The Narrated Puritan

Jonathan Edwards's Treatise on the Religious Affections - language updated to a more modern English. "In the Preface to A Treatise on the Religious Affections, Jonathan Edwards argues that determining the true nature of saving faith is the single most vital question facing humanity, yet it remains deeply obscured by widespread debate and counterfeit experiences. Reflecting on past spiritual awakenings—from biblical revivals to the Protestant Reformation and New England's Great Awakening—Edwards explains how Satan consistently undermines divine revivals not through open persecution, but by mixing false, unexamined emotionalism with true holiness. Unmasking these counterfeits is essential, as mistaking false zeal for genuine grace leads to spiritual self-deception, bitter division among Christians, and the eventual decay of genuine revivals. Edwards writes this treatise to provide clear, biblical criteria for distinguishing the saving operations of the Holy Spirit from non-saving spiritual counterfeits, urging believers to pursue lasting spiritual clarity.

The text of this edition of the Religious Affections has been modernized to assist the listener. In Section 1 of A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections, Jonathan Edwards draws from 1 Peter 1:8 to argue that genuine Christianity consists largely in holy affections—specifically the vigorous, lively exercises of the soul's will and inclination, such as love and joy. Examining how early Christians endured fiery persecutions, Edwards explains that trials serve to reveal, display, and purify true faith, stripping away empty pretense and dross. He distinguishes between the soul's two primary faculties—the understanding (which perceives and judges) and the inclination or heart (which actively approves or rejects)—and clarifies that affections are not separate from the will, but are simply its most intense and felt operations. Ultimately, while strong affections often produce physical sensations, Edwards emphasizes that the mind alone is their true seat, and that genuine religious vitality manifests through deep, supernatural devotion to an unseen Christ rather than superficial emotional surges.

In Chapter 3, John Owen explains that frequent thoughts about spiritual things do not inherently prove a person is spiritually minded if those thoughts are merely triggered by external means—such as hearing the preaching of the Word, exercising spiritual gifts in prayer, or engaging in religious conversation. While these external occasions excite temporary mental activity and emotional fervor, they lack an internal root and dry up once the external stimulus ends, functioning like transient guests at an inn. In contrast, true spiritual mindedness springs from an inward, vital principle of saving grace that continuously produces spiritual thoughts like children residing in a home. In prayer specifically, Owen distinguishes between the mere operation of natural gifts—which can mimic piety and foster self-pleasing pride—and the active exercise of grace, which yields genuine spiritual growth, a humble delight in God, a consistent life of watchfulness against sin, and an equal regard for all Christian duties.

Introduction to the Preface A Modernized Version of John Owen's work, The Grace and Duty of Being Spiritually Minded. In this opening preface, Dr. John Owen offers a rare and intimate glimpse into the origins of The Grace and Duty of Being Spiritually Minded. Written during a season of severe illness when he believed his public ministry had come to an end, these chapters began as private meditations to comfort his own soul. Upon his unexpected recovery, Owen felt compelled to share these truths—first to a small congregation, and ultimately to the wider church. Recognizing how subtly the cares, anxieties, and allurements of the world invade the believer's mind, Owen presents this treatise not as a dry academic study, but as an urgent pastoral remedy designed to awaken Christians to the daily practice of heavenly-mindedness, which alone brings true spiritual life and peace.

In Chapter 1 of The Grace and Duty of Being Spiritually Minded, John Owen argues that all human beings exist in one of two mutually exclusive spiritual states—being "carnally minded," which leads to spiritual and eternal death, or being "spiritually minded," which results in life and peace. Grounding his exposition on Romans 8:6, Owen explains that true spiritual mindedness is not merely a passive or intellectual assent to religious concepts, but the active, continuous engagement of a Holy Spirit-renewed mind whose deepest affections, thoughts, and delights are habitually set on heavenly realities. He warns that while genuine believers may struggle with competing worldly attachments, settling for a low or complacent level of spirituality to accommodate earthly pursuits jeopardizes true peace of conscience and may indicate that a person remains under the ruling power of the flesh.

The Grace and Duty of Being Spiritually Minded, Chapter 2, in a modernized version. "In Chapter 2 of The Grace and Duty of Being Spiritually Minded, John Owen establishes that a person's default, voluntary thoughts—those the mind freely gravitates toward when free from pressing duties or immediate crises—serve as the truest window into the underlying condition of the heart. Using the analogy of spring blossoms on a fruit tree, he explains that while many transient thoughts vanish without producing fruit, every actual action originates in a thought. He contends that every heart possesses a prevailing "treasury" (either good or evil) that continually pours itself out through the stream of the mind's thoughts. For thoughts of heavenly things to prove true spiritual-mindedness rather than a unrenewed nature, Owen argues that they must arise naturally from an internal spring of regenerating grace within the soul, rather than being temporarily forced by external pressure (such as acute guilt, affliction, or fear of death) or briefly triggered by external religious means without a true change of heart."

In a culture where spiritual apathy silently suffocates true faith, can a dormant church afford to wait for revival to just happen? On New Year's Day, 1816, NYC pastor Gardiner Spring issued a fiery, unyielding wake-up call to a comfortable generation, proclaiming that God's people cannot remain passive while vital religion languishes. Drawing from King Hezekiah's urgent cleansing of the Jerusalem temple, Something Must Be Done cuts through excuses, confronts worldly compromise, and delivers a timeless challenge: divine awakening requires active human repentance, earnest prayer, and immediate duty. Confrontational yet overflowing with gospel hope, this Second Great Awakening classic remains a burning manifesto for modern Christians who refuse to settle for spiritual stagnation—and are ready to ask what must be done today

In this episode, we venture into the heart of the 18th-century transatlantic awakenings to examine the fierce theological battles surrounding the revivals at Cambuslang and Kilsyth, as captured in William McCulloch's personal Examinations and James Robe's landmark Narrative. We trace how these extraordinary Scottish outpourings sparked intense opposition from the Associate Presbytery (the Seceders), who challenged the legitimacy of physical bodily distress and questioned George Whitefield's itinerant ministry and published Journals. Moving across the Atlantic, we explore how Jonathan Edwards joined hands with his Scottish brothers to craft a robust, biblical defense of genuine awakening—grounding his arguments in the enduring, moral fruits of the Holy Spirit rather than human decorum or rigid ecclesiastical boundaries. Finally, we weigh Edwards's long-range postmillennial vision in An Humble Attempt, unravelling the historical misconceptions around his prophetic timeline to reveal a deeply collaborative, transatlantic call to global prayer that would ultimately lay the foundation for modern world missions.

The Giants and How To Fight Them

The Giants and How To Fight Them