Whately—Puritan, advocate for the poor—identifies a self-deception: resolving to avoid every evil while neglecting equal determination to perform every duty. Sins of omission; affirmative precepts. These count.
Some today make memes about the danger of complacency with sin. Omissions involving the poor rarely make that list.
William Gouge was a Puritan minister. Here he comments on the phrase “bringing many sons to glory from Hebrews 2:10, and how those brought to this glory have a duty to obey and honor God. Then he explains how these “sons” include all sorts of conditions and sexes of people. He points out how this is reinforced in Corinthians.
Broad-brimmed hat believed to have been owned by Oliver Cromwell, England, ~1650 AD
> Fewer Americans think birth control, gambling, having kids out of wedlock are acceptable https://nypost.com/2026/06/10/us-news/fewer-americans-think-birth-control-gambling-kids-out-of-wedlock-are-ok/
I want to see the browser histories of said Americans because I am willing to bet there is a lot of porn (and very niche porn) and an online gambling account or two.
Attersoll’s logic is unsparing: if you’d condemn someone for hamstringing a man already struggling to walk, why is it harder to condemn those who find elaborate reasons to push down people already barely keeping their heads above water? If we thrust down the brother in necessity, he asks, how dwelleth the love of God in us? It’s a reasonable question. Modern discourse has yet to produce a satisfying answer.
#Puritan poet and Oliver Cromwell's secretary John Milton attacking the money culture:
Mammon led them on,
Mammon, the least erected Spirit that fell
From heav’n, for ev’n in heav’n his looks and thoughts
Were always downward bent, admiring more
The riches of Heav’ns pavement, trod’n Gold,
Then aught divine or holy else enjoy’d
In vision beatific; by him first
Men also, and by his suggestion taught,
Ransack’d the Center, and with impious hands
Rifl’d the bowels of thir mother Earth
For Treasures better hid.
My understanding is that at the time of the publication of Paradise Lost, Spanish Pieces of Eight were the most common coinage in England.
Hildersham—Puritan, expounding Psalm 51—identifies reluctance to give to the poor as a faith problem. If you genuinely believed God’s promises, giving would present no difficulty. Preachers regularly deploy “if you truly believed, you would” for tithing and attendance. Curiously rarely for the poor. Hildersham would have found that selective.
Sibbes—Puritan, encouraging the backslider—offers a self-check for election. Colossians 3:12: put on bowels of mercy toward the fatherless and needy. That’s how you demonstrate you’re one of the elect. Modern conservative Christianity has developed different assurance criteria. Mercy toward the needy as evidence of election has been quietly retired. Sibbes didn’t get that memo.
#puritan #grace #presbyterian #empathy #compassion #salvation
Manton—Puritan, expounding James—observes that hypocrites are deficient in one area specifically. They pray much, know much, hear much. They do not give much. Basil noticed the same centuries earlier: many excel at fasting and sighing, demonstrations costing nothing but personal discomfort, while remaining sordid toward the poor. Paul noticed. Basil noticed. Manton noticed. One wonders why it keeps needing to be said.
Seventy-sixth guest of KHIDI’s podcast series is Puritan - Techno project of David Japaridze, head of well-defined Georgian imprint Murder Tbilisi @puritanlive Tracklist: 1. Clock DVA - The Sonolog
Greg Johnson
PugJesus
A. Rivera
Grace O'Malley
Kristian