Thomas Watson

 Thomas Watson


One of the great Puritans, Thomas Watson (c. 1620-1686), is recently getting some well-deserved attention.  Reformation Heritage Books has just published The Works of Thomas Watson in seven volumes.  All I can say, is that I think this is a wonderful development.

 

Like Dr. Joel Beeke (of Reformation Heritage Books), I also came to an appreciation of the Puritans initially through Thomas Watson; and, interestingly, also via Watson's A Body of Divinity. . . . One September day in 2001, a member of the church I was serving unexpectedly showed up at the door of our house, and he handed me a used hard-copy of Body of Divinity.  I had no idea how excellent that book was, till I broke it open, and started reading it.  Since then, I have re-read it.  In my opinion, Watson's Body of Divinity is the single best "layman's" theology book I have ever come across.

 

Let us talk about Thomas Watson a little bit. . . . He is one of the finest writers, period, that I personally have ever perused.  His ability to write well, is amazing.  But that would be of no account, if what he had to communicate was not also of spectacular importance and interest.

 

By all accounts, Pastor Watson was gracious, humble, pastoral, and brilliant.  There is just something about the things he writes/says that is almost bordering on the miraculous.  He has a way of stating things, seemingly-spontaneously, that are sweetly peppered with fascinating nuances from the Scripture and Christ's gospel of grace.  Nothing ever seems to get Watson down; and he always appears to buoy-up over every challenge.

 

After reading Body, I also pretty much devoured these other works, too, (and I recommend them all): The Lord's Prayer, The Beatitudes, The Ten Commandments, All Things For Good, and The Doctrine of Repentance.  (I have read others of his books and sermons as well, but I will not be mentioning them all here.)

 

To me, Thomas Watson has a special place in the Puritan "Hall of Fame."  Sure, I think John Owen excels them all in pure doctrinal brilliance; and I believe that Richard Sibbes is almost impossible to beat, regarding the pastoral heart; and without doubt Thomas Goodwin, Christopher Love, and Jeremiah Burroughs have a special place in our affections--but, can anybody really surpass Thomas Watson for that amazing "something" that is so intangible, but preciously real?  In my opinion, no one can.

 

Just to whet your appetite a bit, here is our beloved Watson, from his A Body of Divinity: "When we wonder what God is doing with us, and are ready to kill ourselves with care; let us rest in God's wisdom. He knows best what He has to do. 'His footsteps are not known,' (Ps. 77:19). Trust Him where you cannot trace Him. God is most in His way, when we think He is most out of the way. When we think God's church is, as it were, in the grave, and there is a tombstone laid upon her, His wisdom can roll away the stone from the sepulcher. 'Christ comes leaping over the mountains,' (Song of Sol. 2:8). Either His power can remove the mountain, or His wisdom knows how to leap over it."

 

Rev. Mark J. Henninger

Treatise #79

6 March 2026

https://theologicaltreatisesinretirement.blogspot.com

https://henningerdevotions.blogspot.com/

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