The Notion of Preparatory Grace in the Puritans
This article by Martyn McGeown examines the doctrine of preparatory grace that emerged among Puritan theologians, particularly William Perkins, which taught that unregenerate sinners could prepare themselves for saving grace through self-examination and means of grace. McGeown critically analyzes how this doctrine developed within Puritan theology and presents Reformed objections to this teaching, making it valuable for understanding the theological tensions within Puritan soteriology and its tension with Reformed principles of sovereign grace and total depravity.
Martyn McGeown (slightly modified from an article first published in the Protestant Reformed Theological Journal) CONTENTS I. Introduction II. Early Puritan Preparationists III. Other Puritan Writers IV. Other Theologians V. Objections to This Doctrine VI. Appeals to Scripture Considered VII. Conclusion I. Introduction Preparatory grace is a notion which crept into the theology of many of the Puritans. Although the Puritans insisted that man is totally depraved and unable to...