perkins’s Reformed soteriology in contrast with the Church of Rome.
Perkins’s Problem of the Forged Catholicism is an exercise in historical theology, proving from the primary source documents of church history that the Roman Catholicism articulated at Trent is not supported by the first twelve hundred years of the church’s witness.
A Warning Against Idolatry handles worship practices—including liturgies, ceremonies, customs, and rites—concluding that all the externals of worship must be regulated by Scripture in the strictest sense.
Taken as a whole, Perkins’s polemical work against the Church of Rome draws a clear dividing line between Roman Catholicism and the Reformed tradition.
VOLUME EIGHT: This eighth volume includes five treatises meant to promote a good conscience before God.
A Discourse of Conscience establishes a framework for understanding the importance of conscience and how it functions.
The Whole Treatise of the Cases of Conscience is an extensive treatment of casuistry that treats man in his three principle conditions (by himself, in relation to God, and in relation to others).
A Treatise Tending unto a Declaration whether a Man Is in the Estate of Damnation or in the Estate of Grace distinguishes between true and false professors, demonstrates how Roman Catholicism falls short of assurance, and highlights the devil’s attempts to sully the consciences of God’s people.
A Case of Conscience gives full attention to the importance of personal assurance of salvation.
A Grain of Mustard Seed provides consolation to weak Christians by encouraging them to recognize and grow in gratitude for the grace they have.
There is much in the present volume to commend to the reader, but what clearly stands out is Perkins’s skill as a spiritual adviser.
VOLUME NINE: This ninth volume brings together nine of Perkins’s lesser known practical treatises and, by so doing, introduces the reader to important facets of his religion of the heart.
It opens with two works on what it means to look to Christ: A Declaration of the True Manner of Knowing Christ Crucified and The True Gain.
This is followed by A Faithful and Plain Exposition upon Zephaniah 2:1–2, which gives an earnest call to repentance, and The Nature and Practice of Repentance as well as The Combat of the Flesh and Spirit, which give systematic explanations of the doctrine of repentance.
A Treatise of Man’s Imaginations discusses man’s desperate need for renewal of mind.
A Direction for the Government of the Tongue According to God’s Word argues that one’s speech is the most significant change related to a renewed heart.
The volume finishes with A Discourse of the Damned Art of Witchcraft and A Resolution to the Country Man on Prognostication, which rebuke those who dally with occult practices.
Each treatise in this volume occupies an important place in Perkins’s experiential piety—what he himself described as “the more sincere profession of religion.”
VOLUME TEN: This tenth volume brings together seven treatises that demonstrate Perkins’s core conviction that the gospel touches all of life by bringing it under the rule of Scripture. Treatise on How to Live Well in All Estates opens the volume with a description of the reign of faith in Christians’ hearts so that they avoid sin and pursue the will of God in all they do. Treatise on Vocations explains how God calls Christians to live out their faith in whatever responsibilities they hold within society. Right Manner of Erecting and Ordering a Family applies the concept of vocation to life in the home. Calling of the Ministry applies vocation to the church, describing the duties and dignities of the ministers of Christ. Art of Prophesying equips those called to the ministry with the proper manner and method of preaching God’s Word. Christian Equity exhorts Christians to maintain justice and preserve peace, whether in families, church, or the greater commonwealth. Having finished with principles of living by faith, the volume ends with Treatise on Dying Well, which discusses the importance of faith at the end of life.
Table of Contents:
Treatise on How to Live Well in All Estates
Treatise on Vocations
Right Manner of Erecting and Ordering a Family
Calling of the Ministry
Manner and Method of Preaching
Christian Equity
Treatise on Dying Well
ENDORSEMENTS FROM MODERN MEN
"On the broad shoulders of William Perkins, epoch-making pioneer, stood the entire school of seventeenth-century Puritan pastors and divines, yet the Puritan reprint industry has steadily bypassed him. Now, however, he begins to reappear, admirably edited, and at last this yawning gap is being filled. Profound thanks to the publisher and heartfelt praise to God have become due." - J. I. Packer, Board of Governors' Professor of Theology, Regent College, Vancouver, British Columbia
"William Perkins was a most remarkable Christian. In his relatively short life he was a great preacher, pastor, and theologian. His prolific writings were foundational to the whole English Puritan enterprise and a profound influence beyond his own time and borders. His works have become rare, and their republication must be a source of real joy and blessing to all serious Christians. Perkins is the first Puritan we should read." - W. Robert Godfrey, president, Westminster Seminary California
"The list of those influenced by the ministry of William Perkins reads like a veritable Who's Who of the Puritan Brotherhood and far beyond. This reprinting of his works, so long unobtainable except by a few, is therefore a publishing event of the first magnitude." - Sinclair B. Ferguson, professor of systematic theology, Redeemer Theological Seminary, Dallas
CONTEMPORARY DESCRIPTIONS OF PERKINS
"Perkins was justly esteemed by his contemporaries as a master in theology." - Charles H. Spurgeon
"In orderliness of method and vivid description, William Perkins takes the crown." - Gisbertus Voetius
"I gladly call to mind the time, when being young, I heard, worthy Master Perkins, so preach in a great assembly of students, that he instructed them soundly in the truth, stirred them up effectually to seek after godliness, made them fit for the kingdom of God; and by his own example shewing them, what things they should chiefly intend, that they might promote true religion, in the power of it, unto God's glory, and others' salvation." - William Ames
"Mr. Perkins's sermons were all law and all gospel. He was a rare instance of those opposite gifts meeting in so eminent a degree in the same preacher, even the vehemence and thunder of Boanerges, to awaken sinners to a sense of their sin and danger, and to drive them from destruction; and the persuasion and comfort of Barnabas, to pour the wine and oil of gospel consolation into their wounded spirits." - Benjamin Brook
NEWEST FOUR
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VOLUME ONE: Harmony of the Books of the Old & New Testament; Christ vs Satan; and The Sermon on the Mount
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OVER 800 PAGE HARDCOVER VOLUME WITH DUST-JACKET
VOLUME TWO: An Exposition of the Epistle of Galatians
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VOLUME THREE: A Cloud of Faithful Witnesses, Leading to the Heavenly Canaan (on Hebrews 11)
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VOLUME FOUR: A Godly and Learned Exposition of Jude and Revelation 1 - 3
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VOLUME FIVE: Perkins' BODY OF DIVINITY (50% DISCOUNT)
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VOLUME SIX: Perkins' Famous 'Golden Chain' and Much More
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VOLUME SEVEN: Polemical Works on Catholicism and Idolatry
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VOLUME EIGHT: Includes Five Treatises meant to promote a Good Conscience before God.
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VOLUME NINE: Includes 9 of the Lesser Known Works of Perkins
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VOLUME TEN: Includes 7 Treatises that demonstrate Perkins’s core conviction that the gospel touches all of life
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