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Thomas Brooks
Thomas Brooks (1608 - 1680). English Puritan preacher and author born in Glastonbury, Somerset. Likely educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, he entered ministry during the English Civil War, possibly serving as a chaplain in the Parliamentary navy. By 1648, he preached in London, becoming rector of St. Margaret’s, New Fish Street, in 1652, where he ministered through the Great Plague and Great Fire of 1666. A nonconformist, he was ejected in 1662 under the Act of Uniformity but continued preaching privately. Brooks wrote over a dozen works, including Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices (1652) and The Mute Christian Under the Rod, blending practical theology with vivid illustrations. Known for his warm, accessible style, he influenced Puritan spirituality, emphasizing repentance and divine sovereignty. Married twice—first to Martha Burgess in 1640, with whom he had four sons, then to Patience Cartwright—he faced personal loss but remained steadfast. His sermons drew crowds, and his books, reprinted centuries later, shaped Reformed thought. Brooks’ legacy endures through digital archives and reprints for modern readers.
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Thomas Brooks warns against the dangers of unholy ministers, emphasizing that their sinful lives can lead their congregations down a path of destruction. He argues that an unholy preacher not only undermines their own doctrine but also serves as a poor example, causing their hearers to stray from holiness. Brooks stresses that the moral integrity of a minister is crucial, as people are more influenced by their actions than their words. He concludes that the unholy lives of ministers can significantly hinder the pursuit of holiness among their followers.
Murder All His Hearers at Once!
"The leaders of the people have led them down the path of destruction." Isaiah 9:16 Take heed of settling yourselves under an unholy minister —of one whose life gives the lie to his doctrine. An unholy preacher is the greatest destroyer of the souls of men! He who preaches well—but lives bad—does what he can, to murder all his hearers at once! There is no greater bar to holiness, than ministers' unholy lives. An unholy life mars the soundest and the sweetest doctrine. The sins of teachers are the teachers of sins! An unholy minister is the greatest pest, the worst plague, and the greatest mischief—that can be to a people; for his enormities, his wickednesses, will have the strongest influences upon the souls and lives of men—to make them eternally miserable. His falls will be the fall and ruin of many; for people are prone to . . . live more by examples—than by precepts; mind more what the minister does—than what he says; eye more how he walks—than how he talks. Let a minister be ever so learned, solid, quaint, elegant, zealous, judicious, sententious, etc.—yet if he is carnal, covetous, worldly, vain, and loose in his life and walk, his hearers will rather slight and abhor the holy things of God. When the preacher departs out of the way of holiness, the people will quickly wander from all that is good. He whose life is not a standing reproof to sin, will, by his life, encourage sinners more and more in a way of sin. There is nothing which keeps men so off from the love of holiness, and from the pursuing after holiness—than the unholy lives of their ministers. "Watch your life and doctrine closely." 1 Timothy 4:16 "Set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity." 1 Timothy 4:12 "In everything set them an example by doing what is good." Titus 2:7
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Thomas Brooks (1608 - 1680). English Puritan preacher and author born in Glastonbury, Somerset. Likely educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, he entered ministry during the English Civil War, possibly serving as a chaplain in the Parliamentary navy. By 1648, he preached in London, becoming rector of St. Margaret’s, New Fish Street, in 1652, where he ministered through the Great Plague and Great Fire of 1666. A nonconformist, he was ejected in 1662 under the Act of Uniformity but continued preaching privately. Brooks wrote over a dozen works, including Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices (1652) and The Mute Christian Under the Rod, blending practical theology with vivid illustrations. Known for his warm, accessible style, he influenced Puritan spirituality, emphasizing repentance and divine sovereignty. Married twice—first to Martha Burgess in 1640, with whom he had four sons, then to Patience Cartwright—he faced personal loss but remained steadfast. His sermons drew crowds, and his books, reprinted centuries later, shaped Reformed thought. Brooks’ legacy endures through digital archives and reprints for modern readers.