{"id":49147,"date":"2019-02-26T10:00:51","date_gmt":"2019-02-26T10:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/\/uk\/?p=49147"},"modified":"2019-02-25T16:51:26","modified_gmt":"2019-02-25T16:51:26","slug":"life-and-influence-of-john-flavel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.banneroftruth.org\/uk\/resources\/articles\/2019\/life-and-influence-of-john-flavel\/","title":{"rendered":"The Life and Influence of John Flavel"},"content":{"rendered":"

‘Puritanism has left a vast literature of homiletics and casuistry,\u00a0which is wholly dead save for an occasional excursion\u00a0of the curious. Nothing could be more wearisome to the modern\u00a0reader than its voluminous controversy. The Calvinistic theology,\u00a0which was the intellectual form of Puritanism, is dead beyond\u00a0recall.’<\/p>\n

These words were penned in 1912 by a Fellow of All Souls College,\u00a0Oxford, who was also a Canon and Sub-dean of Westminster and the\u00a0Bishop of Durham. Had he known what the next 100 years held in\u00a0store in the field of Puritan studies, Dr. Henson would have most likely\u00a0tempered this precipitous judgement. Today, in the second decade of a\u00a0new millennium, research into the works of the \u2018wholly dead\u2019 is stronger\u00a0than ever.<\/p>\n

It is fair to say that the three Puritans who have received the most\u00a0attention since the mid-twentieth century revivification of interest into\u00a016th and 17th century Puritanism are Richard Baxter<\/a>, John Owen<\/a>, and\u00a0John Bunyan<\/a>. To be sure, these men are certainly giants who rightly merit\u00a0attention, but they are not the only luminaries who light up the sky. One\u00a0man who is well worth study was an influential Puritan by the name of\u00a0John Flavel<\/a>. Flavel was a minister and author who, for the better part of\u00a0his ministry, laboured in a coastal town in Devon. After studying at University College, Oxford, he began working as a Presbyterian minister in\u00a01650. Six years into his ministry he removed to Dartmouth, and, due\u00a0to the intermittent legality of nonconformist ministerial activities, he\u00a0was permitted to labour only sporadically, sometimes clandestinely, and\u00a0on one occasion in a disguise \u2014 as a woman! So strongly did he sense a\u00a0divine calling to remain in Dartmouth that twice in his career he refused\u00a0offers of more lucrative livings so that he might continue his work\u00a0amongst \u2018his poor people in Dartmouth\u2019. Perhaps it was his admirable\u00a0devotion to his humble flock that ultimately caused his influence to have\u00a0a ripple effect in ever-widening circles for more than 320 years.<\/p>\n

In his lifetime, John Flavel was extremely popular and influential\u00a0within diverse strata of people across two continents. Flavel had an\u00a0immediate local impact on his parishioners, an indirect impact later on\u00a0the evangelical revivals, and a literary impact which continues to the\u00a0present day.<\/p>\n

Flavel\u2019s parishioners who regularly heard him preach attest to his\u00a0facility, power, and impact on their souls whilst he taught from the\u00a0pulpit. We can do no better than to hear the testimony of one of his\u00a0parishioners: \u2018I could say much, though not enough, of the excellency\u00a0of his preaching; of his seasonable, suitable and spiritual matter; of\u00a0his plain expositions of Scripture, his taking method, his genuine and\u00a0natural deductions, his convincing arguments, his clear and powerful\u00a0demonstrations, his heart-searching applications, and his comfortable\u00a0supports to those that were afflicted in conscience . . . In short that\u00a0person must have a very soft head, or a very hard heart, or both, that\u00a0could sit under his ministry unaffected.\u2019<\/p>\n

In 1689, he preached a series\u00a0of sermons which evidently converted many people. Increase Mather,\u00a0an influential leader in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and the president\u00a0of Harvard College, said this: \u2018I am informed by unquestionable\u00a0hands, that there was a remarkable pouring out of the Spirit when these\u00a0sermons were viva voce<\/em> delivered, a great number of souls having been\u00a0brought home to Christ thereby.\u2019 The effect of his faithfulness in southwest\u00a0England was evidently a great benefit to many people.<\/p>\n

Although the impact of his forty-one year ministry was substantial\u00a0for the locals of Devon, his influence showed itself during the Great\u00a0Awakening<\/a> as well. In the next generation, arguably the greatest theologian\u00a0to come from America, Jonathan Edwards<\/a>, was deeply affected\u00a0by \u2018holy Mr. Flavel\u2019, as he designated him. In The Religious Affections<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0which was Edwards\u2019 evaluation and criticism of the Great Awakening,\u00a0he quoted Flavel more than Richard Baxter, John Owen, Richard Sibbes<\/a>,\u00a0John Calvin<\/a>, Francis Turretin, William Ames, and William Perkins<\/a>,\u00a0combined. In addition to the great admiration that George Whitefield<\/a>\u00a0and Robert Murray M\u2018Cheyne<\/a> professed to have for Flavel, Archibald\u00a0Alexander<\/a>, the first professor of Princeton Seminary, said, \u2018To John Flavel\u00a0I certainly owe more than to any uninspired writer.\u2019<\/p>\n

However, Flavel\u2019s impact was not restricted to the upper echelons of\u00a0society or to famous and noteworthy people. His influence was felt on\u00a0both sides of the Atlantic amongst all classes of people. Writing in 1688\u00a0in the preface to the eleven Englands Duty<\/em> sermons, Increase Mather\u00a0said of Flavel: \u2018The worthy author . . . is one whose praise is in the gospel\u00a0throughout all the churches. His other books have made his name\u00a0precious and famous in both Englands.\u2019 When one considers that Flavel\u2019s\u00a0writings were not printed in the American colonies until 1708, we\u00a0can infer that copies of Flavel\u2019s books were tucked under the arms of the\u00a0harried and bedraggled Puritans as they boarded ships for the Colonies.<\/p>\n

Flavel left not only a local and an intellectual footprint, he has also\u00a0had an impact through print which began with the publishing of his\u00a0first book in 1664 and continues to the present day. The last 348 years\u00a0have seen more than 600 printings of the 35 treatises and sermons. His\u00a0writings can be found in 15 languages. Various writings of his have been printed in Armenian, Chinese, Czech, Dutch, English, French, German,\u00a0Khmer, Korean, Polish, Scottish Gaelic, Spanish, Tamil, Urdu, and\u00a0Welsh. As the example, consider his best-selling work, A Saint Indeed<\/em>\u00a0(aka Keeping the Heart<\/em>), which was first published in 1668. Between\u00a0the date of its first publication and the present day, there have been\u00a0almost 100 editions of this work. In addition to that treatise, consider\u00a0two of his other works, The Mystery of Providence<\/em><\/a> and Navigation\u00a0Spiritualized<\/em>. The former is a classic defence of God\u2019s beneficent and\u00a0wise ruling of the universe; the latter likens the life rhythms of the Christian\u00a0to the work of a sailor in a sort of spiritual allegory. Both of these\u00a0writings remain in print from the Banner of Truth (in the Works<\/em><\/a>, though\u00a0the former is also available as a Puritan Paperback).<\/p>\n

What makes Flavel an author worth reading is that he seems to have\u00a0combined the best features of all of the \u2018great\u2019 Puritans. This is the\u00a0reason he could arouse the world\u2019s greatest minds with his intellectual\u00a0precision and at the same time bring uneducated, sea-hardened sailors\u00a0to their knees. Flavel did not have the intellectual power of John Owen,\u00a0nor the poetic eloquence of John Bunyan, nor the encyclopedic comprehensiveness\u00a0of Richard Baxter. But Flavel struck a healthy balance\u00a0between these three and may be the best all-around English Puritan.\u00a0What made Flavel great was his vision, estimate, and portrayal of the\u00a0person and work of Christ. It was this feature which pervaded his writings.\u00a0In his 42-sermon series titled Fountain of Life<\/em> (1673), he wrote\u00a0this about the human limitations of praising Christ:<\/p>\n

The whole world is not a Theatre large enough, to show the glory\u00a0of Christ upon: or unfold the one half of the unsearchable riches\u00a0that lie hid in him. These things will be far better understood, and\u00a0spoken of in Heaven . . . than by such a stammering tongue, and\u00a0scribbling pen as mine; which doth but mar them. Alas! I write his\u00a0praises but by Moon light\u2014what shall I say of Christ! The excelling\u00a0glory of that object dazzles all apprehension; swallows up all\u00a0expression. When we have borrowed metaphors from every Creature\u00a0that hath any excellency or lovely property in it, till we have\u00a0stripped the whole Creation bare of all its ornaments; and clothed\u00a0Christ with all that glory: when we have worn our tongues to the\u00a0stumps, in ascribing praises to him; alas! We have done nothing,\u00a0when all is done.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In light of all of this, where should one begin reading Flavel? I would\u00a0heartily recommend starting with The Mystery of Providence<\/em>. Flavel\u00a0wisely handled this rich topic with deep insight into the mind of God,\u00a0which he tenderly applied as a skilful physician of souls. Next would\u00a0be A Saint Indeed<\/em>. This book (found in Volume 5 of his Works<\/em>, which,\u00a0happily, remain in print with Banner of Truth) is a masterful treatment\u00a0which addresses the question \u2018How can Christians avoid sin and constantly\u00a0maintain their communion with God?\u2019 Lastly, for the ambitious\u00a0reader, his six-volume Works is a must-have in any theological library\u00a0and can easily be read through over the course of time. Their insights\u00a0promise to generously benefit the reader, both in this life, and more\u00a0importantly, for eternity.<\/p>\n

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This article was originally published in the August-September 2012 edition of the\u00a0Banner of Truth<\/em> magazine.<\/p>\n

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From Flavel’s Pen<\/h3>\n