I just found your site after doing a yahoo search for Thomas Boston, Last week I ordered his Works and was wondering if you had a place to recommend beginning.
I would recommend beginning with “Man’s Fourfold State” found in volume 8. It’s a good start to understanding Boston’s preaching. You won’t be disappointed. Dr. Philip Graham Ryken of Tenth Presbyterian chose to write his doctoral thesis on the Fourfold State. Here are his own words:
Among the more important reasons for selecting the Fourfold State for this purpose are its status as Boston’s most influential and widely recognized work in the eighteenth century and after, the frequency with which he returned to edit its main text, the centrality of its major themes to his preaching as a whole. and the disproportionately scant attention it has received in critical scholarship.Thomas Boston as Preacher of the Fourfold State – Philip Graham Ryken
Dustin said,
July 21, 2008 at 10:43 pm
I just found your site after doing a yahoo search for Thomas Boston, Last week I ordered his Works and was wondering if you had a place to recommend beginning.
Jim Polk said,
July 22, 2008 at 8:27 pm
Hi Dustin,
I would recommend beginning with “Man’s Fourfold State” found in volume 8. It’s a good start to understanding Boston’s preaching. You won’t be disappointed. Dr. Philip Graham Ryken of Tenth Presbyterian chose to write his doctoral thesis on the Fourfold State. Here are his own words:
Among the more important reasons for selecting the Fourfold State for this purpose are its status as Boston’s most influential and widely recognized work in the eighteenth century and after, the frequency with which he returned to edit its main text, the centrality of its major themes to his preaching as a whole. and the disproportionately scant attention it has received in critical scholarship. Thomas Boston as Preacher of the Fourfold State – Philip Graham Ryken