The Complete Works of Richard Sibbes, D.D., Vol. 7 (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from The Complete Works of Richard Sibbes, D.D, Vol. 7: Master of Catherine Hall, Cambridge; Preacher of Gray's Inn, LondonHe was a Puritan in 'doctrine,' but loyal to the Church of England with that touching loyalty shewn to the throne by illustrious contemporaries even when they despised its occupant. On almost every point of Theology the Works of Richard Sibbes will rarely be consulted 'in vain.' They are a casket of gems, and the lid needs but to be raised to flash forth wealth of spiritual thought.In closing his onerous labours, the Editor would, in a few sentences, characterise the Works now collected and completed; and at once that epithet, which seems by universal consent to have been associated with the name of Richard Sibbes - 'heavenly' - recurs. It is the one distinctive adjective for him. For if there ever has been, since apostolic times, a 'heavenly' man, the meek 'Preacher' of Gray's Inn was he. Emphatically, 'he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith' (Acts xi. 24); and in accord with this, he is pre-eminently and peculiarly a 'son of consolation,' a 'comforter.' This, I should say, is the merit of these works. The minister of the gospel and the private reader will find abundant 'consolations' for bruised, tried, despondent, groping souls. Nor is this characteristic a small thing. It must be a growing conviction, with all who mark the 'signs of the times,' that the want of our age, in the church as in the world, is not more intellect or genius, learning or culture, but more reality of Christian life - more 'Good' rather than more 'great' men. Perhaps there never has been a period - speaking generally - of more intellect in intense activity, if not in mass, more learning and diffused culture, than the present; and certainly never was there an age of such thick-coming interrogation of all problems in all realms of thought and speculation. But these seem often lamentably disassociated from Goodness, from conscience, from spiritual integrity and truthfulness, and above all, from Christian life.For Sibbes, then, is not claimed the title of 'great' - so much abused, and indeed vulgarised - in the world's meaning. Weighed against contemporaries - Shakespeare, Bacon, Milton - he has no awful crown of genius. Placed beside other divines, Church and Puritan, he lacks the orient splendour of Jeremy Taylor, the massiveness of Barrow, the intensity of Baxter, the unexpected wit of Thomas Adams, the exhaustiveness of John Owen, the profundity of Thomas Goodwin; nor has he left behind him any great work such as that on the 'The Creed' by Pearson, or the 'Defensio' by Bull.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.