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The Puritans on Habits and Christlikeness

Greg Gifford
Dec 27, 2023
For the previous post in this four-part series, part 1 , part 2 , part 3 . Perhaps the most general Puritan principle on habits was their effects in promoting Christlikeness. The Puritans appealed to this in both a positive and a negative sense: the working of duties as being Christlike, and...

Holy Habits Forming the Will

Greg Gifford
Jan 13, 2023
The Puritans spoke, wrote, and preached about the importance of frequent, regular, godly actions , which they termed habits, holy works, labors, duties, heavenly services, or holy efforts . They believed that habits were critical for spiritual maturity. But what did they consider “spiritual...

How to Think about Holy Works

Greg Gifford
Dec 15, 2022
To read part one of this series, click here . For the Puritans, the path to spiritual maturity required frequent practices and actions. They called these “habits,” but they had other terms to describe the same concept. Sometimes they called these practices “holy efforts,” a term popularized by...

The Puritans on Habits and Spiritual Maturity

Greg Gifford
Oct 21, 2022
Editor’s note: this is the first in a four-part series and was originally published on the author’s website. Used with permission. In the history of the church, and particularly counseling within the church, there has been a house, of sorts, that is being constructed. Faithful, competent men and...