Works - Softcover

George Swinnock

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0461332566 ISBN 13: 9780461332568

Publisher: HardPress, 2019

Synopsis

Works by George Swinnock. This 17th-century Puritan devotional treatise presents godliness as the central business of life, insisting that households function as little churches where faith, obedience, and virtue are formed. The volume argues that true piety governs every family relation—from parents and children to spouses, masters, and servants—and that the home shapes church and state by forming virtuous souls. It outlines a twofold parental duty toward children: concern for their souls (salvation) and for their bodies (provision, education, and eventual marriages). Education and catechesis are presented as lifelong, household duties, including baptismal covenant, daily Scripture instruction, memorization, and training in reading and useful trades. Discipline is to be balanced by love, with timely correction suited to temperament and by setting a holy example. The text treats marriage and family harmony as a reflection of divine order, with the wife modest and reverent and the husband loving and diligent; family worship—morning and evening—forms the domestic church. Prudence in choosing companions and callings, and the mutual duties of mothers and fathers, are emphasized, alongside the sobering claim that the souls of children and servants lie at the heart of parental accountability before God. The opening chapters frame the method and purpose, presenting religion as the primary business of life and detailing how to apply godliness to daily duties. The tone is exhortatory and sermon-like, drawing on Scripture and classical authorities to urge diligence in training for personal salvation, family peace, and civil prosperity.

Edition details

• Publisher: HardPress
• Publication date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0461332566
• ISBN 13: 9780461332568
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 550