Aspects of Piety 06
Works
The first of Adams’ sermons at Paul’s Cross (The Gallant’s Burden) appeared as early as 1612 and had passed through three printings by 1616. The 1613 sermon, The White Devil, became his most popular and had gone through five editions by 1621. Other single and collected sermons followed and in 1616 he completed his short treatise Diseases of the Soul. In 1618 he issued The Happiness of the Church, consisting of 27 sermons gathered for the press, probably during a period of illness. In 1629 and again in 1630 his works appeared in a full folio edition of over 1200 pages.
Because of his peculiar position, Adams was neglected in the 18th Century but in 1847 some sermons were reprinted. Editor W H Stowell, president of the Independent College in Rotherham, thought there was little likelihood of the works being reproduced as a whole (p xlii). However, in the 1860s a group of six Scottish ministers came together to expedite publication of the Works in three unequal volumes ‘Being the sum of his sermons, meditations and other divine and moral discourses’. The General Editor was Thomas Smith. A further selection appeared later under the editorship of John Brown, The Sermons of Thomas Adams, The Shakespeare of Puritan Theologians (London, Cambridge UP, 1909). See here.
These volumes contain some 65 sermons, set out in biblical rather than chronological order. They include The soul’s sickness, a 35 page treatise, plus the 180 page Meditations on the creed. The volumes also contain a memoir by Baptist Dr Joseph Angus and other brief introductory materials. The memoir was originally to have been executed by C H Spurgeon, also a Baptist, but he was unwell. (Clearly Baptist interest in Adams is not new). They were reproduced by a California based company called Tanski in 1998. I own a set of these. They were a birthday present from my parents-in-law a few years ago.
Apart from two final sermons from 1652 (God’s Anger and Man’s Comfort) added to the later collected works from copies found in the British Museum, Adams’ only other published work is his massive commentary on 2 Peter. He appears to have worked on this major project from 1620-1633, the year of its first appearance. According to Moira Baker,
A learned and elegant capstone of his career, the Commentary reaches a more sophisticated level of scriptural exegesis and theological analysis than possible in the sermon form.
It was revised and corrected by James Sherman of Surrey Chapel and published in 1839. It was reproduced in the 1990s by another American publishing house, Soli Deo Gloria and is due for publication soon by Solid Ground Christian Books with a new introduction by Joel Beeke. See here.
The first of Adams’ sermons at Paul’s Cross (The Gallant’s Burden) appeared as early as 1612 and had passed through three printings by 1616. The 1613 sermon, The White Devil, became his most popular and had gone through five editions by 1621. Other single and collected sermons followed and in 1616 he completed his short treatise Diseases of the Soul. In 1618 he issued The Happiness of the Church, consisting of 27 sermons gathered for the press, probably during a period of illness. In 1629 and again in 1630 his works appeared in a full folio edition of over 1200 pages.
Because of his peculiar position, Adams was neglected in the 18th Century but in 1847 some sermons were reprinted. Editor W H Stowell, president of the Independent College in Rotherham, thought there was little likelihood of the works being reproduced as a whole (p xlii). However, in the 1860s a group of six Scottish ministers came together to expedite publication of the Works in three unequal volumes ‘Being the sum of his sermons, meditations and other divine and moral discourses’. The General Editor was Thomas Smith. A further selection appeared later under the editorship of John Brown, The Sermons of Thomas Adams, The Shakespeare of Puritan Theologians (London, Cambridge UP, 1909). See here.
These volumes contain some 65 sermons, set out in biblical rather than chronological order. They include The soul’s sickness, a 35 page treatise, plus the 180 page Meditations on the creed. The volumes also contain a memoir by Baptist Dr Joseph Angus and other brief introductory materials. The memoir was originally to have been executed by C H Spurgeon, also a Baptist, but he was unwell. (Clearly Baptist interest in Adams is not new). They were reproduced by a California based company called Tanski in 1998. I own a set of these. They were a birthday present from my parents-in-law a few years ago.
Apart from two final sermons from 1652 (God’s Anger and Man’s Comfort) added to the later collected works from copies found in the British Museum, Adams’ only other published work is his massive commentary on 2 Peter. He appears to have worked on this major project from 1620-1633, the year of its first appearance. According to Moira Baker,
A learned and elegant capstone of his career, the Commentary reaches a more sophisticated level of scriptural exegesis and theological analysis than possible in the sermon form.
It was revised and corrected by James Sherman of Surrey Chapel and published in 1839. It was reproduced in the 1990s by another American publishing house, Soli Deo Gloria and is due for publication soon by Solid Ground Christian Books with a new introduction by Joel Beeke. See here.
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