Discipulus Bibliae

Giants in the Mist

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Why Spurgeon and the Puritans Still Matter

The modern church is often technologically advanced but theologically malnourished. We are told to look inward for strength, but the “Old Paths” of Scripture tell us to look upward. The prophet Jeremiah commanded God’s people to “ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it” (Jeremiah 6:16). The Hebrew word for “ancient” here implies eternity. We need truths that are not just old, but eternal.

Why must we retrieve the wisdom of the Puritans and Charles Spurgeon today?

  1. A Weighty God in a Lightweight Age While modern spirituality often treats God as a cosmic therapist, the Puritans trembled before His holiness. They understood that the most comforting truth in the universe is the absolute Sovereignty of God. As Spurgeon preached, when we are suffering, the only pillow soft enough for our weary heads is the truth that God rules over every atom of our existence.

  2. The Reality of Sin and Grace You cannot appreciate the cure if you deny the disease. The Puritans did not shy away from the doctrine of Total Depravity—that we are wholly defiled and unable to save ourselves. This sounds harsh, but it is the prerequisite for amazing grace. By diagnosing the human condition accurately, they were able to offer the only true remedy: the Atonement of Christ.

  3. Physicians of the Soul Far from being cold academics, men like Spurgeon were deeply acquainted with sorrow. Spurgeon battled severe depression and gout, yet he taught that affliction was a flail in the hand of a loving Father, used to separate the wheat from the chaff. Their “experimental” (experiential) theology offers deep rest for the anxious soul that secular self-help cannot provide.

The Conclusion: Christ is All Ultimately, these giants matter because they were obsessed with Jesus. Spurgeon famously said, ”I have a great need for Christ: I have a great Christ for my need.” In a distracted age, they remind us to lift our eyes from the mud of self-focus to the glory of the Risen King.