Deus Misereatur

Soul Recreation: The Contemplative-Mystical Piety of Puritanism Tom Schwanda Pickwick Publications (Wipf and Stock) 199 West 8 th Ave, Suite 3 Eugene, OR 97401 http://www.wipfandstock.com ISBN-978-1-61097-455-4; $35.00; 2012. Reviewed by Dr. Michael Philliber for Deus Misereatur (12/12)  Puritan Piety (3 stars out of 5) When one thinks of meditation or contemplation, rarely does Puritanism race to the forefront of the mind. Instead, other traditions will be quickly thought of and looked into. But Tom Schwanda, Associate Professor of Christian Formation and Ministry at Wheaton College, seeks to give a scholarly corrective to this perception. In his recent 292 page paperback titled, “Soul Recreation: The Contemplative-Mystical Piety of Puritanism” he lays the groundwork for reclaiming a Reformed and Evangelical heritage of contemplative piety, looking primarily at one 17 th Century Puritan, Isaac Ambrose. In “Soul Recreation, Schwanda strives to raise, and f

LORD GOD , the Almighty Maker of heaven and earth, who has broken into the darkness of our lives, coming to our rescue in person; in person as a child born for us, as a son given to us: and in coming to our rescue now the people who once walked in darkness have seen a great light, and those who once dwelt in the land of the shadow of deep darkness, upon them a light has shown! We confess our obstinacy and sheer knuckleheaded impiousness. We have followed too much the ruses and innovations of our own hearts, by doing those things we knew we shouldn’t, and not doing the good things we knew we were supposed to. In truth, in more incidents than we can count, we allowed our pride and pleasure to twist our relationships and warp our actions. O God, what a mess we are!  … [ silence for personal confession ]... In spite of what we are, you have promised that if we confess our sins, that you –faithful and just – will forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, and that the blood o